The principal and teachers go above and beyond. Great kids and community!

I do not recommend this school or district. The core math and literacy curricula are outdated. They use a math curriculum that does not teach standard algorithms and does not encourage children to memorize their math facts. They also try to make it impossible for kids to take accelerated math. In order for a student to take Algebra I by 8th grade, they have to score in the 95 percentile in the entire state!!! So they make it insanely hard for your child to take Calculus by high school. Almost no other school district in the country makes it this difficult for students to accelerate in math. They also have no honors or accelerated classes in any subject. Is your kid gifted in English? Too bad...you have to go to class with all of the other students who can't read at grade level, since this district also doesn't use a phonics based curriculum. Almost all of the high test scores in this district are due to the fact that their are many wealthy parents in this district who are paying for outside tutoring for their children. They don't teach phonics. They don't teach grammar. They don't edit the papers that your child writes in class. They don't teach memorization of basic math facts. They don't teach standard algorithms. They actually believe that the teacher should take a back seat to teaching, while the students do all of their math work in groups. I do NOT recommend this district. It is definitely not worth the high housing costs. Buy in a cheaper district.

This school only cares about being the best on paper. They don’t care about the kids overall health and wellbeing. The amount of stress and pressure on these kids is ridiculous. If you enjoy having family time, vacation, or holidays.. forget about. This school will drain you out. I understand kids get homework but the loads they get is just ridiculous. They don’t care about family time or after school activities. The principal was trying to discourage after school activities but parents fought for it. If you or your child enjoy on having an extra 3 hr of homework each day including weekends, winter break, spring break, and summer breaks; this is the school for you. Not to mention the mandatory projects for ALL grade levels. If your family don’t enjoy family time or don’t care about after school activities like sports, this is the school for you. If don’t care that middle school kids roam free unsupervised and are able to bully 2nd or 3rd graders durning recess or p.e well your kids will fit right in. Go and apply to this school. I have see chats of all the parents complaining on how extreme and ridiculous what the school put on these kids. Good luck and wish all the best.

One of is Best elementary schools in nutley

LCA school is really good at sports and performing arts. If you follow their social media, they have a huge emphasis on athletics and big chunk of your tuition dollars (which recently increased) will go towards supporting athletic programs. They also have a great performing arts program that gets another huge chunk of tuition dollars. They have a lot of administrative staff supporting these two areas. Their social media highlights so much of these two areas that students who fall into these categories (jocks and performers) stand out. There are lots of stereotypical cliques here and all of the kids do not associate with each other like what you'd envision in a Christian school, just keep this in mind. If you're looking for that close family feel - go to TPS or VBS, the other smaller schools in the area. One area they could and should improve on (especially at their tuition range) is academics. Although they have a STEM class, they do not have a great focus on extracurriculars for kids who are really interested in speech/debate, quiz teams, honor society, science and math tournaments, etc. If you compare this with some of the top public schools in Gwinnett and some other private schools like Killian Hill, that is a major drawback, especially if your child shows an interest in these areas. They will have more opportunities to thrive elsewhere. Lastly, my child also says lots of kids in lower school say the "F" word and don't get into any trouble... the same kids bully/are meaner to other kids and never get punished. Or the teacher just tells them to stop and that's the worst of it. Teachers are really nice and extra friendly here but they don't want to upset any parents so that mean some kids can get away anything and their parents would never know.

Absolutely the worst school, i was threatened and my mother was never called. The students bully the others severely and admin and teachers do nothing. Do not bring your kids here. DO NOT TRUST THIS SCHOOL.

This school is mismanaged. This is a toxic environment for all the students. The bullying is out of control. They do not follow the ADA. They higher people who are unqualified. The teachers bully the students. My son’s current teacher uses shame as her primary classroom tool. The experience of going here has made me have to spend thousands on therapy bills. Avoid this school at all costs.

Utilizes Montessori materials, but in now way adheres to her philosophy or methods. Not enough practice life materials. No socialization whatsoever.

