Saint Vincent De Paul

2350 Green Street

San Francisco, CA 94123

18 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 31, 2022

I am a parent of 2 current SVDP students. We are happy with the academics, extracurricular activities, parent community, value, teachers, and administration. The school both challenges and supports it’s students. The school did a fantastic job with in-person learning during COVID and has successfully navigated the 2021/2022 school year.
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2022

As a newer family to the school we have been overall happy with our experience. The parent community is incredibly supportive and fun. My child is learning and is ahead of many close friends attending independent private schools at 3x the price. I only docked 1 star because no school is perfect on every level. As a parent you have to know your values and what trade offs you are willing to accept. I would recommend this school to anyone looking for a tight knit family, a great value in educational quality for the price, and a happy environment for most well balanced kids.
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2022

All of my kids went through SVDP, but I have to say that since the the current Principal, Marguerite Pini, took over the school has lost much of what made it so special. While Mrs. Pini has helped modernize the school, she has little by little chipped away at the things that made this school so great and effectively taken all the fun and community out of the school. As long as Mrs. Pini is the Principle, I (with a heavy heart) cannot recommend it.
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2022

We have sent our three kids to the school and have been extremely happy. Each child was successful in attending their high school of choice and were very well equipped to be successful in high school. This school community is the BEST! There were so many opportunities to volunteer, great energy in the sports teams, and something for everyone. I would highly recommend the school. During COVID, the teachers and leadership led the city in the archdiocese schools in getting back to in person learning. The teachers are amazing and truly cared about the kids and helped to develop strong independent students.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2022

We've been parents at SVDP for seven years and have recommended it to countless families. The teachers are engaged with and truly care about the kids. The children learn to practice respect, discipline, and gratitude and are regularly recognized for being "caught" showing those values. The parent community is outstanding; we've formed life-long friendships that we treasure deeply. This school is truly a gem.
Submitted by parent on May 22, 2022

I am a newer family to SVDP after transferring in from another parochial school. I am absolutely thrilled to be here and part of this community. Next year, my oldest will be in second and my youngest in K. At our former school, I just didn't feel like we were "home." SVDP is a fantastic school, has an incredible community, and I am happy every single day dropping my child off and picking her up. She loves it there, loves her teachers, is thriving academically and we could not be happier that we made the move. I attribute all of our positive experiences to the school leadership and think Mrs. Pini is the absolute best. I high endorse SVDP!
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2022

St. Vincent de Paul is a wonderful school with dedicated teachers, a committed principal and lovely parent community. My children currently attend SVDP and are respectful, joyful and confident individuals. I feel fortunate to be able to send my children to SVDP and have enjoyed watching them grow and succeed throughout their school years. In regards to the negetive reviews about this school- I am a current 8th grade parent whom witnessed a few families whom would constantly complain about everything the school & administration did in lieu of being grateful & appricative of everyone's hard work. The negetive reviews were written by parents whom had a parenting style that did not fit well with SVDP's mission, which is to challenge students to lead lives of faith, integrity, and compassion. If your parenting style is relaxed and you do not feel your child should follow a dress code which is on the stricter/conservative side, this school is probably not for you. But if you, like me, prefer a conservative dress code (such as no makeup for girls), prefer your child's curriculum to include religion and desire for your child to attend a religious school that promotes intellectual excellence, leadership, service, and justice-this school is for you. My 8th grader was recently accepted into every high school he applied to and is very well prepared for entering high school next year.
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2022

We’ve had an excellent experience with SVDP. The teachers are enthusiastic, our child is learning a lot and gaining confidence, and the parent community is AWESOME. I’m so grateful we chose this school, especially during COVID when they were well supported and back in-person well before other schools. Highly recommend.
Submitted by parent on May 19, 2022

We joined SVDP in 2021 and have been so impressed with the leadership and teachers, close community, education and extra curricular exposure our daughter has had. She is excited to go to school everyday and comes home sharing great projects, experiments and stories about her classes and friends. We really couldn’t ask for more.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2021

This school is externally low on money, and is constantly begging, practically, on their knees just to afford crayola art paint for art class. Even though parents are paying thousands of dollars just to send their child to this school. Not including additional fees for sports and text books. They prioritize if your shirt is not tucked in over learning. On cold days the students are not allowed to wear any sort of hoodie or jacket. They give a 8 minute silent lunch to the students. Think about it, it takes at least 1 minute to get to the cafeteria, leaving you with only 7 minutes of lunch. Also if you get hot lunch, if takes at least 3 minutes (because of waiting in line) to get your lunch, leaving you with 5 minutes of a silent lunch. Not only is the lunch silent but the principal is breathing down the students throats as they eat. If they talk they get detention right away. Punishments are way too harsh. They are more focused on studying and good grades rather than our children’s mental health. Their staff has hit an all-time low this year and they cannot seem to hire any more employees.
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2021

