6 Howland Drive
Cross River, NY 10518

This is a wonderful nurturing elementary school. My son has had an excellent learning experience with lots of teacher support. We have lived in the district for 14 years and are very happy with all levels of the schools.

The system in this school does not work. If a student falls behind, I've only found two teachers that actually help them get back on track effectively. The teaching is mediocre at best, with a few exceptions, such as the social studies teachers. The curriculum is horrible for students; I've seen students have breakdowns multiple times a day due to the lack of social-emotional support. Even when they try to support, they overdo it and it just makes the students uncomfortable. In addition to that, the constant change of principals does not help the students form bonds with the administrators and gives them fewer options to go to when feeling down. For special education at the school, at the base levels it's fine, but when you get more borderline with special education, they severely mess it up, which can completely destroy a student's experience and leave them with a bitter feeling every day Safety, oh safety, where do I start? Maybe in 6th grade where swastikas were everywhere and threats were being made towards the school? How about mental safety where students are bullied by other students and then are punished for saying or doing anything back, while the person or group (which is following the leader) does not get punished? If you're not in a certain group, you will be harassed and bullied, which makes many students just go along with whatever anyone says, leading to more hate and bullying. The n-word is constantly thrown around, and even when heard, no punishment is taken out. Meanwhile, students making fictional characters from any background and then portraying them get punished. Let's talk about 7th grade where the vents were so broken that when smoke from Canada came down to New York, it flooded the school, and multiple students had severe medical issues due to it. Yet, the office was perfectly clear of smoke as they closed the doors, knowing this would happen, giving no warning, and oh wait! They didn't let students in! On another note, how about transportation with buses that the drivers can't even see out of or the wasting of budget spending money on an electric bus instead of on air conditioning. Half these rich kids already have cars before they can even drive. Also, don't believe anything the administration says as they will lie and promise things you will NEVER receive. The punishments at this school are out of hand, with students getting detention for defending themselves. With all of this, I could go on but ive run out of characters!

My daughter joined the school in 9th grade and I have to disagree with some of the comments. The kids have been very down to earth, welcoming and just 'good, decent kids'. The teachers are dedicated and very approachable. My daughter was a high achiever in a different school district, but with great teachers and teaching styles, she has maintained her level of excellence. From the secure campus, leadership, teachers, guidance counselor and kids.....we are very happy with John Jay High School and very happy we chose to move districts