111 Eaton Ave
Hamilton, NJ 08619

My two kids have attended Mercerville for 3 years now and although they are still young and we have a few years left, I can already say that I LOVE this school. They have all of the modern tech (smart boards etc) but with an "old school" feel. The building itself is very old, but it fits the personality of the school staff and overall feeling you get as a parent. The teachers and Principal Mr. Byrne truly care about our children (he says good morning to every kid by name at drop off...never fails). They do things the way that they were done when I was a kid and I love that. They are very interested in building good character with the students, and things like bullying are an absolute NO. I'm very aware of my kids' safety and well being in any school they attend, and I totally trust every adult who works at Mercerville. Our experience has been wonderful (especially the kindergarten teachers (Bitner and Butler)..they are the best!! It's truly been a great experience and my kids LOVE school.

Nottingham is the best high school in Hamilton! My four years there were some of the greatest. I had wonderful teachers who truly only cared about the best in their students. Administrators are willing to become friends (to an appropriate extent) with every student who walks into their building. The AP courses offered are diverse, but AP courses are not the only sign of students’s intelligence! I took AP courses and did not do rather well in most of them. The honors courses are flourishing in that school, with multiple options throughout the day for almost every class. The diversity of the school is another wonderful aspect. You won’t find that at all of the schools in this district! (cough cough S******t) One of my favorite things about Nottingham was that it pushed you to succeed in ways that made you HAPPY. Not every student goes to college, but most go to some sort of Vocational school OR join the service. In my graduating class, 97% of the students had plans post-graduation. The school also has multiple state-championship winning athletic teams, with many veteran coaches. BULLYING IS NOT TOLERATED. And one of the greatest things is that, even in instances where bullying would occur, there was ALWAYS a student there in defense of the victim. The morals taught at that school are extraordinary. No matter your interest, you can find a group for you and be HAPPY. Our robotics team, which would typically consist of many victims of bullying (according to most high school movies that perpetuate awful stereotypes in order to “teach”), consisted of many “jocks” and the captain during my senior year was also the captain of the lacrosse team. Football players would often quick change into their band uniforms to perform with our Marching Unit during the half-time of games. Athletes are held to a very strict standards of maintaining a certain GPA in order to perform. Students with learning disabilities are well supported. I learned so much about life during my time at Nottingham, and matured a lot. Another major plus - Nottingham’s district is not comprised of many “rich” families. Everyone works hard for what they achieve. There are no pay-offs, no bribes, no unethical means of persuasion, and many of these kids have dealt with difficult things during their lives. All of the students appreciate the opportunity to flourish and take serious advantage of it, making more out of themselves so they can do better than the generations before them.

Classrooms are overcrowded, teachers are stressed out and use inappropriate language and tone of voice with the students. The students are not held accountable for their negative behaviors which goes on every day, all day. Children are cursing at each other in front of teachers telling other students to shut the "f' up and teachers ignore it. Students are fighting, hitting, shoving each other and nothing is done by the personnel. I would not recommend anyone sending their child to this school. I'm on my second child attending this school, my child has 2 more years and I am already looking into having my child attend an alternative school. I do not want my child attending this school next year. Children who want to learn and get an education are not able to because of the significant amount of negative behaviors by other students not being addressed. Teachers spend more time trying to gain the attention of their overcrowded classroom then they spend on actual instruction. If you are moving to the area, just make sure your child does not have to attend this middle school.