I'm a long time parent at this school. It's with a heavy heart that I write to dissuade you from attending. There are some things the school has done well: very good at reading throughout the years, and especially good writing tutelage in later years. However, the administration in this school has shown a distinct lack creativity in motivating students; there is no longer the creative, positive, optimistic, empathetic environment that there once was many years ago. Kids are given 10-minute lunch period and are NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK; can you imagine? Kids are given lunch and after school detention for not wearing their uniform properly. After three infractions they are left out school spirit activities, which essentially shames them instead of giving them an outlet for creativity and FUN! The lack of empathy in the administration is striking at this school; it doesn't reflect the love and caring that is supposed to be at the heart of a parochial institution. Here's the thing: my kids aren't even trouble makers at the school and I feel this way. Try elsewhere.
Submitted by parent on November 17, 2020

Horrible I would not recommend this school to anyone.
Submitted by parent on August 11, 2020

I have sent three children to SVDP. It is an excellent academic school with a very strong community. Ms. Pini has brought the school into the 21st century with technology and a focus on continuing education for teachers. SVDP has done a phenomenal job during Distance Learning. They have communicated well, they have evolved with the needs of the families and have focused on keeping the students learning and developing. I would highly recommend this school.
Submitted by parent on October 13, 2017

As many know, Saint Vincent de Paul used to be one of the best schools in the city. Now, withought Ms. Harvey or Father Ring, the school cares less about academics and more about being a kind person. Of course being a good person is very important but as a parent I know that I send my child to school for an education, not for life coaching. The teachers at the school who have been teaching for a while, such as Ms. Colla, Ms. Nejasmich, Ms. Melchior, Ms. Carmignani, Ms. Spinale, and Ms. Della Cella are AMAZING teachers. Sadly, the majority of the newly recruited teachers have bad teaching techniques. I'm also aware that teachers left the school because they didn't like the new ways of the school, and one was even fired for having pornographic images on his laptop, visible to many. When applying to high schools, the students are all competing too be accepted into SI, and the ones who deserve it are never the ones to be accepted. It seems as though students only have a good chance of getting into a good high school, is if they are a legacy. Overall, I feel very strongly about this school, and not in a good way. If you are looking into this school, please stop and consider St. Cecilia or Convent.
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2017

I pulled my youngest out and my older kids wished I had done the same for them. No male role models for the boys, teaching is based mostly on memorization, not learning. Parents have concern only about getting into SI and they are hyper competitive to get into that school. Teachers rank the kids and base instruction on how effective they have been with top memorizers. It creates a bullying atmosphere (teachers judge, then students follow their role models and judge). There is little accountability at all levels. Bottom line my kids had deficiencies when they went on to high school and all their classmates did as well. There were moments of joy but more precious childhood lost to misery than should have been. The old teachers who brought a lot of love, compassion and kindness are no longer at this school. There is ZERO character development, and the teachers do not exhibit any.
Submitted by parent on December 25, 2014

This is a wonderful little school. I'm so happy that I sent my son to this school for the last 9 years. All the teachers are wonderful. They have helped my son learn so much.
Submitted by other on January 27, 2014

As mentioned in a previous post, accountability is a major issue for this school. The parent community, academics, and sports are strong however historically there has been a serious disconnect between administration and the rest of the community. We learned the last two years that the Church and Archdiocese does little to uphold the school s mission as well as any code of ethics for administration. The school has new administration, again. I can t speak for any new practices in place.
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2013

The school generally struggles with accountability. This is reflected in high turnover among teachers, principals and even through the student body. The location is great, the facilities are satisfactory and the community of families is very strong. The school's greatest challenge is a lack of accountability for teachers and faculty and an unwillingness to acknowledge areas of obvious need for improvement. Additionally, a number of historic facts create persistent problems for the sports programs. While the sports programs are active and inclusive, the directors are not accountable to the parents or the school administrators and, as a result, can be challenging to work with. If the school can transition to a faculty and staff that evolves to be accountable to its constituents of students and parents, it will again be a treasure in the Cow Hollow, Marina and Pacific Heights communities.