Folger McKinsey Elementary School

The school seems to teach for the statewide test that are given. My daughter had lessons on the same topics for months at a time. The Leadership is there to say no more than to help the kids grow. There is not a real sense of community. Through online learning during the pandemic it as obvious teachers were not teaching. Her teacher meet with the students for a short time and then assigned them graded homework that it was up to the parents to teach and help the student with. Bottom line before the pandemic and after the pandemic, the school seems more interested in their ranking than actually teaching the students for the long term and providing a strong foundation for them to succeed in a highly ranked university.

Pasadena is a good school with an Autism Program that is severly lacking. My son is autistic and attended Pasadena from Kindergarten through 5th grade. I do not think Pasadena is equipped to handle the needs of their students with disabilities. The entire time my son was enrolled I constantly received contradicting information from the staff at the school. I received constant calls to advise the my son was hit by other students. Twice he was able to elope from the school. There was also an incident where my son was abused by a teacher aide and that aide was fired due to the incident. My son is now moving on to Middle School and I am battling the county where his next placement will be. I was given incorrect information regarding his placement earlier in year and not advised of the chances til mere weeks before school ended. I think Pasadena is a good place for typical children but if your child has special needs I cannot recommend Pasadena based on the difficulties we faced.

I had three kids at SJE and each had good years and bad years. The quality of the teachers is extremely inconsistent. One year, it feels like your kid’s teacher is the best and then the next year, it’s poor instruction, poor classroom management and disorganization. There’s no social emotional curriculum and it’s sorely needed. There’s kids having all sorts of problems that go unaddressed - learning difficulties, bullying, - and it just gets ignored for years. The middle school has overcrowded classrooms (there are no lockers and full backpacks on the floor) and no electives to offer. The discipline policy is inconsistent and negative. We didn’t really connect with other families and the kids don’t have good opportunities to bond. We switched to public school and feel like it was the best move we ever made.

Our son started at SMES in 2nd grade and just graduated from 8th grade. He is a better person for having gone to SMES. There have been bumps, challenges and big changes along the way, and obviously we went thru COVID, but in the end the full St Martin’s Community is rich with love, care, and passion focused on building kids with character that can go out into the world and make it better. There is every kind of sports and activity you can imagine (they are always working to come up with new options) & it’s very inclusive…for kids of all skill levels that want to have fun. The school is rigorous but not cut throat. The kids are pushed but aren’t stressed 24/7. At Smes your kids is in a community that lets them be a kid and stumble and grow. I grew up in public school (which I loved!) but having seen one of our kids go thru a K-8th independent school education (and one not) there is a noticeable difference in their confidence and readiness to jump into high school!