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.

This is a wonderful school that teaches children in warm and loving environment. The small class…read moresize and multi-age approach provided the perfect environment for our family to transition from homeschooling to public school. Parent involvement what makes this school into more of an extended family than a school. Highly recommended.

My daughter (3) is doing so well at Mulberry! The class sizes are small, so she receives a lot of…read moreindividualized attention. The kids are taught to cook, bake, they have music and Spanish class, and they are encouraged to participate in a lot of outdoor creative play. In two days she learned through song the days of the week and the months. The teachers do a wonderful job of paying close attention to your child so if they appear sick or get a rash, it doesn't go unnoticed. The teachers love their students and pour themselves into their kiddos. If you're looking for a part time or full time preschool, Mulberry is highly recommended!

My daughter started at MSCU in their toddler program when she was 20 months old. She's now six…read moreyears old and completing her first year of elementary school there. We have loved this school at every stage--toddler program, primary, kindergarten, and now elementary. It's amazing to see how the environment and Montessori curriculum is helping her become both a strong, independent thinker and community-minded at the same time. The teachers are all amazing, and really care about your child and their needs and development. My daughter loves going to school here. When she comes home, she's excited to talk about the new things she's learning. I wouldn't send her anywhere else. Take a tour--you won't be disappointed!

We chose MSCU after checking out several other places in town. We loved the following qualities…read moreabout MSCU: 1) Teachers there were so friendly and upbeat. Many of the teachers have been there for many years and yet still have that "spark". 2) We loved the way kids learned in a very natural way. Montessori materials helped our DD learn how to read by age 4. Even today DD loves to read. 3) Community - we've met so many parents there who are like minded. I've found parents who are very committed to music, bilingual education and supporting local businesses. It's a very international and diverse community with wonderful food during the picnic! 4) Our kids can't wait to go to school. They actually look forward to weekdays when they get to be at school. 5) School is great at taking care of kids with allergies. 6) Beautiful rooms! 7) Mixed aged classrooms - our kids have grown so much as a result of interacting with other kids. 8) How neat and organized the kids are in class. Kids there learn to focus and learn how to take care of their environment. 9) Our kindergartener learned more space, planets, US History than most other 3rd graders I know. 10) Ms. Peat - she is the most amazing teacher in all of Champaign Urbana. She's been at the school for 20 years (very hard to believe) and still loves all of her little friends. I recommend checking out a couple of other preschools and then coming over to the MSCU and prepare to be wowed by the teachers.

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.

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!