I have been so impressed with the community that surrounds the school. Wonderful people who all…read morepull in the same direction to give children the best possible circumstances to succeed.

Our child is in grade K at St Philips and they/ we are generally very pleased with the school. My…read morekid is very happy. The school has done a good job of navigating the outside pressures that continue to make running a school difficult: COVID, national teacher shortage, etc. While I would like to get more updates on the day to day happenings in my child's classrooom, the work that comes home every week and parent teacher conference updates at the beginning of the year were enough to be able to support them at home. Pros: - small school - consistent routines and structures in class - after school programming available daily - strong parent community - academic focus - athletic community (for folks that want that) Grows: - Communication of progress Overall we have been pleased with the school and would be happy to recommend it to others.

I took my kid here and she came back crying in tears! Overall bad!…read moreMy kid made no knew friends!

School is not for the kids. kids run wild in classes they do not get the support needed. Parents…read morearen't held accountable for their children and actions. Cynthia is always trying to sugarcoat the situation. Teachers do not last because of the toxic environment and lack of support from colleagues. Overall, my kids will be leaving and i would not send any kids here unless you want them to learn nothing and develop bad habits. there are no extra curriculum activities. no filed trips. no sports offered. my kids always complain of cold food. i know way to many parents whose kids struggle with being bullied and " not seen or heard". Cynthia is well aware and does nothing! save your children and go elsewhere. trust me.

My kids attend St. John School, and our family has truly enjoyed being part of this community. I…read morehave one child who started in TK and is heading into 1st grade, as well as another starting TK this year! ​Overall, I have a very positive outlook on the school. A big reason for that comes down to involvement. We try be active in the community. Because of this, we've built strong relationships with the staff, faculty, and other families, giving us an open avenue to voice concerns and work through things collaboratively. While I respect leadership's authority to run the school as they see fit, having that seat at the table makes a world of difference. ​While the facilities could use some updating, that ultimately comes down to funding. Leadership does a solid job balancing facility improvements with competitive tuition (which is lower than many surrounding Catholic schools) and active fundraising. It really operates on an "invest in the change you want to see" mindset. ​It's also worth noting that the school is connected to St. John the Evangelist Church Parish, which is located off-site. While some families get caught up in the governance dynamics between the school and the parish, I don't trouble myself with inner politics unless it directly impacts my kids. And so far, it hasn't. ​Beyond academics, the sports program is excellent. The newly refinished gym floor is a great foundation for athletics, and several grade-level teams made it to playoffs and championships last season. For the younger ones, the lower-grade clinics (like TK/K t-ball and basketball) are a fantastic, low-pressure introduction to sports. ​As a Catholic school, faith and values are central to the education. However, it maintains a well-balanced, modern atmosphere, and as a parent, I appreciate that my kids get a good mix of religious foundation and open-minded community values. ​At the end of the day, if I ever felt this wasn't the right fit, I'd look elsewhere. And my family has plenty of ties to surround Catholic Schools like St. Paul's, St. Cecilia, and OLM (Go Bulldogs!) But we haven't reached that point at all. We fully plan on continuing to support St. John and look forward to staying part of this community. I highly encourage prospective families to check it out!

We are new to this school and very much disappointed in how the school is being run. We were told…read morethere is a resource program - but there's no program. We can't get any answers to our questions.

Saint Cecilia (SC) is a great school. It has two classes per grade, which separate it from other…read moreparochial schools in San Francisco with only one class per grade. SC also has a new Transitional Kindergarten. It has been a staple of Parkside, West Portal, Sunset for over 85 years. It is considered one of the main feeder schools for elite Catholic High Schools in San Francisco. There is a new administration led by a young, energetic Principal (2019), and also a new Pastor and Deacon (2018/2019). Lastly, while SC has been a relatively large catholic grade school, strong in traditional academic and athletics, there is now a big capital campaign push to remodel a new five story STEAM building in the old convent at the school (goal 2021/2022) There are well-attended clubs and activities like music, Mandarin, Scouts at the school. The large volunteer parent involvement makes the SC community stong. ~The Finest, the Greatest, the Best.

As a parent of four children who have attended Saint Cecilia School, I can speak to the lasting…read moreimpact this school has on families and students. Two of my children are now in college, one is in high school, and my youngest continues as a current student here. What impresses me most is the exceptional foundational academic preparation my children received. The skills and knowledge they gained at Saint Cecilia continue to serve them well in their educational journeys and beyond. Actually, my oldest college son said to me recently that if he lived in San Francisco and had children, he would send them to Saint Cecilia, wow. Beyond academics, Saint Cecilia creates a community where families belong. From cheering at CYO games to participating in beloved traditions like the annual crab feed, there's always something that brings everyone together. The school doesn't just educate your children; it invites your entire family to become part of the SC family.

