Greene Hill School

Our child had an awful experience here, finding none of the teachers very engaging, almost no fun projects and after school activities were fine but not nearly the variety and fun of other schools. The primary teacher was quite bad - his performance rapidly dropped over a few months and anytime we tried to ask the teacher about it, she displayed a total lack of interest or any familiarity with what he was actually doing. Worksheets and quizzes that made it home often were confusing, filled with typos, and in some cases directly contradictory to what was being taught. Tests had questions incorrectly graded, work was often (mis)graded by other students and never checked by the teacher. In all, our child significantly backslid over a few months, we felt completely ignored and blown off about any of our concerns, and our child's love of school and learning evaporated. We brought our concerns to the administration and they addressed some of them, but when we finally made the decision to leave mid-year, they had no interest in hearing or discussing our concerns. In addition to our concerns, we heard from many other parents that had similar issues with he quality of the instruction. Additionally, parents invovled on committees through the PTA frequently resigned their position, as they were blocked by the school from affecting any change (fundraising, field trips, etc. )

Our child attends pre-k this year. We've had a very good experience. The classrooms and hallways are inviting, the families are friendly, and the teachers are warm and nurturing--our child gives hers an enormous hug each morning and talks about her incessantly at home. Pre-k students are in their own wing of the building with a separate playground from the older children. They have plenty of enrichment activities throughout the week, such as visiting the music, art, and technology classrooms, as well as guest visitors (they baked bread with a baker one day, for example). We are constantly surprised by what our child comes home having learned. Even within this year I've seen it grow and predict it will continue to do so, especially if families keep getting more involved.

This school needs new leadership, new support staff and a few new teachers. As a new parent with a child in school for the first time, I have never experienced such an unorganized and unprofessional school. This school is being ran by amateurs and sometimes, the individuals who claim they work there look like people they picked up off the streets. In a school with such a small amount of children there are too many people walking around (without identification) claiming to be support staff. No one ever introduces themselves and they all seem to be involved with the children for one reason or another. At times, when I pick up and drop my child there are so many people just there hanging around (not parents or teachers) in the auditorium doing absolutely nothing but yelling at the kids and pulling them off the lines when they think they've seen their parent. There is no organization and the rules at this school change frequently. One week pick up is at one time. The next week it changes. There is no consistency. Another issue is Communication here is unreliable. Whoever is running their social media and Class Dojo needs to be fired. The informational fliers are never clear and are almost always missing important information such as dates, links, etc. There is so much more I can say but one thing's for sure, we will not be returning to this school for another year. I don't know how or why this school is still open.

My child has attended this school since 3k , he's now in pre k and I've seen a tremendous growth in him. He exhibits more discipline and more understanding for social rules in bigger environments. Staff has been very helpful and friendly. I've always received daily updates on what my child is learning via classdojo and while most schools still followed a strict covid procedure, this school did their best to safely include parents in their child's learning experience. The school is diverse in ethnicity as well, which is important in NYC.

We started at a different charter in Brooklyn and switched to Compass mid-year. I am SO HAPPY to be part of this community. The balance of learning, academics, play, community and social issues is just incredible. My children are THRIVING! My son was previously in special reading groups as he needed more help and after a few weeks at Compass everything just "clicked" for him and he is back on track! They are learning about important social (anti-bias) issues and also getting music and sustainability education. It truly feels like a community.