St. Stephen Martyr School in Burbank, California

“vibrant and visionary leadership by principal; good support and working partnership between school and church; strong board;”
This review was posted by a former student.

“this school is a great school because I go there. I am graduating this year.(2005) my times at st. have been fun and educational. Its a great school, it has wonderful teachers, a nice principal,great after school activities,and has a safe campus.”
This review was posted by a student.

“The principal is focused on professional learning for teachers and students are academically prepared to handle high school. Peaceful, learner-centered and friendly! Great place to be!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My child was enrolled at Oprah's school in South Africa before my company transferred me and my family to America. St. Stephens has been a very positive change for our child. A good curriculum coupled with warm, caring and intelligent teachers has made our child flourish. BombaChiWomba, as we say back home to the great St. Stephens Martyr School.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My child will soon be graduating from Preschool and I am so grateful for all that she has learned. Ms. Morningstar is very caring and dedicated, my child just loves her. I would recommend this Preschool to anyone looking for a warm and caring enviroment, where their child will be very well prepared for Kindergarten.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I agree, the Preschool program is excellent! I know my child looks forward to going to school each day, and misses it on the weekends. Ms. Morningstar and Ms. Marichu are a joy to talk with and are always ready to listen to parents.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“st.stephens is a good school.iv been a student since kinder and i always liked it.I hate the princepal because she has favorites and she never has hands on with the children. Im still attending st.stephens because my friends are there and the student body is just like a family. the teachers are very nice. Some of them play favorites others just treat everyone the same.”
This review was posted by a student.

“overall the school is alright not great. most of teh teachers play favorites. our principal is not interactive with the students she barely knows anyone if i were to send my kids here in the future(if i have any) i would not enroll them here i want them to have a good education in a high educated school and a high rating of teachers and principal”
This review was posted by a student.

“The current principal lacks a strong presence. She rarely interacts with students or parents. I prefer a more hands on principal like the previous one.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Overall the education is great but the offer no summer program that benefits the kids, the school carnival is not organized and this year there were no rides, some teachers are too strict and play favorites which is completely unfair. I too am thinking about taking my child out of the school as well because there is not an equal balance when it comes to discipline and as a working parent, it's hard to attend every single function. I work odd hours and when I don't attend, I'm charged a ridiculous amount which is unfair. I work to keep my child in the school and it's hard to attend every parent meeting. I think they should be more understanding.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I have had at least 1 child at St. Stephen School for the past 9 years. There is a lack of consistency in enforcing family handbook guidelines. Parent involvement in academics and discipline can be rather weak but is strong when it comes to social events. Class sizes are too large . Some teachers follow the curriculum for their grade, but others do not. I hesitate to pull my child out because of the friendships she has made.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I am currently in the 7th grade at St. Stephen's, and I am in the utmost belief that this is the school where I will want my children to go. St. Stephen Martyr is of the highest quality, and I absolutely love being a student here. Everything is fun and educational, from the friendly student and teacher atmosphere, to the loving church council. I would not trade being here for anything in the world.”
This review was posted by a student.

“If you want to send your child to a good private catholic school this is the place. At first, I was overwhelmed with the parent involvement required, but after a while, it became fun to meet with other parents. It also shows your child that academics is top on your list. St Stephen recently ranked 15th out of 110 catholic schools at the Junior High Academic Decathalon. Now that is saying a lot for this school that has a low tuition fee compared to other private schools.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I am in 7th grade in st. Stephens. The teachers are really cool but what we need is more after school activities we also all of us need to get along. There is alot of cliques which we need to fix.On monday after school we have a dance program. And on tuesday and thursdays after school we have a art class so pick this school for your kids you will not regret it.”
This review was posted by a former student.

“I went to this school from 3rd - 8th grade. Overall this is a good school. The teachers really care about the students and though the discipline maybe a little tight, it may be a good thing for the kids. We would always have lots of parent involvement and there are many after school activities. I also see lots of parents volunteering for the school. It also pretty cool that there was a built in after-school program so for the parents that are busy they wont have to pick up their kids until 6pm. What I dont like is that the there seems to be a heavy amount of Catholic involvement. While understandly, it is a Catholic school. But the wednesday mass was mandatory for all students, and for the non-catholic students (like myself)the situation maybe a little awkward and the student may feel left out at times. They also have a mandatory religion class. Also, the school seem to revolve around mexican heritage too. Since most of administrators/teachers are mexican and or of mexican decent, you will get a lot of involvement that may revolve around mexican heritage (such as cinco de mayo festivals etc). This maybe a good school if you want something that will reinforce a strong Catholic background, but for a parent just looking a good school with little or no religious background, this may not be the one right for you.”
This review was posted by a former student.