St. Helens School

My son loves school here and the teachers are great. The administration on the other hand needs a major overhall..Paperwork has been misplaced or lost and somethings just seem very unorganized. A great since of community at the school, which is very important to us and our child..
--Submitted by a parent

I am so proud of everything my son has accomplished being at St.Helens. he now loves to read thanks all their staff. He loves going to school everyday, he even gets upset when they have a day off. St. Helens cares about each and everyone of the students and their family when you go to any school function you feel like welcomed.
--Submitted by a parent

My children literally run through the doors of St. Helen's everyday, so excited to get to their classrooms. Each day they are greeted at the front door by several caring staff members. Our family feels like a part of a community at St. Helen's. Father Bob can often be seen at the school interacting with the students and encouraging the growth of their faith. The principal and assistant principal are very accessible and cooperative in addressing any concerns that may arise. The teachers communicate with us regularly via emails, conferences, newsletters and updated class pages on the St. Helen's website. I feel like the staff and administration is very invested in seeing my children succeed. I would recommend St. Helen's to any family looking for an academically enriching and socially supportive environment for their children.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter is in Pre-K and my son is in second grade. I couldn't ask for a better school! My son had struggled with attention and socialization in his other school. The smaller class size and personal attention has helped the whole family run more smoothly. My son loves the afterschool program- he gets his homework done, eats a snack, then gets to play with his friends. I am very impressed with the Spanish language instruction, in addition to art, music and phys ed. The core curriculum has kept my son busy and interested- he loves science and reading the most! My daughter's program has the right mix of academic activity and playtime for a 4 year old. I lloked at one of those kindergarten readiness lists online and she meets every requirement already. The character education is just the icing on the cake. My kids are taught to be good people in a nurturing way. They look forward to seeing the parish priest when he has mass with the kids. He makes it an enjoyable experience, with age appropriate homilies and music. My family is not Catholic, but we feel very welcome, and even received some financial aid from the diocese.
--Submitted by a parent

St. Helen's is a warm and welcoming school with an excellent academic program. I have two children enrolled here and I could not be happier. Not only is St. Helen's a safe place where children can learn, they feel comfortable being themselves and are treated with respect by their peers. Most impressive is that my son (who is only in nursery) has classes in Spanish, Art, Gym and Music every week! The teachers are caring, creative and well educated. My daughter's first grade teacher was even recently recognized by Channel 13 as one of the top teachers in the Capital District. I would whole-heartedly recommend St. Helen's school.
--Submitted by a parent

I have worked at St. Helen's for 2 years and I love it! I am treated as a professional and respected for my skills and ideas. This is the general atmosphere of the school. Our students are encouraged to find the things they do best and that they love and given opportunities to incorporate that into their learning. We work to communicate with parents so that we are all on the same page, should any problems arise. I see so many dedicated families who are committed to their child's education, and I am so grateful! We are constantly educating ourselves to be the best for our school. Beyond our college degrees, we attend seminars on everything from discipline to handwriting. We are available for any concerns and work as a team. If I can't help, I will tell you who on our staff can.
--Submitted by a teacher

My son has been a student at Saint Helen's for 2 years and we can not be happier with the programming and the teachers. We have found a family and home for our son.
--Submitted by a parent

Major inconsistencies and disorganization on the administrative end. All tuition is negotiable, some kids receive discounts for certain activities that others inexplicably don't, haphazard distribution of information and paperwork, published uniform policies are not enforced, and children are inconsistently quarantined following or during an illness. Some taught material is of questionable as far as appropriate age group, and controversial topics are not brought to the attention of parents prior to it being presented to the children. After school can be complete chaos HOWEVER, many teachers are wonderful, the issues seem to lie clearly with leadership.
--Submitted by a parent

Classes will begin in 3 weeks and I just got a note that the 3/4 combo class is going to be split. So all the second graders that were in the 2/3 combo (and were supposed to go to the 3/4 combo and learn fourth grade material) will now be in the third grade AGAIN. They want to ensure the test scores don't suffer (Yeah for teaching to the test!) Let's not worry about the kids suffering, because they have to repeat a grade. I would like to discuss this with the principal because we were promised that our child would be a grade ahead, but she won't be back until about a week before school. Oh yeah, we won't know who the teacher is going to be either. The school will call us when they know. Unorganized, last minute, unresponsive.
--Submitted by a parent

My son has a very postive outlook on school as a result of his experience at St. Helens for his first year of school.
--Submitted by a parent