St. Mary's School

7 Pursuit

Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

40 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 22, 2024

This school will promise the Moon and deliver a rock from under your foot! Waste of money and my child's time. They DO NOT offer a proper IB experience. The Preschool program is just a joke and our Lower School student is behind her friends in public school. They are just about cashing a check! Look elsewhere for quality education.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2020

St. Mary's is an amazing school with proven top notch academics rivaling any school in Orange County. Our children are thriving in the IB environment and tuition although not cheap, is a great value when compared to similar high performing schools in the area. Additionally, as is typical with the school's approach to most things, the faculty worked countless hours to prepare a reopening plan during the Covid-19 crisis and were one of the first schools to be approved to do so with in person and remote learning options. I can't say enough good things about this school and am honestly baffled by some of the negative reviews. If you want honest & objective opinions from people who don't have an axe to grind, stop by the school and ask a parent what they really think. Don't be discouraged from doing your own research about something as important as your child's education because of a few anonymous and unverified reviews.
Submitted by parent on August 10, 2020

Awful. Beware of what looks perfect from the outside, once you're in it's a different story. Outside of the already high tuition our family was willing to donate much more but when our kids began being bullied by teachers because they didn't fit the mold of a zombie it was too much. As if life isn't stressful enough, as a parent you'll be driven to a point that is unbelievable by people who are not qualified to diagnose kids. They want your money and kids that will go through the motions with minimal work from their end. I would not recommend.
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2020

Absolutely shameful , all I can say is I’m so disappointed how they treated our family and finances where the most important thing not education
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2019

This is our 7th year at St. Mary’s and the school has more than delivered on our expectations. We chose St. Mary’s for its IB curriculum and sense of community...both of which are great. Our daughter has thrived both academically and socially. Teachers are fantastic and genuinely care about their students and want to see them succeed. And the recently introduced dining program is wonderful. Our typically picky eater loves the food and has been more of a risk taker in trying new foods.
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2018

Our daughter has been at St. Mary's for 5 years and we have had a GREAT experience each and every year. The teachers are warm and engaging. They keep class sizes small (22 kids with a teacher and an instructional assistant). Leadership has a clear and wonderful vision for the school and is committed to executing it as shown by the amazing renovations to the academic building and security improvements this summer. They are constantly reflecting on the program, the curriculum, and the facilities and making changes that are very forward thinking. This year they also added The Commons, a farm to table, restaurant-quality dining experience that so far my daughter is LOVING. Overall we feel the academics/IB program is wonderful and that our daughter is getting a superior education. The only reason I did not give 5 stars is because of the huge jump in tuition since we started. I really hope that the % increases slow down and that we are able to sustain the continued rising costs and finish middle school here.
Submitted by other on May 18, 2018

What can I say that already hasn't been said about the head master and the board. read the review on yelp, google and other sites. The board in on mars and the parents think by paying for the kids they get a better education. South OC bubble!
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2017

We've had our son here for several years and have found the school to be extremely supportive of their students and community. It has a strong IB curriculum balanced with a a strong commitment to character development. Teachers care!
Submitted by parent on June 06, 2017

My daughter asked me to take her out of this school. She is much happier now and is doing very well.
Submitted by parent on November 08, 2016

St. Mary's teachers are the best, they genuinely care about each of their students. My students have become amazing writers because of the smaller class sizes. I have always been able to email or meet with teachers when I have questions and get a response within 24 hours. Both of my sons have become excellent musicians because of the classes offered here. They are taking Spanish and Chinese. They both have exceptional computer skills since technology is part of everyday school life to build PowerPoint presentations, make video presentations, computer programming, and work as a collaborative group. These are skills that apply in their future workplace. The sports facility here is amazing. They enjoy playing football and basketball with their friends.
Submitted by other on October 24, 2016

