As a parent of a newly graduated St. Margaret's high school student I can only say that I feel so incredibly lucky that my daughter attended this school. No other school I can think of private or public in Orange County offers the kind of stellar education and support to their students, both intellectually, emotionally,and spiritually. Dr. Graham's compassionate leadership shines through the entire school. Your child will get an education with teachers that care about both their academics and their well-being. We traveled from a distance from Newport to have her attend the school and it was worth every minute on the bus or in the car to be part of this wonderful community. I'm writing this today because my daughter called me last night from her first week in college where things are going really well and she said now she realizes even more how well she is prepared because of her St. Margaret's experience and she feels so to have gone there. Thank you St. Margaret's. read more

I love saint margaret's. My kids go here and we have had an amazing time. All the teachers are welcoming and kind.

This is probably one of the most favorite schools that I have attended. As a sixth grader, I really appreciate the fact that there is not much bullying around here. I love this school because of the best education and learning. Also, there are many choices to sports while Marco Forster has only P.E. Many kids are bullied in the stupid, public, Marco Forster. Finally, there are more options of learning because of Enrichment classes and field trips. Your 6th grade student, Caden Mai. read more

Reading through these comments is really funny. They have obviously been posted by parents where the child has been asked to leave. Which is unfortunate for the child and parent. Usually if it gets to this point, it isn't one just one thing, it is a series of events. Additionally, I would guess a lot of these reviews have been made up by the same disgruntled parent. Another comment was that the school was full of homophobic people. The Episcopal Church Nationally has homosexual priests and one of the college counselors is openly lesbian. St. Margaret's is a great place to go to school. If you have a very smart 8th grader they can take classes in the upper school, such as Biology and Precalculus. I don't think any other private school can boast such a thing. Just like when your child will eventually go to college, you will tour the college and see if it is a good fit for your child. Do this at SMES and you as the parent can decide if this is a good fit for your family and child. Or go to the Episcopal Church one Sunday and meet with Father Rob who sits on the Board that has been demonized, see for yourself. read more

Again, if I could rate this school a negative infinite number I would! I would like to update everyone on our lawsuit against the school. Going up against a private school and winning is difficult on its own. Before beginning the suit there are five different types of criteria that must be met. These five things are almost impossible to meet but "lucky" us met them. After months of trying to be civil with the school and school board, we were able to verify that the allegations made against my son were untrue. The OCSD officer who responded to the call and tested the UNTAINTED brownies confirmed this with us in August of last year. Again, we asked the school to reverse the "expulsion" and retract what they had accused my son of doing, again we were met with condoning letters questioning ourparenting. So, after the school continued to ignore the blinding facts and the ironclad evidence we possessed, we filed suit with the courts. The school protested and immediately sought legal representation from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a HUGE law firm that put FIVE lawyers to work on this case. Interestingly and sadly one of the top lawyers assigned to the case was a friend that we had made through the school years ago and I thought was still a friend. Regardless, our lawyer proved to the courts that my sons case could indeed be heard in a court since the contract we were currently under did not have an arbitration clause. My daughters did have the clause and her case will go to arbitration. The school appealed and once again we were awarded the right to be heard in court. The school appealed again, this time to a higher court. That was about 5 months ago. We finally heard back today and received a copy of their claims. To summarize they are saying that the contract for the school year 2016-2017 (event happened in May of 2017), that contract became inferior to the renewal for 2017-2018 school year. Why this matters is my sons 2016/2017 contract was free and clear of the arbitration clause. Interestingly my daughters was not. So, since we had paid our deposit for 2017/2018 in February of 2017 that the 2016/2017 contract was not the current governing contract. There is nothing in the contract that says this but "it should be known", based on their claims. Hmmmm...SHAME ON YOU SMES! We signed the next years contract by the date YOU said it must be signed by. We paid the deposit on this date too. We did this in good faith and knew it was for the following year. You, in an attempt to cover the massive error you made, are acting in bad faith and twisting the contract to try and strong arm a win and get this out of the courts. Despite the constant hold ups and appeals we have proved to the court of appeals that we do deserve to have a trial. As a matter of fact the school was handed down a 12 page decision "schooling" SMES on their attempt to misconstrue a contract. So, we now gave a trial date set for June of 2020, in an open court! Let the games begin. read more

Great school well run , expensive but if you can afford it I highly recommend it . Well rounded . Their kids get into great colleges from what I saw on line read more

Excellent faculty and culture. Likely the best all-around school in Orange County. The focus on a diversified approach to teaching children is apparent from Pre-K all the way to 12th grade. SMES is extremely picky with its faculty selections, which as a parent, I value deeply. I would not hesitate to continue to support the decisions and judgment of the leadership of SMES. They are a high caliber team across the board. I rate this school a 5-star without hesitation. read more

