Hello all. My son is enrolled to begin school at SMCS next Fall. My plan is to have him attend through the 5th grade and then integrate him into public middle school with the thought that it would be easier on him instead of waiting until high school. Of course, that may change with time. But has anyone had experience with SMCS and how their child did academically after transferring him or her into public school afterwards at any grade? Any comments or advice from parents whose child has attended the school would be much appreciated. Thanks! 

All schools have pluses and minuses, I have friends that work there and some that just resigned. I know from a friend that their child when going to RMS was well prepared and more advanced than others as far as expectations of papers, homework, etc. I go to SMC so the church part will be good, but I'm partial to Msr. Borski. Lol 

I have a child who now goes to Riverwood, which is great overall, who went to St Martha from pre-k to 5th. Here is the problem with St Martha, there are a few VERY weak teachers and a few admin individuals who are not qualified. To be fair, St M also had a few brilliant teachers who were just fantastic and very well educated with Master's degrees. I say that in these terms because as a private school St Martha can do much of what they want in hiring who they want so it turns out to be friends, neighbors, people who need a job in general and the school suffers for it. The vice principal at Riverwood has to have certain credentials, not at St M, also many more "professional" and very well educated teachers at Riverwood. Not an opinion, fact, in terms of overall qualified individuals. From a Catholic perspective, it's good, educationally, I'd say just average. The sports, phys ed, and band programs are also very weak at St Martha. If that is a concern, I would ask the school very specifically about those items and who runs them. Hope this helps. Good luck and God Bless. 

I have a child who now goes to Riverwood, which is great overall, who went to St Martha from pre-k to 5th. Here is the problem with St Martha, there are a few VERY weak teachers and a few admin individuals who are not qualified. To be fair, St M also had a few brilliant teachers who were just fantastic and very well educated with Master's degrees. I say that in these terms because as a private school St Martha can do much of what they want in hiring who they want so it turns out to be friends, neighbors, people who need a job in general and the school suffers for it. The vice principal at Riverwood has to have certain credentials, not at St M, also many more "professional" and very well educated teachers at Riverwood. Not an opinion, fact, in terms of overall qualified individuals. From a Catholic perspective, it's good, educationally, I'd say just average. The sports, phys ed, and band programs are also very weak at St Martha. If that is a concern, I would ask the school very specifically about those items and who runs them. Hope this helps. Good luck and God Bless. 

They will be disappointed when they get to public school and don't have a cop to stop traffic for them. 

They will be disappointed when they get to public school and don't have a cop to stop traffic for them.
What exactly does that mean? 

If they attend Kingwood High School they will have an officer and a traffic light to eliminate any problem with school traffic.....heaven forbid they should have to be inconvenienced driving their Lexus convertible to school. 

Catholic school for our family meant segregated schools....not racially...but by sex. Girls to "The Academy" boys across town. 

Apparently you have not seen the endless thread on North Park traffic versus St. Marthas[

i]What exactly does that mean[/i] 

^^^The traffic cops are at the church, not at the school which is off Woodland Hills. 

@a33: I think you may want to check your facts a little closer on SMCS. Of the kids that graduate from SMCS, about 50% of them go into Catholic High School and about 50% go to public high school. A few years ago some questions had come up about how well SMCS students are prepared for high school. As a result, the school arranged for high school counselors from both the public high schools in Kingwood and the Catholic high schools to provide feedback on how SMCS students performed at the next level. The fact was that at the Catholic High School level, the students placed in the 80th percentile on the high school placement test across the archdiocese. Similarly, the public high school counselors had similar things to say. While they didn't have any type of placement test to provide quantitative results they spoke generically and said that SMCS students are typically their top students that are involved in honors classes and they never seem to have discipline issues with any of them.

I have had at least one child in school there and up to three at a time for the last 8 years. I have extremely high expectations for the education that my children receive and I can promise you that if I didn't think they were getting the very best education, I wouldn't be making the sacrifice to send my children there. Trust me, its very hard to write that property tax check every December knowing that I am not getting one ounce of benefit from the public school system. That being said, I wouldn't have it any other way. In addition to the strong education that my children are getting, perhaps the more important aspect they get is an environment that fosters Catholic Christian values, a strong sense of community and a faculty that really cares about their vocation.

