Advantages: * A foreign language and the great French…read moreteachers * Declamation * The small class sizes * The backup care as a flat fee (takes it off the mind about getting care for most needed days) * The school spirit activities Disadvantages: * The horrible, unorganized administration * The small class sizes Don't expect any Einsteins to come from here -- due to Einstein not speaking until he was 4, this school would have filtered him out as an inappropriate student. The fact that they post a poster that says "Everyone is welcome and accepted here" is misleading. The administration are only concerned with low maintenance children, so don't go to this school unless you are sure that your child is cookie-cutter. There is tons of busy work, which I'm not sure results in learning, as my child got 80-100% on everything, but the administration told us that our child was underperforming. The administration of the school didn't even congratulate us when our child got an external award, which left us with a cold feeling. I know that this review will not make a difference since the Philly school system is so messed up, that you're desperate to get your child ahead and will send your kid here no matter what. So, let me be honest here -- St. Peters is good until it's not (meaning that if you have a child that's out of the norm). So in most cases, you're probably OK and will have a pleasant experience. Given that most parents reading this are sending their kid to pre-k/kindergarten and have no idea what their child will be like in their academics, let me give some advice. If this school asks you to get a psycho-educational evaluation, DO NOT DO IT (or do it eventually on a long wait list at a more affordable college but refuse to give it to them). We did it, spent a fortune, and St. Peters hardly tried to accommodate the child given the evaluation. We thought that they would truly take it to heart and that the "personalized attention" that they try to imply through the small class sizes, would materialize. NOTHING. They just used it to get rid of the child. It was quite disappointing because the teachers seemed really lazy about trying new things... they would occasionally try something that worked with my child and then would stop and complain later about the child and I would have to ask "why aren't you doing X incentive that worked"? Beyond this, if they do go after your child, do not feel alone. I have heard countless stories about them getting rid of perfectly normal and especially gifted children who just cause them extra work. I feel like they create an atmosphere that parents are constantly in fear and panic because they put pressure on parents to do their heavy lifting. For me, "homey don't play that" with their large tuition. But they don't care and kick kids out all the time. Apparently, they don't need the money because of Philly's lacking schools that create desperate parents. Moral of the story: Elect officials who will build Philly's public schools, give to your public schools (even if you don't go there). Because without good competition, private schools don't have to care about every child and surely don't care that children are unique, fragile blooms. Extra negative notes: There is so much evidence of lack of organization -- some major announcements are not until the last minute, I got the initial advice to read the newsletter like a bible because there are things buried in there, and their graduation took 3 hours, with kids as young as 7 having to wait without dinner until 8:30 to get out. Extra positive note: At least they organized an afterschool program with a flat fee.

I have two sons at the school and a third will enter next year. I cannot say enough about the…read moreschool, the students, teachers, and parents. My boys thrive on the small classroom environment; although, my daughter did not, so the intimacy isn't for everyone. She opted for a larger school (Masterman) and was very well prepared for the academic rigor of that school, because of the foundation provided by St. Peter's School. The traditions (May Day, declamations, Branches of May, etc) provide families and the entire community with opportunities to share in--and support--the development of the students. I've found the teachers and administration to be responsive and a source of wisdom and support. My family has enjoyed 10 years at the school and we're looking forward to another nine years!

As a proud parent of an 8th grader who is in his 3rd year at Hill Top, I will tell you this school…read morehas had a profoundly positive impact on our son and our family. After serious issues in public school and being enrmilled at HTP, he has been given the space to heal, grow, and start to like himself again after a long time. He is excelling academically, has made lifelong friends, and has discovered many new hobbie. I sincerely and without hesitatio, encourage paren to consider HTP.

