St. Columban in Garden Grove | Military Town Advisor

Posted: October 9, 2025

When I first came here a group was nice enough to include me but they were really rude when the teachers and other staff are not looking these children can be not really good they say bad words hit each other and they only invite you if your cool enough but if your not completeing there standards theyll just say hi and leave you alone

Posted: October 9, 2025

Posted: July 23, 2025

I am a true believer in God . Thats why it pains for me to have heard, witnessed, the unfairness and injustices that happened to this poor kid at this school. I was a volunteer for this private school, lets just say if youre bullied or touched in any inappropriate way and want justice.Goodluck! Preachers, teachers, students, and some volunteers will turn the other way because theyre told too, to save face and the reputation of the school. The law cant intervene only their diocese which governs themselves so rules dont apply to them. If youre planning in enrolling your child here make sure to ask them what will happen in case some of the above situations happen. Ask them under the lords name if anything had happened here in the last couple years if they say no, they are lying; lying to you, lying to the community and worst off lying to God. Your children look up to us if we cant protect them who will - anonymous

Posted: July 23, 2025

Posted: July 17, 2025

At St. Columban, my child was verbally teased about his race, height, weight and appearance by an older kid. Principal didnt do anything about it, she advised me that they dont expel kids for this type of behavior, kids will be kids. So I had to speak with the parents to request their child stop harassing mine. Needless to say we ended up leaving St. Columban because harassment continued. My child happily graduated from Fairmont School.

Posted: July 17, 2025

We left St. Columban School because we didnt agree with the 8th grade math teacher and her teaching style. She would charge parents to tutor kids after school and during class she would have kids self teach themselves. We spent around $6,000 in tutoring classes, so kid can obtain a decent grade and be accepted at a reputable H.S. I heard the 6th - 8th parents are still having the same issues with her - she doesnt teach fundamentals. She gets upset when students asks her questions. Walks around telling students she isnt going anywhere, the principal is her best friend. I feel sorry for the kids when they go to High School with no math knowledge.

Posted: July 17, 2025

Posted: June 28, 2024

Good school overall. Our oldest was on the spectrum and has been going since preschool. It has been a blessing to see him excel academically and socially. His faith is rock solid and holds high moral standards. The students are respectful and parents are very involved. The school offers programs such as basketball, football, hockey, volleyball, and robotics. All four of our kids now goes here.

Fyi.. a lot of negative reviews was towards the old principle and her leadership.

Posted: June 28, 2024

Posted: March 9, 2020

I have two children at this school - one in a lower grade and the other in a higher grade. We searched other schools in the area when deciding schools for our children; and St. Columban impressed us a lot. I have never worried about my children's learning and development because I see how this school positively impacts their thinking, learning, and development.

Posted: March 9, 2020

I have two children at this school, which not only supports our upbringing principles from home but also enhances their values and care for others.

Posted: March 9, 2020

Current administration is very student and family centered. Principal is caring, patient, and forward-thinking.

Posted: March 9, 2020

One of my children had some difficulties with behavior and learning. But his teachers were supportive and worked with us as his parents help his growth.

Posted: March 9, 2020

The school provides literature and workshops/discussion for both parents and the children. They also have a student-peer team that helps other students with the support/guidance of staff.

Posted: March 3, 2020

My child has been going to this school since Preschool. They an excellent preschool program that is Montessori based. The teachers are great. As parent, I appreciate that they listen to me and address my concerns.

Posted: March 3, 2020

Posted: February 27, 2020

We love St. Columban School. The new Leadership is fantastic and the teachers are great. Especially Genny Kahlweiss and Sashian Bolin. The individualized learning and faith based teaching is exactly what we look for in a great school.

Posted: February 27, 2020

Posted: April 1, 2018

The teachers literally cant teach here I dont learn anything

Posted: April 1, 2018

Posted: March 20, 2018

Money hungry school with very little diversity.

Posted: March 20, 2018

Posted: November 6, 2017

This school has been a terrible experience. I come to school bullied and I feel excluded from my peers. The teachers are OK, but the principal is absolutely terrible. She has no concern about the school at all. This school lies about it good environment and good education. This has been the worst school I have went to in my life.