A revolving door of teachers, entitled attitudes (both parents and students), quick to label children, zero tolerance for individuality, expensive without warrant, preferential treatment for high dollar donors, contrived family community when it serves them, and so much more, await you and your children at Saint Margaret's Episcopal school. Saint Margaret's Episcopal school is the exception to the "you get what you pay for" phrase. Unfortunately for me, it took 8 years to finally see this school for what it really is...a waste of money! read more

I went here for middle school and high school. It was a terrible experience; for my career aspirations I would have been far better off at a performing arts high school such Hamilton Academy of music in West LA. Or leaving high school early and going to Saddleback for a couple of years. Don't believe the hype; when I was there it was full of homophobia. There were homophobic slurs hurled at me on a daily basis by other students. There were even certain teachers who made homophobic remarks while teaching, showing students that certain types of hate speech would be tolerated. Interesting...the school claimed to be so against racism and to provide a wholesome environment, yet teachers can use anti-gay slurs without consequence? Why does the school consider homophobia to be not as bad as racism? It can't be religion since the Episcopal Church is quite liberal concerning gays. Graduating and getting out of there was the best that had ever happened to me in the first 18 years of my life. Now I am a happy, out gay man who laughs when remembering middle school and upper school at SMES. I can use the whole experience to remind others that it all gets better after high school. read more

If I could give this school negative stars, I would. I attended from 6th through 12th grade. Terrible, terrible, terrible in almost every way. I did make a few life long friends there, but aside from that, I would not do it over again. Do not send your kids here. I have graduated college and have an amazing career now so I can look back on my days there more objectively and I give the school, teachers, administrators and management a huge F-. I will update this review in the coming days with more details as I have more time to write. read more

My two girls have been at SMES since preschool. One is a senior and one is a freshman. They are intelligent, aware, compassionate, respectful, loyal, inquisitive, hard working, athletic, proud, thoughtful, resilient young women. They are who they are because of their time at SMES. They are loved, appreciated, validated and known by their SMES community. Do I recommend SMES? That is a resounding YES! There is no perfect school experience and there is no perfect school, but SMES comes pretty darn close. read more

Horrible school, my sons and daughters have attended this school their entire high school career and from their perspective the school is corrupt. They charge high tuition and advertise "diversity", "commitment" and numerous other qualities that they have failed to deliver in. The worst aspect of this school is due to a few of the upper school faculty. They do not care about the students and show a significant amount of bias against non-white students and will go out of their way to make their high school career harder. Along with this, the upper school building is outdated and cramped for the number of students, despite the large ever-increasing (34,000 dollars) tuition being allocated to funding the school anniversary and unnecessary activities like bringing relief animals to school, upgrading the teacher's lounge, etc. Overall from my sons and daughter and also their friend's opinion, the school will leave your child regretting 4 years of their life. If I could give zero stars I would most definitely do so. read more

An Episcopalian PreK-12 school located in San Juan Capistrano. I attended St. Margaret's, SMES as we called it, for middle and upper school (2003-2010). I really enjoyed it for the most part and disagree with some of the other reviews on here. If you go to inner city schools, public schools, it could be a lot worse. Your experience also depends on who you hang around and isn't necessarily a reflection of the school. I was by no means "popular" and I had my fair share of personal conflicts with other students, but that happens at every school. I will divide my review in terms of categories. Academics: SMES was very good at challenging students and preparing us for college. Not to toot my own horn, but I was much more prepared for college than a lot of my peers who didn't attend, and a lot even dropped out of school. They couldn't handle the work load and the responsibility of school that SMES had been preparing us for since I arrived. I transferred from public school and I liked that I was challenged instead of being bored in class like I had been. Almost all of my teachers were excellent and professor-worthy. I did not experience the typical "tired-tenured teacher" who half-asses their way through the year and gyps you out of your education. I only had one teacher who was below average, and SMES appointed him to a different position because of our complaints. Teachers care about our progress and were always only an e-mail way, just like professors were. I had no problem transitioning into college, which is one of the main goals of the school. Athletics: There is no question or doubt that SMES makes their athletic program a big priority (and thus gives most of their money and funds to). If you are a football player, then you will get the best treatment, most upgrades for equipment, most funds, etc. If you are in any other sport...not so much. I'm not saying the rest of their athletic department isn't good, but it is obvious who their favorite (aka biggest moneymaker) is. To put this into perspective, a second gymnasium was built before a new and upgraded arts hall was built- or even a real practice hall for orchestra, band etc. Who needs 2 gymnasiums? Arts: Since I have graduated, their arts program has vastly improved, and I am very bitter that I haven't gotten to experience it. They now have a beautiful arts hall with actual rehearsal rooms. Whereas before, we were crammed into tiny former classrooms. And for plays, we would be crammed into this tiny space backstage that was supposed to be for tech and props. Instruments would be banged into each other, music stands would be knocked over like dominos- it was a nightmare. So I'm glad they FINALLY made that upgrade. Overall School Atmosphere: This honestly varies per class, but some of it can be affected by the teachers and administrators. For the most part, students here were driven and motivated to do well in school, sports, extracurriculars. If anybody started getting into drugs or down a dark path, they would be expelled, so it wouldn't spread. There were at least 10 kids (out of 100, so 10%) in my class that were expelled or "asked to leave." There is a no tolerance policy and they are pretty unforgiving with that, which is good because most public schools are gun-shy about applying discipline. However, for some rules SMES gets a little too out of hand. By 2008, we lost our ability to wear skirts because they were too short. So we went from being able to wear skirts 2 inches above the knee, to none at all. Talk about sexist. Their dress code was targeted towards women and was very sexist. I once got a detention for a dress that "resembled lingerie" but did not in fact break any of the rules. It was the proper length, covered my shoulders and did not show any chest. I'm sorry my outfit makes you think nasty thoughts, don't punish me. The public school I work at now does not care if girls show their back, midriffs or shoulders because they are not creepy and thinking about them that way!!! Letting men sexualize young women is the problem. As far as school assemblies with guest speakers, they were often useful but sometimes it felt like they were using scare tactics. To prevent drunk driving, they would have someone who drank and drove and killed all their friends in an accident. To prevent texting and driving, they would bring a speaker who was paralyzed from the waist down and also killed a friend. To prevent smoking marijuana, they would show a video of a girl who scratched her eyes out while she was screaming in a straitjacket (clearly not marijuana by the way). I understand where they were going with these, but sometimes it was a bit too intense. One speaker a year would suffice- they would bring several speakers a year with tragic stories. Overall, this is a great school that will prepare students for college, despite its frequent over-protectiveness. read more

