Mcgrath Elementary School

We have two children in McGrath and they both look forward to school every day. It is unbelievable how a public school has such a small and intimate feel. The teachers are responsive and the small class sizes means our kids get a large degree of individual attention. The new school just built is wonderful!

This school was a disaster for my kids. If you don't fit in to their "mold" they treat your kids like trash. Both of my kids had an assessment done by their special education and personal teachers. We noticed our kids were struggling socially, being made fun of, and never including in anything. Turns out after we moved, our kids were released from special education in their new school, have plenty of friends, and are well liked. This school is not for anyone that thinks or dresses differently.

This school has been a great placement for my son. The teachers are caring and try to meet each child's needs. I love how cheerful and caring the staff is, my son feels like at home when he is there and he has really gone above and beyond in his progress. I love the fact that they have really small class sizes and I love how parents really get involved too, it is a great place and great community!

My kids went to this school for two years. Luckily we had to move away to another state for a job assignment. This school is old and most of the teachers are ok (one was awesome) but they have changed principals 3 times in the past 4 years and this is indicative of trouble. Now that we are in a different school, in a different state, so I can compare the curriculum and our school now far exceeds what my children learned at McGrath. Also a word of warning, don't trust the administration or school counselors for confidentiality. This school has made me very wary of trusting any school in the future. You would think that you would get better and more personal treatment because it is such a small school, but the opposite happened for us even though we were very active in volunteering and involved in our kids education. I would recommend you look elsewhere if you want a school that you can trust. Thinking that a religious school would have been a better choice looking back. If we hadn't had to move, I would have switched my kids out of this school.

I'm going to miss McGrath when we move away in a few weeks. Our sons both attended this school and LOVED their time there. It felt more like a private school than a public school. The teachers are amazingly attentive to the children. Our boys couldn't be more different - one is a bookworm and one is an artist. The teachers were able to tailor their style for their specific needs. That's rare. The rest of the staff is amazing too. It's an old-school feel - reminds me of my elementary school. You won't find a lot of the drama you find with much larger schools in other parts of the country. If you're thinking about moving to STL, I highly recommend considering living in Brentwood. Your kids will get a private school experience in a public school environment. Pocket that extra $15K/kid/year and invest some of that saved money in this wonderful school. If I had one issue, I was a bit confused about how to get our oldest son involved in the LEAP (gifted) program. He'll easily qualify for the gifted program at his new school, but was left out here.