School has a new turf field which is beautiful ! Please do not let people park on it! read more

St. Barbara Catholic School - Turf field! - Elementary Schools Near Me - Santa Ana, California

My reason for keeping my child here is that he is delighted with the school. It is his 8th year here. He gets to know all of the teachers, and his teachers are so sweet and caring. He knows friends from different grades. He would not want to go to a different school. Parents are very caring and supportive of the school and the students. Some parents put more effort and find joy in serving the students and the school as a whole. The Dominican sisters at this school are very passionate about the school spirit. I admire their energy and the parents who have been supporting the school. I can trust the sisters to provide religious education to my child. I appreciate all the parents' work fundraising for the school projects and the school staff for keeping the environment safe and caring for the students. read more

Amazing school! My kids both went here, I highly recommend this school. If you're considering a private school this one is the one.

I sponsor , a single mother and her, now 6 year old girl. We started her at Cox School Fountain Valley after 4 weeks of being pick on by Spanish girl wearing lesbian cloth & a boy in a dress, I decided to take her to St Barbara Catholic school. I volunteered at St Barbara Church for over 10 years, sound equipment, The school interview us Friday , our girl started school the following Monday. I find this worth , don't tell them, twice the funds payed. I really like all the personal working at the school. The school is expanding , pre K & K classes for 2022 are almost full, have a waiting list now. I am a heavy hitter in the Catholic church system. read more

St. Barbara Catholic School - ready for school - Elementary Schools Near Me - Santa Ana, California

GREAT AND AMAZING SCHOOL!!! The staff here really teach their students well and my both my son and daughter have learned much from them. My children are in the lower grades and are always excited for school! The service at the office is just amazing as usual, and the staff help you as much as they can. 5/5!!!! DEFINITELY WOULD RECOMMEND!!! read more

NEW UPDATED REVIEW! I have been a student here since Tk and my siblings too, all of us agree that the education is extremely behind. Recently the girls restroom was redone because of a kind donation from one of the parents in 7th grade, but they decided to make the middle school building for the elementary students next year because of trash complaint from the office. There may have been trash in the past but as now there has been nothing and yet they still complain. The students of the parents who donated the money were extremely annoyed when they found out about the building swap, as they paid for the middle school girls to have a nice restroom but having it taken away. Recently during lunch the teachers made the children sit down at the tables not allowed to leave chanting 4 rules continuously until lunch ended. They were, I will pick up my trash, i will not say the n word, i will not cuss, i will respect the staff, and i will not steal other people's food or drinks. The teachers treat students very rudely as one of the home room teachers doesn't let a child speak stand up or ask questions, and when he does what she says she still manages to find a reason to yell at him, he has a learning disability ADHD and it's hard for him to control himself and she knows of it too. The religion teacher gives strikes to students if she sees another talking to them even if there wasn't a response. One time a student wasn't looking at the board for a short period of time and she gave them a strike. This school isn't bad by itself, they just really need to reconsider who they have as their staff. read more

I really hate this school. The teachers are always making fun of my children, and I went here when I was younger as well. The students are also very rude and unholy. One of these students told my child that they should become a discord kitten. I don't know what this specifically means, but I am guessing it's a very derogatory term. Most of the teachers are very unprofessional, and they talk bad about other people. My 9-year-old son saw a cockroach in the bathroom sink and complained about the dirty water fountains filled with cobwebs. Thank god my children are going to be leaving this school and going to Irvine Intermediate the next year. I heard Irvine Intermediate is a very bad school as well, but I believe it'll be better for my children's mental health. read more

School is over for the year and felt like I needed to share my experiences, because of our 'new normal'. We've attend 2 other schools prior to coming here, I would recommend St. Barbara in a second. It's not for everyone, but it was the good choice for us. Distant Learning, we were lucky to have a staff that cared so much. I saw a lot of my friends in other schools struggle with the new normal, but we had a much better experience. My child would have a pretty normal school day with a lot of work/education (5-6 hours daily) and with at least a Zoom call daily. Communication, I know it was new for everyone, but the school did a nice job with daily communications with myself and my child. Actually, we could schedule as many Zoom meetings as needed for my son if he needed extra help. I know the teacher already had a lot of extra work, but she was always willing to help. I talk to a lot of parents and it's funny, some items that are PROS are considered CONS to others: - Stricter rules - Dress Code - Smaller Classrooms - Fund Raising (some loved getting to know other parents and some thought their tuition covered everything, which is not even close) read more

Very good and nice school. The child service is unimaginably amazing. I would recommend this school to all of my friends and family.

