Our daughter briefly attended the 8th grade at SSES this year. The academics were rigorous, but the social climate was unwelcoming and the administration did nothing to help. When I told the Middle School Head that my daughter was being bullied and excluded, he basically said “kids will be kids.” Another new student left for the same reason. Enrolling was an incredibly expensive mistake :(

Great experience x4 kids

My 3 y/o daughter started in the fledgling class (year before pre-k) and my 5 y/o son started kindergarten in August 2023. Before they even started school 3 weeks ago, my wife and I already had multiple orientations on campus, several phone calls with administrators, educators, and volunteer parent liaisons, and a ton of emails and literature helping us prepare our family for school and making us aware of all the services available to us. My daughter was in preschool and my son was in pre-kindergarten at another local school prior to starting the Saint Stephen’s. Even after having an extremely positive experience at the previous school, my kids are even happier, intellectual stimulated and challenged, more physically active, and more socially engaged. Every time they are picked up, my kids are beaming with excitement and happiness to tell us about their day at school and very much look forward to going to school the following day. We have received phone calls and emails from my kids teachers giving us direct individualized feedback and we are very happy for this. In the three weeks since my kids have started school here, I can honestly say that I have not a single negative thing to say about the school. In reference to the previous review, my son did not attend pre-kindergarten at St. Stephen’s and both my children were welcomed into this school with open arms. We brought our kids for a shadow/evaluation day in September 2022 when they were two and four years old respectively. The school would be able to provide more details as to what goes on during that day, however when we came back to pick up our kids they were happy, had some educational materials to go home with, and told us that they had fun with the adults and kids at the school that day. We did not attempt to provide our kids any advanced preparation for this day, as we figured it was purely to observe their interactions with their peers and adults and possibly perform some minimal base knowledge/skill assessments. I cannot speak to anyone else’s interactions with the school, but I will say that our family’s interactions with the school’s staff have been nothing but tremendously positive and productive. St. Stephen’s school has also been completely transparent on their expectations of its students and their families, as well as understanding our expectations of the school. While the tuition is not cheap, based off my albeit limited experience this far I think it’s very reasonable and appropriate for the educational and social environment they offer.

Unless you enroll in Pre-K they don't want your child. We brought our child, which went to Primrose, for a 'evaluation/shadow day.' My child (5 y/o, hasn't been through the first week of kindergarten yet) can count to 40, write her name, and recite and recognize most of the alphabet. She's a quiet-yet-interactive, warm, girl with a wonderful personality. In 3 years of Pre-school she never once caused a disruption to her school. Yet because she doesn't know 'sight words' and was upset in the classroom, in a new environment, we're told we're unacceptable. For the record, I hold a doctoral degree and had to lookup what a sight word was. We read a Dr. Seuss book every night together. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. My wife says I shouldn't post a review, I thought other parents should know the procedures in place prior to writing a check for 25k a year to a private school. As a religious school I was hoping they would be more open and welcoming.

cool

Really cool