The Montclair Kimberley Academy

We love Hillside for its diversity, opportunities, and fantastic staff!

absolutely fantastic school blue-ribbon school. we have been blessed to be a part of such a wonderful, loving, education-focused community.

As a parent who had to leave school with multiple children, I am disgusted with this school, administration and staff. Shameful how the school has declined under this current leadership.

Our family’s experience with Montclair Cooperative School was devastating. After touring and being assured that our son — a twice-exceptional, academically gifted child on the Autism spectrum — could be supported, we submitted his records. Almost immediately, the admissions office reversed course and told us they would not move forward with his application because of his disability, saying he would be “better served” in public school. His academic strengths and test scores were ignored.This is not just disappointing, it is discriminatory. The school has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded grants and forgivable loans, which means it is legally bound under the ADA, Section 504, IDEA, and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination to provide equal access. Instead, it shut the door on our son because of his diagnosis.We pursued every available appeal, including with the State of New Jersey. Even though the state acknowledged the facts, they declined to pursue the case further — not because discrimination wasn’t present, but because they lacked confidence in prevailing in court.Families should know that if your child has a disability, this school may exclude them rather than work with you. For a school that markets itself as progressive and community-oriented, our experience was the opposite. Parents of neurodiverse children: proceed with extreme caution.