| School Name | Address | Phone | Grades | County | Type | District Name |
| Mother Catherine Spalding School | 38833 Chaptico Rd
Helen, MD 20635 | (301) 884-3165 | PK-8 | St. Mary's | private | |
| Date | Who | Comments |
| 11/3/2011 | parent | Mother Catherine Spalding is a fabulous school with wonderful, caring, INVOLVED teachers and a great, new principal. The class sizes are wonderful for specialized attention. Many new endeavors, including a science lab, Spanish class, and soon the arrival of iPads for student usage, have only improved what was already good. Please note that the low-rated comments and reviews are rather old, and many, if not all, of those issues have been resolved. If things were still as these others have reported, I would not have been sending my own son there for the past three years. |
| 10/19/2011 | teacher | My husband and I chose to send my children to this wonderful school when my husband's job was moved from PA to PAX River. Mother Catherine Spalding had all the traits we were looking for in a Catholic school-- strong Catholic identity coupled with strong academics, and a nurturing environment. My children not only received a quality education at MCSS, but devloped a strong personal identity rooted in the belief that we are all created by God and in His image, worthy of respect and love. Moreover my sons and daughter have been inspired to challenge themselves to be all that God created them to be-- to reach their full potential. I have now been associated with Mother Catherine Spalding School for more than 15 years -- the last 9 years I have been teaching here. MCSS teaches academics to be sure, but also, helps students learn teamwork and sportsmanship, recognize the value of hard work and dedication, and develop a sense of community and service to others. I am proud to be a part of such a dedicated staff whose daily mission is to teach the whole child, in partnership with the parents, to be all that God intended him/her to be. |
| 10/15/2011 | parent | We started our son at Mother Catherine only because he was not able to get into public school Pre-K. When he started school there, we thought we would stay there until the year was done then move to public school... HOWEVER, we chose to stay at MCS because it is such a wondeful environment! With small class sizes, our son gets the individualized attention that he needs to thrive in Kindergarten, plus he is receiving moral development that he would not if he was in public school. There is a sense of community, and everyone knows everyone else. We are very excited to have a new principal and cannot wait to see her new ideas for our school. Without a doubt, keeping our son at Mother Catherine is one of the best decisions we have made. |
| 10/13/2011 | parent | My son has been at Mother Catherine since Pre-K (2003-present) and has been very successful. We are extremely pleased with the teachers he has had and the education he has received. The school has a new principal this year and she is absolutely wonderful. I think the new leadership will only make the school better. I have nothing but positive things to say about Mother Catherine. I am glad we made the choice to send our son there so many years ago. |
| 12/11/2010 | parent | We have just moved to MCS from FAW. We are overjoyed!!! My middleschooler is in thrilled. My first graders are thriving. Smaller class sizes, warm loving environment, accelerated opportunies. Every teacher seems to know all three of my children. |
| 5/11/2007 | parent | Great school! My husband's entire family grew up with MCSS(when the nuns were still there) and now our son has attended here since K and is now in the 3rd and will attend through 8th. We are very pleased with the educational standards, as well as the relationship that they practice with God. My son loves the teachers. We are pleased with the close net of teachers, students, and parents. The students are held to high expectations and meet them with all hands on! I believe in the 'it takes a village to raise a child'and Mother Catherine is the best choice for any child's village.The teachers are strong and teach wonerfully.The school offers a great option for the public school system and have all the extracurricular activities the public schools offer. God bless |
| 3/28/2007 | parent | This is our third year at Mother Catherine, and we have been really happy with the school, the staff and academics. My children love going to school, they enjoy their teachers and the minute we walk into the school we are greeted with smiles and friendly greetings that make you feel as though you are amoung family. Not sure why some of the previous reviews said that several families chose to take their children out of the school. The school is wonderful. |
| 8/12/2005 | former student | Well to be honest I am not a parent, but instead a former student(graduated '01) and have seen this school change drastically since then. After a certain financial situation was resolved the school has since added an expansion, complemented grades k-8 with a pre-k and brought in more qualified staff. Still, many things remain the same I suppose. In my experience students were punished erratically as previously mentioned, the focus was sometimes put on non-academic things (such as their new basketball court for example), but most importantly, what I found when attending the school was that your quality of education is greatly reliant on the quality of your teacher/s. One year I would have a very poor or new teacher who could barely control the class, another year I would have one of the best teachers I have ever had. Overall though, the school creates a great community for a student. |
| 5/20/2005 | parent | This school year 04-05 my son and our family were new to Mother Catherine he is in Pre-K and really we were not sure of what to expect although I had heard nothing but wonderful things about the school and the teachers. I feel very fortunate to have my son receiving his education at Mother Catherine and I highly recommend this school to anyone looking for the best for their child. Everytime I go to the school I feel so welcomed and really feel glad that my son goes there. Mrs. Cook is a wonderful teacher and I thank her for caring about my son's education and rest of the children's as well. I think Mr. Ligday is a wonderful principal and Mrs. Spence she is just great! My son likes every teacher in the school that he has had a chance to meet and that makes me very happy! |
| 2/17/2005 | parent | This school is really excelling. They have a full time resource teacher that is able to assist the remedial students K-8 and also challenge the advanced students K-8. Their new music teacher has taken a well established program and pushed it to new heights, with the band performing publicly at various venues and now planning on competitions. every core curriculum teacher possesses a Masters. The new computer teacher has the children greatly advanced in software, web based applications, and programming. This has been a greatly cohesive year for the staff. The new administrator is also very involved int the school and highly approachable. Also its dropping its level of 'selling' fundraisers in favor of more community minded activities. Definitely look into this school. |
| 10/5/2004 | parent | It is a small school that is struggling to find its niche. This school was very good, but a big disappointment last year. Numerous families left the school. There are no programs available to address gifted (accelerated) or special needs (remedial) children. The middle school Math department is awesome, one of the best in the county. Last year the middle school report cards were delayed one week, as I understand it, due to the English department s inability to report student progress on time. The administration appears to distribute discipline in an arbitrary and inconsistent manner. One child will get expelled for two days, where another will be required to perform menial in-school tasks for the same infraction. There appears to be more focus on student intimidation and conformance than education and learning. Under the right leadership, this school can and has excelled. |
| 8/25/2004 | parent | I think this school is horrifying - especially for something you are required to pay to have your childrens attend. It did not 'used to be' this way; however, they hired another 'new' Principal last school year summer (2003) and the school has totally gone into 'destructive-mode'. As a result, an enormous amount of the 'MCSS Families' have taken the 'Pro-Active' approach and taken their children out of the school for this coming school year (2004-2005). (It should be noted several did this during the school year). Most of which (including me and my family - who have been sending our children to this school since 1997). |
