St. Patrick Catholic School

3820 Pio Pico Drive

Carlsbad, CA 92008

17 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-8
Type

private

Find Homes for Sale in this School Zone

Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 04, 2024

My son has been going there since K1 and we absolutely love everything love everything about this school. The staff and teachers are caring and professional and the families are just incredible.
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2023

The biggest pro is that my child has nice friends and most parents are actively involved in the school. The class size is 26 max for kindergarten and 28 max for other grades. Vice Principal became Principal in 2021-2022 school year. A handful of new teacher hires were made in the last few years. There are also teachers that have been teaching many years at the school. A school counselor has been added for the first time. Classes are evenly split of both genders. Academics can be improved. My child hasn’t been challenged enough. Some teachers are better than others at differentiating and providing enrichment. Teachers are currently being trained in UDL. Socially kids will face the same challenges as they would anywhere else such as fitting in, finding friends, changing friendship dynamics etc. There are 2 classes for every grade. There is a lot of fundraising at the school and additional money to budget for beyond tuition and uniform costs. There is an annual fund, annual gala, golf tournament etc that you will need to donate time to volunteer and/or money to. Safety improvements have been made the last few years. Hopefully I provided some insight to help other families make an informed decision on their child’s education.
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2023

This school has changed so much in the past five years. New teacher hires are all qualified and do not teach in the old school boring way. Lots of new things going on in a loving environment. In response to the highly critical review below this, if you can't even spell "principal" correctly, I do not respect your review! If your child is special Ed, this may not be the place for you. The school does not have all the special ed resources you'd find in a public school, and they do not claim to have these resources. The pace is fast and the majority of the kids are above grade level. The addition of a school counselor has been great to help resolve personal issues among kids. My only criticism is large class size. Highly recommend!
Submitted by parent on November 08, 2021

Beautiful campus. Most of the teachers are friendly and caring. The staff is mixed. Some are very nice, others not so much. The parents are all in their little clicks and very judgmental and most aren't that friendly. Academically it's OK, but you would expect it to be on a higher level since you're paying so much for your kids to attend this private school. Please note, this school does nothing against bullying. My child was bullied and nothing was done. The staff picks and chooses their favorites (mainly families that donate a lot), and the rest of the kids are left to fend for themselves even where there is wrong doing. My biggest issue is that they do not promote a loving atmosphere. Their beliefs are very old school, "boys will be boys" but girls should act differently. I'm sure there are worse schools out there, but I would not recommend this one.
Submitted by parent on October 02, 2019

Amazing ! We are proud to be part of this small and thriving community.
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2019

St. Pats is simply a gem! The kindergarten is an especially incredible experience for students. The full-day format allows for students to learn a TON and also participate in so many enjoyable activities. It is unmatched and sets the tone for an unbelievable education all the way up. We are so happy that we found St. Pats!
Submitted by parent on January 22, 2019

As a devout catholic I could not have asked for a better school for my children to have gone to throughout their younger years. From the front office staff to the teachers to the janitor, my children were in good hands all 9 years they attended. My daughter was more than prepared for high school and I have confidence my son will be too. Honestly I was surprised how inexpensive this school actually is in comparison to other private schools. There is no way the tuition itself can even cover the staffs yearly payroll. They do several fundraising events and they are all community oriented and voluntary. The fundraising is important to keeping tuition low, help with the cost of running the school as well as keeping up with the constant change in technology. Its refreshing to see where your fundraising dollars actually go and for your children to benefit from it. The great thing about this school is they open their doors to all, regardless of your social status or religion, which is the Christian thing to do. So don't let the price tag (which is extremely reasonable) stand in your way of looking into this school. The church offer a few scholarships to some if you are willing to volunteer a little of your time to the church. This is from the church and NOT from the school or their fundraising efforts. Do not let a few sour people influence you, go and check out the school for yourself. If you want a small school, close community, high integrity type feel then this school is for you.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2019

As Catholics---we're extremely disappointed and depressed. We pray about it as a group daily to change. The administration has taken on the view of money and appearances as the most important actions first, second and third. People in our group have been called out by the administration of a Catholic school as "Too Catholic". Think about that for a second--a Catholic school is calling out good Catholic parents as too Catholic in a derogatory way. Meanwhile, you have secular families running wild all over the school mentioning to us that "we're glad the school isn't very Catholic" and "we're here because we're just looking for a private school and St. Pat's doesn't take religion very seriously so we were happy with that". This is appalling
Submitted by parent on January 23, 2018

This place is a disgrace to Christianity. The saying "a fish rots from the head down" was created to describe this institution. The Principal and staff care about 1 thing MONEY. They love to steal from certain people and give to other people WHO DO NOT DESERVE THE MONEY. How do we know....because communities talk A LOT and people love to flaunt certain things. Unfortunately, this church seems to turn a blind eye on the unethical behaviors of this school. Alarming? Yes. Whose in charge if not the Church? If you are thinking about this place, pray about it, God will send you elsewhere and VERY quickly, as he did with us.
Submitted by parent on April 03, 2017

