St. Louis Elementary School

5192 Shady Grove Road

Memphis, TN 38117

37 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK, K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on August 26, 2022

Everything about this school is family! God, faith, family
Submitted by parent on August 24, 2022

St. Louis is a wonderful school! The SLS community is very caring and supportive of all of the families. My children received an excellent education and were very prepared for high school. There is a wide range of extracurricular activities that my children were involved with allowed them to be a part of many different friend groups. I would definitely recommend St. Louis to all.
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2022

This is an amazing place where my child is nourished spiritually, physically, and mentally every day. I went to a different Catholic school as a child, but St. Louis reminds me of my former school, very family oriented.
Submitted by parent on July 13, 2022

I have read through the comments and am sad to see that the school has not improved since I attended there 20 years ago. The same mentality that was rampant 20 years ago appears to still be at the core of the school to this day. If you were new to the area, then you weren’t accepted. The parents were snotty and rude and that attitude trickled down to their children. I was bullied from kindergarten until I left the school after 6th grade. I went to SFA after that and loved it. I was shocked to find that bullying wasn’t the norm at other Catholic schools. The main positive to the school is the teachers. All of the teachers were amazing and caring.
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2018

We love being a part of this school community. From the teachers, to the students and families, to the Catholic foundation, this school is a perfect fit for our family.
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2016

St. Louis is a wonderful school! We have been here for 6 years now and are absolutely in love with the faculty, staff, and other families. It is a real community of friends. I didn't attend SLS as a child and have been welcomed with open arms. I DID get involved with the parent club right away, which helped me to meet other moms. Having attended public schools myself, I LOVE that my kids are able to explore their faith while they get a fantastic education.
Submitted by parent on July 13, 2015

Unfortuantely most of the other commetns are correct regarding the sense of elitism and social status at this school. Parents are mean and little johnny thins he can do whatever he wqants. Changes were made 5 years ago regarding teachers and the adminstration. I have held my breath for the last 5 years waiting to see if the changes were effective. Sure we spent millions of dollars renovating the church, adding a junion high wing, and new youth center. Unfortuantely the changes were a complete failure to our children's education. Test scores have actually decreased since changes were made. Let me repeat - the changes have harmed our children. Likewise, we cannot get permanent qualifed teachers in the upper grades. If you are considering this school simply ask how many teachers are licensed to teach in a TN school. The reason the previous teachers were fired was because they were too strict (pretty ironic reason since this is a Catholic school). We replaced them with unqualified personnel. I feel my oldest is not prepared for high school and am pulling my other two children this year to attend other schools. There are numeorus o tehr private and public schools in the area that are superior to SLS.
Submitted by parent on March 09, 2014

St. Louis is a wonderful school. I have two children in school here, and both are happy, learning, cared for and loved. From a Faith side, they are grounded by the Catholic faith and are immersed in a God centered atmosphere. From an academic side, they are challenged, pushed, and are given high expectations. From a social side, they are involved, happy, and surrounded by friends. The teachers here truly care how your child is doing both academically and socially. The administrators work tirelessly to keep this school constantly seeking improvements to better it in every way. I highly recommend this school!!
Submitted by parent on February 18, 2014

Very nurturing environment that is very conducive to learning. The new leadership has been paramount to St. Louis school's overall success.
Submitted by other on January 04, 2014

To start the education is average and you are better sending your child to St.Dominic or St. Agnes because they offer a much better education. If you are not involved in things including all social, academic, sport, and religious event it is impossible to find a group of friends. Most of the staff are not qualified and do not do a good job at teaching for example last year they went through three grammar teachers in the junior high which caused the eighth graders (now freshman) to struggle in highschool. The principal and vice principal avoid conflicts that would harm them with popular important parents and social figures so they make examples of all of the students who are not important in their eyes. They have truely harmed kids by doing this and ignore that fact. The education is okay at best and your child is almost garunteed to be bullied and harmed physically and mentally. They do not try to give each student a fair chance at sucess and do a very poor job preparing students for highschool. If you send your child here with no connections or without being an alumni then you will be let down in every way. This school is a pitiful and has harmed more children than it has helped
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2013

St. Louis Cathlic School in Memphis, TN. My husband and I have two children. One has already moved onto to high school. He is excelling in high school thanks to the fantastic teachers and administratio at St Louis. The ground work they laid has made the transaction to high school seamless. He is still friends with many of his SLS peers but has also made new friends as well. We still have one child in school at SLS. He is also having a great experience. As the mom of these two children, I did not grow up Catholic or was not involved in the catholic community growing up. Neither of us is an alumni of St Louis. We have always felt at home at St Louis. We look forward to each new school as it begins!!
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2013