Infodiva's Early years were spent at the OMI Elementary School. I went to a total of 3 Elementary…read moreSchools, 1 Junior High, and1 Hish School. I am a professional student when it comes to my education after High School. I am the product of Public Education. I don't think I am half bad. My brothers and sisters went to this school. At one time all SF school required uniforms. That was abolished by the time I entered Kindergarten. I remember Miss Boone, Mrs Markey Field-trips to Mrs Baird's classroom to see her play the harp. I got culture at a young age!! Save the Arts. Save Arts in The Schools. Commodore Sloat School, celebrating its 81st birthday this year, is a public elementary school in the San Francisco Unified School District. We are known as the "Rainbow School" because of our culturally diverse student population. Our parents are very active, volunteering their time to enrich the academic environment with programs such as a learning garden, after-school enrichment classes and tutoring, artist/poet in residence, computer technology instruction and much more. I was served hot breakfast and lunch. My brothers or sisters walked with me to school. I was engaged and exposed to a very good education. I also have life-long friends who were my classmates. How crazy is that? I love this school. Parents, prospective teachers...you cannot go wrong with my first school. Infodiva reppin education. Start on them young! No younger than that. Make little librarians for me. hahahahaa Audi Tale Ho'

My son and daughter went here for elementary! This place is a pretty good elementary school. The…read moreteachers care, are inclusive and supportive! One of the best elementary schools in the SFUSD school district. This school feeds into Aptos though, Aptos is the worst middle school you can send your kids to. Try to apply them to AP. Giannini or another public middle school.

I transfered to SFDS after spending four years at another all boys, independent school in San…read moreFrancisco. The academics, particularly the technology curriculum, were top notch; I learned how to build websites as a 6th grader in the mid-90's! Compared to other private schools in the city, students at SFDS seemed much less pressured to succeed academically, but at the same time we all were accepted into excellent high schools and were in many cases much better prepared for the workload than students from surrounding elementary schools. As with any school, some teachers will always be better than others, and it's impossible to have an entire staff of all-stars. That being said, the great majority of the teachers and staff of the school during my five years there were excellent educators who made great efforts to teach to all levels of comprehension and speed. Socially, moving from an all-boys school to a co-ed institution was an adjust for me, but a welcome one. Compared to other independent schools in San Francisco, I felt my class was extremely diverse both culturally and socio-economically, and there certainly was never any preferable treatment for those on financial aid. Overall, SFDS is an excellent institution and one that I would not hesitate to recommend to any parent considering private schools in San Francisco.

Traffic and noise. There is cue of hundreds of cars every school day…read more in the morning for about one hour, with traffic people yelling "all the way up" frequently. The same pattern occurs every afternoon as well. The school ignores requests to change this pattern. Wealthy priviledged people, though in the summer time not as much, though they still yell for like 30 minutes. The students and teachers. I have lived here long before the private school opened.

I'm 20 today, but I'll always remember my drawing that I was so proud of being ripped out of my…read morenotebook and thrown away instead of being told to stop (4th grade), excitedly showing my friends the piece of candy my mom packed in my lunch when it was snatched from me and never given back (1st grade), being ganged up on for not understanding how to paraphrase from the book we were reading, shouting at me and making me cry (2nd grade), and being screamed at in-front of all of my classmates, sent to the office where I would continue to cry until the end of recess where he came back to scream at me some more and sent me back to class in tears all for (quietly and within my friends LOL) saying indoor recess was boring (4th grade). All done by staff! Principal R was especially horrible and responsible for the recess incident. Teachers will forget names and move on from students, but I have always kept this mental list of all of the adults at this school who treated me with respect and those who didn't. You don't remember it, but I do! Teachers who are truly passionate about their work make the best educators. Ms. M and Ms. S were prime examples of that. Do not become an educator let alone an elementary school teacher if you are not willing to operate with compassion and treat students like they are worth teaching. You are guiding children at the most vulnerable, fundamental and formative time in their life. Everything you do or say, big or small, does not and will not go unnoticed by your students. 3 stars for the nostalgia, but they should be lucky I was a child who couldn't defend herself and not an adult. Any parent would be livid if they found out that adults who hated being teachers were humiliating their children in this manner.

