St. James Academy

623 South Nardo Avenue

Solana Beach, CA 92075

44 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by principal on October 13, 2020

St. James Academy is a fantastic school that educates the whole child!
Submitted by parent on October 16, 2019

Our kids have attended St. James Academy (SJA) for the past 2 years. SJA is not just a “school” it much more than that. It is a caring and nurturing student-focused educational facility with a strong sense of community. It is our extended family! Everyone has been welcoming and inviting, the teacher/student ratio is low, so every child gets personal attention to help them thrive with individual needs. The teachers and other SJA families care deeply about the kids. SJA has helped our kids grow both spiritually, academically, emotionally, physically and socially. They really educate the whole child.We have loved the families we have met through SJA. Not only are our children obtaining a great education, but they are learning to be good people with great morals and values in a safe and loving environment. It is beautiful to see the older grades connecting with the younger ones. During lunch time they play together, and the older kids sit with the younger ones during Friday mass. The students even have “school families” where kids throughout all different grade levels come together monthly to do activities. It creates a strong relationship and friendship between all the children on campus – the older kids help teach the little ones.SJA has been the best investment in our children’s future. We love it here and would highly recommend it to any family.
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2019

We love SJA!! We feel beyond blessed to be apart of this community. It is truly an extension of our little family to one big family. The care and guidance of the leadership, the incredible teachers and staff are truly one of a kind. Our children couldn’t be in a better environment with faith formation occurring throughout the day and woven into the challenging and well rounded curriculum, as well as the PE/sports activities, the beautiful music program, hands on gardening and responsible/kindness training. We have made wonderful friendships with the other families and look forward to the years to come. Thank you SJA!
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2019

Our family has been here 15 years. We’ve seen the ups and downs, like most schools but what sets St James Academy apart is that they teach for a greater purpose. All students are encouraged to use their skills and gifts to go out and make a difference in the world. In a culture where high academic and athletic competitiveness is valued, if these skills are not ultimately used for the greater good, it doesn’t really matter. St James fosters an environment where kids are taught to make a difference. By the way, if you are concerned about academic excellence in a smaller environment like St James, my two older kids are thriving at Santa Clara University and Boston College
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2019

It is an amazing school! I am constantly in awe of how happy we have been with every teacher. It is a warm, supportive environment and it is reflected in the way the kids present themselves in the world.
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2019

Excellent! Our two older children graduated from SJA well-prepared for high school and our younger child is happy and thriving. SJA produces not only successful students but, more importantly, confident, caring & well-mannered individuals eager to succeed and take on responsibility.
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2019

Great! This school has a great well-rounded education of religious values, challenging academics, top-notch music and art programs, an all-inclusive sports program where all kids are given a chance to play, stage performances where all kids are welcome on stage, fun and educational field trips, great family activities throughout the year, and a caring atmosphere. It's a great small school where the students all know each other in all grades and the families can find community.
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2019

Wonderful school! Very welcoming environment. Teachers and older grade students are such great role models showing active kindness and encouragement to the younger students! Each grade has its own special milestones and traditions that students look forward to participating in as they grow up in this school. Incredible music and arts program with super talented and dedicated instructors! It’s just amazing and we are so blessed to have a school that values the importance of art and music as a huge part of their already excellent academic curriculum!
Submitted by parent on July 20, 2019

A FIVE star experience! SJA takes a balanced approach to instructions and educates the whole child. The comprehensive program includes faith formation, strong academics, fine and performing arts, electives, technology, athletics and stewardship! The teachers and staff are the most dedicated, qualified and hard working people you'll find. SJA will become your second family!
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2019

St. James Academy is the BEST school and community!
Submitted by parent on April 11, 2019

SJA has been life-changing for my family and kids. We live in Solana Beach, and my oldest child went through the SBSD public schools, and has done great. However, SJA is even better, plus a better fit for my younger two children.I love that my kids have music, art, Spanish (during the day, for no extra fee), technology and religion almost every day. The teachers are incredibly compassionate and approachable, and are always willing to go the extra mile for a student. In comparison to the public schools, where about 80% of the curriculum seems focused on just math and ELA (because they kind of have to), SJA does a fantastic job of making sure those subjects are covered more than sufficiently, but also that science, social studies, and other subjects are important parts of the education.The music and art programs are outstanding. Singing and playing instruments are encouraged, and performing at the annual talent show is a considered "cool." There are two amazing school-wide productions per year - a Christmas pageant and a Variety Show - that are super impressive (the music teacher and her son put a ton of extra work, above and beyond what would be "sufficient.")The community is welcoming and comfortable, and the values and school's mission creates a safe, responsible, socially-conscious environment in which the students can thrive. I love the no-cell-phone policy for students on campus - the kids actually play or talk together during lunch and recess, and you can always get a hold of your student through the front office if necessary.Lastly, I even like the uniforms - comfortable, not too expensive, several style choices. Even my kids like not having to choose what to wear in the morning!Please take the time to tour the school or have your child shadow for a day! I think you will like what you find. :)
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2019