This school has gone downhill over the past three years. I would say it all began with a significant leadership change,when the well-liked and respected Head of School was replaced by the current Head, who has no idea what she's doing. Since then talented leaders began a mass Exodus including the Head of Early Education that we adored. Many brilliant teachers have followed suit. The new head replaces all vacancies with her unqualified friends. Head of Lower School had zero experience. Kindergarten curriculum sub par to say the least. New Head of Early Education is incapable of an intellectual conversation. This school is now a shell of what it used to be. They are NOT offering a world class IB curriculum, just the opposite. They don't even meet the California minimum standards. It is sad to see what has happened. I know several families who have left, many had to sacrifice their deposits because they were refused a refund. The school also claims to support character education and Christian values... this is just a gimmick...shameful practice.
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2016

My children both attended St. Mary's pre-k through 8th grade, and I can not say ENOUGH positive comments about the school. My son in now a sophomore at Chapman University majoring in music and is on talent scholarship. His love and passion for music was developed and nurtured at St. Mary's. In fact, when writing his college essays, several of the St. Mary's teachers were recognized by him as his mentors and roll models. My daughter is excelling and thriving tremendously as well as a junior at SMCHS. She has been involved in cheer, honors choir, and the theatre program during high school and does very well academically. Cheer and her love for Performing arts also stems back to her year at St. Mary's and her involvement in both programs there as well. I highly recommend St. Mary's to anyone I encounter; financially it is worth every penny, and we are a family who must watch our spending. I love the school and loved every teacher, staff member, advisor, and director there. On top of all this, our best family friends we have to this day are St. Mary's families that we have grown closer to over the years. St. Mary's school is just an incredible community in every single way.
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2016

Our children have been at St Marys for many years. Initially we were very happy with the school. But as time went on we developed more and more questions / concerns. The first concern is that tuition seemingly goes up every year, and typically by $1000 / year. It now costs roughly $18,000 for middle school. The Board argues that St Marys better prepares kids for typical private HS in the area. Perhaps. But to be paying the same for middle school as we are for HS makes little sense. Also, Board says the increase goes largely to teachers. Rough tuition increase over our time has been close to $9,000 in total – that’s $6 million across entire student population. Yet we don’t see the improvement in teaching. Indeed what we have seen is increased indoctrination from some teachers concerning very liberal politics, and some teachers having extremely poor teaching skills (many kids have to go to tutors). And yes, the total staff continues to increase, but adding zero value. Adding insult to injury, the kids have increasing homework load, with average being 2-4 hours / night. This is simply too much. Finally, if you do decide to go here, expect constant badgering for more money. St Marys has become a business first, and a school second (or third, or lower). Its simply not worth it, and there are far better alternatives.
Submitted by other on January 27, 2016

St. Mary's is an incredible place, full of passionate kids and wonderful teachers. The IB program draws families from all over the world, further enhancing your experience at the school. My children have become deeply curious learners that don't just memorize, but instead understand the subjects they are introduced to. They learn from the inside out, by question instead of being taught by lecture. Their learning and even their homework, is student driven, making projects and homework incredibly independent for them. I have loved watching my kids light up as they explain in detail what they have learned that day in school. The hands on approach of a trans-disciplinary program such as IB, truly creates lifelong learners. I am excited to see what the next years bring!
Submitted by parent on January 14, 2016

Overall an excellent school. The new Head of School will take St. Mary’s to new levels of education. I’m very excited about the new Strategic Plan and the school’s commitment to the IB curriculum. My daughters love their teachers and have made great friends, as have I; friendly and polite kids are the norm.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2016

Don't understand how a school like this can still be running - vacuum of leadership and philosophy, too costly, not worthy of the money, faculty who are directionless, school leaders with little to no experience except their "on the job" training they are getting now. We've been here for just a few years. Came because we were told the community was welcoming to all, including all faiths. Not so much. We were told they were changing the name to "Sillers Academy". Not so much. We're pulling our youngest after our oldest graduates. Enough is enough. And, all of you parents (or EMPLOYEES pretending to be parents) who rate this a 5 star school need to get out of your bubble.
Submitted by parent on October 25, 2015

