My daughter attends one of the Discovery schools. Some of the things that she loves are:…read more- Teachers faculty and staff. Some of them really do a great job of trying to inspire the kids to learn, teach them discipline, and show care at the same time. - Co-curricular classes such as computer, library, art, etc. Although my daughter does well academically, she has a very creative side and enjoys getting to express that through these classes. - Students. My daughter has a great group of friends that she has been with since starting school here. They hang out on weekends and support each other in/out of school. As a parent, I feel that the school is generally safe, the staff is communicative, and supportive of the students/ families they serve. I am a strong believer in good free schools (since we pay our tax dollars for them) in our communities, and Discovery schools are great examples of them.

Before I share my review of the Dr. John Ochsner Discovery School (DJOD), let me share my…read morequalifications as a reviewer. I am a lifelong, professional educator having taught 44 years ranging from middle school to graduate school. I have a Ph.D. in education and am currently a high school teacher who also teaches 3-4 graduate education courses each year for LSU; and I serve on the Board of Directors of an "A-rated," metro-New Orleans PK-8 charter school. So, my review comes from a professional perspective. When my child's admission lottery number finally got us into DJOD, I was ecstatic! I truly believed DJOD would be a superior educational environment than the neighborhood public middle school. I could not have been more wrong!! DJOD was a huge disappointment and I totally regret pursing this educational opportunity for my child. Why? Over several years, I found the teachers to be inferior to the neighborhood school in their classroom teaching. My child's learning atrophied as too many of the teachers don't teach, rather they pointed their students to the internet and let online teach. Prior to beginning at DJOD, my child tested at grade-level or higher. Sadly, at the end of our time at DJOD, my child tested below grade-level. Worst of all, the teachers don't challenge the gifted and don't challenge early finishers. Prior to DJOD, both were managed quite well at the neighborhood school and I believe contributed much to strong academic progress and LEAP2025 mastery and advanced scores. At DJOD, the teachers appeared clueless with the gifted and early finishers. On top of all this, I personally experienced the lack of ethics of the school's administrators. DJOD's value form the acronym HEART and you hear and see HEART all over the school and from teachers / administrators mouths. Yet, while DJOD talks the talk of having HEART, I can attest personally they unfortunately cannot walk their talk. Their actions toward parents and students are HEARTLESS and unethical. In fact, I have concluded students and parents rank well behind everything especially their public face and brand. That's number one! How DJOD looks to the public. The prevailing administration attitude (all the way to the top) is: "DJOD is a choice; choose elsewhere, if you're not happy." Of course, through their lottery and waitlist, this translates to: "we don't care about you because we have plenty to replace you." How's that for HEART? Next, DJOD is a feminine culture and boys struggle to find their place in this feminine culture. Even worst, DJOD has no male role models for the boys. (Check out the DJOD directory and you'll see the lead administrators are female and there's only ONE male teacher.) So, in the end, as a professional educator (and, yes, as a parent), I have a very poor review of DJOD and strongly recommend you enter the school with eyes wide open - or better, stay away! When you pull back the curtain, it's not the school their leaders want you to see. Don't fall for the facade and double-talk. Good luck!

I took a tour of the daycare/preschool…read more Pros: They don't have a long wait list. Babies and toddlers are separated according to age and developmental phase. They are very flexible with drop-off and pick-up times, and have before-care and after-care at no additional cost. Spanish lessons start at age 1. The rooms are clean, they have structured days, and an excellent child-to-teacher ratio. Safe sleep environment for infants. Cons: I know from a former teacher that they don't pay their teachers a living wage, which must affect morale and how they show up to work. The teachers all seemed burnt out and scared. None of them talked to us, nor did it seem the administration wanted them to talk to us. Also heard from previous staff they have in the past (not sure about currently) been discriminatory towards non-Catholic students, i.e. not providing them with needed occupational or speech therapy. (Illegal) The days are structured, but are they too structured? These are babies. They start wearing uniforms at age 1, which I thought was hilarious. So do they need 20 uniforms for a week for how many changes of clothes they go through? No diversity among the preschool population. Almost exclusively white. The food included for ages 2 and up was catered and all came in styrofoam containers. The thought of this kind of waste and environmental damage is unfathomable. Ultimately, not the place for our child.

St. Louis King of France Catholic Church is located in Bucktown at 1609 Carrollton Ave not far from…read moreOld Hammond Highway. Father Hoang Minh Tuong replaced Father Bernie last year as the pastor and has been warmly accepted by the parishoners. This is a very close knit group of parishioners, as we see many of the same people each and every time we come here. The masses are always packed, so don't arrive late unless you like sitting all the way in the front.

