Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School 10650 Aboite Center Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46804

"First, the community around this school is mostly great people with great kids. Second, they do a pretty good job on faith instruction. Third, they have a few truly great, caring teachers that we were fortunate to interact with. Sadly, that is where the positives end. The school leadership did an abysmal job of navigating the pandemic. The guidelines and protocol reflected a stunning level of ignorance on basic science, planning was non-existent, and families that decided to do remote learning were treated as second class citizens before ultimately being cut off with virtually no warning. Staff and administration were frequently seen about violating mask requirements. Quarantine decisions were made with the mindset of including as few students and staff as possible rather than following the protocols from the state. The pandemic aside, there are a number of other issues. The homework burden on young elementary students is often ridiculous and flies in the face of the recent science on the topic. Band education is a joke, despite the valiant efforts of the very-talented part time band teacher. It has been relegated to an occasional after school program. Lunch times are pathetically short and the cafeteria is run like a basic training DFAC, with some drill sergeant stand-in roaming around shouting and kids through the PA and imposing quiet time as punishment for the audacity of socializing. Recess gets cancelled at the slightest bit of uncomfortable weather in a way that suggests they are more concerned about the comfort of the recess aids than they are about what is best for the students. Some of the teachers are truly awful and one in particular is not just a bad teacher but a bad person. She bullies and torments kids that don't fit her mold (rather than try to impart skills and help those kids improve). Year after year parents complain to the administration and to each other about this person, and how she destroys the joys of learning in their kids, and year after year the administration gas-lights the complaining parents, telling them this is the first they have heard about it. And none of these matters can be aired out to the school leaders because they run the most back-room, off-limits, 'we don't care what you think' school board I have ever seen. You must ask permission to attend and if you want a topic discussed you have to submit the exact text of what you want to say for review and IF they permit you to stand in their hallowed presence, you are granted 3 precious minutes of their time. And despite this being in violation of Archdiocese protocol, they persist. Now, think about how a school board that is actually concerned about what is best for the kids would operate, and see how far removed Saint E's is from that standard. Lastly, when we pulled our 4 kids from Saint Elizabeth and enrolled them in SWAC public schools, we expected our students to be ahead of their peers. After all, most of our kids tested above grade year after year and generally earned very high marks. We were STUNNED to see how much the contrary was true. Our kids were behind their public school peers on almost every subject and skill. SWAC isn't perfect, but now our kids are learning more, and some of them are in ACTUAL honors classes (something not offered by Saint E's) and we are all better off for it. It was heartbreaking for us to have to leave the Catholic Schools Community, but with as poor of a steward of that community as Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School is, it was inevitable. I am sure that there are better Catholic schools out there. I recommend you find one."

"I sent my daughter there for 4 years and I deeply regret doing so. They gave her a referral for forgetting to fill out her planner for one day. She simply forgot and was punished for no good reason. Also not to mention the favoritism. You either have to volunteer or donate money, otherwise the teachers will literally hate your child. I sent my daughter there because she was getting bullied in public school. Well turns out the bullying at St E’s was far worse. My daughter would get messages online from other students saying awful things to her. When she brought this issue to the guidance counselor they did nothing and brushed it off as girl drama. It continued for the rest of the school year and was brought back up multiple times as it continued and was ignored each time. I removed her from St. E’s and she has been happier ever since."

"It aight"

"Reading the reviews, I guess I realize everyone has different experiences. I get some of the negative comments. I am sorry to read them but get how they could be true for those families. I would rank the school as 5 stars. My fourth and youngest child to attend St.E's is now a 5th grader so I have some experience with the school. 26 academic years? 95 percent of those experiences have been positive. My Purdue graduate attributes her solid study skills and academic success to the foundation she received at this school. When she attended Homestead she felt she had a leg up on her peers and to this day still speaks highly of Saint E's. Even now in her profession, she loves to learn and continues to study up on subject matter important to her career. My second child asked to transfer to Summit after 6th grade when he realized he would be going to Homestead and not Luers. He has done well, but I think he regrets that decision. He is still best friends with his grade school buddies and is doing well at Purdue. My 3rd student experienced some of the same negatives seen in some of the lower reviews. She often felt her class had been marked as an unruly group and felt they were openly scorned as such by her teachers. On the other hand, if you asked her, she would say she was glad she attended the school and like my son, most of her closest friends are her grade school friends. She is high honors at Homestead and doing well. My youngest complains a lot about how hard the teachers are on their students. When he explains, I often have to laugh. The teachers are tough. If you dont do your homework or dont perform at your potential, you will hear about it. In today's world, I think kids dont know how to handle that. My preference would be to bring back a smack to the palm of your hands and have less verbal lashings, but that is the world we live in. The school does have high expectations. I think that is a good thing. The faith instruction is solid and built in to the entire school day. They live what they preach. It's not just a religion class and then return to the real world. The faith is a part of the day. And last but not least, one of the best things about the school after academics is the athletic program. None of my kids are blessed with outstanding athletic abilities, but all were (and are) involved with sports at St. E's. Had they attended a SWACS school, they for sure would have been less involved and may not have the love for sports and fitness they have today. Lots of fun. My kids are not rich kids. They were not the most popular, but they did fit in. I dont think any of them were favorites of their teachers, but they were loved. 5 stars"

"They had my previous review removed. But the school is the worst school that I have put my kid in. We had issues with our kid getting bullied by her teacher. When brought to the attention of the school they did nothing to fix it. We had to remove our kid from the school."