7 Cook, Cortlandt, NY 10520

I had one child finish CET last year and one child who is currently at CET. They both had/are having great experiences! The administration works hard to keep innovating and trying new ways of bringing kids together to learn. They have cross-grade "Houses" to do fun, out-of-the-classroom learning activities every month and regular "Tiger Days" to learn about topics that affect everyone at school. The majority of the teachers, in my experience, are amazing: really kind in the classroom, super welcoming and responsive to parents, and excited about teaching. My kids truly enjoy school and are doing really well academically. Overall, I'm really happy and impressed with Croton schools and with CET in particular!

The pluses of this school are many -- modern, comfortable facilities in pleasing surroundings. Many of the teachers are excellent, and my child has generally been engaged. But one enormous negative prevents me from recommending this school for your family, and especially if your children are people of color: an epidemic of racism, with Black, Hispanic and Asian kids routinely and repeatedly subjected to the worst ethnic slurs by their peers. Parents have complained, and the administration -- all the way to the school district -- have been made aware. Yet the response from the superintendent's office has been primarily aimed at managing public perceptions of the situation, rather than digging into and exposing the realities themselves. AT PVC itself, school administrators have attempted to convey to students the total unacceptability of this conduct, even as it has persisted with no sign of easing. These are difficult issues grounded in society, and no one can reasonably expect a school system to fix all the problems in which it operates. But we can and should expect the district to take seriously reports of pervasive hate crimes, and to engage in a genuine effort to understand the extent of these incidents while formulating a genuine response. Instead, we have seen officials try to limit the reputational damage by offering false assurances. That has left the kids themselves to pay the price.