Poor planning runs amok here at SM. First, the name. Is it a Christian school pretending to be non-religious, or a private school without ties to a conservative, Baptist faith? Can't be both. We came to visit two years ago. Great Headmaster. Signed up. Now we have a Head who has never been the school leader before. And it shows. Poor academics. Poor calendar planning. Awful track record on management and discipline. Silly waste of money on a Dean of Students. He does nothing to help acclimate children into the community if they're not giving large sums of money to the school. PLEASE look ELSEWHERE for the 2016-17 year.
Submitted by parent on June 24, 2015

My experience from the beginning of engaging with this school was that the administrative staff was cold and taking us on the tour seemed like a huge inconvenience. The early education program leader was curt and extremely cold and at times rude. I then attended a coffee gathering at the beginning of the school year and went out of my way to interact with other women and it was nearly impossible to strike up a conversation. It was very pretentious and snotty. I'm in sales, so I know how to network, but it felt as though I was immediately seen as "not one of them". I put this aside for my child, but then our experience with the pre-k and kindergarten teachers made it worse. They constantly seemed overwhelmed. The pre-K teacher was not much more than a novice baby sitter. The kindergarten teacher was cold, curt, unfriendly and lacked any sincere warmth. Our child enjoyed the school, but the social and community atmosphere was really challenging. There was no sense of community unless there was a secret door or code to getting in. The tuition did rise consistently and there were continuous requests for donations and events. We did not participate because we didn't feel we were part of the community there. From the community perspective, it seemed image, who you know, what you drive, and how many kids you have enrolled there are far more important than genuinely caring about each other and developing meaningful friendships with people you will know and engage with for 8+ years. After looking at other schools, I wish I had done more homework before going to St. Mary's, because I've experienced a dramatic difference in meeting other school administrators and educators. My experience was that St. Mary's was very cold, pretentious, and full of cliques. This doesn't have to do with our net worth, I'm quite sure we are just as financially comfortable as most families there, we just don't use that as a way to belong to a community and make friends. I wish we hadn't wasted our money.
Submitted by parent on August 19, 2014

This is a school for SAHM that have a full time job in managing image . It is my sincere wish with the recent changes (or firings) , more Christian values and heart are invested in promoting an accepting Christian community. I respect other comments about their experience with admissions and getting introduced/welcomed to the community. We had a start contrast compared to those families. I understand the strategy was to cater to high income families, I wish I had know this before signing up my children into lower school, we are middle to upper- middle class christian non pretentious family. Although we can afford this school comfortably, we left in spite of the good academics, beautiful campus, good teachers. It is not the environment and values I want to raise my children, they are now in a good cost effective private christian school, and I now see how much Christian values were left behind at St Mary s . This is a beautiful campus and I think they mean well, but they need to figure out what they want to be: 1) school for the rich and wanna be famous, or 2) Good ol' American middle to upper middle class families with Christian Values?
Submitted by parent on August 06, 2014

Many families left not only because of the constantly increasing tuitions but the low academics. We had high expectations coming from another private school but were quickly disappointed /disillusioned.. No personal attention to kids in difficulties despite low teacher-students. No personal feedbacks other than the routine teacher meetings at the end of the semester. Unacceptable excuses like "teacher is coaching sports" therefore not available for over 2 months for after school tutoring!! Thank god we realized our kid's level when compared to public schools and took action. Very little return for all high expectations of the "only IB program of OC"...Yes, nice campus but who cares when there is little substance behind? Constant fund raising process!! Perhaps this "business" approach explains why the head of the school was fired this year? Finally our child was bullied all year long and despite multiple complaints not much progress was made. They were not aware nor cared when informed. The amount of "foul language" and inappropriate words with " sexual contents" learned during this year at SMMC deserves a 4 stars rating for the school! Great job of teaching kids Christian values!