Stevens Cooperative School

Our son have three years at the school. Stevens has been disappointment to us because we had to take our child for tutoring outside of school in the math and science. His teachers says he does fine work and praise him too much for what I know he can do better. To much praise not a good thing when it is for very standard and averagee work. We do not think that Stevens is preparing our child for the real world experience. The school is good in that the childrens are safe and it is clean place. The new principal is kind but not a good at understanding children praised to much. We think school does not manage the money to good either because we pay a lot and are asked for more many times
--Submitted by a parent

I'm really grateful for Steven and the education my children are receiving there. My three children's strengths, interests and needs are very different, but they all have been supported, inspired and challenged in ways that benefit them the most. With all three there since Kindergarten and now two in the Middle School, I am impressed with how "progressive education" plays itself out with older students. Our kids will all be there through eighth grade.
--Submitted by a parent

Stevens Coop has turned out to be exactly the right choice for us and for our daughter. She is very bright, but had some problems fitting in at other schools. We were so afraid that she'd be bullied a bigger school, and found that Stevens gave her the safe haven and support she needed. Part of this is because the student/teacher ratio is kept to no more than 22 students with two teachers in each class in elementary, often with a "Helping Parent" in the room as well. Over the years, the teachers set up many extra conferences on top of the regularly scheduled academic ones, at one point even emailing us weekly updates on her progress. If a child needs a little help keeping up in math or reading, the school has specialists who work with them one-on-one, but in our case it was the school counselor who provided the extra guidance, still seeing her once a week just to check in. Today, she is more confident, happy and well-adjusted than we ever could have dreamed, and we credit this in no small part to this fantastic school. But don't take my word for it, all you have to do is meet any one of the eighth-grade graduates, they are all the very impressive result of this kind of attention.
--Submitted by a parent

We love this school! The curriculum is intelligently designed and very creative - even for the youngest students. A small example: over the course of two months, our Kindergartner learned about a variety of cultures by baking bread with parent volunteers who chose recipes which had ethnic or cultural significance to them. We were so impressed by how much our daughter learned from this experience, and by the appreciation she developed for the traditions of others. In addition, because the school administration and faculty have regular and very open communication to the parents, we are able to read regularly about the classroom activities of the older children in the school. We are so delighted to have a glimpse of the amazing educational experience our daughter has to look forward to.
--Submitted by a parent

I find it odd that reviewers complain of a lack of customer service at Stevens, because customer service was very much on display as my 8th grader was going through the high school process. We had many meetings with the high school guidance counselor, where she discussed our options in great detail, and explained to us how we could apply for financial aid to offset the high tuitions at New York private schools. They didn t just guide us to those schools though they talked about local competitive high schools, Catholic school, New Jersey private schools and New York City private schools. We got weekly reminder emails of all of the deadlines and I could pick up the phone and call at any time that I had a question. Best of all, she got to know my son and helped him (and us!) present ourselves well in the interviews for these school. Preparation for the major entrance exams was offered on Saturdays at school. Wherever my son ends up, he is going to be at the school that is right for him because of all of the hard work that Stevens put in not only in educating him, but also in guiding our family towards the right choice for continuing the great education he has had so far.
--Submitted by a parent

I've also pulled my daughter from this school because of their lack of customer service from the Administration. I wanted to speak to some of my daughter's teachers and was told that there was to be no communication with parents and teachers. I have hired a math tutor, pay for art classes, and science tutor because the academics are not up to par.
--Submitted by a parent

It's interesting how similar some of the reviews sound. I won't speculate that it's one bitter person using multiple email addresses to create numerous, repetitive reviews. I will however address a few of the recurring comments (disclosure: I'm a father of 2 children at Stevens): (i) "insecure parents" - this seems like a self-reflective accusation. I find the parents in the co-op to be warm, engaged and self-confident. (ii) "producing average students" - part of the Stevens philosophy is to build a diverse community of learners representative of the real world (a bell-curve). The students I've met during my work in the co-op, helping parent days, etc. have been inquisitive, excited and very engaged. Irrespective of where a child falls on the bell-curve, to be able to inspire this hunger and love for learning is the best you could hope for. (iii) "too much praise" - sounds like someone didn't get enough... It's easy to be critical. No single school is a fit for every family. For my children, Stevens is a perfect fit, but if it weren't, I would find another school for them rather than leave them in a school I find so "average" while continuously ranting about it on a review site.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter has been attending Stevens since the 2s program. She LOVES her school, her teachers and her classmates. She is a bright, independent child who is curious and eager to learn. The progressive education style fits her personality. We are hoping that there will be more emphasis teaching kids how to read and do math in the coming years. Parents are highly educated and mostly involved, admin staff is very friendly and helpful and we have always had good interaction with the management. If your child is developmentally challenged, regressive, has impulse control issues and needs more discipline and highly structured environment Stevens may not be the right place for you. But so far we believe it is the right school for our daughter.
--Submitted by a parent

I'm surprised by some of the reviews of Stevens Cooperative School, particularly the negative reviews of Stevens and some of the comments left by those reviewers. I have two children at Stevens Cooperative School who couldn't be happier and practically every day I am impressed by the quality of the education they are receiving. The teachers take the time to get to know the children as individuals, teach to the needs of the individual, and create and foster a caring community which can be felt both in and out of the classroom. The school is true to its progressive philosophy and forward thinking. But as a parent, the most important metric is the eagerness and excitement my children have for attending school everyday.
--Submitted by a parent

Overall, we pulled our son from this school because there was a complete lack of customer service from the Administration. I have never been treated so poorly despite writting a large tuition check. It was if I should be grateful for the privelege to write that check. The school administration was accurately depicted in multiple reviews here. In addition, my son was not learning at a fast enough pace compared to peers in other schools. Perhaps progressive is not for us, but I felt that my son shouldn't regress in that educational setting. Overall: teachers were older, admin staff arrogant and unfriendly, too much focus on fundraising despite the tuition. My child's learning experience was negative.
--Submitted by a parent