St. Peter Prince of Apostles School

This school is all about recruiting and completely falsifies the facts especially to new families. I pulled my child out because of the constant bullying by the Principal and staff. This type of behavior is reflected in the students as well which s not a surprise because they are children of the staff. Further, they do not follow policies but implement only when to the staff's benefit. The principal allow the staff members to by pass school policies and advance a lot of their own kids from the PreK program. The PreK program is a joke, the PreK program is not even daycare rated. I am speaking truth to parents and ask that you please explore before placing your child in this very disorganized and unhealthy teaching environment.
--Submitted by a parent

I have posted reviews and they have been removed. This is a country that we have have the" right of speech." Principal's only concern is recruiting and telling false facts to new families. Shame. All your questions may not represent the truth about St Peters. Covering issues of bullying, grade changes by teachers and principal for " favorite students. New students are not welcomed by students and harassed verbally and emotionally. The teachers are not highly qualified and do not follow the rules of administration. The principal spends all her time recruiting and never manages the teachers behaviors, or individual policy. Teachers and principal are demeaning and harassing students , setting examples for bullies. I cried at graduation for my child and hope the trauma of attending this school will not be their forever. Shame of the archdiocese for allowing this school to treat students in an non- catholic manner and allow teachers to be cruel. Not representing Catholic values.- Recruiting with falsehoods only make students leave as they see what is really happening. I speak from my heart when I look in the eyes of my children and apologize for their resulting distress.

My family has witnessed the deterioration of this school in the last 4 years under the current administration. In short, the pattern is to tell parents (and prospective parents) one thing in one-on-one meetings that are exactly what parents want and need to hear-with the reality much different. While doing your homework, be sure to ask a lot of questions about a school's School Council and the election process. A School Council is designed to both advise a prinicipal but also to be the voice of the parents. It is really the only "checks and balances" a Catholic School has to impose accountability and limits. You will find that St. Peter's is solely based on "popularity" in the eyes of the principal and "popularity" is defined as "willingness to agree with the principal." The administration is secretive, manipulative and the school inevitably suffers. There is a reason enrollment has dramatically dropped in the last year--and it isn't the economy. It truly saddens me to witness the damage being done by an unchecked leader who does not have the success of the children and the school at heart. Beware.
--Submitted by a parent

Excellent teachers, facilities well-cared for and lots of space. Well-qualified teachers are caring and innovative. Academics are challenging and interesting electives. Great Science fair this year, History fair was awesome. Excellent math and language arts teachers. Science lab and art studio are amazing. A walk through campus reveals happy children and involved teachers. School is well run while maintaining reasonable tuition.
--Submitted by a parent

Dilapidated facilities, poor management of resources, teachers without a degree in teaching and/or no prior teaching experience, staff involved in scandals at other schools, very low academic levels... suffice it to say they have lost half of their students over the past two years and had to cut staff and faculty down accordingly. This is a poor excuse for a school and there are certainly much better places out there.
--Submitted by a parent

My kids and I love the school and would not think of going anywhere else!! Great academics and lots of extra-curricular activities! We now have golf and football will start next year! Great art and drama programs!
--Submitted by julia, a parent

Great school! Strong academics! Excellent and caring teachers! This school offers strong academics and many extracurricular activites. The 4th-5th grade teachers are energetic and rerally creative in their approach to enage the children in the classroom. The middle school offers very interesting electives to augment the strong academic program, such as current events, debate and guitar. This amount of electives and the number of clubs and sports is very high, epsecially when compared to other schools our size. The school maintains a small student-teacher ratio with alot of personal attention and hands-on projects. The art studio and science lab are outstanding,especially for a school this size. The administration is on top of social situations and immediately deals with bullying-type behavior. Unlike other private schools that ignore bullying becasue they are concerned about tution loss, this school will quickly deal with students that are bullying, including expulsion. Parents constantly say they hope not too many people find out about St. Peter because we love the small classes and personal attention our children receive.
--Submitted by a parent

In reference to the posting "The school is a welcoming community of teachers and administration", I disgaree strongly! We were active in both the school AND church community. We just did not write a check for tuition and take offense to your remarks! We removed our child from St. Peter's and our only regret is that we did not change schools any sooner! We did our our child an injustice by having the child attend the last two years the child was there! Buyer beware.
--Submitted by a parent

In reference to: In reference to the posting "The school is a welcoming community," I don't know you. If you thought that I was speak to you, then maybe something I said struck a nerve. Fact is, if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
--Submitted by a parent

The school is a welcoming community of teachers and administration doing their best with scarce resources and lukewarm parent involvement. In fact, I suspect many of the negative reviews you read hear come from the uninvolved segment who seem to feel somewhat entitled to the benefits to be had from being involved simply because they write a check for tuition. If all you put in to a school is money (the going rate, btw), don't expect warm personal relationships. If you put in more of yourself, you will learn more about the others in the school community (teachers and administrators) that are working hard for very little renumeration and, sometimes, even less appreciation. I certainly wouldn't want their jobs. But I most certainly will support them in their work.
--Submitted by a parent