St. John the Apostle Catholic School

Great transfer for our son. He’s showing love for school and is receiving the proper attention and help. Awesome staff!

This was my daughter's first year at this school. She was warmly welcomed by the principal and I felt at ease reintegrating back into the private school setting. Prior to her starting her seventh grade school year, she had fallen behind within the public school system and the poor grading scale they implement at the elementary school level; hence my decision to place her back into catholic school. The school year was rigorous as I knew it would be and was expecting. All of the educators I encountered were friendly, professional, and knowledgable within their subject and I truly appreciate that. That being said, there is a huge flaw within St. John's: the lack of accountability and disciplinary action within the school. I lost track of how many times my daughter would come home and tell me what other children within her peer group were saying and doing to one another. Colorful name calling and other covert measures demonstrated by the females in class, but overt actions on behalf of the males. I don't condone hitting of any kind, but my daughter was kicked by another student within her class, and a mundane punishment which consisted of an apology and lunch detention was given. Another instance in which my child's Chromebook (school property) was written on with permanent marker. The principal and guidance counselor spoke to the class due to their less than satisfactory behavior; however, the problems persist. While although middle schoolers can be challenging, the lackadaisical attitude on behalf of the principal is highly disheartening. My intention of enrolling my daughter into St. John's for the remainder of her middle school career was to have an enriching academic experience. Instead she faced other obstacles outside of learning, which is unacceptable.

I recently graduated at St.John the Apostle Catholic School, and I loved going to school here. The work load is usually not stressful and the teachers are so helpful. The education is great. If I had had the choice of moving to another school, I would not. This school is a very caring environment.

My son has been attending this school for 4 years, starting on his 5th year. We love this school, it is a family atmosphere and they truly care about the kids. The principal is always outside at drop off and knows each and every kid by name. I feel comfortable knowing that my son is in an enriched, positive, caring, and loving environment all day. While my son would rather have summer all year long, he does love this school. He has loved every teacher he has ever had and he has made great friends who come from great families; exactly the type of people I want him to be around growing up in this tough world. I highly recommend this school. There will always be people who aren't happy at places (like the last reviewer); but some people just aren't happy anywhere. We are very happy here!

I don't like to leaving long reviews, however I feel like it's needed to explain my rating. Unfortunately, there's not an easy way to provide a holistic review of the school given a 5 star system. So I have provided my own 5 star system for different categories. The overall score is the average. [* * * * *] - Quality of Pedagogy All of our kids have really enjoyed the teaching methods used at the school. They have hired excellent educators who care about student success. They have been working hard to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) into their curriculum. Which leads me to the next category. [* * * * *] - Student Growth Every child is different some kids love math and some love reading. They challenge their student to work hard and encourage students to push themselves to be their best. One our children didn't care for reading because of fluency troubles. The teachers encouraged our child to read anything (age appropriate) and allowed our child to read books that were of more interest. [* - - - - ] - Transparency in Business It's a private school. That doesn't mean that customers don't care how money is spent or reinvested. This is an area that the school has been failing at for the past couple of years. I hear so many parents talking about it, yet no one has addressed it with the administrative staff. The parents would like to see the school's budget so we know where our money is going (eg. technology upgrades, STEM programs, facility expansion for capacity handling). This leads to the final point. [* * - - - ] - Tuition Rates (maybe I'm frugal) During the past few years tuition rates have been climbing. Rising costs are not a huge problem as long as the consumer knows what they are getting in return (see previous point). Additionally, the school should provide better deals for people who have multiple children at the school. The cost of 4 kids attending the school could almost afford you two new cars a year. Ahh what we do for the love of our kids. I would really like the State of Virginia to start a voucher program since we're not using the public school system. Overall I think the quality of education and educators is fantastic. I hope these points are used by the staff to improve transparency and multi-student discounts. Should anything change I will update the review.