St John’s Preparatory School

This school has been a life changing for our son. Everyone from the Headmaster to every single teacher cares about the students and in turn the students care about their school. For a top notch education, it can not be beat. My son is a sophomore and he is our youngest. I wish I had more sons to put through this school as our experience him will guide him for the rest of his life. If you have a son, come see for yourself.

I’m shocked that this is a religious school. If this school were a company, Bernie Madoff would be its CFO, it is all about greed. They spent 250k to re-​do their baseball field (that was already perfect) instead of giving a break to tuition payers (they only want wealthy contributors). They kicked out local neighborhood adult alum that paid to use the basketball court on Sundays unless they paid the corporate rate to play. They are now building a Middle School to justify another tuition hike and for even more revenue. They NEVER consulted the neighborhood about the building the school despite lying about it to potential wealthy attendees. Worst of all, alumni don’t do any better in their careers as graduates, they just end up with debt and shook down for money their whole lives. PASS ON THIS SCHOOL.

Our elder son went to the Prep, the younger to Milton Academy. The first was well directed, focused and became a biophysicist; the second regrets not having gone to «The Prep. »

I sent my son to SJP and regret it. We have found the administration to be disrespectful, distant and pretentious. The English Dept is good and so is History. The Math dept is riddled with phonies. If you want to go to a Catholic college you may get a slight edge here, but no other good colleges seem think very highly of the school. 95% of the few kids going Ivy, are going for athletics, I wish we had know that going in. We should have because all you ever read in the paper is prep sports, because that is the only thing they are good at. You will never see them win a science fair or any other academic competition. the focus is athletics. they should be straight up about it. It is full of kids with one kind of social issue or another. A smart kid will do much better at a mediocre public HS. And you will have $ 80,000 in your pocket for college.

As my third son approaches graduation from the Prep, I wholeheartedly love the Prep. Each of my boys is a totally different person, and each had a wonderful, enriching experience at the Prep. While some kids struggle with the academic load, I can say that none of my kids was over whelmed by homework, and none had any trouble finding a group of nice kids to socialize with.
Every school is imperfect, and while there are always things one might quibble with, the administration is caring, competent and on top of things. When they do something at the Prep, it is done right. The faculty has been without exception attentive, respectful and effective. Despite it being an all boys environment, we have not experienced bullying. In fact, the school has supported each boys individuality, and offered a first class education in a nurturing environment. I have no regrets about paying tuition to the Prep for the past 14 years!

Although the academics are top notch, there is just something missing there. The homework load is waaaaay to much (at least in the honors classes), and that causes social lives to deteriorate. Yes your son will learn more than he needs to know, but without a doubt it comes at a price (not to mention $ 16,000).
I hate the administration. They just are not very good. For instance, today they fired a teacher who was probably the best in the entire school. It was ugly and it occured in the middle of the school year. I consider that disgraceful. The athletics are top notch, and so if your son is an athlete you might consider St. John’s.
Overall, I would’ve given three stars, but after today’s disgraceful and ugly firing, I have to give only two. It just reinforces my previous belief that the adminstration is incompetent. Not to mention many of the teachers are absolutely horrible to their students, (i.e. teachers giving kids the finger, calling them names, etc.) My youngest son will not be attending.