St. John's Northwestern Academy

I am a very old graduate of St. John's. As a matter of fact, I attended St John's way back when it was just called St John's Military Academy. I was blessed to have been sent there by my parents "to straighten me out".
It was truly, the best thing that ever happened to me... not that I thought I needed straightening out. St. John's created the environment where I could concentrate on the important on coursework and sports that I needed and/or enjoyed. We marched to breakfast, lunch and dinner. We marched to church (or were bussed to the church of our choice.)
I attended for three years and it became the most important three years of my life. My Latin teacher taught me how to think and how to obtain my goals in life. I loved math, biology and physics. I was captain of the gymnastics team. It was an absolute positive experience. I graduated in 1959.

I attended college (Engineering), then joined the United States Coast Guard. They sent me to US Navy Flight Training and I became a Coast Guard Air/Sea Rescue pilot for 7-years.
United Airlines then hired me to fly for them. After 15 years with United, they brought me into upper management where I Worked and flew as a Flight Standards Captain, flying Boeing 747's around the world. I flew until age 60 (Mandatory retirement age back then), with over 20,400 hours of flight time. Thank you St. John's! You made that all possible. I have two younger brothers who also graduated from St. John's and they both were as successful as I was in adult life.

I graduated from the Academy in 2011 as the class Valedictorian. I continued my studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and now serve as a Presidential Escort (US Army Officer) in Washington, DC.

St. John's provided me with the foundational instruments necessary to succeed as a young adult. I took every opportunity for growth at the Academy and earned numerous scholarships for my freshman year of college. You will not find another military academy where half of the student body is international and the faculty truly care for their cadets. I still keep in touch with several teachers and classmates of mine.

Dave and Bike's prior post on the school's curriculum and their own inability to succeed in college is entirely due to their indolent behavior and poor study habits. No student should have below a 3.6 GPA at St. John's. Academic resources are available for all cadets.

I would gladly recommend the school to any student who has a desire to reach beyond his or her potential.

Aside from the extreme anti-semetism (full on, not just hazing) this place was pretty fun. Got my butt whooped til i learned to toughen up but that was mainly due to my platoon sergeant. Alot of the faculty are great people and a many few of the administration or at least they used to be. 2 things that really bother me about this place and 1 of them is that they really went civilian. former president Admiral Kurth was a very kind man and along with the former commandant, vp, deputy commandant and some others they were all great men teaching us boys how to grow up.

The number one thing that i hate about this place is the new rules. Lets forget the slight hazing that happened when everyone just turned their heads, but the fact that you cant make ur cadets do certain types of PT is ridiculous.

I suggest u send your kid somewhere respectable. show a little pride. try the mma down in texas, heard that was pretty good. do some research, and if you want an honest opinion talk to the alumni and current cadets. Also, if your kid is Jewish, go elsewhere. There was ONE faculty that truly facilitated your right to practice your religion the best he could. Other than that i was beaten and bullied everyday until i denounced my own religion. I'm not the only one


***I have to add how much this place tries to sweep everything under the rug. When the parents of former cadets released police reports of all the messed up stuff that happens here, SJNMA spent a ton of money to sue and bury all that stuff so no one would know.

Even when i started asking serious questions via their facebook page, they removed the comments an then disabled me from being able to ask anything. Whether it be about the cadet that replaced the firing pin in his rifle an was caught with live ammunition in his ammo box at the st pats parade. Or why their admission is down so unbelievably much. I legitimately had no idea why i went down to see them boys march and was met with so much disappointment. Rather than answer these questions they chose to delete any history of it so no one else would wonder.

-This place has become nothing more than a joke. They need to find an administration that will take them back to their once respectable roots or they need to change the name and throw away all the history as a military academy.

I have talked several families out of going here and will continue to do so, normally i would suggest trying it for yourself and writing a review but this is simply not worth the amount of money and the destruction it will cause.

I graduated from SJNMA in 2002; I hope my story provides some insight to those of you reading.

If you would've asked me in June of 2002, as I left St. John's as a newly minted High School graduate, what I thought of the Academy, I would have told you it was hell on earth and that my parents were cowards for sending me there.

