Palmer Elementary School

We have one daughter who is attending Montclair and another who will be attending starting next year and our experience so far has been terrific. We've experienced thoughtful teachers, teachers aides, principal, and front staff admins. We love that they have art, performance art, and gym teachers. Our daughter is excelling and being given ample opportunity to be challenged. We appreciate the Social-Emotional development classes the school offers for parents to learn more about effective parenting. It's been a warm welcoming environment. And with the Principal that just started in the 24/25 academic year, I expect things to continue to trend up. Of challenges or things that could improve, I'd like better school parent engagement (as opposed to teacher engagement, which has been good). There has been some school outreach, but the follow through on getting parents engaged hasn't been strong. We noticed that school communication of upcoming events were sometimes late or contradictory, but that seems to have improved recently. Also, I which the school offered more sports teams, but that's not a major concern. Ultimately, we've enjoyed it so much that we've recruited some local friends with kids to join our kids over at Montclair.

Amazing school with great community engagement and support. Teachers have long tenure and it shows….. very experienced and wonderful at their jobs. Specials are well thought out and routinely enjoyed. School supports all learners where they are. The overall feel is that they truly care about the kids, which is the point.

As parents, we had high hopes when we enrolled our child at MCHD, but unfortunately, our experience has been disappointing on several fronts. My older son attended MCHD 8 years ago and we were thrilled when it came to his experience. He had one teacher, Ms. Itzel, his entire time there. He grew so much educationally and socially. I was excited to send my younger son and enrolled him when he was two. We spent 4 years at MCHD Parkhill and just left mid year because we were beyond disappointed. I am floored when I recall the significant differences from 8 years ago. First and foremost, the teacher retention issue is a serious concern. It feels like every few months, we’re seeing new faces in the classroom, which has created a lack of consistency in our child’s education. It’s difficult to form a relationship with teachers when they’re constantly leaving, and it’s clear that the remaining staff is overburdened. Additionally, communication from the school is abysmal. Important updates and changes are rarely communicated in a timely manner. It’s frustrating to find out about scheduling changes, school events, or policy updates at the last minute or, worse, not at all. As parents, we feel left out of the loop and constantly have to chase down information that should be readily available to us. We’ve also been disappointed by how the school has handled changes. There has been a lack of transparency when it comes to alterations in curriculum, staffing, and even basic facilities. The school doesn’t seem forthcoming with this information, and we’ve been left to figure things out for ourselves, which is not acceptable for the fees we are paying. To add insult to injury, despite paying the same amount as families at the Central Park campus, our child’s campus does not offer the same resources or opportunities. It’s hard to ignore the disparity in facilities, extracurricular programs, and even classroom materials. We understand that different campuses may have different needs, but the quality should not be this uneven when the financial commitment is the same. Overall, we’re incredibly disappointed with MCHD. For the amount of money we’re paying, we expected much better communication, teacher stability, and a more consistent and equitable experience for our child. We hope the school takes these issues seriously and works to address them for the sake of the students.

Christ the King has been a wonderful fit for our family. My daughter has grown in every way—academically, socially, and spiritually—since starting here. The environment is warm, structured, and rooted in strong values.As a former public school educator, I was looking for stability, quality teaching, and a supportive community. Christ the King delivers on all three. The teachers and staff are attentive and skilled, and my daughter loves both her classmates and her older “buddies” through the school’s mentorship program.The aftercare and after-school clubs are also excellent—well-organized, enriching, and a huge benefit for working families. We’re so grateful to be part of this community.

As a parent of three students at Blessed Sacrament, our family has had a wonderful experience. I am not Catholic, though my husband is, and what drew us to the school was truly the community. The families here come from different backgrounds, but there is a shared commitment to supporting the school and each other.Blessed Sacrament is proudly Catholic, which we appreciate, of course you wouldn’t expect a Catholic school to be anything less. At the same time, they do a great job making all families feel welcome while teaching students strong values like kindness, service, and respect.For our family, it has been a place where our kids are growing academically while also being part of a really supportive and engaged community.