St Lawrence Elementary School

44429 Utica Road

Utica, MI 48317

37 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on August 06, 2023

I would not recommend St. Lawrence to new families. This school is full of entitled students and parents. The principal is a weak leader and weak disciplinarian. The correspondence she sends out to families is so unprofessional, rude and, condescending. The students at the school swear, cheat, bully, and are the opposite of strong Catholic values. I am thankful this is my youngest child's last year at this toxic school. We will be looking elsewhere when she starts middle school next year.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2023

St. Lawrence is a phenomenal school with a dedicated staff who focus on academic excellence and Catholic social teaching. We are so grateful we are able to send our children to such a wonderful school.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2023

My daughter had a wonderful experience at this school. The teachers and staff are amazing and very supportive. The principal and the assistant principal were always very supportive in her education. When we had a tragedy in our family, the entire staff from administration on down was there for emotional support, they treated us like family. The faith and strength from everyone helped our family tremendously. I would highly recommend sending your child/children here for a strong faith-filled education!
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2023

This school has been a true gift in our lives! We sent our 4 kids to St. Lawrence and couldn't have asked for a better experience. This school is the whole package: Strong academics, extra curricular activities, wonderful parish. CYO athletics, and very close community. During the pandemic, enrollment did go up, but our Administration added extra classrooms instead of increasing the number of students in the classroom. This school staff is nurturing and extremely involved. Our teachers are the best in the Archdiocese of Detroit and the St. Lawrence students leave 8th Grade well prepared for High School. WELL DONE, St. Lawrence! There is no other school like it!!
Submitted by other on December 10, 2022

3 years ago I put “i love this school” well I lied. I hated this school ever since I graduated I been a lot more calm. All the middle school teachers had favored certain people, and for the students that weren’t in favor they didn’t care for. One time I told on a student for being mean and they said that they would deal with it and they didn’t. The principle/dean didn’t care for anyone except their money/donations. They can pay for good lunch so no one had proper nutrition and the now students don’t get feed properly. They didn’t need the new building the old one was perfect the new one is tiny and cramped. Their phone rule was “if it’s on our property it’s ours” no it’s not yours you don’t pay it’s bill. They don’t provide good support for students. One time a staff member told me that I’m not going to make it through high school this is disgusting it’s staffs job to encourage us. They’re also racist, homophobic, and transphopic.
Submitted by parent on December 05, 2022

If I could give this school zero stars I would but I had to give it a one star. I’m going to make this short. The bullying at this school for little children are on a different level. It’s disgusting the lunch moms never report to the principal with bullying, also the teachers don’t care too much about the childrens education. They never tested the Children from day one what the reading levels were. Also the principal only cares about the money. This school got too excited about enrollment during the pandemic that they over enrolled and quality of teaching is horrible along with quality of people. If you the parent don’t participate then you have to pay up/ donate. This place is Ridiculous. The hype about private schools are over rated.
Submitted by parent on November 30, 2022

Very happy with that I send my kids to this school.
Submitted by parent on September 07, 2022

If you are looking for a nurturing, Christian environment for your child to grow in, run to find a different school! The drive for money, politics in the school and in athletics and the Principal who is the opposite of a Catholic leader is what you’ll be getting at St Lawrence. Your children will get a better education in public schools and probably better examples of good Christian role models there too. We have never had a single issue at any other school my 4 children have attended. This school is just awful- bullying, politics, parents that run the school. St Lawrence is the exact opposite of what a Catholic school stands for.
Submitted by parent on June 09, 2022

Really terrible administration. Unqualified to perform the job. Terrible communication. Prioritizes money over the children and the curriculum. A toxic environment for kids, and encourages a politically-motivated and devisive atmosphere that is counterproductive to learning. My children were unprepared for high school when leaving this school, and I had to supplement their education in math with tutoring due to the incompetence of the 8th grade math teacher. If you're considering this school, please reconsider. Not worth the money. Also, discipline is lacking. Children from certain families are allowed to get away with anything, as long as their parents are donors. Strong sense of entitlement, hostility, and bullying. Punishment is doled out to groups of kids, instead of the perpetrator. Almost all aides in the building are parents, and many teachers lack the appropriate education and credentials to teach. So happy to be done with St. Lawrence! I hope they find a new principal before she runs this school completely into the ground.
Submitted by student on June 02, 2022