If you would've asked me in June of 2004, as a struggling college sophomore contemplating dropping out of school to join the military, what I thought of the academy, I would have told you St. John's was to blame for my academic and personal struggles.

If you ask me today, as a 30 year old attorney, husband, and soon to be father what I think of the academy, I would tell you that my time at SJNMA was the most difficult years of my life, but more importantly, that those three years saved me and that without the academy , I would not be half the man I am today.

I left for SJNMA in 1999 as a lazy, arrogant, and entitled poster child for the systemic ADHD plague of the late 1990s. I blamed everyone else for my shortcomings: blaming genetics for my inability to excel athletically; blaming my parents for my social akwardness; and blaming my teachers for my academic struggles.

I wish i could tell you that SJNMA was the magic bullet that cured everything, but it wasn't. It was three years of struggle. Three years of difficult self reflection, self assessment, and three long years with a steady dose of real world truth. Not an easy pill to swallow for a spoiled kid from suburban Detroit.

It wasn't until I was 22 or 23 that I truly came to appreciate what the academy did for me, or the sacrifice my parents made in sending me there. It was at that time I realized that the academy wasn't a solution to the problems I was facing in life, but rather, that the academy equipped me with the skills to overcome those problems and excell beyond the expectations that even I had set for myself.

On my graduation day, I felt like a prisoner on his parole day; and I swore I would never go back. This June was my 13th Reunion weekend, and only the second in which I haven't made the 7 hour drive to attend.

Parents, if you're reading this whole contemplating sending your son to SJNMA please accept this parting thought. It won't be easy; not for you and certainly not for your son. But, few things in life worth doing ever are. It may take years, but I guarantee you this, if you choose to send your son to SJNMA, he will be better for it, and someday, he will thank you for it.

If you would like to know more about my experience at SJNMA, I encourage you to contact me directly.

Gregory B. Paddison, Esq. (SJNMA '02)
Asst. Corp. Counsel for the City of Detroit
(313) 237-0435
Paddisong@detroitmi.gov

SJNMA has a lot of positives and negatives.

Pro's
Semi structured environment
The opportunity to become accountable
Some of the staff and faculty are pretty incredible and even over qualified for their job (Drs., Rangers, Officers, accomplished athletes, academics, scientists, native foreign language speakers)
The facilities are nice but it ain't Hogwarts
Sports are all inclusive
Lots of opportunity to get academic help
excellent college counseling- You really have to avoid Niemczyk with fervor to have SJNMA fail you or your son here.
The standard- a rule book that tells you everything you need to know that applies to every cadet

Con's
Mandatory religious aspect and service attendance, if you want your son to become an atheist or really dislike church send him here. It seems to me that spirituality is placed above academic. One year there was service everyday of the week except saturday. In lieu of walk in academic help chapel was mandatory.
The opportunity to become accountable is not mandatory. At least when I went to school here all you needed to do was donate money for your son to get all the privilege he could ever want
While a majority of the staff is great, some are losers. Some are partial to certain cadets, encourage a culture of disrespect, and simply act acceptably in the limelight. These adults tend to be in Resident Life. The teachers come in all different flavors and definitely teach their subject and a bit about how to communicate with different types of people from the more understanding to the hard ass.
The standard- used to be in a pocket sized book, it is not applied to all cadets equally.
System of accountability lacks outside of the classroom.
Finally my biggest gripe is companies organized by age and class. Companies need to be organized with diversity in every facet. New students get randomly sorted into the company theyll stay in until the graduate or leave, That way companies can compete better and more fairly. That way theres a culture of mentorship within the corp.
Finally seniority sucks get rid of unearned privilege.



Overall

I graduated from SJNMA. Did I like every minute of it? Hell no. Did it prepare me for college? Slightly. It reinforced my reasonings to be an atheist. I met a ton of cool people there. There were good times and camaraderie.

If I could change a few things about SJNMA I would. I'd see that departments cooperated and taught students the same. I'd want to see equity between academic and student life pillars above athletics and spirituality. Nothing in life is perfect and neither is SJNMA. I wouldnt send my son here off the bat.