Unfortunately, most of the other posts here are spot on...although the lower grades (K-3) are MUCH less snobby than the upper grades. If you attended St Louis and know alot of people, then you will fit right in. But, don't expect to attend a PTA meeting and find people rushing over to introduce themselves. It doesn't happen here no matter how involved you try to be. Hopefully, some of these 'insider' parents will be moving onto high schools soon and the school will become more welcoming to 'outsiders'---there is no way to know for sure though. Academically, the school is average. I don't feel as if my children are "smarter" than children at other schools. St Louis is the type of school where kids will do fine if they are the type to do fine. It is nothing special academically. There are a couple of teachers who still need to retire because their teaching drive has gone away (for instance, one paints her nails during class and uses handouts to 'teach'). I will say that the Vice Principal is wonderful and welcoming in every single way. She should really be the Principal and I have no idea why this hasn't happened.
Submitted by parent on May 28, 2013

As with any school, there are positives and negatives. In this case, the positives far outweigh the negatives. St. Louis has many, many active parents that volunteer throughout the school. There are plays and concerts and sports and service organizations. The teachers are there to organize and the parents are there to support. I have three children that graduated from St. Louis and I am very happy with their education. St. Louis is one of the bigger Catholic schools in the area, so there is lots of competition for your little Johnny if he wants to be the star quarterback on the football team. At the same time, there are so many sports offered because it is a larger school. Golf and tennis and cross country and other individual sports to go along with the football and basketball and baseball. Plus the academic clubs, like Junior Beta and Knowledge Bowl and the Math Club. There is something for every child. I highly recommend St. Louis School. Read the negative reviews and remember the positive ones as well. Stop by and talk to the principal and the pastor. See if this school is the right fit for your family. It was for mine.
Submitted by other on February 13, 2013

I was a student at St. Louis for nine years and I had an amazing time at this school. It was very easy to get involved and participate. I still have all of my friends that I went here with and they are now more like brothers and sisters to me. I think this is why "outsiders" think the parents are so snobby. This school creates amazing bonds between the people that you grew up with and you fall in love with the school and send your children there. Many of the parents went to school together and are already friends from St. Louis or SAA or CBHS. They are not snobby, they just know the "insider" parents very well. To all you parents complaining about this problem, why would you pull your child out of an amazing school because you are having problems becoming friends with other moms? Sounds selfish to me. Try to get more involved because your child will always look back at this time as an amazing experience that helped shaped them to become the person that they will be become.
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2012

St. Louis is a very good school, with a strong curriculum, strong teachers who work hard to give your child a wonderful academic experience. I have been a parent there for nine years, and I still marvel at this gift of a school we have in East Memphis. Is it perfect? Of course not, no school is. But our principal greatly desires to make it the best school it can possibly be. I am not from Memphis, and I did not go to St. Louis myself, and yet, I have never stuggled to make friends, to find opportunites to be involved, to feel that I am part of a community. Our principal and vice principal have an open-door policy. I know, I've used it. They listen, they care. They tell parents to call them at school if their child is having a bad day, and they will make a point to check in on that child during the day. That's the kind of people we have running our school and caring for our children. I also love that the Catholic faith is first and foremost at school. We are proud to be Catholic and it is taught every day, in every way. If you are interested in finding a great school for your child, go visit St. Louis Catholic School.
Submitted by other on July 28, 2012

I was a student at this school for nine years and did not enjoy it. I liked it up until the point when the new principal came. She changed everything and I feel like St. Louis lost it's originality and tradition. All the past and unforgettable teachers were either fired or retired and it made the school not feel so much like home. The kids are annoying and mean to new-comers. Also, new parents are not very welcomed unless they have deep roots within the school. Don't send your kid here. Go to Holy Rosary.
Submitted by parent on June 12, 2012

I agree with the other reviews. If you or your spouse is an alumni of St. Louis then you are good to go. The parents are extremely close minded when it comes to outsiders. And if you are not planning on sending your child to SAA/CBHS, well then you are an outsider. There is a good old boys network when it comes to sports. The emphasis placed on athletics is huge when it comes to the boys and it can be about who you know rather than how good your child is in the sport. The class sizes are also very large. Upwards of 27/28 per class. That being said, I love the new principal. I think she is trying to change things, but I am unsure she knows how political the school can be. When a good percentage of parents work at the school or are extremely involved, there is a bias that occurs.
Submitted by parent on May 06, 2012

If you live near the school. Just go to White Station. The children are meaner than average there and the parents are horrid! I pulled my child out this year.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2012

My husband is starting dental school in the fall and we are relocating to Memphis. What is the best catholic elementary school that has a lot to offer?
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2012

This is our first year at St. Louis School and we are so happy! We switched from another Memphis Private School due to our decision of future education at CBHS/St. Agnes. There are more oppurtunites to volunteer at St. Louis as well as attend socials to get to know the other families. We have ALL (parents and children) made new and wonderful friendships! My children are growing intellectually as well as spiritually. They began the year a little behind so St. Louis for sure has a strong curriculum. The teachers did an awesome job catching them up and keeping us informed of what they needed to work on. I'm happy to say they had all A's, B's, E's, and G's!