My son just completed his ninth year at Holy Cross (K - 8) and if I had to go back, I would…read moreABSOLUTELY choose Holy Cross again. School: There were realistic ups and downs which you will find at any school (and in LIFE!) I loved my kid's classmates and teachers. The other parents are supportive. The school (and the parish) has a working-class vibe to it (more working-class, less country club), which I am VERY comfortable with, because I come from a family of teachers, police officers, & firefighters. The student body is diverse (the outgoing 8th grade class was ~30% children of color). Scouting and band are our two favorite extracurriculars! Academics are the focus of this school. I am a public school teacher in Champaign, and I feel like a lot my time and energy is focused on behavior issues (which, unfortunately, leaves less time for teaching and learning). The kids at Holy Cross are still "squirrels" but they are not running the show. The Parish too... The biggest plus is that the whole family is now a part of a greater, Christ-centered community. We are a mixed-family: one protestant, 2 Catholics. We are known and loved, through our child, and through fun volunteer work for the school and the parish. It's actually changed my life for the better. When my kid was in Kindergarten I was a Catholic by name-only, and pretty-much living my life as an atheist. Without anybody hounding or harassing me, just by attending Mass and learning how to pray I've willingly come back into full communion with the church... and it's better than ANYTHING. (If you're on the fence, church is not about rules... it's about love and worship). Come on in! And make sure you volunteer for all the stuff... working together makes it feel like you're part of the family. : )

We chose Holy Cross School for our children when searching for options before our oldest entered…read morekindergarten 3 years ago. We couldn't be happier. First things first: the academic environment is outstanding. My kids are thriving with a challenging curriculum combined with a teaching philosophy that leads to lots of personal attention. Their classrooms set high standards for behavior, which means that not only are they learning in a comfortable environment, they are also developing skills in self-discipline, personal responsibility, and respect that are going to last them a lifetime. It's clearly working not just for my kids, because the average student at Holy Cross School is performing about 12 months ahead of their peers elsewhere. The best part for our family, however, are the things that are taking place beyond the typical academic courses. There is a huge emphasis on service - the classes take turns bringing fresh fruit and milk every week to the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, and classes at every grade level make community service a central focus of their time (assisting and visiting the elderly, feeding the hungry, helping the Humane Society, etc.) I can't overstate how awesome it is to have a school partner that is so invested in helping create kids who know how important service to others is, and who take a look at the world around them and want to know how to help. Another big difference I've seen with Holy Cross School is the effort they put into healthy peer relationships and a joyful, supportive school culture. They pair younger kids with older student mentors starting in kindergarten, and have a great multiage/multigrade "house" program for those especially tough middle school years. Holy Cross is a Catholic school but it's about as diverse a group of students as you could expect to find, which is another nice bonus for us. All kinds of faith backgrounds, many different family backgrounds, so it creates a very welcoming community for anyone and everyone. They are launching a preschool program for 2014-2015, so while the school is K-8 now, it will soon be for 3 year olds through 8th grade.

