St John’s Northwestern Military Academy

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 maybe over qualified for their job (Drs., Rangers, Officers, accomplished athletes, academics)
The facilities are nice
Sports are all inclusive
Lots of opportunity to get academic help
excellent college counseling
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.
Overall
I graduated from SJNMA. Did I like every minute of it? Hell no. Did it prepare me for college? Slightly. It reinforced my reasons to be an atheist. I met a ton of cool people there. There were good times.
If I could change a few things about SJNMA I would. Nothing in life is perfect and neither is SJNMA. I wouldnt send my son here off that bat.

This place is either makes you or breaks you you decide because you can either go through not trying to better yourself as a person hating this place or you can go through it with a good attitude trying to better yourself as a person you decide

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 (
) — 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!

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.

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.