St. Joseph Catholic Academy, Killeen TX

Two of my kids went here for a year and a half. We’ve had them in catholic schools since Kindergarten, so when we moved them here, we were hopeful. There’s many issues we had, but here is a few:

1) Multiple teachers were “let go” during the 2021/2022 school year, which is a lot from a school this small. The quality of education is low because they are not attracting quality candidates and are letting good ones walk away.
2) Communication was HORRIBLE! Their fix was to hire a communication director (although the position is more social media oriented). Don’t work on making new issues when there are plenty to fix.
3) Head staff were very dismissive, defensive, and abrasive when issues were brought up. The more issues we addressed, the more defensive they became.
4) Our kids had multiple instances where staff should have called or notified parents but failed to do so. There was bullying issues, staff being inappropriate, and other issues which we were never notified about from the school, only through our kids.
5) The “extracurricular” sports and programs are the worst. Nobody wants to take ownership of teams or groups. When schedules for athletics are posted, they often would go over time 15+ minutes… sometimes longer. Additionally, some athletics were more lecture than practice. The games/tournaments were sparse and kids put in hours of practice for little competition.
6) Volunteering is a requirement for parents, HOWEVER, they will offer only opportunities for fundraisers but not for coaching or improving the school through administrative, academic, or grounds work. Their main effort appeared to be making money through fundraising, but there was no transparency on how those funds were used in improving the school.
7) Transparency was the largest issue. The school would not notify parents for serious incidents which occurred on school grounds during school hours, why staff turnover was so high, incidents involving discipline, academic testing results, etc. When we brought up the possibility of a PTA or staff/parent meeting, we were told that they didn’t want that to happen because it would end up being “a gang up” session against the head faculty.
8) Girls at the school are told they have to shield their bodies, sit a certain way, or get similar comments about how their bodies are a distraction to the boys. If the uniforms are so revealing, why not change them rather than teach girls their bodies are the problem?
9) Finally: they use French Toast as an exclusive uniform vendor. The uniforms were backlogged for 6+ months and almost the entire school has complained about his. Other schools are not vendor specific and allow for generic uniforms since supply chains have been impacted in the last few years. This school took no proactive measures to address this issue, stressing out parents and kids throughout the year. This is also Texas, so they’ll still expect your middle schoolers and older to wear a heavy Navy Blazer when it’s 100°+

I cannot speak on what other peoples experience will be with this school. My issue is that everyday I picked up my 3year old son from school, his face was covered in food and snot. I would ask the teacher to give him a napkin to clean his face but the problem never got resolve.

I think I had enough when I picked him up and his pants were on backwards, his shoes on the wrong feet, his face covered in snot and his underwear showing in the back because the pants was not zipped or button.

According to the teacher, they do not take this kids to the bathroom if they have an accident. The 3 year old needs to be able to change their own clothes. Understandable, but I still felt like she needed to be attentive to help him see that he is not presentable. I emailed the faculty and got no response. I spoke with the vice principal and she was nonchalant about the issue and stated that her daughter comes home with food on her clothes regularly.

My boys have been attending St. Joseph's for years. They are treated as family with all staff members and they are truly excited to go to school. Everyone is so accommodating and supportive and the classroom sizes are smaller so there's more one on one with the students.

I love this school for my daughter. The school curriculum is amazing and you can definitely tell the intelligence of the students growth. I recommend this school to everyone.

We are new parents this year and we are very pleased with the communication this school has provided. We have heard much positive feedback about SJCA and we look forward to this upcoming school year!

St. Joseph Catholic Academy is an amazing school. The teachers care about their students, and the classical curriculum is student focused and engaging. As an educator myself, I was thrilled with the progress my children made while attending this school. I was sad to leave.

My kids attended here in 2020 and loved it. The teachers and staff are top notch, as is Mr. Steffans the principal. They teach a classic curriculum which we prefer and are small enough to give each student the attention he/she might need. They also do COVID mitigations and put the health and wellness of the students first. There are extracurriculars too-soccer, archery, art, and other options. The school is growing for a reason! Top notch!

My daughter and my family have had the most amazing and life changing experience at St Joseph!

I have a 4 year old son who needs some discipline. Because this woman who clearly is bitching about them acting like well mannered children. This sounds like an amazing school for my son! Please take him!