Mount Bethel Elementary School

The students at this school are not excited about learning and are often discouraged from participating in the science fair if they are not part of a selective group (the principal’s favorite PTA group). The teachers at this school try their best to educate the children within the environment they are given. However, I have observed students taking benchmark assessments while other students were talking and running around the classroom.I have also personally observed—and have been told by students—that they are not allowed to play on the playground and are instead required to play near the dumpster due to the playground limitations (broken swings etc). When the garbage truck arrives, the children have to wait and lose their recess time. While this may not be true for all grade levels, it does happen if your child is placed in certain classrooms.It seems to me that the principal cares more about the school’s appearance—whether it looks stylish or not—than about what truly matters. When she climbs onto the roof of the school in an elf outfit is not only dangerous but also sets a poor example for students. The principal is a self proclaimed drama kid trying to always place the spotlight on herself (climbing on the roof in an elf outfit).We left the school and are very happy we did. Several of our friends made the same decision.

I started out my journey with MBCA as a parent many years ago when my daughter was in kindergarten. The school was new and we were taking a leap of faith when we enrolled my daughters. We fell in love with the school. It was such a sweet community, and our family bought in 100%. Fast forward 20+ years and although both my daughters have moved on I am still with the school. As with any school, MBCA has had changes through the years, but it still has that warm, caring feeling when you first enter the doors. I can’t say enough good things about the teachers. They are devoted to teaching and it shows in the students. I encourage you to take time to schedule a tour or have your child spend a day with us. You will be so happy you did.

We initially chose High Meadows amongst a list of the top private schools in the area based on the outdoor/activity component and the IB curriculum. Our child has been at HMS since Pre-K and stayed through 1st grade. There are many parts of the HMS experience we find so unique; we love the play based learning philosophy, the hour of play time at lunch, the beauty of the 42 acre campus with unique buildings, barnyard time with the animals, a "no phones" policy, the community gatherings, a strong music program - there are so many reasons it should be the best school experience money can buy. But, we found it's the most critical parts of a community that are completely missing for our child and our family. Despite being an extremely gregarious family who have lived in other countries/multiple US cities, we did not make any true friends at this school in our multiple years there. This is a very small school, so you may be lucky and get a great group of kids/families like our neighbors, but there is also the chance you may end up like us...it has been the most unfriendly group of kids/parents we've experienced absolutely anywhere. It's hard to get a take on that from trying out the 'Mornings on the Meadow' or even from feedback from other families as we've found connection with families many years above and below our grade but absolutely NONE within it. We have found most of the teachers seem great, but it doesn't make up for the kids your child will interact with and their parents. There was a 75% percentage of boys in our Kindergarten class and most of the boys are "red-shirted" in the Southern standard. Outdoor time in Kindergarten was experienced as "teachers are always screaming at the boys for bad behavior". While the head of school is inspiring, the elementary school principal did not present any leadership skills to handle problems amongst children. Be prepared to receive CONSTANT and overwhelming amounts of communication from the school about absolute nonsense and non-stop requests for donations, but when you have a true issue and need to reach out, there will be radio silence from everyone.

This school has exceeded all expectations since we enrolled our 3-year-old. It has a fantastic culture and we see how rapidly our son is advancing. Unprovoked, he's told us many times how much he loves his school, and thanked us for moving him the Wood Acres. What 3-year-old says that?