6058 Catalpa Ave
Ridgewood, NY 11385

My child goes to this school and I have to say I am extremely happy with the teachers and the principal. I have heard awful things about this school and was nervous to send my child here. The school is great and my son loves it. His teachers are very nice and helpful. Great communication. This school has gotten such a bad reputation. I do not have a bad thing to say about this school. I know a lot of other parents who feel the same as I do. The school is clean. Everyone is nice (principal, security, people who work in the main office, etc)

My child has had a wonderful experience at this school, starting in 3K. Her teachers are communicative, kind and always eager to support me as a parent in finding ways to bridge the connection between school and home. The school's principal, Mrs. O'Shaughnessy, is incredibly responsive and ambitious in her leadership. She is deeply involved in every aspect of the school's functioning and truly wants the best for every student. Equity is highly valued here. The school is constantly developing new programs and opportunities for its students and I've felt welcomed and encouraged to participate as a parent in getting to know the school. I know my child feels cared for and the environment overall is warm and loving. In 3K and PreK my child has made great friends and connections with teachers, developed social skills and help with emotional regulation. The importance of play and collaboration using art making, dance, STEM activities and phonetic awareness of words and early reading have been areas of learning and it's a joy to see my child grow at this school.As a parent I would encourage other parents to contextualize the data they see on sites like these. It's hard to get a sense of a school without being in it and something like overall test scores only tell part of the story. Get to know your school's community by learning about its challenges as well as its progress!

With my experience going there, there were only a very small few of teachers that were driven and motivated on teaching their students. Only two inspired me and actually made me look forward to their classes, excited with double periods of their class because they had a level head and made sure to pay attention to their students one on one when they could. They made class fun, but I can't say the same for the majority of my other classes and teachers. Overall, despite those two inspiring teachers, I dreaded going to school. The kids were rowdy and awful and disrespectful and the teachers were just as bad - loud and obnoxious. Most of the teachers took their own anger and personal issues out on the children as if we did something wrong, punished the whole class because one kid did something wrong and ignored bullying and harassment. Classes were overcrowded and some of the good teachers had to suffer with undiserved