St Monica’s Elementary School

This school is absolutely horrible. If you go here, you’re making a big mistake. I’ve been at this school since 1^st grade. The elementary school was good, but the middle school was horrendous. Please note that everything that I am writing is NOT a joke, it is 100% true. The teachers in the middle school are very incompetent, mainly Ms. Hartstein and Ms.Michaels. In my year, Ms. Hartstein took a bite out of a students paper and threw it on the floor. This does not include the countless amounts times she has ripped students papers. She is a very abusive teacher, and many students have complained about her to the principal, Dr. Quinly, yet he continued to do nothing. I am not sure if Dr. Quinly understands the degree of incompetence in his school, especially with Ms.Hartstein. Ms. Hartstein continuously berated my class and yelled at us repeatedly, and many students were too scared to go to administration and those who did were not taken seriously. Students in the year ahead of me felt the same way. Ms. Hartstein on many occasions verbally abused the class. She really knew how to crush a students self esteem. Ms. Michaels was an impartial teacher. She would regularly change moods in a very odd manner. No student could talk to her without making her angry. Ms. Sessarego was an amazing teacher. She is a jewel in the school and without her, this school would fail. She was nice to the whole class and really cares for her students. 8^th grade with her was absolutely amazing! She is the only reason that I have decided not to write this article until graduation. I really hope that Dr. Quinly reads this so that he knows the true degree of incompetence in his school.

My son attended this school for 9 years and my daughter’s now been there for 4 years. What a wonderful community of students and families! The environment fostered at St. Monica’s is incomparable to any school that I’ve ever visited before. Any kid will thrive anywhere if they are destined, but for a parent to thrive as well is a dream! Go St. Monica’s!
My son did not attend the high school but my daughter is considering it… a pure diamond in the roughage! Sure you’re going to get an occasional staff member, parent or student that may not fit the perfect image, but we are all human and overall I think this school has patterned out a design that many others shoud follow! :)

I went here 2^nd thru 8^th. Would do it all over again just for the experience. This school is quite diverse and it’s gotten even more so throughout the years. It offers a rigorous curricula that has matriculated me into wonderful institutions. It’s in a prime location (seven or so streets from the beach, a mile from the Wilshire District). The church is the most beautiful. I would visit once in a while since it’s that great of a school. My teachers (by grade) back in the day:
2^nd: Ms. Kerr (my favorite!)
3^rd: Ms. Foschia
4^th: Mrs. Sessarego (who now teaches 7^th)
5^th: Mrs. Januzzi
6^th: Ms. Cohen
7^th: Ms. Henderson (ugh the hardest!)
8^th: Ms. Barnhill
Some of my fondest Seahawk memories are:
–School families
–Honor roll
–rainy day movies: whenever it would rain, there would be no recess nor lunch. Instead, we would all remain in class, check out a movie from the office, and watch it while we ate and talked
–reward recess: this was one Friday a month where the students would essentially be rewarded special blue and red tickets in turn for hard work consisting of picking up trash during lunch (red) or answering questions in class (tickets). The winners would be announced over the intercom and would retrieve their ‘prize’ in the lobby (usually candy). Generally, reward recess Fridays would end school about a half hour earlier than other Fridays and at that time, students were let out to play and buy sweets (and occasionally Root Beer!) until the final end-​of-​day school bell
–hot lunch: the parents would be sent information packets in a ziplock every Monday night regarding the latest news or latest fundraiser. Occasionally, they would envelope money for a hot lunch, which is our term for fast food. It was usually Taco Bell, Mc Donalds, Burger King, In N’ Out or special hot lunches from private caterers that were usually packaged like happy meals.
–Computers: this was the exciting part of class. We’d usually be divided into groups to go to Computers, and would rotate during that time. We’d go to the Library and sneak in a game of Mavis Beacon
–Daycare: my mom would usually work until well after final dismissal and I would have to stay a bit later at school than other students, and so they had this end-​of-​school program where I’d do my homework, play games, color, play outside, etc. until I got picked up. Shout out to Mr. Leo!
–Fire Drill: Once in a while, we would anticipate that ill-​fated message over the intercom «teachers and students may I have your attention, please? This is a drop drill.» and we’d all literally drop to the floor as if there really were a fire. Then we’d all line up while our teachers take roll
–Book Orders: Book orders were very exciting, simply for the fact that we were actually given the chance to browse the catalog and buy books that would then be ordered through the school and when the box came, the teacher would open it up and distribute the wrapped books we ordered from the catalog
–Book Fair: the Book Fair was cool, but being just a student, I never really bought anything but this one bouncy ball, that which I still have: D
–Music Class/​Choir: Ms. Browning was our teacher at the time, and during the 90s, she’d tell us to find our favorite CDs from home and bring it in to play to the class and I always got excited because I always brought in my Spice Girls, Hansen, Madonna, No Doubt, and Backstreet Boys CDs and I thought I was the coolest one in the class lol As far as choir, I was in it for about 2 – 3 years and we would practice in the chapel directly across from the Church and then perform them in front of everyone during Mass
Volleyball: I was the first in my grade (4^th) to make the team. I remember almost all of the home and away games. I especially remember the car and van rides to and from the schools we’d verse, including the school that OJ Simpson’s then elementary grade school daughter went to. St. Monica has made me love volleyball with a passion.
Girl Scouts: although not initially affiliated with the school, we’ve paved the way for future GS troops to seek affiliation with its sister. Our troop 121 would hold meetings in the basement floor of the school every Wednesday. I will never forget what GS has taught me throughout the years.
Aside from the trivial memories, I celebrated my Reconciliation, Christmas Programs, and First Communion here. I also was the first, and last, to get presented with the Trash-​Busting award for picking up the most trash in the 2^nd grade. Out of all my classmates, I was also chosen to receive the Christian Humanitarian Award a few years later. I will always remember those fondest events. St. Monica has a way of remaining in your thoughts. The principal and Ms. Morris have acted as a major component as far as honing those aforementioned experiences. I thank my mom every day for allowing me to partake in the St. Monica experience and become a lifetime member of the Parish family. Thank you for everything, St. M!