WHO THE F*** USES YELP IN 2017?…read more TL;DR - this school is a Darude Sandstorm out of 10 Yo, its ya boy Dolla J in da house, hitting you up with an in depth analysis of this "whack" (as the cool kids say) school. I would have to say, in terms of how memey this school is on a scale from "all your base are belong to us" to "Donald Trump's hair", I would have to rate this school a Darude Sandstorm out of 10. It can be pretty funny, as for example the cross country team gets high on shrooms every year, but the school itself is kind of a mess, as it is 100 year old building (just like how Darude Sandstorm is a 100 year old meme) that owes $1,000,000 to the UNIVERSITY WE ARE A PART OF (yeah contrary to popular belief, we are not a part of the University). Now before you dismiss me as a maniac who wrote this review on drugs (which would be the logical thing to do, as I am wasting my time writing a not really funny review of a not really dank school when I should be doing homework), I am actually an undercover Centennial student who got their way into Uni with the first ever 100 on the SSAT, so this review is actually completed unbiased. So without further a due lets get started with faculty and facilities. Now the facilities in all honesty kind of suck, because we are in 1,000,000 dollars of debt and nobody wants to give us money, BUT WE HAVE 6 MICROWAVES SO ACTUALLY ARE FACILITIES ARE WONDERFUL. Since the building was built back in the wee ages of people thinking that World War 1 would be the last war, we don't get warm water in the showers unless you wait 5 minutes, which was almost an immediate turn off for me until I heard about the microwaves. In all honesty, don't come to this school if you are looking for the top of the line tools to use for the science fair, because we don't even have a working color printer half the time. The staff on the other had are actually very solid, so if you think the facilities are a shredded marijuana leaf, THE STAFF ARE LIKE TASTY CRACK COCAINE IN COMPARISON. The teachers are always there for you, even if you don't want them there, like a sex offender living in a neighbor hood, except they don't commit crimes and they are actually pretty nice (although are all sex offenders mean? idk but either way this wasn't a great analogy so please don't kill me if any teacher manages to read this). Whenever you have a question or having trouble in a class, the teachers will actually help you get through it unlike the strict asian parents I know you have (yes reader, I'm acknowledging you). They will always make the content you covering kind of fun (well most of them, I didn't say all), and when it isn't you can just pull out your computer and play some MINECRAFT like the horrible student you are. So on the whole, the facilities are crap, but the faculty use whatever crap there is effectively to teach you about Lamborghi--- I mean KNOWLEDGE. But what knowledge do they teach you (hint its not lamborghini's, although Tai Lopez would make a very good economics teacher here)? The KNOWLEDGE you learn can range from "how do microwaves work?" (actual quote from real science teacher who was asking un-ironically) to "Once you die, you are forced to relive life till the moment you reach Nirvana, at which point you transcend reality and no longer become human, but an intangible form of happiness (actual quote from math class). Since everybody who goes to this school is automatically classified as a smart prick who owns an Iphone X, you would think that there isn't much to learn, and for the most part you are half right. Half the time I bang my head on the desk in boredom as the teachers go on and on for 45 minutes about stuff you already know, and the other half I actually learn a thing or 2, which I then promptly forget (how do I still have a 4.0 GPA is the real question). Thankfully, the teachers make the same stuff we learned in 7th grade somewhat more interesting, but I often just pull out my laptop and play League of Legends like the degenerate I am. That being said, you do have to be careful and study sometimes, because this school is like an exponential function when it comes to difficulty. If you think you could be Forrest Gump in subbie year, then good luck turning into Megamind by senior year, because that's who you have to be in order to get into an Ivy League. Thankfully though, they don't teach you about SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS which automatically makes it better then the school I went to before hand. This is the perfect segway into our final category... Sports and other Extra Cirriculars (and a rant on health)! OH Shoot I have 52 characters left to write. Um, Health SUCKS, thatsit

I also went to Uni High, and thank god I did. The anti-intellectual social pressures of the public…read morehigh schools were killing me, whereas uni was this creative sanctuary. And the teachers are simply amazing--clearly dedicated to Uni and to the students, because they're way over-qualified and way under-paid, but they made such an important impact on my life. If you can get your kids in, do it!

This administration who run this school is horrible. There is little to no communication from…read morethem. I toured the facility. It is a VERY short tour there is not much to the building. I then and asked the "teacher" what the daily routine looks like. She didn't really have an answer. The first 3 hours the student gets to choose a subject, then lunch, and then the next 3 hours the student gets to choose another subject. Oh yeah, and they offer before and after school care. The playground (empty open field) is pretty good size. But there is nothing to do outside. My child attended this school against my wishes (mother made unilateral decision for our child's' education). I tried to get some info from the school regarding my sons' education. They literally provided nothing. The teacher actually told me, "we don't do that." I would like to believe that there are good Montessori schools out there. Montessori Habitat in Champaign, IL, however, is not one of them. Please treat your children right and keep them away from this horrible facility. Sincerely, Disappointed Dad

From the owner: The teachers at Montessori Habitat will guide and nurture your child's love of learning through…read morepurposeful, joyful, and often collaborative activities. Our school is located on two peaceful acres with butterfly gardens, vegetable gardens, and a berry patch. We serve children from age three through 8th grade.

