Lower East Side

Had to take my child out this school and thank goodness I did. Drop off at dismissal is like a jail, you have to yell out to your kids from outside the gates to let them know you’re there to pick up. Boys kindergarten bathrooms are not on the same floor and they go by themselves,. I know if a child who fell downs the stairs and no one knew till after pick up. If your family decides to take off some days and miss some days of school, you will never hear the end of it. So many families have left and I had to leave before my child starts 5th grade as I heard there’s 2 teachers who are very mean to the kids, heard this from so many parents and kids themselves. One of the teachers will never let any parent chaperone or they may say the establishment does not take any parent chaperones and that’s just lies. You can call the place and they will say parent chaperones are welcomed but certain teachers do not want parent on the trip, go figure. Parents do your research and inquire of other parents, they will tell you. Most of their events are still kept virtual, they wouldn’t really have in person meetings etc. At every event they do for the kids, there’s a cost to participate, so not all kids are able to participate. Didn’t feel like a community school to me.

If you want your child to have a standardized testing-centric curriculum that sets them up for entry to Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech, then this is the school for you.If you want your child to only get a basic understanding of chinese while being told they are getting a full dual language education, and other subject areas are primarily taught strictly from textbooks, with minimal attention given to critical thinking skills development, then this is the school for you.If you would like to involuntarily pay $50 a year in school supply fees + an additional amount for requested cleaning supplies, with no other options offered to families on lower fixed incomes, then this is the school for you.If you would like an administration that seems to favor the middle class, higher educated, english-speaking population, then this is the school is for you.

Excellent hidden gem in NYC, dual language (Mandarin and Spanish), amazing community program and enrichment, excellent teaching from teachers who really know their craft and care deeply for their students. Very engaged leadership who are always visible when we drop off or pickup our children. So glad I chose this school as the foundation education path for my child. She is all set for continued success in middle school. Thank you PS1!!