St. Columba Catholic School

When my Grandson was in 3rd grade he was tutoring my nephew who was in the 6th grade public school ( Marston middle school )

Our family has been at this school for a couple years now and I now feel that I can give an honest assessment at this point. When we were looking for public schools in our area we were pretty disappointed. After touring this school it had the feel of the school we wanted. In addition to academics, we wanted the right environment and atmosphere. A place our children would want to be and not dread going everyday. The students were all listening at attention and the teachers had full command of the classroom during our unscheduled visit. This is an old school. It just celebrated 50 years as a school. It could use updating in many areas, but it has everything it needs. It does have a library and computer lab - though small, it works. It does have an art program, music and dance options for those that choose to participate. The school choir is absolutely fabulous-impressive. Sports programs offered are Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball, Football (flag) and Track. They compete against other Catholic schools which is fun. The kids go to mass every Friday and parents are welcome to join. A Catholic school relies heavily on volunteer work of the parents. We appreciate this because we know many parents are then involved with the school and their children. We constantly assess this school compared to our other choices - public and private - and always choose this school. One reason is hearing what the graduating 8th graders have to say about their time spent at St. Columba. They all seem to love it and appreciate the education, life lessons as well as the friends they made. This year 100% of the 8th grade students passed the Catholic H.S. acceptance exam. Over 60% are moving on to Catholic/Christian schools.

Other notes:
1. There is fundraising to be done at every school.
2. Science curriculum is done in class at each grade level.
3. There is music class offered.
4. The Spanish is basic, but it isn't a Spanish immersion - it is for exposure and cultural teaching.
7. Uniforms - We love uniforms - we save money on other clothes in the long run. And makes getting ready in the morning so much easier as well as removes the competitiveness from dressing for friends and classmates.

Is it perfect? No - perfect doesn't exist. But we like it here. Our kids like it here. We are happy.

St Columba has a great Pre- School. Ms. Trisha is the Director of Childcare has done an outstanding job along with Ms. Jacqueline. We were blessed for our kids to stay at their care. Also, the kindergarten teacher Mrs Whiteman was an excellent teacher which is no longer at St Columba. She teach the kids how to read and was a very challenging teacher, we were amazed by her teaching ability. Our child was fortunate to have her Mrs. Whitman as a kindergarten teacher. Our Child is now in First Grade Mrs. Madsen is the teacher. I wish I could say something nice about her but I don’t think she is suitable to be a first grade teacher. For example in the beginning until now she makes too many mistakes. She does not have no structure. I would not recommend her for a 1st grade teacher you would just be wasting your money. I hope this help for those parents who want their kids to be challenge and like to learn more. I would give a 4 Star if the situation was different with Mrs. Madsen.

We had spoke with Trish during the summer to have our 2 1/2 year old enrolled starting January 2016. She said that was fine because our daughter was potty trained. She said to come back in December to pay the $75 registration fee. I wrote down all my contact information and my daughters information for her to have. We came back in December with all our paperwork filled out with our $75 registration fee and come to find out, she gave our spot away!!! When I spoke to her to tell her we we're stopping by, she didn't mention that our spot wasn't available anymore. On another note, she's impossible to get a hold of. She never answers the phone and she doesn't return your phone call when you leave a message. If I'm dropping my child off with someone, I'd like to be able to get a hold of someone in case of an emergency. Overall, Trish has poor communication skills and is kind of loopy. I would love to send my daughter to St Columba but as long as Trish is running the preschool, my daughter will not be attending that school!!!!