I wanna start by saying my family is a lower SES family, and my parents worked incredibly hard to send me to private school to receive a quality education. I only attended SMES for high school. I graduated SMES in 2013. I've had time to reflect on my experiences and I am currently in graduate school. SMES isn't perfect. I read some of the other reviews, and I do agree there are problems like bullying, but to be frank every other school has these issues. I'm a School Psychology student working in public schools and I can 100% tell you there is bullying literally everywhere. Tragic but true. But rating a school isn't about bullying, it's about the education. Overall, my education was top notch. I got opportunities other students at other schools don't get. Most, not all, of my teachers were incredible, knowledgeable people who I still keep in contact with today. Again, no school staff is without a few poor instructors, but for the most part I had very caring and supportive teachers. My college counselors worked tirelessly to help me polish my college applications to get me into great schools. I can't rate SMES 5 stars, cause it's not perfect. But I can say it's better than other schools out there. Great academics, overall decent social climate (I met my bestie there and 8 years later we're still best friends), and an incredibly well connected alumni network that invites you to annual holidays parties. Tour the school, let your kids shadow, ask the tough questions, and decide for yourselves. read more

I love this school man. It's great. I love the all the faculty and student body. Sports are great and the kitchen really fuels the school spirit. The cuisine is exquisite and it truly tantalized my taste buds. read more

Lovely welcoming church. Pastor is good man and always starts with serenity prayer. Made me feel safe.

I absolutely loved attending SMES for 11 years. It is a wonderful learning community filled with teachers and students who have impacted my life in such positive ways that I could never forget how amazing this school is. It's performing arts program as well as its academics are top notch and engaging. I have always felt welcome there and whenever I was experiencing hardship personal or academic there was always help available for me. I love this school and everything about it from its welcoming atmosphere, it's amazing faculty and staff, the students who I have developed close friendships with, and it's stunning campus-- I recommend St Margaret's for anyone who desires a well rounded community and learning experience. read more

I can't say enough good things about this school. The teachers, curriculum, values, preparation for college and life, the parents, the sports and the community service. Our son joined as a sophomore and was instantly welcomed into the school community. It is a close knot group of find young men and women and phenomenal teachers and coaches. We have the resources to send our child anywhere and feel that this is as good as it gets. Clearly, the best school in Orange County. The few negative reviews on here must be written by the odd, disgruntled student. If you're not ready to work hard, be positive, outgoing, well disciplined and get involved in extracurricular activities and community service, then perhaps you're better off elsewhere. You will be well prepared for college, for life and be a good person with strong moral values. St. Margaret's is the best thing that's ever happened to our son. St. Margaret's is five star plus! read more

I have 2 children attending St. Margaret's and I have to say that it is an outstanding school and I couldn't be more pleased with it. The opportunities to excel are numerous. My kids are in the lower scool and just within the lower school, the advantages for the kids over any other school in the area is immense. The STEM labs and ICE labs are top of the line. The Performing Arts Center is State of the Art. The music program is fantastic and the athletics is great. While I realize the school is not for everyone, I don't believe those 1 star posts at all. Nobody would continue to send their kid to a school that was that bad, especially with the tuition charged by SMES! If you are like me, and you are simply trying to give your kid(s) the best opportunity to succeed in life, then I think you need to strongly consider St. Margaret's. The opportunities afforded each student are second to none! read more