Okay, I'm gonna be as honest and objective as I can. This school has some major upsides to it. Most…read moreof the teachers there are fun to be around, easy to talk to, and hard working when it comes to getting their students to succeed. The fun Fridays are a genius idea where you pay once a month to go on a field trip with all your friends and classmates. The spirit of the hawk is a basic yet catchy way to remind students of the expectations of the school. Most importantly, the reason why many of you are either at the school currently or looking at this school, they have excellent programs in place to help students with ADHD, and Autism. That is all surface level. This is exactly what Hill Top Preparatory School wants you to see. It's all true. When you go past this surface level though you uncover an iceberg larger than you could ever expect. Disclaimer: I started here in 9th grade and cannot speak for the middle school. At Hill Top Preparatory School I was alone. I graduated in 2023 bitter, badly traumatized, and angry. To spare all of the details I will try to quickly explain all of the reasons why I will never allow my future children anywhere near this school. As a queer black male, I was subjected to bullying worse than I could have ever imagined. I spent 9th grade with very little human interaction as all it took was 2-3 unchecked kids to get the entire school to believe I was a r*pist with no knowledge or reason to indicate that I actually was. While rumors spreading is common amongst highschoolers the problem lies with how it was handled in such a small school. David Vandyke is by far the worst person on staff and unfortunately serves as the head of discipline and student life. When I had gone to him about these rumors I was told nothing could be done, no one could be punished, everything was just "he said she said". After losing all of my friends to rumors and false allegations that had gone unchecked by authority I as a 14 year old boy was left to fight for myself and eventually get everything cleared up. 10th grade skipped due to lack of space. Just racism towards my mixed races relationship. 11th grade comes and by now Mr Vandyke had threattened to expel me twice now. Once for pushing a kid that was bullying my girlfriend and causing him to hit his head (he bled a little but was fine), and a second time for a "cyberbullying incident" in which several people had come forward saying it was just an argument and I was the one getting attacked in the first place. A third incident happens (that was actually my fault this time) and I am once again threatened with expulsion. It was always this looming blade held over my head as a way of scaring me into line. It actually worked with my mother. Every time I came to her asking advice on my mistreatment or the mistreatment of a friend by the school administration my mom would say to just drop it for fear of me getting expelled. 12th grade is finally here and its probably tied with 9th for the actual worst schooling year of my life. I'm running out of space so I'll go over the rest quickly. I befriended an 8th grader and a third of the staff assumed I was grooming him, I came out as a femboy and was told I was looking for attention by mr vandyke (a year later I'm now transgender), I was threatened with expulsion one final time because I started to open up about my hallucinations and dissociative identity disorder (yes my trauma was that bad), and the staff actively encouraged a relationship between an 18 year old and a 15 year old (they're both white). Just another day at Hill Top Prep. Now I will admit it wasn't all bad but there were definitely a LOT of very avoidable things, questionable bordering on racist action being taken, and honestly a lot of dark things going on when you look past the happy atmosphere this school projects. I will be back as an alumni to visit the few teachers who were unconditionally good to me through my hardships and the administration is lucky I don't sue for negligence and discrimination.

I went to LF and I would say it literally saved my life. Everyone might have a different…read moreexperience, but my experience gave me the leadership tools I needed to succeed. My business class with Ms. English have us an opportunity to learn real life stocks and trading. Why we would buy a stock and when not to buy a stock. We also learned financial planning tools. My computer class gave me the knowledge I needed to continue to grow with the fast paced changing of paper to electronics. Mind you I graduated in 2005 so computers were just starting to take over traditional pen to paper. My teachers really looked out for me and cared. Truly cared. I went through a really tough time and was sadly very depressed. I was able to get guidance and talk to an amazing counselor who helped me achieve my goals and get me through high school. I met my best friend in high school. I was finally not being bullied and when I did get bullied Mrs. Shenk played no games. I appreciate Mr. Ronzoni for his patience with me and not just correcting a paper, but showing me my mistakes and explaining them to me. It is making me the best paralegal and writer I can be currently. I loved going to the Flossie Shop and talking to Mrs. Gallagher (R.I.P.) on my lunch and her smile could brighten anyone's day. I miss her so much! To this day LF is a part of my life and I cherish every moment. I love being a part of the Alumnae Association so that I can give back in the little ways, just like our beloved St. Therese did. For'er We Will Be True. Thank you LF, Shannon Marie Cline

I attribute my successes to the education I received at LF. I will be forever grateful to the…read morefaculty, administration and lifelong friends met at LF who made me the person I am today.

Outstanding school. My son has grown so much since attending. He is more organized and reads…read morebetter.

As an alumni I can attest to the amazing education and foundation that Benchmark gave me to both…read morenavigate high school but that also allowed me to reach my goal of a PhD. I am a graduate from the 80s but I can say that their education today is as good or even better than when I attended. I have remained connected and involved with the school and love everything they are working towards for their students, faculty & staff!

