I wanted to make sure I reviewed this as I send my son here and he loves it. I can tell day after…read moreday he is learning. He comes home telling me about his day and all hes learned I trust this school not because its where I spend my money but its the feeling I get while I get walk my son in and how the staff makes it a point to know his name even if he is 3. I never believed I would send my children here but it just turns out that investing into the future is not really that expensive. Villa Maria Academy is a Catholic, co-educational, secondary school established to further the mission of unity of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Through Villa Maria Academy's leadership, gospel-centered environment and commitment to academic excellence, we empower young people to recognize their God-given uniqueness and talents, to acquire knowledge and skills for success in a global society and to be leaders in creating a future of optimism, generosity and confidence. Founded: by Sisters of St. Joseph in 1892, 118 years young and the oldest of 3 Catholic High Schools in Erie. Affiliation: Villa Maria Academy is college preparatory Catholic school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie for students in grades 9-12. Students from all faiths are welcome to attend. Accreditation and Memberships: * Accredited by Middles States Commission on Secondary Schools. * Member of National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) Number of Students: 300 Student to Teacher Ratio: 12:1 Tuition and Fees: * Total Tuition for 2011-2012: $6,995.00* (All freshmen receive a Tablet PC included in tuition) *Additional fees apply for seniors, athletes, non-Catholic students, and families choosing a special payment plan. Admission: Acceptance to the freshman class at Villa Maria Academy is based on the results of the mandatory Entrance Exam, elementary school transcripts, elementary school disciplinary record, and recommendations from the elementary school teachers and principal. Transfer students are accepted based on the transcripts, disciplinary records, and recommendations from the teachers and principal from the previous school. Non-Discrimination Policy: Although Villa Maria Academy is a distinctly Catholic school, it welcomes students of all backgrounds and does not discriminate against any qualified student on the basis of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, disability, or age, as required by law, in the administration of its educational policies, admissions procedures, financial aid/scholarship awards, and/or any other school administered programs. Class of 2011 Statistics: * 76 graduates * 96% attended a four-year college * Over $3.5 million in merit-based scholarships

I went to this school in the late 80's. Back then, the principal was John Mancuso. The Athletic…read moreDirector was Al Stuhlmiller. I have pretty much fond memories of this school. Mr. Mancuso was very caring. He wanted our class to produce the most Regents Scholarship winners ever before he retired, and we did. I also had a good relationship with most of my teachers and learned much from them. They just had started offering AP exams when I entered, starting with AP Computer Science I believe. They shortly thereafter expanded to AP English, AP Calculus AB, and AP Chemistry. Computers for word processing were not really a thing, at least not for me until I went to college. Typing was still taught in the high school by Paul Olkowski. If you wanted to be fancy, you typed up your report or paper, but most people hand wrote them in cursive. Teachers still used a mimeograph to mass produce handouts and tests (they wrote up or typed up a master copy in special ink, and placed it the mimeograph, which spun around and around to reproduce copies). The office had a copier, but they weren't used for teachers since copies were expensive. They had not built the newer wing in the northwest corner of the school during my time there or had the parking/drop-off lane on the west side of the school. Most students there today probably don't realize they are new. They also added an extra class period, by shortening the other periods from 45 to 40 minutes, I think it was, in my sophomore year, to allow for students to meet the new, more rigorous, state requirements. Backpacks were not used like they are today. They were so light for us that the style back then was to drape them over one shoulder, like a purse, but on your back. I usually got most of my homework done at school: during lunch, study hall, or in class after I finished my work early. I usually had just a notebook or two and maybe a book to take home to study. We also still used lockers, which were a social hangout back in the day. When went to them between classes to exchange books, unless your classes were farther away, in which case you got books for both classes at your locker in advance. A bad event that happened was in 11th grade physics lab with Arthur Clever, when my scientific calculator disappeared (i.e., was stolen). I didn't realize it until the next day and I was bummed. But we were not allowed to use calculators for the most part, even for final exams and calculus class, except in physics lab. John Sliwa, a now recently-retired and beloved teacher, was in his first year year out of SUNY Fredonia when I took his Regents Course I Mathematics (basically algebra and some basic logic, geometry, and probability) class in 9th grade. He was a long time softball coach there too. Anybody also used to be able to enter (or leave) throughout the day at the many entrances they had, without checking in at the office. Even a student who had graduated the previous year just walked in and hung out in the halls, waiting for a period to end to see the students. We were also allowed to leave and do whatever during our lunch period. I remember a me and a few of my friends drove three miles to Fredonia to Burger King at Routes 60 and 20 for lunch. Drivers ed was taught in the school, and most everybody who had turned 15 signed up for lessons in the evening. Most got their permit at 15 and full driver's licenses at 16 in their junior year. The student parking lot was full much of the time. The DMV was right by the high school on W. Lucas Avenue, near Central Avenue. If you were eligible for a free lunch (most weren't), you got embarrassed each year when your homeroom teacher asked for a show of hands of those who needed an application for free lunches. There was no school breakfast program back then. Our baseball team was fabulous, winning the state championship for Class B in 1988, and then finishing in second place the following year. The part of Woodrow Avenue next to the high school was renamed Marauder Drive in honor of the feat in 1988. They also put in a small electronic scoreboard at the varsity baseball field by the tennis courts in my years as a student there. Now there are fences and dugouts. When I got to college and beyond, I realized this wasn't a great school academically and many of my peers had received better educations and were more challenged. That is the only reason I am lowering the rating to four stars. Dunkirk is a lower-income, working class city though, so you can't expect much. The schools and library in neighboring Fredonia were better since many of the faculty and staff at the college lived there.

