St. Barbara Elementary School

5306 West McFadden Avenue

Santa Ana, CA 92704

15 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on September 14, 2024

Don't waste your money and your time at this school. It's terrible in terms of academics and the well-being of the children. Oh! And if you're Hispanic, worse. In the short time that my daughters were here at this school, I realized that this school is only a group of Asians who go here. And the 2 or 4 Hispanic families that attend this school look down on you. If you're new at the school, they look down on you with the contemptuous look that they give you. When they line up in the morning, it's a total mess. The adults don't respect the children. They get in the lines. They don't care if they're thrown or kicked. Other than that, the children don't have anything to play with but rocks and basketball. And many other things that I couldn't describe. In short, if you don't want to throw your money in the trash, think about it before you go here. Check out GreatSchool's comments and school ratings.
Submitted by other on December 04, 2022

The people (as in a lot of the families here) are great, I really liked my classmates. Some Teachers are amazing like Mrs. Lopez the TK teacher and Mrs. Dixon, and Mr. Capp who are all still here. The old principal who did horribly left and I heard they have less students. The Math class is 10/10, they have all students a year a head and once you get older you can get two years ahead. There is NO music or art, the teacher left a long time ago. The eighth grade teacher is a protestant who taught us that Catholics were the southerners in the Civil War (they were not). The spiritual life is lacking, the ASB program sucks and there isn't anything other than sports. A lot of teachers are cranky and give detentions for no reason. The staff gossips ALOT about students. Religion lacks deepness, it all silly kid things so don't expect any theology or deep Catholic faith for your kids here although it is better than public school. There are a lot of silly rules. They don't seem to care about you when you are older since you're leaving anyways. The pastor is NOT involved with the school. I've heard the Dominican sisters are great though. Some teachers are childish and pretend to act like teenagers. One teacher was teaching heresy, (she retired) and another acts like a complete child and lacks logic and knowledge about the Catholic faith, and wants to know everything about her students. She is incredibly nosy and passes boundaries and tried speaking about how some kids like eachother, how they should practice dancing for highschool (like boy-girl stuff). They need to replace some of these people.
Submitted by other on September 27, 2022

This school has the weirdest rules. One example is that you have to have a snack to eat at the tables. If you didn't, you couldn't sit there. Most of the time, a teacher would yell at you for staying there with no snack. This is California, though. It would be hot and the shady spots would be full and taken.
Submitted by parent on September 02, 2022

This school is too expensive and small with only 135 students now. Saint Barbara school is NO longer good private elementary school anymore. I rather send my children to any other bigger better public school nearby for my children’s sake and education.
Submitted by student on August 31, 2020

Stay away as far as you can from Saint Barbara school to save your money and time!
Submitted by other on August 29, 2020

I would recommend St.Barbara School. They really do stick with us even after school. Even after graduating, I can always come back with a warm welcome.
Submitted by parent on July 09, 2020

Saint Barbara School is no longer good school, and is going down the hill as results of the new management of the new, young and unprofessional principal and her husband. I would not ever recommend this terrible school to anyone in this society.
Submitted by parent on June 15, 2020

Please stay away as far as you can from Saint Barbara School to save your money and time. And please send your students to any other bigger public school for better and more qualified education for your children’s sake.
Submitted by parent on June 15, 2020

I wouldn’t ever recommend this school to anyone because of its substandard education and unhealthy, unsafe school conditions. Please don’t send your children here to save your money and for your children’s sake.
Submitted by parent on November 04, 2017

I strongly recommend this small but the best private Catholic school in Orange County to everyone because of its excellent and rigorous education.
Submitted by student on March 31, 2016

pros: - 2:15 dismissal on Fridays cons:- homework during break - teachers are hypocrites and they are fake in front of parents and spectators - student council members have no say in any school activities or decisions - parents have to pay large amounts of money for school trips that shouldn't cost more than $10 (ex: middle school field trips to plays cost around $20, when it should only cost at most $5 because the plays should be free since the higschools are advertising themselves and the bus money should be spread evenly among all students attending) - parents pay $350+ for chromebooks yet graduating students do not get keep their chromebooks - nothing useful is taught in fine arts (art & music) class - teachers give 30 minute lectures about wasting time to the students while the teacher is the one wasting time - science teacher does not teach (ex: she assigns students to assignments that she does not give a proper introduction to the topic being assigned) - school lunches are horrid - physical education teachers expects all students to do well - a lot of useful websites are blocked on the chromebooks- no swing set on playground - big toys are enclosed by a fence and students are not allowed to play on equipment unless a certain number of students agree to play - students are very boisterous and are plain rude- lockers are legit 8 by 8 inches, not all books can fit inside - nothing useful is taught in technology class - hallways lack space in width - students are not allowed to sit at the lunch tables after they finish eating their lunches - bathrooms are unsanitary and very smelly - no air conditioning- water from water fountains are the color white and taste horriblethere are more cons but im too lazy to type them all
Submitted by parent on March 06, 2016

I attended this school from 6th through 8th grade my sisters were fortunate enough to attend k-8th. I came from a public school were I had zero study habits and very poor grades. Yes I struggled a bit but I had great teachers, they actually cared about my success. To this day I am fortunate to remain friends with several classmates from St. Barbara. My sisters and I had such a great experience that I am currently enrolling my 10 year old and my 4 year old. One parent had a great point all these rules are in the handbook structure and rules are good for kids.
Submitted by other on December 14, 2014

As a former student from kindergarten to the third grade, I can now look back and see what is an awful institution. It was 2001 when I started and 2005 when I ended my course at this school, so my review might be outdated; I believe it will not be as such since I looked at the school website to see that most of the staff are the same since I left. This school also deters individualism and creativity. The uniforms are a factor in the deterrence, but it is mostly the teachers. As for creativity, there discouragement and, at times, punishment. From my experience, the education was indeed more advanced in the sense that the students are more ahead than their public school counter parts; the social impact, however, was negative. When I transferred to public school, (my mother saw how horrible the environment was at this school) the freedom felt odd. I would ask other kids if i could play and they said, "just play you don't need to ask." It was strange to me how welcoming the environment was in contrast to St. Barbara. Eventually, I would go on to lose my fear of teachers as I progressed in public school. Overall, St. Barbara is not the ideal place to sent your kids to school.
Submitted by teacher on December 01, 2013

I taught at St. Barbara's a few years ago and agree with a couple comments posted by parents. Yes, there are a few teachers there without CA teaching credentials. It's easy to find out, just look it up. However, taking a few classes doesn't make you a good teacher! True, St. Barbara may not have many clubs or activities, but those "clubs and activities" are made possible through parent volunteers. Step up and become involved! The comments made about the crew socks are silly! I have two children who attend an out of state Catholic school (800 students) and have never heard of a parent complain about socks. Both boys and girls MUST wear crew socks, no nail polish, and uniform policy is VERY strict compared to St. Barbara's. Parents, the school rules are not made up after you enroll! Read the handbook! I haven't been there for a while, but I'll bet the academic achievement at SB is much higher than the surrounding community schools.
Submitted by parent on February 04, 2013

Great Teachers, The Best Education for my kids. very good in sports, the Best Cheer team :)