North Glendale Elementary School

Our son thoroughly enjoys going to school at Villa di Maria. He is always excited to go to school and has a very cheerful attitude about learning. As an early elementary student, he is learning to be accountable for his work, set goals for his learning, and has a great sense of camaraderie about his classroom community. The student population has also become more diverse in recent years and we really appreciate this. The campus is beautiful and children build forts in the woods during recess or play soccer on the field. While students are very motivated, it is not a competitive environment. There are also great evening activities a few times a year and it is easy to get to know other parents. The tuition, compared to other schools in the area, is very reasonable. We feel very lucky to be a part of this school.

The school has an excellent middle school math program. The new Science Lab is outstanding.

Mary Queen of Peace is an outstanding parochial school option. A few positive points - small class sizes, spacious facilities, excellent teaching staff, new administration (2020) has already done great work and gotten the school several hundred thousand dollars in government grants for technology upgrades, faith based curriculum instills values from an early age. A few differentiators - the kids do homework, take tests/quizzes, and are given real report cards. While some argue that there is not a benefit from homework, the work ethic they are developing seems like a critically important life skill to me. As a parent, I want to know how much children is scoring on their work. Real grades are important. The younger classes seem to have a good balance of 2 working parent households which has resulted in better aftercare run by the teachers. I'm very happy with our choice to send our kids to MQP!

The school has a very faith based and service oriented climate along with an excellent academic program that prepares our students for high school. The parish is very supportive of the educational program by providing scholarships for the school families. The school families are committed to the school and volunteer in various areas. The faculty and staff work very hard at providing a learning environment based on best practices and strive to maintain the Catholic school model "To Teach As Jesus Did."