Posted: November 6, 2017

Posted: October 20, 2017

I'm an alumni and my experience going here was a terrible experience, especially in my junior high years. Most of the teachers here are very kind and actually try to help you if you are having trouble with something. However, the courses they give here are not as good as public school's and don't prepare you enough for high school. This school has lost some very good teachers that have taught in the past. The students though, (more specifically the junior high kids) are very mean. All they do is gossip and spread drama. If your a new student, they will include you in their group if you look cool, social, popular. If you're not, then your excluded. The teachers don't really help with the bullying situation here. Basically, this is an okay school but I suggest leaving here after elementary if you want a better future.

Posted: October 20, 2017

Posted: October 16, 2017

This school needs to have a better preschool. The kids hardly get to have any play time during the day like the rest of the school does for recess and lunch. Their Montessori curriculum is different but I believe it is not the right thing for a preschool. My daughter had a hard time at the preschool. Although the preschool assistants are nice, the director is rude towards children and disciplines them bad!! IDK why she hasn't gotten reported yet!!! Do not send your child here! Send them to Christ Cathedral Academy or another great preschool instead! THis school used to be great but it's falling apart! Send your child to a school that has kind and caring teachers who want to make a difference!

Posted: October 16, 2017

Posted: September 2, 2017

Not a good experience at all. BIG WASTE OF MONEY

Posted: July 19, 2017

The teachers are lazy, the environment at a public school is better.

Posted: July 5, 2017

Good environment but no learning differences at all compared to public schools

Posted: July 5, 2017

Kid was not excelling as I expected him although he had great grades. Had to take him out after finding out he was greatly behind compared to public school kids. Seeing his public school friends do better than him made him sad and discouraged so I had to transfer him.

Posted: June 12, 2017

Kids are not happy and not very excited to go .

Posted: December 20, 2015

I sent my child to this school for 3 years. I found that some teachers here were lack of experiences about teaching children. School was focusing so much on discipline agenda more than helping children to learn and grow. I decided to put my child into public school and helped him to catch up with new common core academy in public school system. He has grown so fast and become one of the best students in the class after 6 months. More importantly, he is so enjoying with his school academy at public system, which he did not have at St. Columban school. I am extremely happy for my child.

Posted: December 7, 2015

I totally recommend this school. Amazing choice. I'm becoming a better person because of this school!

Posted: August 22, 2015

St. Columban has one of the worst reputations academically of the Catholic schools in Orange County. I didn't find this out until too late when my child moved on to high school. I soon found out that, although he had excelled in academics at St. Columban, he was actually BEHIND the public school curriculum! This meant that we had to hire a private tutor in all his academic subjects to try to catch him up. I had always thought that a private school education would put my children a step ahead of the kids in public school - that is simply not the case here. If you want your kids to excel in high school and beyond, you owe it to them to reconsider your choices.

Posted: August 5, 2015

Sending my child to Saint Columban School has been the best decision my wife and I have ever made. My daughter attended the school for nine years beginning from Kindergarten. We were planning to take her out after she received First Communion, but decided against it once we saw how much she was growing mentally and spiritually. She has also gained so much confidence from joining Student Council. I am proud to say that the school's academic program helped her score a 99% on her high school entrance exams. However, I am most satisfied by the loving and faith-filled person she's become.

I could definitely tell that the teachers put in all their effort to ensure the students receive the best education possible. I have credit most of my child's success in school to Mrs. Orr (5th grade) and Mrs. Anselmi (7th&8th English/Language Arts). However, every single teacher is amazing. The school is especially skilled in the subject of English.

Since the classes are fairly small, each child receives a great amount of attention. In fact, the students not only receive attention in the classroom, but at every moment they are on school campus. The faculty and staff are incredibly caring and are constantly exemplifying and encouraging good Christian behavior.

Another thing I was impressed by was the parent involvement at school. Many parents, including myself were always helping out, whether it be setting up pep rallies, selling snacks at sports games, or planning classroom parties.

Another bonus that comes with the school is the jaw-dropping athletics program. I can't even count how many times a team has won 1st place in league throughout my daughter's nine years.

The best thing about St. Columban is the loving environment that makes the students enjoy going to school instead of dreading it. Every day when I came to pick up my daughter, I noticed that both the teachers and students were almost always happy. The best feeling I could ever receive came from the reassurance that I sent my child to the right school.

