St Joseph Elementary School

750 Peachtree Street

Herndon, VA 20170

36 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by student on July 30, 2024

I am a current student at SJS and I am not fond of my experiences. The teachers get upset easily and some cannot control their reactions to this anger. One teacher told my friend that we should be studying for 2 hours every night! This is utterly ridiculous! The pastor and principal are not welcoming and just plain cruel. They have ruined our school. The catholic education part is bad to. Our religion teacher was not fit for the job and didn't teach us anything. He then had to leave halfway through the year for health conditions. Many of the teachers are leaving for better opportunities at public school where they get paid much more. We have one male teacher and boys are targeted much more than girls. Only one P.E. class a week is given. They are also not patient with students with special needs. I would not recommend this school. The only good part is the school lunch, but it is a luxury and very expensive.
Submitted by parent on October 04, 2023

This is our first year at SJS with a kindergartner and a third grader switched from a public school and we are so happy so far. We love that their focus on Catholic values and academically, it is classic teaching so lots of tests but the teacher updates scores daily on their site so it is very clear what to focus on at home. The PTO is great and welcoming to a new family. I feel more at home at SJS than a public school that we belonged for 3 years. I love that they give parents so many volunteering opportunities everyday. I feel like the school is so much more transparent than a public school that we went.
Submitted by parent on June 26, 2023

St Joes kicked my nephew out of school for failing. My sister-in-law was never informed of this. Not only did they not let him graduate but, cashed all the checks for his tuition.Tom the “ priest,” is extremely cruel and dangerous!!! priest
Submitted by parent on October 17, 2021

Great school. Small class sizes especially compared with local public schools nearby. Great sense of community and teachers/administration is very communicative with parents.
Submitted by parent on September 02, 2021

I would not recommend this school. In my daughter’s kindergarten class we had a total of 30 pupils with only one teacher. Contrast this to a public school with an average of 18 students, one teacher and an assistant. Most people choose this school because they are afraid of the very diverse group at the elementary school. They consider this school to be “a cut above” when in actuality it is “a cut below” in educational excellence. At the public school kids are taught in two languages and meet a very diverse group of children with whom they learn to get along.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2021

My daughter went to K-8 at St Joes and was the best experience in her and our families life. St Joes is not only teach Catholic values, but encourages community outreach and as a result, everyone feels like family at St Joes. My daughter is a better catholic, person and community leader because of the values of the day to day curriculum. All the teachers go above and beyond and equips the students with the right tools and resources to be successful for the next stage in their academic careers. I didn't only send her to St Joes to learn more about our religion, I sent her to St Joes because of their reputation of being a great school that drives Christian values.
Submitted by parent on November 10, 2019

Horrible!, we went to Flint Hill School
Submitted by teacher on September 15, 2019

Beyond terrible. I am pulling my children out and sending them to public school. The pastor is just plain mean. It is evident he hates children. He is clueless in his decision making about running a school. Yet, he is in charge. Who set up this ridiculous hierarchy? Oh wait the Catholic Church.....right.
Submitted by parent on August 01, 2019

I have loved the religion foundation but, the rapid change over in teachers and principle and the lack of diversity ,inexperienced teaching staff as well as the administrative bullies don't foster healthy learning environment. I've seen too many good families leave this school due to the failing leadership.
Submitted by parent on June 10, 2019

In 2012, this school was awarded a Blue Ribbon for Excellence. For what I do not know but I can assure you, there is nothing excellent about this school now. SJS does not release their collective standardized test results to the public and apparently for good reason. You are paying over $5k a year to have the diocese dictate every aspect of your time at SJS and you as a paying parent have little to no say or recourse. Do yourself a favor and find another school.
Submitted by parent on April 06, 2019

The current principal and pastor have ruined everything that once was good about the school. Look elsewhere.
Submitted by parent on February 13, 2018

As I said in the notes, there are some good teachers at this school that really want to do a great job and see the children succeed. However, there is a huge leadership vacuum that has driven out many fantastic families and they are tone deaf to the problem. I'd high suggest avoiding this school, especially if you have boys.
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2017

The faculty and staff at St. Joe are amazing. All the teachers who our son had been with are really very nice and caring. They are all child-centered and very supportive. St. Joe also has a great curriculum and many helpful activities and clubs. We love this school.
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2017

