Great place to send your children for an education located in the heart of Malvern . Wonderful…read moreteaching staff and facility with unique glass offerings

I spent four years in this nightmare of secondary education, taking shit from nuns, pampered…read moresuburban girls, and my own parents. I used to imagine no one really likes their high school. But when I see Villa girls in Philly, they often exclaim in gushing tones, "Wasn't it the BEST time of your LIFE! Don't you MISS it?!" Abso-fucking-lutely NOT. I always said the best thing about Villa was Malvern Prep down the road. Between the pressure to excel in academics, play sports, and cram 51,000 activities into your schedule, I hated my life from ages 14-18. I'm not some Columbine outcast either. I made good grades, had a group of friends, did charity work and was in the school play, choir, and volunteered. Villa Maria's school policies were to repress creativity, demand conformity, and always look picture-perfect in your pervert's dream Catholic school uniform. Villa takes the credit for the natural tendencies of excessively parented, upperclass white girls; which is to achieve. It has nothing to do with the school or their ridiculously quaint ideas about education. Don't send your girls to Villa. If they are smart, they will do well in any school. If they need help or are not inclined to Lockean "tabula rasa" classroom environments, they will wither and die under Villa's oppressive regime. Up with education, down with Villa.

My son attends the Beiber Campus and I can't tell you enough how great this school is. If you want…read moreyour child to think outside the box and become a future leader this it's the school for you. The teachers all go out of their to help your child succeed. The principal Mr. Johnson is truly a great leader and you can tell that everyone at that school, staff and students respects him. I am so glad we chose to send our son here.

if i could give it 10 stars i would. my boy just graduated from SLA. the teaching style is like no…read moreother. kids are valued. opinions matter. learning and growing happens here. the kids hug their teachers and the principal is the most amazing man on earth. why isnt every school like this? we were so fortunate for this education. i have to say, im jealous my high school experience was nothing like this. the teachers act more like mentors. guiding the students on their path, where ever that may take them. you can see the mutual respect between the kids and staff. SLA is progressive. one of a kind. im excited about what the future holds for my boy and thank SLA for giving him an advantage most are not lucky enough to have. THANK YOU teachers and staff, and mostly Mr Lieman.

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?

Horrible just horrible, constuction noises around the entire building, bad teachers, and unfit…read moreindoor conditions. The "school" looks like a prison it is so underwhelming, depressing and dangerous pipes could break at any second and the smells in the hallways are horrible. Don't take your kids to this school.

Four years of my life. Mostly bad teachers, drug problems, and a powerhouse (at times) football…read moreprogram. When I graduated there were some AP classes (7 or 8) and I think there are even more now. The problem was that none of my teachers were qualified to teach at that level, so most of the work I did was self-taught. The school district is on the lower end of the Delco districts in terms of academics. Couple that with high property taxes and I don't know why you'd raise a family here. I'd guess reasons would mirror my family's: they grew up here so their kids grew up here. That ends with me!

i love this school my daughter graduated 2020 and it really did make a difference in her life i…read morelike that they are a strict school and they enforce rules my son attend now and im glad they are usisng the same uniform policies they had before staff is great and always communicte with me with any issue regardless of how small or big thanx to all contiinue running the school well

this school is a blue ribbon school for a reason!! i cant explain to you enough how great of a…read moreschool this is! the teach

Best elementary school in the North Penn School District by PSSA scores. One daughter went through…read moreall 7 years K-6, The other is in Second grade. Best years for oldest: K, 1, 2, 4, 6. But all her teachers were good. The Home & School association is fantastic helping the school with a $34k budget with things like field trips and school supplies. There is a new principal for 2012-2013 so that may change things -- or it may not. The staff and parent organization is strong enough to keep the good momentum going no matter what.

Great school! My two kids graduated from it and I could not be happier. Very warm, nurturing…read moreenvironment combined with rigorous curriculum for those who are willing to take on an extra intellectual challenge.

very close small community that I felt we did not belong to at all despite we belong to same…read moretraditions. Don't recommend.

This is probably the nicest school in the entire Philadelphia district. The facility is beautiful…read more The faculty has a high turn over rate but for the most part everyone is super friendly. The unfortunate part and why I leave 3 stars is because of the funding. This beautiful school built well over 10 years ago now has not been taken care of. The technology Bill Gates originally designed for this facility is now completely failing. The sound system has needed replaced, lighting is failing. It's a beautiful pillar in the district but definitely needs to be maintained better. The grounds are always maintained well and the inside is always nice and clean. This is a building that is shaping the next generation. Let's not let it crumble. Support Philadelphia School Districts