Saint Helena Primary School

What a strange recent 1 star review blabbering about white flight, covering up test scores and suggesting most in our community could pay for private school... There is strangely no mention of anything having to do with the experience or education offered to the students... In fact, our child's first year at St. Helena Primary has exceeded every single expectation. The students convene on the playground each morning for a principal-led pep talk with announcements and a school spirit session that sets a confident, cooperative tone for the day. Teachers and staff reward instances of students being safe, respectful or responsible with tickets that are drawn for pizza lunch with the principal. Library & classrooms are stocked with computers & ipads running interactive learning programs that track students achievements and trends. Classes are small. Resources are abundant and used efficiently. Parent, student and staff enthusiasm is very high. The students benefit substantially from the diversity that others have seemed to deride - it is embraced naturally & confidently and neither downplayed nor accentuated. The school is an extraordinary asset that the community is lucky to have.

I am proud to say I attended St.Helena Hindu School, without those teachers and principal I wouldn't have passed for the school of my choice which was Saraswati Girls' Hindu College! I would like to thank everybody in school that helped me out!!!!

For all the exclusivity St. Helena prides itself on, this school is a joke. The school really began deteriorating a long time ago but the school board and the school leadership managed to cover up real test scores to give the impression that the school was excelling. Fast forward five years and the school is in the midst of a major battle. Leadership has changed four times, staff don't get along, favoritism is rampant, and white flight is at an all time high. This elite community clearly could support a public school system but has turned the other way because most can afford private school. What an idiotic waste of tax dollars.

We have had a lot of change in this school over the past two years and not all of it has been for the better. They have discontinued the best program they had (multi-age) which I think was a huge mistake considering the test results backed up the excellence of the program. That being said, I still think this school is a great school. My son was in special education originally and they were aggressive in getting him into general education as quickly as possible. Now he only is pulled out about an hour a day and he is doing very well on his testing. The parents are strongly encouraged to volunteer in several of the classrooms (it's teacher specific) and teachers are allowed to teach in their own styles which promotes the success of each individual classroom. I recommend this school and am so glad to have had my son start his education here.