I go to this school, and I genuinely hate it here. The counselor and principals are genuinely…read moreinstigators and some are just straight up creeps. Once you get night school or OSS, their goal is to literally get you in trouble as much as possible and send you back. They also don't do anything about bullying whatsoever, and will "Talk to the bully" which in reality doesn't do anything about it, and if anything only makes it worse. The school acts like they're so amazing when in reality they don't do anything right at all, and just set people up for failure.

Silver Creek in a very nice school district - and their technology is amazing for such a small…read moreschool. There is a bit too much bullying going on though and I'm quite tired of that - so if things aren't better next year - Papa is going to school!

I dont know about the schools themselves but we are here on vacation and the kids love the…read moreplayground. It is very big with two main parts. The only problem is a lot of it is kind of tall, easy to fall, especially for smaller children. But the playground is great for them, best one around.

I went to this school from 1981-1984. The principle at that time was Terry Wolfenden…read more It used to be called Dunkirk Junior High School, but they changed the name a few years before I went to emphasize the middle school years were a separate stage of child/student development, worthy of its own name, and not just a high school but "junior". All in all, I can say that I received a somewhat rigorous education here, with some exceptions. Students of all abilities were grouped into the same class. It didn't compare to more wealthy school districts or to boarding/day schools, but for a small, rural town, it was good. And of couese, it doesn't compare to schooling nowadays, where younger and younger students are taught more advanced concepts. We were still doing arithmetic in seventh grade and didn't fully start a foreign language until eighth grade. I am a little miffed now that lunch breaks back then were only one-half of a period, so 20 minutes. We really had to rush to line up and then eat our lunches, especially if you were at the end of the line. Another time, the lunch supervisor made the entire lunchroom (about 100 students) stay after school to punish us because just a few students were being unruly. This was not fair to us, and I missed a student council meeting because of this. All of us also all were required to attend vocational classes like metal shop, sewing, cooking, and woodshop even in the eighth grade, even though some were in the college-bound track. This is what the classes were for college-track students: 6th grade (9 periods of 40 minutes each): English Social Studies (I forget what) Math (arithmetic) Science Reading Vocational (woodshop, metal/plastic shop, art, sewing, cooking, library skills) Spelling (called "Achievement")/Lunch Music/P.E. Activity period 7th Grade (9 periods of 40 minutes each): English Social Studies (local history: NY State, Chautauqua County, and City of Dunkirk) Math (advanced intensive arithmetic) Science/Health Reading/tour of German, Spanish, and French to see what you liked best Vocational (art, either woodshop or metal/plastic show, either sewing or cooking) Spelling (called "Achievement")/Lunch Music/P.E. Activity period 8th Grade (9 periods of 40 minutes each): English Social Studies (American history I think) Math (pre-algebra) Science one of the three: Spanish, French, German for high school credit Vocational (art, either woodshop or metal/plastic show, either sewing or cooking) Spelling/other areas of the class' choice (called "Achievement")/Lunch Music/P.E. Activity period As for sports, there weren't many, unlike today. The was intramural after-school basketball in all grades, but for boys only. And there was an extramural eighth grade boys basketball team (by tryout only). Major Title IX violations here! Back then, there was not a sports field on campus and no parking lot for teachers and staff. Don't believe me? Take a look at the website Historic Aerials (https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer) to see what it was like in the 1980's. I'm jealous of today's students! :-)

Erie Day School offers is an amazing community offering an incredible education for my son. In a…read moretime of funding cuts for other schools they are offering an excelling liberal arts program while still offering rigorous curriculum. My son gets gym daily, lab based science, studio based art, and a foreign language and he is only in elementary school! They offer Toddler through 8th grade. We love the wonderful loving close nit community on a beautiful campus. The class room sizes are small and the teachers care about every student. I love Erie Day School.