Stale limited curriculum that teaches to the middle. Uninspired teachers who are minions to the…read morezero-personality principal.The place operates more like a minimum security prison rather than an environment to foster creativity, talent development and academic achievement. Oh, and the parents! Lots of snotty little soccer mom cliques here. Many don't even make eye contact if you are not in the "group." For being a Catholic school, you would think the environment would be welcoming and supportive. Quite the contrary. It is isolating and lacks all signs of inclusivness and hospitality. Because the office staff are kind and caring with the students, two stars are warranted.

From the owner: St. Matthew Catholic Church in Champaign, Illinois is here to help all of Christ's children know,…read morelove and serve God and the community. We offer masses, devotions, ministries, programs and organizations for you to enjoy and share with others. Our ministries and programs include:Religious education Continuing Catholic Development (CCD) Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) Liturgy and pastoral care Social programs for youths and adults Kindergarten through eighth grade parochial school Please be sure to see our schedule tab for information about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and our Masses. Guests and visitors are always welcome to join us. Our goal is to educate and inform our children and all members of our congregation about how to know, love, and serve God.Please call us today to learn more about all our wonderful services.

- Condescending admin - No changes ever made from student…read moreissues - Open door policy for lunch - Good variety of fun clubs to join I graduated with the class of 2005. Not sure if this is common, but the turn-over rate for Principal was ridiculous. They were dropping like flies. And some of them were pretty bad. The deans were not the nicest people in the world. True, they had to be tough and deal with a lot of stupid kids, but it wouldn't hurt to not be mean to everyone. For the most part, they were condescending to students and belittling. My senior year, I contracted Mono and missed a lot of school. Even though my doctor faxed them a note saying this, I got crap from my dean every time I missed school. She kept asking me why I was "playing this cat and mouse game with her." For the most part, I was a straight A, band-playing, elected officer in the National Key Club student, so I'm not sure what she was talking about. She found out where I lived and harassed me about how I lived close to school and would still be late to or miss class, even though I consistently told her I was sick . Teachers were hit or miss. I had some awesome ones (Ms. Gross stands out most in my mind, she was just a wonderful person in general and hilarious and really cared about what she taught) and some bad ones (Mr. Rowe, my physics teacher, said the first day of class that it was his last year before retirement and that "he didn't care anymore.") On this same note, classes were also hit or miss. Health was a joke, while Microbiology was awesome! When any of these issues were reported to admin, you'd get a "that's nice, thanks for your input *insert name* " if you were lucky. Due to tenure and lack of care or trust in students, no problems ever got fixed. Funding for the arts was being slashed my last couple years here. It got to the point where we were making shit out of cardboard for my *ceramics* class. (No, seriously.) And the school said we weren't even allowed to have fundraisers to raise money for more clay because that wouldn't be fair... But then somehow the sports teams always got new equipment and they were allowed to have fundraisers (IE: the football team's spaghetti/barbeque cook out). We also tried to start a Gay Straight Alliance and that went down like a ton of bricks. Students harassed us, parents harassed the school and the school gave us crap. They wouldn't sponsor us unless we changed our name to "The Rainbow Club." (Not joking). This was because the school was publicly funded and not everyone thought homosexuality was okay. I respect other people's opinions, but there's a time when eventually you need to get over that and stop being stupid. Remember when it wouldn't have been okay for students to have an African American Club? Yeah. When we started putting up flyers around the school, admin told us we had to ask their PERMISSION to put up flyers and ask where we would be ALLOWED to put them. When we pointed out that students had been putting up flyers where and when they please for YEARS with no issues, they started enacting all these new rules about flyer placement. Every year during Homecoming week, there are many traditions. One of the biggest of which was decorating the hallways. On the south side of the school, there are four hallways in a square on the second level and each had a designated grade level. The freshmen decorated one hallway, the sophomores another and so on. Each year had their own color and created a new theme for that year based on that color and they would go ALL OUT decorating these hallways. It was awesome. Admin banned this, among other traditions. Their reasoning? Parents were complaining that students were getting up too early to work on the hallways... even though it was VOLUNTARY. The seniors got together and created and sold mass t-shirts that had a tombstone on them and said R.I.P. Spirit Week 1967-2004. (See uploaded pictures.) We even got in the paper for it! The school was not happy. I still have mine. :o) The school received some negative publicity when a then current dean and former teacher was arrested AGAIN for beating his wife. Again? You mean this happened before? And they hired him anyway? That's nice. And the superintendent, Culver, is a power-abusing douche. Positives. There is an open door policy for lunch. But they have to do this. The cafeteria only holds about 200 students safely and there are approx. 1500 students enrolled any given year. Some things were just fine, like classes or teachers Basically, I just don't like public education. They squash your creativity and instead of learning in classes, you now have to spend all your time preparing for these stupid achievement tests so the school can get federal funding. Public school is cheap, but is it really worth it? I was NOT happy during my time here (2001-2005) and was not sad at all to graduate and leave this place in my past. :o/

