Island Lake Elementary School

I will start by saying that many wonderful, hardworking individuals work at this school. This is by no means a review that lumps everyone in one bucket. Our experience at the toddler level was incredible. Every staff member was exceptional. As soon as we hit the children’s house level it was a disaster. There was zero communication from the teacher. It was shocking how little we knew about how out child was doing. The teacher was at best in over her head, at worst- intentionally deceptive and dishonest. Children’s house is a chaotic mess.

The teachers are what makes this school amazing. The teacher retention is truly remarkable, but what is even more remarkable is the joy and true enthusiasm these veteran teachers bring to the classroom year after year. They truly believe in making a difference, and they succeed. Most of the teachers have masters degrees or more and if you know Catholic education, you know they are not teaching there for the money. I did not plan on sending my children here for elementary school, but after seeing the close family connections that were already being built when my son went to preschool at St. Os, I knew that this was a place that could be a home base for our whole family. There are so many opportunities to volunteer in the school which makes it feel like I know what is going on in my kids' lives. Many, many parents take advantage of the opportunity to volunteer. The volunteer culture creates buy in from many families and creates fertile ground to grow a strong community. The principal at this school is an amazing human who truly cares about the students and families at the school. She supports teachers and has done a lot of work to make sure the social and emotional needs of students are being cared for at our school.