A school can be good for someone and bad for someone else. Parents has to look for the right fit for their families. We are very pleased with St. Pats. My daughter has been a student for 3 years now and she loves it. All her friends are very kind to her and I have never heard her saying a word about bulling. She is very excited about going to school everyday and she has been excelling academically and socially (she was very shy), she also is excelling with extra curricular activities outside of St. Pats (which shows that the school is preparing her academically and socially), My husband and I wanted to send our kids to a school which they can learn and be good citizens and do not have to worry about being bully and disappear in a classroom full of kids. I am glad we chose this school and I can't wait for our little one to start going there as well. Again, St. Pats is just the right fit for our family.
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2017

I went to St Patrick's back in the day when the sisters ran the school. We Just pulled three kids out of the school in Jan 2016. Do yourself a favor don't send your children here if you love them there is nothing special about this school anymore. Don't be fooled looking from the outside in with the new school and all. The school is Catholic in name only. However if you have money to donate then by all means enroll your children, If you make large donations you can do just about anything want . The school doesn't have any safety nets and has open enrollment all you'll need is money come on in join the party. The more money you donate or raise the more revered you will be. If you don't have money or lots of time to politick you'll be pissing in the wind if something comes up. School policies are only enforced against students whom parents don't write donation checks or generate monies through fund raising efforts. They have grade inflation so your children should get good grades, however if they transition to public high school, they will suffer academically because the school uses a modified version of common core. If you talk with parents who's kids are in the you'll only here about the good things. Save your money or pour it into this black hole of sin. Never thought I'd say this because I've been member of the parish since 1958. Go figure!
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2016

St pats is truly an amazing community. Teachers and administrators are extremely caring and highly focused on developing kind and responsible citizens. At a recent function, my mother remarked that while she loved seeing the little kids performances she was most impressed by the young men and ladies in the middle school grades. She saw leaders in everyone of them. We have been extremely happy with our experience with the school and highly recommend.
Submitted by parent on March 07, 2016

This school is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!! They really do not support FAMILY as they claim. They do support guilting everyone into $ donations and more donations... To the point of Father Bill begging during kids holiday presentations.. There are some good people here, but the principal isn't one of them. Catholic my behind.. Not practicing what is being taught.. I will leave it at that..
Submitted by other on June 16, 2015

What a great school. It's a little jewel in the middle of Carlsbad. Like any other schools in the nation private or public, you see families from different origins. It has great teachers, in my own experience, my daughter was struggling with math and her teacher helped her after school along with other children that needed reinforcement, giving part of her OWN time with no charge? That is what I call a good teacher. Academics are NOT low they are excellent and especially I like that the students are encouraged to think. There's lots of activities from fun stuff for children, social gathering for parents, St. Patrick's Angels which teaches the students how to be solidary to those in need, after school activities, and what is most important: a very strong school community.Catholic means universal and that's what this great school offers, an environment with children from different backgrounds. I'm a self employed mother of 3, Hispanic, trilingual and one who believes in what our Catholic church teaches us. My husband is a self employed, hard working man who enjoys seeing his children happy.Whoever made the comment before me was a horrible person, if you want a non-religious, shallow, materialistic, private school, there are lots of them, why make a horrible untruthful comment about St. Patricks? Maybe because you cannot stand the excellent education that is offered to anyone regardless of their background. God Bless You and God Bless St. Patrick's School.
Submitted by other on June 14, 2015

Low academics, students don't get challenged they go home with straight A's, and the reason is because the school teaches basic studies. Which is sad because once the child goes on to another school or high school, they will struggle. In addition, lots of the kids that go there are under privileged with financially struggling parents. The ones that can't pay, they volunteer to do odd jobs. What happen to going to private school with wealthy children and surrounding themselves with the same upperclass families. Unfortunately, the family's that attend St. Patrick's are just lower to middle class society. Mostly, used car salesman, plumbers, single gold digging old moms. Sad...
Submitted by parent on May 08, 2015

I have nothing to compare St. Patrick School to but so far my husband and I have no complaints. Our son in an introverted, shy type that we thought might get eaten alive at a public school.So far he is thriving here academically and emotionally. Teachers seem to genuinely care and leadership is strong. It seems to be a high priority for everyone that when the kids come to school they enter a warm, nurturing environment where they feel safe. It is a strong community which can be good and bad. Let's face it...people are people and kids are kids but the religious environment seems to command good behavior. How many folks have you seen behave badly in church? Same goes for a Catholic School for the most part.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2014

We took our children OUT of a nearby Catholic School because of social and educational reasons. We put them in St Pat's. BEST DECISION!! This is a small, close, family-centered atmosphere. I am Catholic and my husband is agnostic and we agree this is a great atmosphere. Respectful teachers who demand the kids reach their potential. We had a problem with my son and we had a meeting with the principal immediately. Great response. Yes, some teachers are better than others -- as with any school. My son has gone on to a local Catholic High School and was well prepared for the rigorous academics. My daughter graduates from St Pat's next year and we will be very sad to bid farewell. Grateful we found this school!