Testimonials
"Our son, Jake, has been going to St. Mary's since Kindergarten. We chose this school because, when we took the tour, there was a sense of community and warmth. Our 8th grade tour guide answered our questions and talked about her wonderful experience at the school.
The principal Ms. Reavis, a planner, is quite organized and energetic. She emails the parents every morning with important updates and a prayer. Even though the prayers are meant for the school children, my husband looks forward to these morning emails as a way to focus spiritually and will miss them when our son graduates. Ms. Reavis is not only open to new ideas, but also exudes a can-do spirit. She is readily available (possibly in person, too) and holds virtual coffee chats to connect with parents of various grade levels.
We saw strong teacher engagement and a vibrant Home School Association. We noticed the teachers tend to stay with the school for a long time. The small classroom sizes were important to us. The school expanded its Pre-K and improved its outdoor areas around the school.
When the pandemic hit, putting Maryland in lockdown, Ms. Reavis and the teachers made sure that everyone was set for virtual learning by loaning Chromebooks, wireless hotspots, and text books. When I talked to some of my mom-friends, their schools weren’t prepared at all.
Now that Jake is entering high school, I know he is ready for his next chapter. St Mary’s of Piscataway adapts to the individual student. The care and attention he’s been given by the teachers and staff at the school has helped shape him into the young man he is today."
-The Hernandez Family
My spouse and I are pleased for having selected SMSP for our offspring for a host of reasons. These include, in random order:
- A finite class size, ensuring a noticeably beneficial teacher-student ratio. Our alternative was 30:1 compared to SMSP's cap at approx. half that.
- Recurrent use of the 14 acres of outdoor space for spontaneous learning, fresh air, long-distance focus (relieving eye strain from close-focus reading), and feelings of freedom.
- Highly personable and skilled and kind after-care personnel. (We don't use pre-care so cannot comment on that team).
- Focus on reading skills, getting buy-in from the pupil, without force-feeding literature.
- A comfortable pace of religion discussion, compatible with the respective age group of students.
- The focus on physical activity allows children to engage at their individual capabilities without comparison. There is time enough for organized sports and competition in junior and high school. A PreK–8 should (only) offer movement, physiological growth, concepts of fair play, inclusion, and merits of following commonly understood rules. And this, SMSP does well.
- STEM offerings, particularly for females, are offered at age-appropriate levels, in a gender-neutral manner.
- Civic studies (US history) are offered in age-appropriate ways, and inclusive of class discussion and Socratic methods.
- Reading > screen time. The daily books and the focus on reading out loud is a treasure.
- Mixing of children at different age groups, with SMSP adults nearby but not intruding on letting the children grow with safe trial-and-error multi-age experiences.
- Actively and efficiently enabling parents to engage at every level I wholly enjoy, for example, listening to, and learning from all assembled, from cooks, custodians (who I appreciate being able to recurrently assist), teachers, and administration.
- Enabling SMSP personnel to advance from within builds loyalty and retention, which students pick up on, creating a stronger interweave of support.
- The use of a breadth of art supplies, enabling students to approach learning in their own way of expressing the topic at hand, is exemplary (pointing back to #1 and 2 in a virtuous cycle).
- A safe, one-way traffic pattern for vehicles.
- A consistently high standard of expectation between caretakers/teachers and their students/our offspring. In the first year, and I trust ongoing, there is no corporal punishment, and instead repeated offerings and discussions of "good/great choices", letting the children grow amongst carrots and not sticks.
- They even work within the SMSP zero-tolerance policy. Knowing that our children aren't "sheltered" yet also are not exposed to another bigger school's drugs, peer pressure, gangs, clothing comparisons, cliques, school bus issues, foul language, weapons, or fear of physical and mental harm, makes the tuition costs worthwhile.
- Growing up in a household with two primary languages, the SMSP focus on additional languages. In our case, our offspring welcome Spanish as an additional tool to communicate directly with as broad a population as possible at the others' comfort level.
- Ongoing flexibility, of SMSP, during and outside of pandemic scenarios, yet throughout letting science and faith proceed as complementary, not adversaries. This enables SMSP to bring into the adult world year after year of students with a renaissance perspective. Bravo!
- Focus on a range of cultural representatives, such as those leading social change/equality, alongside focus of religious figures (historic and current, such as the SMSP Catholic leadership).
- SMSP flexibility to allow its curriculum and its Catholic message to remain compatible with families, such as ours, who have a reverend at the dinner table, and who are active members in another church - (how one expresses) belief in God is both a constitutional right, and a right that SMSP appropriately offers, prioritizing but not confusingly excluding others' approach on faith. Win-win, this SMSP focus on belief and faith, offering indeed one path, but not dismissing students' broader/differing interpretations of God.
- Certainly there are other plusses. I am saving this list of March 17, 2022, to add to it over time. We, a first-year family, are grateful and appreciative of our time thus far, and times ahead.
-The Hibben Family
"My wife and I are proud parents of five children who all have or are currently attending Saint Mary’s of Piscataway school. We have enjoyed every moment, and the teachers/administration treat you like family. Our children also receive a quality education, and we are confident with the foundation they have received. The children will all excel in high school and beyond. If you are looking for a school that offers a nurturing environment, quality education, and a school that cares about your child’s spiritual development; than SMP is the place you want to be!"
-The Johnson Family