St. Francis of Assisi School

The teachers and principal are amazing and positively responsive, the office staff is incredibly kind and helpful, the policies and procedures have me confident that my children are in the best school we could select for them. I'm impressed with the level of difficulty they are being taught and that it is taught so well that they are excelling at it. The main classrooms are very full but with two teachers with advanced degrees in the classroom they are receiving an excellent education. Also this is only for the main classroom, for such classes as art, computers, science lab, etc., where more assistance and individualized explanation may be needed the class is split in two. One group to art, one group to science lab... In this environment the teacher to child ratio is better than you can find elsewhere in the area. Clubs and activities are suprisingly numerous and are offered to the earliest grade levels. The religious teachings and fathers are joyful. The cafeteria provides many options of wonderful freshly prepared meals everyday. Aftercare is flexible and incredibly inexpensive. Parent involvement is phenominal. I could go on but I'm out of characters...
--Submitted by a parent

I have had 4 of my 5 children graduate from St. Francis of Assisi. I can speak from experience that EVERY private school is going to stress fundraising....it is how they keep their doors open! Previously, our children attended Montfort Academy in Fredericksburg and had almost identical class sizes. I take issue with anyone who writes that there is a lack of qualified teachers. Most, if not all of my children's teachers were there throughout all the time my children attended and almost all had advanced degrees or were working towards them. There was always a nurturing and caring environment offered to the children and academic excellence was always sought. Prayer, community, and a wonderful, spiritual presence from the Friars was a daily occurence. I cannot agree with the negative comments on this site. While some teachers were better than others, I always felt our concerns were addressed by the principal and the faculty. I feel blessed to have been a part of such a wonderful school and parish.
--Submitted by a parent

As a family who had to move due to parental reassignment, I just wanted to reach back and affirm how well St. Francis set my children up for success. My 8th and 6th graders have been advanced 2 grade levels beyond their new classmates in math. The science classes they had there had MUCH more stringent requirements - so that my children now know practically everything they are being "taught" - even though the school they are in now is pretty advanced for the region. With 4 elementary school children, I can say without a doubt that St. Francis really set my family up well academically and spiritually.
--Submitted by a parent

I agree the classrooms are crowded, but with two teachers in each of the elementary grades, the children are well managed. My children have attended public schools, DoD schools, and International Schools. St. Francis has, by far, provided the best education and support for them. I have found nothing but support, compassion, love, and willingness to work for our children from the principal, teachers, and staff. No matter where your children attend school, the more involved you are as a parent, the better off they'll be. The school provides a strong Christian foundation intertwined with a superior academic education. We have been St. Francis parents for 3 years and have children currently spread between Kindergarten and Eighth grade.
--Submitted by a parent

I love St. Francis School because my grandchildren love it and are learning to love others and to love God.

My kids have always attended private school however please adhere to what the reviews are. This school is by far the worst school my kids have attended. The Children are unrully, and bully other kids all the time. It seems that most of the kids belong to the teachers at the school therefore if you have a problem with a teachers child you get targeted by their parent or a friend of the teacher when your child gets to her class. The principle is there as a figure head and thats about it. What ever you report she tries to appease you but not fix the problem. The work being done by the upper grades are a joke compared to what the kids are doing in the public school. Overall, i am so dissapointed with this school that i am pulling my kids out . A lot of parents are too.
--Submitted by a parent

I like the feeling that my children are a bit more sheltered at St. Francis than at a public school.
--Submitted by a parent

I have found that due to very large class sizes, there is chaos and frequent lack of teacher control in the classroom. This school seems to have too many cliques and bullies among its student population. From my experience, the principal does not enforce discipline. My child needed tutoring to be at the level of his peers in public high school. There is no male presence at St. Francis. From the first day, you are informed of the dollar amount you must spend for the school's PTO. Membership is mandatory. School financing ranks first and foremost in the administration. I do, however, praise the pre-school at St. Francis. It is top-notch.
--Submitted by a parent

We transferred to St. Francis last academic year. We have found St. Francis to be a wholly welcoming and wonderfully healing community. Previous posts fail to give pertinent information. While class sizes are larger than traditional, there are 2 fully qualified, full-time teachers in each class through 5th grade. Discipline is not a problem as this means someone is always watching. We are a large family I speak here for our experience in fully of the grade levels. For 6th grade and up, there is 1 teacher for each class, and there is also an assistant who seems to be able to be everywhere at once. As for having no male presence, the many Franciscan friars who are in constant rotation through the school would be very surprised (and a little insulted, I d think) to hear this they are a true representation of Christlike Masculinity in the school.
--Submitted by a parent

We have two children at St. Francis School. They started in the PreK-3 program and have been through 3rd and 5th grades, respectively. They will return in the fall to the 4th and 6th grades. My personal experience with parochial schools goes back to my 1st grade through senior year HS. I attended several different schools around the country and I have found St. Francis to be a model community with an inviting and caring attitude toward all students from all backgrounds. The staff are generally excellent, with most holding master's and specialty degrees. With any school there will be occasional less qualified teachers, but the curriculum holds true to the diocesan requirements and those are definitely being met. Our children are ahead of the public school curve and will be comfortably ready to move on to HS in the future.
--Submitted by a parent