My child attended Highlands Elementary from kindergarten to second grade. COVID lockdown began in March of his kindergarten school year, and my son completed his first grade year via virtual learning. He received all A’s during virtual learning. I worked from home and was able to listen in on his lessons. The kids were taught from 8 am to 10 am each day. All graded assignments were completed online including tests and quizzes. I became concerned that my child was falling behind despite his straight A report cards. I arranged a meeting with his teacher and told her it seemed the kids were being graded on computer literacy rather than the actual skills. For example, spelling tests were administered online, and parents were instructed not to help children find letters on the keyboard. These tests were timed. To me, this put more emphasis on typing skills than spelling. It also didn’t give children an opportunity to develop handwriting skills. When my son returned to in-person classes his second grade year, he immediately began reviewing failing grades in all subjects. I had several meetings with his teachers, school counselors and even the principal. They were unable to provide any support for my child without an IEP (special education). They were unable to institute an IEP on his behalf until he had failed 3/4 of the school year. I sat in classes with him and observed his teacher giving less attention to students who seemed to be struggling and more attention to students who seemed to grasp the material. I raised my concerns to the principal who dismissed my claims and assured me that the teachers were fair in their teaching. My son was held back in the second grade and enrolled in the special ed program due to his grades. I was outraged that Highlands had failed him so severely. The principal acknowledged that an unusual number of students in his grade level were also being held back that year, and that it was a failure on the schools behalf. The principal also acknowledged that low income minority students were disproportionately affected by virtual learning. I removed him from that school and he attended Girard Elementary to repeat the second grade. My son has flourished in his new environment. Bottom line: I would not recommend Black parents to trust this school with their student’s education.

Our child went to St Dominic School since preschool and we were parishioners of the Church from 2013. We loved the community/leadership of both the school/parish (Principal Perata/Father Jerome). Aside from tuition, we contributed hundreds of hours of our time, donated $4000-5000 for school fundraisers and over $8000 to the parish over the 8 years we were there. All of this changed with the new leadership in 2021. When voting came down to the final 2 candidates, Penny Ogden won as an "insider" (long tenure SDS teacher), though the other candidate had several years as a principal. Sadly, we learned the hard way that even good teachers do not/should not take on leadership roles if they do not have the right skill set. But we were open to the change as everyone deserves a chance. Had I known what might ensue in the next year, I would have taken our child out of SDS right away, before the trauma/pain we experienced as a family. Our child started being bullied online in the class google room chat during Covid. We expressed our concern initially to Principal Perata, who immediately shut the forum down. But when Penny Ogden came on, Google classroom chat was brought back. The bullying resurrected. We met with Penny, who assured us each time that she was addressing the matter with the instigating students (and their parents), but that never happened. We reached out to the diocese and was told they would work with Penny. But nothing changed; with no consequences/ discipline, the bullying continued and worsened into: shoving, pushing, tripping, isolating, spreading false rumors, bad mouthing/swearing and racist name calling. We continued to express our concerns to Penny and homeroom teachers but their response started to change from, "we'll address it ..." to "children are just being children, they'll grow out of it.." and "there weren't any witnesses...". Newsflash: bullying is never done in front of adults! It usually happens during recess, lunch, restrooms or some unsupervised times, which are plenty. It got so bad that our child would beg the teacher to help in the classroom during recess/lunches to avoid being alone. Our child tried her best (on her own) to cope but after 1.5 years, it was at a breaking point and we had to pull her out of the toxic environment for health/safety. We moved to a different Catholic school, where she has thrived. As parents, we feel ashamed that we didn't take action sooner, so don't wait for your child to "tell" you.

We are pleased to have chosen Tempe Preparatory Academy (TPA) for our son's academics and extracurriculars. In addition to the rigorous education, TPA offers a wide range of sports and clubs for the students to participate in. The class sizes are small and there is support from the teachers/staff to make sure your child will succeed. Our son started at 7th grade and is now graduating his senior year. We feel TPA has prepared him to continue his education and more. TPA is a Great school with Great Faculty and Staff. I would recommend this school to anyone who is seeking a top-notch education for their children.

This school does not support students with specific learning differences. Specifically those with a dyslexic profile. The school psychologist tried to argue with the original IEP and then the IEE to remove SLD as the reason for an IEP. The director of the school constantly argues with you as a parent and takes zero responsibility for the ways the school failed my child. My child spent a year receiving inappropriate interventions that were not based on current up to date evidence. DO NOT send your child to this school. After doing some research there are more public articles and documents of other parents who experienced similar situations. And a former board member who went to the county asking for a grand jury investigation into the school. The two days a week in person is tempting but not worth the heartache and struggle.

St. Pats is the best of the best in private schools. We are beyond blessed to have our children attend and be a part of the St. Pats community. St. Pats embodies academic integrity. Subjects are composed of rigorous curriculums that prepare students for the future. The teachers and staff are beyond suburb. They are dedicated, experienced and accomplished. Administration are true leaders with integrity, are supportive and have open communication. St. Pats offers a variety of academic and social/ emotional support along with enrichment opportunities. There are always events happening for families to be a part of within the school or parish. There are plenty of sports and clubs that are run by dedicated and determined faculty and parents. St. Patrick School is outstanding and I highly recommend it!

We enjoy the rigorous curriculum and ability for students to be involved in the way they learn bet by being able to create their own main lessons books!

It's with a great degree of regret that my last child is attending as what made this school great diminishes. Kindness, good listening, mutuality, maturity, wisdom and did I write kindness? evaporate under a harsh new administration marked by mediocrity. Oh for tge good old days!