I graduated with the class of 2018 this past May, and I have to say my experience at this school…read morewas not great. While some teachers/counselors/staff members were fantastic, many others were rude, short with people, or just generally did not handle a classroom environment effectively. I was in multiple classes where bullying, harassment, and chaos were happening right in front of teachers, and nothing was effectively done about it. Additionally, many of the staff members in the offices were rude and unhelpful, and would act like you were an inconvenience if you came to them for help. Communication at this school was also terrible. There were a couple incidents that happened in my senior year where people (especially parents) should have been informed as to what was going on, but the school remained silent until much later on in the day. On top of that, I am still waiting for my 2017-2018 yearbook, which we were supposed to have gotten in July. It is December 2018. Overall, I don't think most people outside of athletes and people in theatre enjoyed their experience at this school. I know I certainly didn't.

DO NOT COME TO JUDAH. The first year here was amazing, but this year my child has been racially…read moreprofiled and bullied by administrators and children. My son was at the door doing door duty with another student and the kid got mad about not having a walkie-talkie, because you get the walkie during door duty, the other kid got mad that my kid got the walkie-talkie and tried to beat him up. My son reported this, and the people at door laughed it off. Do not come if you don't want your kid in fights, being racially profiled, and ignored!

JCS is an amazing school. Our preschooler comes home with tons of new academic knowledge and Bible…read moreknowledge each day. The preschool classroom has hands on learning stations the kids get to use and rotate through each day, the teachers are amazing, and the 1,000 books before Kindergarten program is awesome. Our little guy has enhanced his vocabulary and learning massively through this program, and his year over year reports from preschool 3's to preschool 4's show massive learning in all the basic skills you want your child to develop. Writing, numbers, letters, shapes, motor and vocabulary skills, recognition of spatial areas and associated names, counting..so much I could list. We are so happy with Judah Christian School and our entire preschool experience has been phenomenal. If you're looking for a preschool, (or elementary, middle, or hs) I highly recommend JCS as an the place to be.

My son goes here and he had told me about how rude the other students are. They try to distract him…read morefrom work and actually mess with him. I want the school to pay more attention with their students and how they are treating others. My son's friends have great ways of treating each other but maybe you need to stop kids from treating others so badly. this is a great school but if this keeps up, i might tranfer my younger son tk another school.Thank you.