My daughter has been at Dolores Huerta (Fairmount Elementary) since 1st grade. She is now in the…read more3rd grade and not much has changed. When I arrived at the school I was given a tour by the Family Liaison and a two other teachers. The tour was horrible. For starters the Family Liaison and two teachers were more concerned about my daughter not having no exposure to Spanish than actually attending the school. They made statements such as, "It will be really hard for her considering she hasn't had any exposure." I then stated, "What about the positive reinforcement, and resources. I then inquired about resources and support, and I was told there weren't any resources or tutoring. No recommendations of tutors, YouTube, or pamphlets on how to access support for first time Spanish learners. I also bought this concern of mine to the principal, Mr. Luis Rodriquez who appeared to be very egotistical, unapproachable towards my frustration, and I was given a very cold, abrupt response. Mr. Rodriquez responded, "We don't have any resources." There has been several incidents where I thought to myself, maybe its me and I need to reflect and approach certain matters differently. Then I began to speak with other parents and I was hearing the same thing, that Mr. Rodriquez is unapproachable and bias towards particular families. This has been an horrific experience for my daughter and my family. My daughter has confided in me that kids were calling her Black girl, and teasing her because she did not know the language and/or she was in a lower level book. My family and I have experienced discrimination and lack of cultural competence from the front desk to the teachers and principal. For a school to lack in culturally competency means the school is unable to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures. This is unacceptable. There has been times where I would witness a parent being given the green light to bring their children's lunch, and on the other hand I was being told you cannot because you would be interrupting instructional time. There is a standard that the school should implement for all parents and not preferential treatment. There is a stigma within the school that has families in fear and afraid to speak up out of fear of reprisal. I have spoken to several families in the past in regards to their experience and one particular father told me, "I have never experienced no shape or form of discrimination at this school and I am a Philanthropist, contribute to my community and I am well known. Next school year the parent came up to me and inform of some discrimination he was experiencing with his son's teacher and explained how the a particular book was offensive and racist. I have also noticed how parents, teachers, and the community become colored blinded, when topics of discrimination and biases are mentioned, and as long as their child is exceeding in their academics they refuse to acknowledge the struggle between Black and Brown individuals. Yes, granted this school is a Spanish Immersion school but the history behind Black and Latina/Latino people is still prevalent. This lack of respect and humility for one another is not being addressed. I recall a parent informing me that the principal and the teacher by the name of Ms. Villa informed her that she should take her son out of the school considering he is failing and this may not be the school for him. Dolores Huerta formerly known as Fairmount Elementary lacks cultural competency, and demonstrates to particular parents that they are not welcomed. This school wears t-shirts on Tuesday stating Black Lives Matter, but statics states that Black children, which are the minority are performing at the lowest rate. Do not believe the hype, this school is not for Black children and children of color, the principal demonstrates characteristics of a tyrant and a dictator. There has been several teachers and social workers who have left due to his lack of support, empathy for families, staff and community.

All my adult life, I thought I would send my kids to publics schools. Then I put my first child in…read moreSF USD and saw first hand the utter incompetence in the school district, on the school board, and in our assigned school. After speaking to a few parents who had children originally attend SF USD who then moved to Saint Anne, we decided to give it a shot, and it's been the BEST DECISION we've made. The school day is from 8-3pm and does a good job balancing academic rigor, homework, and extra curriculars. We take advantage of the Chinese School there as well as the chess club and aftercare program ... all of which our kids love. The school has one class per grade, which I was initially concerned about, but over time have grown to love because of how it creates a tight knit community of kids ACROSS the grade levels. Not to mention all the activities that you don't readily think about that a school puts on, which are run great (field trips, bake sales, holiday events in the yard, volunteering, and fund raising events ...some of which are a blast, etc.). Most importantly, the school has been extremely supportive of our children's needs. Two of my children struggle in a classroom setting because of their ADHD and across the board (the principal, teachers, and aides) have been engaged and extremely helpful and accommodating. We've had multiple meeting with Mr. White and our childrens' teachers and resources aide. Each time they have come prepared and we've sat down discussing how my children doing, where they are successful, where they struggling, and how we can help them meet their full potential. With all this, it's not surprising to me that Saint Anne is one of the top performing schools in the Archdiocese of SF (I wish they would broadcast this more widely). The school and the community of parents are the primary reason we will remain in SF until all of my children graduate and are off to high school.

16 years ago I gave St Anne's a 5-star review here , but thought an update would be helpful…read more Pre-K - K: 5-star - We were thrilled as my prior review indicates. 1st-3rd grades: 4-star 4th-8th grades: 2-star The school had ongoing bullying problems. Every school has some but St Anne's ignored repeated parent complaints. Our child thrived academically & got into Lowell, but it was a constant struggle. Other kids who struggled academically, socially or otherwise were encouraged to leave the school. None of the students were prepared well in math. High schools were well aware of that area of deficiency. Maybe the new principal can improve the school but I cannot recommend it for middle school years.