The learning at this school is pathetic and students are often taught lessons that the teachers do not care about. This school provides no emotional support to anyone in the whole school. The teachers are not respectful and do not motivate us to learn. This school is nothing from what it used to be.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2022

This school is Racist homophobic and don’t care about bullying
Submitted by parent on January 16, 2022

As another reviewer stated, St. Lawrence is not the school it used to be. Not only do we offer any extra-curricular activities for non-athletes anymore, but we haven’t even had an art teacher in 2-3 years. Parents pay a premium for crowded classrooms, high teacher turnover, nepotism, and failed leadership. It’s not the school we chose for our kids when they were young - which can largely be attributed to the administration. All the school seems to care about is money and enrollment. They don’t even care enough to try and keep kids healthy. As one of the largest Catholic grade schools in Macomb County, it’s a far cry from the high quality academic environment one would expect from a private school.
Submitted by parent on January 15, 2022

St. Lawrence is not the same school is was when we started 7 years ago. Most of what we initially loved about the school is gone. They used to offer drama club, chess, golf, scouts for all grades, mini Mustangs sports, ski club daddy daughter dance, etc. All that is left is CYO sports. This is not all due to covid. More concerning is we are losing our beloved teachers to public school. Most parochial schools cannot compete with public school pay, but St. Lawrence used to make up for that in supportive families, small class sizes and teacher support. That is all gone. It’s no wonder our teachers are leaving. So many just leave mid-year- not to stop teaching but for the public schools. It’s heartbreaking. My 1st grader has almost 30 kids in her class with only a part time aide. At one point the preschool was begging parents to assist because they had no staff. Our local public school caps class size for lower elementary at 24! I used to love St. Lawrence but sadly after 7 years, this will be our last year.
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2021

I am extremely disappointed in my children's' experience at St. Lawrence thus far. We are a newer family and the only thing I can think that's positive about the school is that there are a few nice families / friends we have met. The administration is completely chaotic. Everything is unorganized and done last minute. There is a very high staff turnover (which is telling.) The building is small and cramped. Even the religious education is sub-par. All my upper elementary child does is complete worksheets and take tests- like it is the 1950's. The teachers show no understanding of modern pedagogy. Just recently I logged into the PTO meeting and the only thing the principal was concerned about was enrollment. One parent suggested making recess more fun for the kids since Covid has restricted so much, and she blew her off. If you're considering this school, please do not. Do a minute of research and you'll see that the vast majority of the positive reviews are from the staff.
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2021

My husband and I are proud to have sent our 4 children to St. Lawrence Catholic School. They thrived academically, socially, and spiritually. St. Lawrence was the foundation for all of their success in the Catholic High Schools they attended as well as college. I would 1000% recommend St. Lawrence. It is a gift that will last a lifetime for your children!
Submitted by student on August 23, 2020

This place is a pretty bad school to go to.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2019

I would recommend this school to any parent.
Submitted by other on June 28, 2018

St Lawrence School is the best around! I feel safe leaving my kids there and the academics are outstanding. My children have made the best friends there and the staff is super accommodating and kind. I love that they attend Mass weekly as a school.
Submitted by parent on April 24, 2018

We have had a great experience at this school. My children are happy and thriving, both socially and academically. Parents at the school become like family after a while, and we have a wonderful support system. The school has many extra curricular and athletic opportunities, something for every interest! I highly recommend St. Lawrence for a quality Catholic education!
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2018

We left STL after 5 years. We had the bad luck of having the same incompetent teacher twice, 2nd & 5th grade. This particular teacher would never correct or collect homework, would not cover the material as the other classes. When I brought this to the attention of the administration, their comment was, "I know, you want to get your money's worth." They did speak to the teacher. The result, the kids were not allowed to bring that workbook home for me to see.