One important fact to note about the faculty is that teachers at SMCS make about 75%-80% of what their public school counterparts make. For some of these teachers to work at a discount just to teach at SMCS to me says that they really care about what they are doing and that it is really not just a job for them. That being said, are you still going to have a mediocre teacher every now and then? Absolutely. Anyone who says their school doesn't have one or two would be lying. The difference is that when that is the case at SMCS, the parents are very engaged with the administration and can bring these issues to light so that it can be addressed. I would tend to think that if you have a very weak teacher at the public school, the parents would have very little influence to get things corrected.

As to the extracurricular activities at SMCS, they have everything we could ever want at school. If its been awhile since your kids have been enrolled, SMCS has added quite a few new activities in recent years. They have a beginner and advanced band, choir, basketball, soccer, track, volleyball, softball, baseball, chess club, rosary guild, junior Beta club, and I'm sure others that I am not thinking of right now.

Long story short, I think it is a wonderful school and recommend it to everyone that I know. Hope that helps clarify any questions that you might have. 

My daughter went to SMCS from pre-k through 2nd grade (we were oringinaly going through 5th) but the lack of being challenged made us switch to public school sooner. My daughter was NOT challenged and the dean told us they couldn't really help her because the church does not allow them to teach advanced levels (so for example, even though my 2nd grader was reading at a 6th grade level they couldn't go past the 2nd grade approved curriculum) so we left SMCS to pursue true advanced academics. We found our assigned public school to be leaps ahead of SMCS when she switched, the teachers allow her to go as far ahead as her mind will go and that was what we were looking for.

Socially we had no issues but looking back I'm so glad we didn't go to 5th @ SMCS and then switch to middle school, that just would be like feeding her to the wolves! Middle school is tough and being the new kid in middle school is even tougher so I'm glad she got to public school in third grade and made lots of friends! 

AGME, first, it has not been "awhile" since I've been there, and I also wrote the checks so I understand the value of it all. Don't suggest I check my facts, I know the facts. Fact is, there are way too many average teachers and admin that could not hold their positions in Public School due to lack of education and/or credentials. Its just the way its set up. Yes, its a generalization, and the admin and teachers are not all bad, they are well intended, just not as well qualified in general. Check that fact if you like, you may not like what you find! I say in general, because your children will have several teachers over the years, I rather there be more good to great than average. 

They will be disappointed when they get to public school and don't have a cop to stop traffic for them. They will be disappointed when they get to public school and don't have a cop to stop traffic for them. What exactly does that mean?

hahahahaha. 

Honestly, I went there myself. They are veryyyyyy strict. I was at a program once, and I waved at my mom, an I was punished by administrative discretion for WAVING at my mom. They expect a lot from the children that attend. 

My kid went through SMC, he's in med school. Case closed. 

My son went to St Martha from Kinder to 6th grade... Big mistake.. At St Martha grammar school is OK,. I was too concern of giving my son a catholic education.. I had to hire private tutors since the teachers at St Martha were not very good ..
Now middle school at St Martha, a friend described as a a concentration camp .. and I see why, the pool of teachers are more attend to make sure the students sign the responsibility book than to learn. They make feel the student bad, lower their confidence ... so on.. I believe that the problem star with the principal , down.... I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYBODY TO HAVE THE KIDS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL IN St MARTHA... 

Why would you pay for both private school and private tutors? Why would you post this on a 2 year old thread? 

We were at St Martha six years. Loved St. Martha until last year. The assistant principal, last year was his first year as an AP at St Martha, wants to make the school a concentration camp. We could not get out fast enough. Our kids now go to St. Mary. The difference is night and day. Our kids now have their confidence restored. 

Do not waste your time or money ...we had 3 kids attending St Martha but realized it was a mistake .....BBE is way better than St Martha by a long shot !!!