It is a small school with a great community, small class sizes, more personalized attention. It is perfect for girls. If you are looking for strong academics, sports, STEM programs and extracurricular activities, this is NOT the school for you. The reason a lot families look the other way on school deficiencies is because of the community, the small size classes, faith formation and traditional values.There is no structure, huge lack of procedures, the school is pretty much run by volunteer parents and a few families that dictate to the principal what to do. If there is no volunteer parent to run a program, that's it, no program at all, it is frustrating. And they are going green and focus more on sustainability than academics. My kid complained that in music class instead of learning music the teacher just showed them videos about global warming. The principal does not know how to handle conflicts therefore is a lot of bullying going on. There are some wonderful families but there are some parents who call them self Catholics that are very exclusive, discriminate some kids and since is a small school it does have an impact on them. You'll be better off at St. John or St. Patrick.
Submitted by parent on February 12, 2017

I must agree with whomever said another Christian value is honesty. The glowing reviews you read below are not spontaneous notes of love from parents who simply can not wait to tell you how much they adore their child's school. These are the principal going to meeting after meeting after meeting saying we NEED more people to post positive reviews to lower the negative comments. Do not believe the lies.
Submitted by parent on June 12, 2016

My third child just graduated from St. James this week. 15 years at this wonderful school for our family. We are so blessed to have had a place where our children learned not only math and reading but where they learned how important faith, compassion and kindness are in life. Thank you St. James for all you have done for our family. The teachers and staff at this amazing school have helped form my children into the wonderful people they are today!
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2016

St. James provides a supportive community with an excellent academic program. The music program is incredible!
Submitted by other on May 12, 2016

Amazing community for the kids and the parents. Excellence in academics (I have graduated 2 children who both excelled in high school, fully prepared, well rounded, solid moral and christian foundation in place. SJA goes beyond expectations with first rate music, performing, athletic and art programs...fully rounding out a child. Currently have 3rd grader who is thriving. SJA is a hidden gem that has greatly impacted our children and our family.
Submitted by parent on April 13, 2016

Fantastic school with amazing teachers (and fun families). we just returned from the 4th grade class trip where the students learned so much about California history and how it affects both our present and our future. Really pretty amazing place (I wish i could go back to join K-8 :-)).
Submitted by parent on April 12, 2016

St James Academy is a strong, thriving Catholic school community that has opened our kids minds up to many great things; academically, spiritually and socially. Going on 5 years now, we couldn't be happier.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2016

My oldest is thriving in high school as a result of the education, academic and moral, that she received through her years at St.James. She maintains friendships formed in kindergarten that will last a lifetime. My younger child is still there and we cannot say enough good things about the love and support we receive. This is truly a special community and we feel blessed to be raising our children within it.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2016

If I could give this school no stars, I would. Our child attended here, and it was a huge mistake. Unprofessional staff, board members who were reluctant to make changes to the school facilities, and overall emotionally negative environment to try to develop social skills because the teachers are quick to throw blame at the children, and in my opionion, turn the children against each other. Also it seems like outsiders are generally not welcomed. Best thing I did for my child was to send him back to public school. Our child was enrolled at St. James for two years and both years turned out to be big disappointments. We came back to the school for the second year because we thought it would be fair to our child offer continuity (nice to see same faces and friends / same daily routine) and that the first year could have been chalked up to newcombers' transitional bumps in the road. But we did finally leave because we couldn't ignore the fact that the negatives were greater than the positives. First of all, this is "supposed" to be a Catholic school, but found it more like an independent school that simply has Mass once a week. The main reason we sent out child here was to receive the religious education and we found this aspect extremely lacking, extremely lacking. In fact, when my spouse and I suggested to the Principal and Vice-Principal that this was an area to improve upon, they literally both laughed in our faces and told us "not to go there." What kind of professional talks to parents like that?!! This disprectful attitude from the Principal and fellow administration is the main reason that we left this school. We felt that our child's teacher was unfairly ostracizing him and when we tried to discuss this matter with the Principal and Vice-Principal, they would not directly answer our questions about this matter, leaving no resolution to the problem and making us feel unwelcome at the same time. Tuition seemed high for what you actually got -- old facilities, No Art class (which are usually kids' favorite class), My child often complained about always watching movies in Music class, instead of singing. Too much homework.