St Paul's School

My son has attended this school since Pre-K. Since Superintendent Mike Miles took charge of HISD, the atmosphere at the school has changed completely—and for the worse. He replaced the school leadership; the new principal does not communicate adequately with parents, fails to respond to emails, and has been gradually eliminating all the traditional celebrations and activities that the children have always enjoyed. My son used to take soccer classes there. She cancelled them for the upcoming year without providing a reason. They have always held a Field Day. She cancelled it, claiming it was going to rain, but never rescheduled it. The school has an arts focus, yet she significantly cut down the schedule for the "All Art Day" event, just as she has reduced opportunities for parental engagement within the school. They also used to hold competitions between the school "Houses" (Curiosity, Courage, Integrity, Knowledge, and Creativity). My son told me that they haven't held any games or activities related to the Houses since then. My son is in the GT (Gifted and Talented) program, and the lack of information regarding the GT curriculum is outrageous. The school is no longer welcoming or open to collaboration with parents. Do not enroll your children here. Unfortunately, I will end up transferring my son from this school to a charter school.

Upon enrollment, I sent them an email asking about the program. Almost one week passed, I wouldn't get any reply if I didn't ask them again and include more people in the email. Although they told me Email is their FIRST form of communication.

The school has great potential, but it just falls short on anything beyond average. We liked that the school was small, but it's just because they consistently can't meet enrollment. I was embarassed after neighbor visited and said it seemed" sad, drab and uninviting. This is actually quite accurate. Teachers are ok, but not dynamic or extraordinary. The campus is old and unsafely spread out. There is a high turnover of staff and students. The newest administration is not knowledgeable about Montessori and seems to be there more for himself and career rather than passionate about the philosophy. We were so excited about the possibilities, but It has fallen short in nearly every area. We will be one of the many moving on.

We are the parents of an AOS Lower School student, who has attended for several years. Before matriculating, we were a new family to the school, so we only had friends' world of mouth to guide our school decision. The school has exceeded our already high expectations in every imaginable way. Our son loves school—he is thriving academically and socially.

This is the second year my kids have attended, and it keeps getting better. The teachers are the heart of the school. They inspire their students to want to know more about the world, and how to organize their day, their space, and their ways of representing their research to make the biggest and most efficient impact. I cannot say enough good things about this school and how much my family has benefitted from attending.