Mrs. Conroy, the principal is child-centered, supportive of parents and teachers and an excellent witness to our Catholic faith. She has taken the school to a new level. Test scores are the highest in the diocese. Students are well prepared academically but also live their faith. Students are happy, kind and focused on service to others.
Submitted by parent on March 13, 2017

St. Joseph School has been wonderful for my children! The teachers are loving and caring and are professional! There are so many wonderful things that have changed over the last few years. There is a fabulous Robotics program integrated into the curriculum. There is now a wonderful, young and exciting Science teacher for the 5-8th grades! There are carts of ipads in use and the administration is aware of how important it is to keep the students up to date with technology. There are several programs in each grade level that promote public speaking. The students go to mass every Friday! I encourage parents to attend the Friday 9:30am student masses and see how moving and wonderful these masses are for the children. The mathematics curriculum has improved immensely ovet the last few years and the school has wonderful music and art programs! Every school has a few bullies, BUT the difference is the administration at SJS is always on top of these kinds of things immediately upon learning of the problem. Cliques are always a problem at every school. I find this to be more of a parent thing than a child issue. My children were both well prepared for high school and have done very well. The administration is always available to parents and students alike. Kudos to the new administration and all the improvements that have been instituted.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2017

St.Joes as many other schools has its good points and not so good points. English, spelling, religion, writing are subjects which are well taught. Math is a disaster. If you dont "qualify" for the higher level math in grades 7th and 8th, you will never make it in HS. History and Science are lacking big time. So much more is available in the public schools. Two of my daughters attended this school. I think its fine thru grade 6 but take your child out after that and let them become well rounded with what the public schools have to offer.They are missing out on alot. Yes there are cliques..many of them..it's like a competition. Parents seem to encourage them..Most of the parents are nice but some are snobby. Guess that's everywhere. I realize its a Christian environment but gossip abounds. My girls were happy most of the time. One went on to public HS and did well. The other went to Catholic HS and did fine too. Lots depends on the parents so cant really blame the school for everything.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2016

Education wise the school is fine. Safety, no. The kids are not acting accordingly in the lunchroom and some things have happened that should not have. I took my kids out of the school.
Submitted by parent on August 31, 2015

The school has a very hands offs approach to education. If your child is a middle of the road academically they will be okay at this school. I had 2 nephews that attended and were top students and were not getting challenged. They transferred to a gifted school after a few years. My daughter was fine academically (top half of her class) but we were told she was too immature for her age so they wanted to retain her. We were never aware that she was a risk of retention till AFTER we placed a deposit for our spot next year. Her report cards had comments that her maturity level is being monitored but no goals or specific request were made. I asked what happens if she goes through a maturity spurt over the summer. Next year she will be bored. The teacher said that in all her years of teaching that never happened. Then I said that every education study out there says that retention is not a good option and that intense intervention is the proper thing to do. The teacher said she read those studies but disagreed. Well a month later we were told she was going to be unconditionally promoted. We ended up withdrawing her and enrolling in a smaller school. I just checked the roster at the start of school and there are 5 spots open in her class. I guess they decided she was mature enough when they found out they didnt have a full class to pay tuition! The new school we enrolled my daughter in had a similar promotion/retention policy BUT the major difference is that had another page that specifically goes over how struggling students are addressed early and an intervention program is listed out for the parents and teacher. Teachers at the new school seem much more interested in helping all the kids to the next level and not just getting through a learning plan.On a good note, they do have some nice after school activities for kids.
Submitted by parent on August 30, 2015

My daughter has two years at this school , she loves it ! The teacher from kindergaten was amazing ! My daughter didn't know how to grip even the pencil and at the end of the school year she learned to write sentences , it was amazing ! . The teacher is always suggesting the kids to talk with different kids each day so they can get to know and be friends with everyone in the classroom .my daughter has grow academically and morally. I'm always praying this continue through the years .
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2015

This is my son third year at St. Joseph School. His teachers have made a significant impact on our son. We are so pleased to see our Catholic faith demonstrated daily by the faculty and staff. In addition, his reading, science, and math skills are extremely improved. We find him accelerating the important math and science skills. We heard all good things about the STEM program and can't wait for him to join. We feel fortunate and are sure we made the right decision to send our son to St. Joseph School. This is a great school and we would recommend it to anyone considering a quality education for their children.