You'd think that 8 years of school with all the same people would be way to much. You'd be right…read more Mostly. One great thing about Masterman is that you are with your fellow students day in and day out. So much that these people become your best friends and some of the friendships you make here will last longer than your can imagine. As a moderately intelligent kid with overambitious parents, I had to take and pass a test in the fourth grade to get into this premier magnet school. While I have no basis of comparison as to the quality of education at Masterman, I do know that attending this school exponentially increases your changes of going to a great IVY league college. About the top 1/3 of students here get accepted into several IVY League colleges. About half of those students go to UPenn (the IVY in your backyard). Masterman prides itself in stating that 100% of its students go to a 4 year college. The reality is that Masterman will force all its students to go to accredited 4 year colleges, whether they wish to or not (a friend who wanted to go abroad was strongly discouraged from this option). I've always thought that a preparation school would be responsible for two things: 1) getting it's kids to good colleges, which Masterman excels at; and 2) preparing the kids for college, which, sadly, Masterman did not do as good of a job at. I'm not sure if it's exactly the classes, the depth of materials taught, or the lack of emphasis on retaining what is learned, but most of my friends and acquaintances felt as I did that Masterman did not prepare them well for college. Then again, it could have been me (how many kids do you know take school seriously?) Part of the problem was the lack of funding. The only things I've dissected before going to college was an amoeba and a worm. When I got to Penn, I found that most of my fellow classmates had already done many of the labs in my basic science classes, while everything was all new to me. I've never seen most of the lab equipment, computers/programs they used at college (we had old microscopes - so I at least knew what that was), and it was mildly embarrassing for me to ask questions that most of my classmates considered to be standard knowledge. Part of it is that the school is so focused on getting everyone into the advanced courses that they sometimes forget to focus enough on the basics. This holds true for the trig through Calc 3 classes but not for algebra and geometry. Mr. Goldman (who taught algebra and geometry in 7th and 8th grade) would test us on both the advanced and basic problems - best math teacher ever. That being said, students who go to Masterman are generally very successful and pursue stable, steady, successful careers. Many have gone into law, medicine, PhD programs doing really interesting things with obscure titles. The only reason I seem critical is due to the fact that I am not sure what a preparatory school is suppose to do. Going to Masterman made it not difficult to get into a great college. However, in terms of basic skills/knowledge, I still get teased by my husband who went to a much lower ranked public school (same area) that had a LOT of funding from property tax dollars and he was able to somehow retain/learn a lot more basic knowledge than I did. He also tutored me in chemistry, back in college (although if anyone's ever had chemistry with Dr. Ranjini, they'd understand my willingness to block that part of my memories).

Despite the physical appearance of the building, this school still holds up to its reputation as…read moreone of the premiere schools in the Philadelphia area. Recently awarded Blue Ribbon School status, President Obama delivered his annual Back to School Speech to an ecstatic student body on September 14, 2010. Goosebumps! Teachers and administrative staff are top-notch for the most part. The students DO work hard and the Home and School Association works to support academic and extracurricular activities. To my knowledge, there's rarely a discipline problem or any type of bullying. Instead, there's heated classroom discussion and early morning EC activities. Who can complain?

Great teachers awesome staff my child learned so much and loves it. She is always happy to go to…read moredaycare and loves her teachers

Being a freshman in college I have to say this school prepared me very well. The grading system is…read morethe same as college and the writing level I show is "impressive" to my professors. Thanks cc you actually prepared me!

Incredible school for 1. Learning/education 2. Meeting friends and new acquaintances and lastly 3…read more The faculty & teachers who're incredibly kind

I went to Accel for several years growing up and Mr. Pak is the most caring educator. My SAT math…read morescores improved drastically to 720.

To the parents: Accel Academy taught me to appreciate critical thinking in math, reading, and…read morewriting. I went from a 1350 to a 1530 on the new SAT and my writing skills were immensely improved. The teachers are truly concerned about how well you understand the material. My math teachers made meticulous algebra extremely enjoyable. I would recommend this enrichment program to anyone of all ages! To the students: Hey ya'll! Accel Academy may look like a lot of work, but it doesn't feel like work when you truly enjoy the subject! For one, it's not just busy work, so you will see an improvement in your math/english/critical thinking. Also...if you are at the Cheltenham campus and they are ordering from the fast food restaurant, ORDER THE PIZZA FRIES.