My daughter is with St. Barbara Catholic school for 5 years and she is very happy. St. Barbara stands over 60 years and it is going strong but it needs improvement. I have to give the school a thump up all the way. Why? You ask. Last night during the parents meeting, the principal, Mr. McGuiness, laid out the plan (2 phases) to remodel the school, inside as well as outside. The plan will be execute by early this summer. The renovation will be done before the next Fall arrives for school starts. Therefore, it will be a fun and better place to be for the kids as well as teachers and staffs. They all deserve it. If you do not know St. Barbara Catholic school, you can drop by the campus for a tour. Take it from me, if you have children and you live not far away, this is a place for your child/children. Thank you to Mr. McGuiness, all the teachers, all the staffs, and all the parents for working together and support one another to make this happen. God bless all of you. read more

People are just being toxic about this school; some are strict but treat you nicely. For all y'all people out there who rated it one star, your life had been a mistake read more

i love this school, i am in fifth grade and so far im mclovin it. i love this school so much and this is pro epic gamer honest review. if i had never come to this school i probably wouldve had Fs and Fs. I thank my mom and the lord ive come to this school. from epic gamer true pro. read more

Saint Barbara school has been deteriorating since 2017 due to its very high turnover rate of teachers yearly. And that was why I had to pull my children out of this school couple years ago. In fact, my children were very behind in their classes at another public school right after the school transfer. Thanks God my children are in better hands now and doing very well in the new school read more

I would NOT ever recommend this terrible, below average and intolerable school to anyone, especially during this pandemic time. Saint Barbara School has been going down the hill since its former principal left this school several years ago as results of her retirement This school is getting smaller every year. In fact, Saint Barbara School currently has a total of only 150 students (down from 350 students) for K-8th grades! I wouldn't trust SBS for my children's well-being. read more

Just enrolled my 4 children to St. Barbara rather last minute and the communication and support between the principal Mrs. B. and secretary Mrs. A has been great. As I dropped off my kids for testing and orientation I observed the Principal very engaged with the students and staff. She made a point to acknowledge and speak to all the students she came across during my 1 hour at the school. Kindergarten teacher was really outgoing and attentive to the students and parents at orientation. So far so good. I did suggest to the principal that the school mascot name needs to be changed from Celtic to Anything else! As a season ticket holder at Staples.. How can we be a Celtic in Lakers land right? She had a good sense of humor about it and said a former church Priest said the same thing. read more

I came to visit the school a few years before I finally decided to enroll my daughter. There have been so many positive changes to the school that finally make me feel comfortable to enroll her. To name a few: new curriculum, airline conditionings, gates that needed to be buzzed in during school hours, and new teachers that work the students strength. I hope there will be more changes to come with this new principal. read more

As a former student from kindergarten to the third grade, I can now look back and see what is an awful institution. It was 2001 when I started and 2005 when I ended my course at this school, so my review might be outdated; I believe it will not be as such since I looked at the school website to see that most of the staff are the same since I left. There are three main ways to nurture children according to psychology: 1) Authoritative (Child is held at high expectations, but is told any reasoning and therefore the child knows why he or she is either being told to do something or punished. Assertive yet understanding) 2) Authoritarian (Child is held at high expectations, but is not told the reasons and therefore the child will be punished or told to do something without knowing why. Strict and punishing) 3) Indulgent (Child is allowed to do what he or she pleases without severe punishment. Lenient) More information on Wikipedia under "parenting styles" The best way to nurture children, of course, is the Authoritative method, yet this school is very Authoritarian. There would be countless times where I would be punished without knowing what for, defeating the purpose for the punishment. In the second grade, my teacher would make it seem as if she was actively trying to get students in trouble; whether she was or not, that perception fostered my fear for teachers. They promote "kind[ness], love, and forgiv[eness] like Jesus" (Lan T.), yet they instill it with fear, outright hypocrites. The only time I recall such a caring teacher was my first grade teacher and I believe she is still working there; if it weren't for her, I would give this school 0 stars. This school also deters individualism and creativity. The uniforms are a factor in the deterrence, but it is mostly the teachers as I have explained beforehand. As for creativity, there is not much encouragement. There are several moments in the third grade that I will never forget: 1) When it was time to leave, the teachers would call the students names at the door while the students waited inside and the parents waited outside. This teacher called my name twice when she saw that my uncle was there to get me, but I did not hear either time. A minute later she calls my name again and I hear her this time. She yells at me for not "paying attention." Are you kidding me? I was eight at the time; I have professors who are more patient with college students. He scolding made my self esteem as low as it could be for days. 2) When we make native American cutouts from paper for art time, she yelled at a kid for cutting fringes of the pants differently. This is her exact quote, "You just had to get creative didn't you." This appalling instance should be self explanatory. I had that teacher for the third grade, but I believe she moved on to torture fourth graders now. From my experience, the education was indeed more advanced in the sense that the student is more ahead than their public school counter parts; the social impact, however, was negative. When I transferred to public school, (my mother saw how horrible the environment was at this school) the freedom felt odd. I would ask other kids if i could play and they said, "just play you don't need to ask." It was strange to me how welcoming the environment was in contrast to St. Barbara. Eventually, I would go on to lose my fear of teachers as I progressed in public school. Overall, St. Barbara is not the ideal place to sent your kids to school. tl;dr St. Barbara's atmosphere is restrictive and punishing. Most teachers are not as nurturing as they seem (they put on fake faces in front of parents). Public Schools over St. Barbara. read more