Ridgewood

Extremely disappointed for the past few years. Overcrowded classes, no recess for the past three years, blended program during pandemic times handled very poorly. Forest Elementary basically offered remote learning at the school property for the blended children. My child is constantly praised and teachers constantly assure me that my child excels in all subjects; however, the report card does not reflect that. The never ending ‘Meet Standard’ grades from top to bottom do not encourage and disappoint very much. Wonder why Forest Elementary choses not to acknowledge outstanding students.

Best elementary school in Ridgewood. Had my son at 239Q and it was a total nightmare. He has an IEP for a self-contained setting and has made incredible progress. Principal Diamond is the best and has chosen excellent, knowledgeable and supportive staff in her school. Highly recommend

My child was in PS 88 school for 4 months. The first week my child came home with a cut on his face he said another boy knocked his glasses off at lunch and pushed up up against the wall. When I asked his teacher I was told Im not there at lunch so I dont know what happened. My last straw was when I went to pick my son up from school and he was very upset. He removed his hood and showed me his glasses were taped and broken. Again asked his teacher she said the some boy elbowed my son in the face because he didnt want to play anymore. I asked why wasn't I notified that this happened? I was told he was in the Principals office for 45 mins and thought that I was called and told what happened. That wasn't the case!!! My son said no the Principal was taping his glasses. My son went back the next day and found out the parent wasn't called or informed that he had broke another kids glasses at all. My son asked me not to send back because he was being picked on by 2 kids in his class and that at lunch time it gets worse because then their friend join in. Even after he told the aids they dint do anything when told. They told my son to tell his teacher. I decided pull him after that. I have tonthinknof my sons safety. When teying tonmeet with the Principal to resolve this she is never able to talk always in a meeting the girls have told me from the office and never called me back when I called serval times. He said he didnt feel safe like he did in his last school. The Principal does nothing to stop kids from bulling other kids. She doesnt call the parents when the kids get hurt or if the kids get it trouble for bulling. She doesnt allow the teachers to do their jobs and communicate with the parents about what happens to their kids and their safety. She wants her numbers to stay down so she can be seen as a good school and get her funding from the DOE. She black balls the good teachers that try to help the children. I would not tell anyone to go to this school. She should be looked into she is a horrible Principal. Want a good school go to PS 91 on Central Ave that Principal is hands on and cares about his kids well being and safety.

The Principal is great, I do not appreciate the lack of respect, unprofessionalism found within the school safety Officers. They do not greet parents when they walk in, they have lots of attitude, are always on their phone, and yell at the children. They are disrespectful and short tempered when asked a question of for assistance. I cannot believe this type of behavior is allowed in the school!!!! Administration needs to re-evaluate the Officers so that they know this type of behavior is unacceptable!!! The teachers seem nice, they communicate and I love the Assistant Principals.

Your kid will not get a good education here. Not a week goes by that my kid doesnt miss some kind of class. Your kid will be watching movies or on Ipads or listening to the teacher gossip about other teachers or doing baby homework.

The school doesn't promote or recognize high achievements of African American students and they do nothing when it comes to bullying. They mainly focus on encouraging and accepting diversity in the LBGTQ community and that's all. My son went there for six years. He was always an A student, never got into any trouble, scored the highest on the state Math Exam. He also won a full scholarship at a private school. He was never recognize for any of his achievements. He also endured bullying which the principal nor the assistant principal did anything about until they received a letter from his pediatrician demanding they do something to end the bullying. They moved him immediately from the general class to the gifted and talented class. He was supposed to be placed in the gifted and talented class a couple of years prior to them moving him. The principal always told me there was no room. The school condones bullying and fails to promote diversity.

DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT bother sending your child to this school. Any other school would be a much better choice than this. I would not recommend this school at all to any parent. The teachers are rude to kids even parents. I witnessed first hand whenever I did pick up my child. The teachers are also sarcastic and very petty which is sad . Especially to special needs kids. They do not care if you are being bullied or not they will sit there and watch. Also, this school is very short staffed and does not provide reasonable accommodations to special needs children that may harm other kids. They will not even reach out to the child’s parent. Then during this pandemic forget it!!! My child has been without a teacher since summer remote classes and we are in February!!! He is special needs and falling behind. He is very much entitled to an education as much as the rest of these kids!! He wasn’t even given an occupational therapist yet!! Where is the funding going???? Then teachers have the nerve to go on strike wow! I should go on strike shouldn’t I? I’ve reached out to the assistant principal numerous amount of times and I was ignored!!!! Where is my tax dollars going again? The principal is no help either they DO NOT care about your kids. Only welcoming when you are touring the school. Then when my son return back to school, teachers are going to bully him along with kids as to why he doesn’t know any of the work!!! This school has been a huge disappointment especially at a very needy time like this! I am extremely unsatisfied with the lack of commitment I received from this school. Then have the nerve to ask me for medical forms. For what??? Apparently he’s not a student. Horrible school for a special needs child I will say it over and over. No support what so ever and they do not have what is needed to accommodate a child. One child needed a para and they struggled for years to get one what!???? Why not send the child to get services elsewhere? It is all just a paycheck and your tax dollars going to these sorry people. I even tried to switch my child class and was given false hopes only to never hear from the principal again. Where is my tax dollars going to? It is my right as a parent and my child’s right to receive appropriate education from the selected school but apparently this school thinks other wise