Portsmouth Catholic Regional School

Posted: May 25, 2025

This school does not accept any children with disabilities. All the money earned and raised by this private school, and not a dollar of it is spent on special education needs. Not only is this school full of discrimination, but the head of the school has no sense of time or ethics when it comes to letting you know your child was denied based on disability.

Posted: May 25, 2025

Posted: May 25, 2025

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Posted: January 30, 2022

We moved to the area in 2019 looking to join the right school family and found it in PCRS! All three of our children now enthusiastically attend. Every teacher is their "favorite," every class is the "best." Excellent for us working parents, too, since they're open 6 am to 6 pm with extended care. We are ever impressed by the dedication of PCRS to the dual mission of instilling Catholic values in the student body and educating the same. After COVID shut down all Virginia schools in the spring, PCRS developed an extensive plan, certified by the VDOE, to open on time for live instruction for the 2020-21 school year, with smooth transition into the 2021-22 year. Their commitment to safely opening for in-person education says it all - the staff want to be at PCRS, teaching our children. And PCRS is where we want our kids!

Homework - Homework schedules are clearly communicated by all teachers in writing. On the rare instances that last minute changes are necessary, the teachers let you know. Progression of the material over the academic year is well-thought out. Larger projects were given plenty of lead time. Our children were challenged without being overwhelmed, and we didn’t need to keep the kids up past bedtime to get assignments completed.

Leadership/Teachers - Mr. Bolton, the principal, is continuously out there on the educational front line. His belief in the school's mission is apparent in his actions and words. Miss Wassell, Dail, Sears, Norton, Campbell, and McClure come to school every day engaged and enthusiastic. Not to be forgotten are Mr. Fred, the school's jack-of-all-trades and Mr. Baker, the technology teacher. Another strong note is that turnover seems much lighter than at other institutions, which I think is testament to the community spirit of the school and the staff's professional satisfaction.

Character - The school routinely enforces good behavior by public recognition of students' positive character. For the times that our children needed correction, it was done discretely and in coordination with us. Despite ours not being a Catholic family, we appreciated the environment of religious instruction. Our children learned much about the Catholic faith and value system with no exclusionary treatment of other groups.

Posted: January 30, 2022

Posted: January 30, 2022

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Posted: April 16, 2018

Within days of starting kindergarten, our child was sent home with multiple homework sheets. Most of which were designed to take “10 minutes” but often resulted in tears for us. Often directions were not very clear either.

Posted: April 16, 2018

I supposed effectiveness can be measured in many different ways. I believe they are well intended but fall short of working with children who may have special needs in the classroom. This may be due to a lack of experience, or even perhaps due to large class sizes and not enough staffing.

Posted: April 16, 2018

This is an area that my spouse and I take very seriously. We believe the school takes a strong stance on morality but at times I do think they go a tad overboard in disciplining young children who are still learning. For example, color charts for behavior is antiquated and ineffective. I also feel full mass for a 3-4 year old is asking a lot.

Posted: April 16, 2018

I find some of the leadership to come across as rather patronizing.

Posted: April 16, 2018

While the school seemed prepared to dive in and help our child navigate through learning disabilities, I feel they do not have the resources in place to actually do so. The intentions seemed good but ultimately our child has suffered and will continue to need additional help outside of school. I wish they would have been upfront. I have felt for some time this wasn’t the right environment for our child.

Posted: April 16, 2018

It seems as though when there is an issue, the child and parents are notified quickly. I would say the bullying will be directed more towards the parents. Get those volunteer hours in at the bingo hall, or else.

Posted: April 16, 2018

With deep regret, I say that our time at PCRS has been cumbersome. Our child regressed significantly, showed very little interest in learning and often acted out, in part, due to sheer boredom. Learning a letter a week? I feel a young child needs more engaging learning. Help them explore their natural curiosities! I felt the communication between leadership, teacher and parents was poor. What emails we did receive were ridden with grammatical errors. Leadership ofen coming across as patronizing. Teacher conferences were sparse and unproductive. The leap from pre-K to kindergarten is massive and simply put, there is little preparation to prepare the student to make said leap. Classroom sizes mirror that of public school ratios. There are few extra curricular activities for young students. Additionally, parents are required to volunteer but most announcements are posted the day before or day of, giving working parents little opportunity to participate. Want to volunteer in your child’s class? Not likely. This is NOT encouraged. We felt strongly about giving our child a faith-based learning opportunity, one that we make serious financial sacrifices to achieve, and it is hurtful to know that almost 2 years have been lost trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole. I’m sure many families are pleased but we simply, are not and look forward to a change next year.

