42-44 Carmer Ave
Belleville, NJ 07109

Belleville (New Jersey) Public Schools are HORRIBLE to say the least. There is little to no communication between school and parents. The learning environment is dysfunctional. The curriculum is all over the place and fluctuates every school year. Children learn on electronics, there is little to NO work done on paper. They use electronics/apps to “communicate” with parents but more than one platform is used for parents to view grades, school assignments, communication with teachers, etc.. The children (especially at the High School) are treated as inmates not learners. The students are 1 or more grade levels behind in academics. Guidance counselors guided my child(ren) to community college and not to aim higher. Parents have no voice and neither do the teachers that care. They do not mis-communicate when it comes to community events but parents are UNIFORMED and oblivious to the little things happening in school i.e. report cards/progress reports/parent conferences. There is a bridge that needs to be gapped and SERIOUS issue in conducive communication to improve the district.

My child has had a great experience at BMS. They have before and after school tutoring and intramurals. There are a lot of clubs including the winter sports club where there is a three week skiing trip every year. The administration is very receptive to parental concerns.

The Belleville School #5 area is a great area to live. Overall, the community is nice and people who live in this area are generally good people. From our experience, the teachers at this school are great. They go out of their way to make things happen. We learned it's important to follow up with the staff in the instance you have an issue with your children. We were emailing our daughter's teacher, back-and-forth, and we thought it was very professional. Being a part of the classroom is also important. We visited the classroom once every three months for ten minutes just to see how things are going. It's nice to look at my daughter's work hanging on the wall. I didn't like speaking with the principal though. She was clueless. She thought my daughter was another teacher and was giving her directions to gather another class to bring them to a classroom. The principal gives nonsensical or misleading directions to the staff and students on the loudspeaker. I know this because my daughter keeps her cell phone called with mine, the entire day, in her back bag. I listen in on the classroom periodically. I'll be able to tell if my daughter is lying to me about something that happened at school. The school psychologist is a dunce too. She spoke to me over the phone, didn't realize who I was, and was talking to me about another boy. I had to remind her multiple times who my daughter was. I gave two stars because of that. We had a good experience with the teachers so far, and I would recommend this school because I believe the students get a decent education here.