St. Cecilia Elementary School

As a longtime parent & employee I must respond to the last ad. You clearly know nothing about the past principal, the most caring person I have ever met. Even when at her lowest she always reached out to parents, students & staff & treated us like family. She told us in Oct, that she would not return (long before the new pastor came, so obviously he didnt fire her). We were devastated. The 8th grade teacher was one of the best there. Your daughter was lucky to have her. She raised student test scores by a minimum of 2 years and most by 3to4 years. We were sad that she decided to leave after meeting the new principal. The new principal is the one who doesnt care. She cut our salaries and hours, reminds us daily that we might not have a job tomorrow, yells at us in front of students. That she constantly puts down the work of the previous staff speaks volumes about her. If she truly believed that she was doing everything right, she would not feel the need to put others down. Her work would speak for itself. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt, but she has a lot to learn about caring & sensitivity. Just look at the kids when they leave daily.They miss the love they used to have
—Submitted by a teacher

After reading all the reviews posted about Saint Cecilia School, I was very disappointed to read how the parents are attacking the new principal. She has been a principal for only a few weeks and there is so much negativity towards her. I feel she is doing her best, we have to remember she came into a school that was going down. The previous principal did not care for the school, parents, or teachers. She should have left when she stopped caring for the school. The only teacher she showed support for was the 8th grade teacher, which was her daughter. My child was in her daughters class, I was very unhappy with her professionalism and her teaching style. My child wasted a year being in her class. I wish I could have done something but I felt that no one would listen or do anything about it. Since her mother was the principal. I was so happy to see when the new pastor came to the school. He changed things around at the school and fired the principal and her daughter. It's going to take time to pick this school up, but the problem is gone. I am happy with the changes and feel its going to be a good year.
—Submitted by a parent

I wish my parents had taken me out last year like my friends moms did. This place is terrible. No one care about kids anymore. its not the same.

In spite of the confusion, I decided to stay because it is so close to my home. After 3 days, I am sorry I did. I didn't get a good feel about the new principal when I met her. Should have trusted my gut. She can't do anything without her sister who runs a school in a very different area. She deceived us when she said that she would only hire quality credentialed teachers. Only 1 teacher has a credential, and quality, well she didn't say high or low, so I am assuming she meant low quality from what I have seen. She said that the curriculum was not where it should be and claimed to be an expert in the area. So,she added more PE and Spanish. These were not basic courses. Who knows what she is thinking. If kids are low in basics, focus on the basics instead of forcing electives. I personally do not want my child learning Spanish. When I look at her ads for teachers, she is the only one who has had misspellings in each of her ads. If the educational leader cannot spell correctly, what can we hope for our children? I'm waiting for the archdiocese to explain why they deceived us last year but don't expect to hear. I'm giving it one more week. If it doesn't improve, we are out.
—Submitted by a parent

I am soooo glad I left. I still keep in touch with many families there, and I have yet to hear anything positive about the new regime. All they care about is the uniform, which the changed completely. How does a uniform affect how a kid learns? Seems like there were many other things that they could have focused on.

I am one of many many families leaving the school now that the principal and most of the teachers are gone. The ones who are staying are not qualified to teach. I was not at all impressed with the new principal, and the pastor clearly cares nothing about the school. He could not have made that any clearer than he did at the April meeting. I do not want to have to find a new school mid year next year because this one is closing and all of the good teachers are gone. It was good while it lasted. My ratings reflect the new staff, not the one that left.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school, small groups of students, nice teachers and very afforable. You need to remember that only teachers and pricipal don't made a better school, parents need to be involve too.
—Submitted by a parent

wont rate the school but im not rating it because i attended it like 40 YEARS ago and it was good, time changes but i think it lacks a lot on teaching, my daugther goes there (not by choice) and is not doing well, need to put her in a actual school. sory but thats me,
—Submitted by a parent

I attended this school back in 1987 and graduated in 1991. Very wonderful school to be a part of. The teachers were great and I learned a lot!

The teachers are very involved with the students and they really try to help your child if needed>
—Submitted by a parent

I attended this school from 4th-8th grade, and have never really liked the school, due to it being in a bad area. The academics aren't exactly the best, when I graduated and went to high school, I felt like I was so far behind the others. The teachers here are really caring, but when it comes to the actual teaching, they could do better. I am now in high school, and was expecting to take honors classes due my overall math grade in this school, but was denied, because I was told that the math taught in my previous school, is not up to level with other schools. Great people, could do better at teaching.
—Submitted by a student