Posted: April 16, 2018

My child has regressed since attending, we are in April and they are still learning the alphabet- that’s a heck of a jump to being required to read in Kindergarten

Posted: April 16, 2018

I do feel that many of the kids were very wonderful and displayed these qualities but I’m not sure I could attribute that to the school

Posted: April 16, 2018

When the pre-k teacher is out, I expect the leadership to endure someone is still following a lesson plan for the kids.

I wish the leadership was more involved with how students are learning, the alphabet has been taught out of order which is confusing when there is sporadic communication from the teacher and you are trying to help your student.

Posted: April 16, 2018

No opinion on this subject as it did not apply to us.

Posted: April 16, 2018

No opinion on this, no experience while my child was a student

Posted: April 16, 2018

Not great, my child was excelling and knew how to write, was starting to spell, and could count very high before starting here, my child has since regressed and we will be working at home to fix

Posted: April 16, 2018

The homework required in pre-k is an arts and crafts project that should easily be done at school.

Posted: March 24, 2018

Students mentor each other, involved in service projects and learn how to use STEM to solve everyday issues

Posted: March 24, 2018

Posted: March 24, 2018

My son has an IEP and the teachers were very inquisitive

Posted: March 24, 2018

Uniforms, small class sizes, and student mentoring

Posted: March 24, 2018

Exceptional. This school builds Future Leaders for our community

Posted: March 24, 2018

Posted: March 24, 2018

My child has dealt with a great deal the past year between loosing family and a court challenge. The teachers were extremely attentive. Wish he was still there

Posted: March 23, 2018

Almost always came home with a lot (and she is only in first grade) and not very clear instructions on it for herself or me (mom)

Posted: March 23, 2018

Poorly When giving mixed grades, some are very harsh at teaching a first grader

Posted: March 23, 2018

How can u teach these qualities when you can’t even give them to the parents

Posted: March 23, 2018

No communication at all between teachers, principal and the parent. On several occasions one of my daughters showed no improvement in test scores and the school felt a conference was not necessary even though her scores showed her as well below average

Posted: March 23, 2018

Nope, pushed my first grader with learning disabilities along with every one else. They did NOT get her the help she requir s to succeed

Posted: March 23, 2018

Posted: March 23, 2018

Extremely poorly; frustrated, disappointed, expected more from a catholic school especially being a Catholic myself. With their current leadership, I would not recommend this school to anyone with a child who has learning disabilities

Posted: August 25, 2017

Posted: August 25, 2017

Posted: August 25, 2017

Posted: August 25, 2017

Posted: August 25, 2017

Posted: August 25, 2017

Posted: August 25, 2017

It would take me all day to write all of the amazing qualities that this school has. My kids are the 3rd generation in my family to attend. We tried public school but they did not meet my kid's needs and they did not enforce their bullying policy. My kids have been at PCRS for 4 years now and they love every minute of it and love going to school everyday.

Posted: September 2, 2014

Excellent school ... academically and socially. My child is challenged and loves to go to school. I can't ask for anything else ...

Posted: February 15, 2014

We love Portsmouth Catholic Regional School. We've been there for 7 years now. Started in their Pre-k program and we will stay through 8th grade. The family environment is great, but the learning environment is so much better. Technology is integrated into every lesson through use of Smartboards in every classroom. There is Art, Technology, Physical Education, Science, Religion, Spanish, Reading, Writing, Word Study, Social Studies and Math. Every grade, including the Pre-k 3 and 4 programs experience every class. There is no teaching to the test at PCRS. At PCRS, your student is taught to their individual needs. Yes, we are a Catholic school, but ALL faiths are eligible for enrollment and ALL faiths pay the same tuition rate. If you are in Suffolk, Western Branch or Portsmouth and want a great school. I recommend coming to check out PCRS. You won't be disappointed! Tours are given year round.