The teachers are amazing here! I've had children in this school for over the last ten years and I…read moremust say that they have the best teachers and staff ever. But that's where the good ends. The principal is unfriendly, rude and needs to retire. She treats the students as if they are in prison and parents even worse. The kids are not allowed to speak at all at lunchtime and until recently were never allowed recess, which is still just occasional. In all the years I've had children there, they have had a yearbook 2, maybe 3 years, now the principal refuses to have one. Over the past few years she has also stopped any and all fun student activities. They have no fall fest, spring fest, or any fun activities for the students and their parents. Parents are not allowed to attend any class parties (christmas,Easter,etc..) if they even have them. She does not want parents involved in any way and even took away the PTO. The only thing they actually do for the kids is allow a"dress down day" every Friday for a dollar and sell ice cream at lunch. I would really love to know what the money from "dress down day" goes toward, since we know it does not go toward the children!! It's unfortunate for the children who attend this school as they will make very few, if any, happy memories here. While I am grateful for the teachers and education here, I strongly believe a school should be more than that.

Turning happy girls into happy young ladies. The staff here are very friendly, and understanding…read more My daughter absolutely loves this school. Well worth the price of admission!

Any other alumns ever take their Reflections magazine to show friends exactly what you meant when…read moreyou described Spirit Day or Gym Day to them? And then realize instead of painting a clearer picture, you just showed them exactly how crazy you all were? Good luck newbies, from a 2002-er.

This is a wonderful school that I would highly recommend for your children. I have had all of my…read morechildren at the school and my experience has only been filled with positive experiences. My children love to go to school and look forward to all of the activities, project and the supportive learning environment the school provides for the children. The teachers are engaging, caring and create a warm environment for the children to thrive and grow. The school, and its staff has been very accommodating and loving to the children at school and to myself as a parent. The teachers keep me informed, are very willing to assist the child if there are any exceptionalities that require a calm, patient space to develop and nurture their social and emotional skills. The staff has spent time with me and offered me guidance and their expertise in our families journey through pre-school and entering our next adventure of upcoming kindergarten. I have to reference the biting incident review as it would be an injustice to the school not to do so as they likely can't comment but I can discuss my experience. As the parent of the child that was bitten and has a permanent scar from how hard and attached the child was to her arm that bit her I have to stand by the school and staff for their actions. The school most definitely acted in the best interest and safety of all of the children in the class, which is what you would want as a parent. My child deserves a safe space which the school recognized and is providing to all of the children. No one child is more important than any other at school. Yes, children bite but we should be aware and informed of the severity of the incidents and harm our child inflicts on other children. The parent is disgruntled at the school and leaving negative reviews rather than accepting the reality of their child's actions and behavior and focusing their effort on getting their child the support needed to correct the behaviors. Some parents are not willing to accept the hard truths about their child and it is only an injustice to their child to not seek them the help they are seeking out for through such actions. I will always support and recommend this sweet little school and all of its community of parents and teachers. The support is there for all children and parents by the director and teachers who make the extra effort to provide a safe and loving environment for the children of St. Augustine. I have nothing but the kindest words to share about my children's experience at St. Augustine.

St Augustine Pre School has not gotten any better since the other reviewers have written their…read morereviews 6-7 years ago. I attribute it to leadership that is utterly incompetent. Do yourself a favor and do not send your child to the worst pre school in Metairie. The teachers are very cold, show no affection to the children. My 2 yr old could sense toxicity there and never wanted to go. He had a couple of biting incidents (which is completely normal for 2 yr olds) and they sent him home for a week and told me I needed to get X-rays of my sons teeth to prove he is teething. I guess this was a CYA for the other parents of the children he bit. His pediatrician told them that he will absolutely not be getting un needed radiation, and that biting for 2 yr olds is normal. They acted like they taught for 30 years, but have never encountered a child that bit. While consulting with the director about steps we could take to get him to stop biting we were told "at some point you just need to be a parent" all while scrolling her Apple Watch. My husband went for a second meeting and had to tell her to stop scrolling her phone while discussing a serious matter. They do not care about your kids, and your kid will sense it and not want to be there.

Based on my tour of the daycare/preschool, this is a good school! The campus is extremely spacious,…read moreas it also hosts the elementary and middle schools. Each baby and toddler age had their own playground and classrooms. They seem to have extensive programming for PreK3 and up (music, art, STEM, swimming). Only one point off for price (about double what the area preschools are charging) and goes till 3:30 with additional payments for aftercare till 5:30.

A staff member did something pretty horrible to one of my family members today. My heart is broken…read morethat a teacher can be that mean. Breaking a child's spirit is NOT OK. I have no other way to vent. I hope it will be addressed by school administration. I certainly would have expected better from any school, but especially this one. This was during the 2021/2022 school year. I did not hit the post review button at the time by mistake.