St Michael The Archangel High School

There are no words that would describe our feeling of deep frustration and disappointment from this school. It was January this year when we started searching for a private high school for our son. Since we live in Culpeper, we focused on St. Michael after they had said the bus service would be considered (for additional charge). From the very beginning, at every encounter, we made it clear to the principal and the school registrar that we wouldn’t enroll our child to St. Michael if the school fails to provide transportation service for him. In February, we received an email from the school registrar with the final approval of transportation, the decision made by the school board. From that moment, we started an application process that included paperwork, 3 teachers’ references, an essay, and an interview. It took us a while to complete all. Eventually, after the interview, we were informed that out son officially accepted so we paid the tuition fee in full and made many expensive purchases such as books and uniform required by the school.
On the very first day of the school year, we were shocked to realize that neither bus service granted nor the driver available. The principal just said he was sorry for that and would try his best to resolve the issue. However, instead of providing full daily transportation (from Culpeper to the school and back) with the driver assigned for this role, the school initiated occasional rides performed by some of the school employees who did that on voluntary basis, without serious commitment or interest. As a result, almost every day we’ve been placed in a situation when the rides either to or from the school, had been cancelled due to various personal reasons of those volunteers. Nearly every day we contacted the principal regarding some problem related to the drivers, though, in the majority of cases, we were left alone with the problem and had to drive the child to the school ourselves, that negatively impacted our plans as a family, given a lot of time spent on driving such a long distance. After more than 2 weeks of suffering, we eventually decided to withdraw our son from St. Michael and enroll him to another school.
We feel that the school could do more to fulfil its promise for us, for example, hiring a driver, all the more so the school could utilize any of the school-owned vans which are parked at the school parking lot and not used. The school inflicted us deep emotional distress by its negligent conduct. We’ll never recommend this school to anybody.
Terrible school! Terrible administration!

This is an amazing school filled with teachers that truly care about the success of their students. The school work is challenging but the teachers are more than willing to do whatever it takes to help the kids learn. It is fun, with many things to keep the teens busy from activities to sports to theater. Those kids walk out at the end of the day, with a smile on their face. It's true quality. OH...and Saint Michael's divides into houses, much like 'Harry Potter', on a medieval day so the kids tend to like that as well!

My oldest son has attended this school for three years. His grades have greatly improved and well prepare to attend collage. The teachers have been supportive in helping him reach his goals to improve in math and English. The teachers are very accessible to both the parents and students.

This school is an amazing work of grace. My child has flourished in this incredible environment. Her self esteem and self respect have grown, her GPA has sky rocketed and the Head Master Mr. William Lippe connects with the kids in a way that allows tremendous growth. She has been accepted to UVA, VT and Villanova and we cannot thank the caring staff and administrators for helping her to reach her full potential.

This school is dedicated to all aspects of the Gospel. SMAHS is a school dedicated to the individual growth and development through all aspects of the students life. I am very impressed!

My daughter and I visited this school in 2010. We considered it as the best option for her and for expanding her strong Catholic faith. After 9 years with each of our three children in Catholic schools of Southern Virginia, we were expecting a friendly Catholic environment. Not only was it the opposite of welcoming, they were downright rude to my daughter, my husband, and myself. My daughter described the admissions test as "boring" and "easy". Not exactly the meeting of expectations that a college preparatory school should have. The Catholic streak ran a little too deep in this school, almost to the point of overlooking the academic standpoint, and it seemed like cramming religion down kids' throats. It wasn't even preparing these kids for a real world experience, which the students will need to have after high school.
My experience with St.Michael the Archangel High School was disgustingly underwhelming, so my family sprung the extra 10,000 dollars on Fredericksburg Academy, where my daughter is thriving with her academics, and making new friends in a worldly setting. The financial strain is greater, but I feel like this was the best choice for my daughter. Rather than going to a small, close minded Catholic school, which lacks the same quality of academics as F.A., my daughter now goes to youth group at St. Mary's, goes to a high quality college preparatory school, and is able to gain a worldly point of view, which in my opinion, is the best setting for high school students.