If you get the chance, I encourage you to send your child to St. Columban School. You will not regret your decision.

Posted: August 3, 2013

The Preschool staff is very caring. My son looks forward to going to school here. He has never cried when I have dropped him off. They work on your childs needs individually. My concerns are that they made it clear they have and will hold children back if they feel they are not both academically and emotionally ready to move on to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. They also run the classroom with several groups doing different tasks, not like a typical classroom. I am concerned that when my child goes to kindergarten the transition will be more challenging. I am also concerned about the curriculum. It is not your typical alphabet, numbers, name recognition, etc. that I have noticed. Montessori run schools do things differently. The preschool also has 30 children (25 during the summer giver or take) . I prefer a smaller classroom.

Posted: May 15, 2013

My child has moved on to another private school and advanced so quickly , l sincerely believe i wasted a good part of the child's life in this school.

Posted: January 21, 2013

Teachers seem to be very caring and and teachers aid are great. We were mislead by the principal about my daughter being able to move up to the next grade level due to her birth date being so to the cut off date. She was only one of 2 students in pre-K that could read and did everything asked of her in class. She received awards and received the highest daily student participation possible. Yet the teacher would not vouch for her due to the principals change of stance on reviewing her mid year. The principal cancel our prearrange meetings with my daughter teacher and cancels our meeting with her. Only when we demand to see her does she show up to our appointments. She also mislead other parents and one parent left the school board do her shifting stories of the principal or allowing our kids to move up if they show enough progress. We have 3 children at this school and 2 has regressed academically since leaving the other private school they were in. My youngest daughter was reading adding & subtracting, spelling test before coming to this school in Pre-K class & stopped learning academically since being here. Try Holy Sacrament in Westminster is about half the cost.

Posted: March 9, 2012

I got a lot out of this school. I got the personalized attention when needed as a child, and grew into a God loving person. The school cannot do everything. It also depends on the parents who help raise them up and reinforce what is taught here. I still think about all the good memories I had as a child here, attending the school from 2nd grade to 8th grade. Some memories included ice cream days, movie days, computer class(Playing oregon trail), music class, Ms. Orr's class, Ms. Anselmi's class, sports day, hot lunches, festivals, altar serving, science camp, science fair, library week, buying uniforms at vicki marshals, etc. I hope something like this will still be around when I have my own children. Sometimes it may seem as if its too hard/advanced, but why not aim for the moon and hit the stars, vs aim for a bird and hit the ground? Not all my peers turned out well, but I believe continued good habits such as continuing to go to church, grow with great family values, and attending a good high school and college can guide you to success as a citizen and as God's child.

Posted: February 25, 2010

I love this school. My son is in Kindergarten and he's learning a lot from his teacher. He knows how to read a little booklet, how to add 3 digits numbers, and how to write a little story about the Christmas program. I'd like to thank the teachers and staffs there to help my son strive to the top in academic, discipline, and spiritual as he grows older.

Posted: February 22, 2010

I love this school. After seeing how my kids have done in high school I am so pleased that they went to St. Columban School. I truly believe the successes they have had in high school are due to the education they received at St. Columban, both academically and spiritually.

#	Name	Type	City	State	Distance
1	Hollyglen	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Hawthorne	CA	26.1 mi
2	Whispering Winds Apartments	Apartment Complex	San Clemente	CA	30.4 mi
3	Copper Canyon	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	42.5 mi
4	The Ranchos	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	43.4 mi
5	Northridge	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Northridge	CA	44.6 mi
6	Amberwalk Townhomes	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	44.8 mi

#	Name	City	State	Distance
1	Downtown	San Clemente	CA	30.8 mi
2	West Side	murrieta	CA	44 mi
3	Murrieta	Murrieta	CA	47 mi
4	Murrieta, California	Murrieta	CA	49.9 mi

Base	Distance
Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station	8.6 mi.
Los Alamitos JFTB	10.8 mi.
Los Angeles AFB	26.8 mi.
March Air Reserve Base	40.5 mi.
Camp Pendleton	42.8 mi.

St. Columban

Garden Grove, CA 92840

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St. Columban

Garden Grove, CA 92840

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