Was concerned after reading Dave V review, but had a very positive experience and really happy with St John's! Incredible experience beginning from the Admissions, and strongly recommend the Open House to anyone who has doubts or concerns. My son also went for First Formation, which gives an opportunity to shadow a cadet and experience the classroom, and then spend a night and experience the routine. All 6 of the boys who were with my son for First Formation were quite happy when the parents met for breakfast the next morning. My son will be joining a 5-week Summer Ops program (http://www.sjnma.org/summer-programs/summer-ops.cfm) - another opportunity to try the school to see if it's for you. Very happy!

January 19, 2016 Update: Our son is now a full-time, resident cadet at St. John's, and as parents we have absolutely nothing but praise for the faculty, staff, and his peers. Academically, the school has gotten the most out of our son and he is had the chance to play in sports for his school which he would not have had at the larger public school the year before. When I reflect and after reading the other reviews, I guess it really does depend on your son .. but I did want to attest that this Christian environment (with students who are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and others) with a high academic opportunity really clicked for our son. Definitely encourage all parents to visit the Open House first .. good luck!

My son attended a summer program a few years ago and we were so impressed with the entire program, we decided to send him full-time. My son, who previously got lost in a large public school, had little self esteem not atypical to any young person and his grades suffered because of it. The first day we dropped him off, he kept saying all the things he wasn't interested in and wouldn't do. The next time we saw him; he was positive, looked us in the eye, had self esteem and genuinely had a great time. I have nothing but good things to say and my son has never been "hazed" or touched in any way. I found the administration to be very upfront with the expectations of cadets attending church services. SJNMA is Episcopalian in their doctrine, they are not the only private educational offering that expects attendance at chapels, in fact all of them do. Like a previous poster, I encourage anyone interested to attend an Open House, explore the various summer programs and check out their website. My husband and I are confident in the fact we are doing the best for our son and his future.

Unlike some previous reviewers I actually graduated from sjnma. Many individuals that did not graduate from the school like to comment on how tough it was or how it was different back in the day. Many of these individuals never graduated from sjnma. It is a wonderful school and after graduating from college and law school, it is the school that I most associate with. If any individual has any concern about the school I would encourage them to go to graduation weekend. To say that sjnma is an amazing school is minimizing the great education I received there. Also, Admiral K has not been at sjnma for well over ten years so the poster that is talking about him in 2011 is obviously not relevant to how sjnma is currently.

I attended this school back in the 70"s (1971-1976). This school is one of the best, if not the best to send your child. Most of the negative reviews from the cadets are the one's who never took full advantage of the system. I return to our academy during commencement weekend a view the changes that have occurred over the years. The campus is well maintained, the staff is still held in high regards and the Corps still shines. The academy academic's program is still top notch and SAT scores reflect the motto, "Work hard, Play hard and Pray hard". If my daughter had been a son, he would have gone there. Traditions line the hallways there and instill the backbone of developing boys to men in preparing them for their journey. Continue in your ways SJNMA, your doing a great job.

The previous reviewer is telling the truth. Most of the school faculty is good. The Administration is not there for the boys or the parents. Students are preferred to be from IL, Mexico and anywhere but local. They do not want parents involved in the school. You figure out why. The school experience is a very dumbed down curriculum and students are not prepared for college when they exit. Money is the top interest. The top administration is paid too high and the worker bees who take care of the students and the teachers are paid poorly. The Administration is "clueless" and is not the brightest group one ever met. It is all about image, but there is little substance. It was a quality school back in the day, but now, it is a shell of imposters who look like they care, but they are only there for themselves. The teachers are there for the students mostly, they are the only ones. DO NOT even consider sending a child there.The previous reviewer is telling the truth. Most of the school faculty is good. The Administration is not there for the boys or the parents. Students are preferred to be from IL, Mexico and anywhere but local. They do not want parents involved in the school. You figure out why. The school experience is a very dumbed down curriculum and students are not prepared for college when they exit. Money is the top interest. The top administration is paid too high and the worker bees who take care of the students and the teachers are paid poorly. The Administration is "clueless" and is not the brightest group one ever met. It is all about image, but there is little substance. It was a quality school back in the day, but now, it is a shell of imposters who look like they care, but they are only there for themselves. The teachers are there for the students mostly, they are the only ones. DO NOT even consider sending a child there.