Johnson City Elementary Primary School

I cannot speak to grades K-5, but can say that the Pre-K program is absolutely awful. My daughter came home filthy every day, her clothes ripped and stained. New shoes covered in black scuffs, all of this after playing INSIDE the classroom. The carpets haven’t been cleaned in god knows how long, you can tell from looking at them.You are not allowed to pack your child a lunch, but they will serve them frozen uncrustables (pb&j) and things your child may refuse if they’re picky like mine.My daughter was miserable, heartbreaking to a parent as a first time school experience for their child. Other children would hit and bully my child (over her SNEAKERS, at 4 years old) and the teachers never once let me know or seemed to do anything about it. I never got updates on my daughter, was never told if she was hurt in class, zero communication with the “teacher”, who was disorganized and out of touch with the parents.The day I enrolled my daughter in a different school, I could not WAIT to pick her up from that awful classroom. Compared to her school now, Horace Man’s pre-k program is akin to a poorly ran, filthy daycare. It seemed nice during orientation, boy were we wrong.Her artwork has gone from scribbles to beautiful drawings, her math skills are amazing for a child her age, and she’s learning Spanish & sign at her new school. I give zero credit to Horace Man’s pre-k program, it feels like months wasted where she could’ve been receiving a real education.

Believe the data. This is a failing school district in a persistently failing community in a failing region of NY (including Binghamton, Vestal and all of Broome County-what a cesspool). I pulled my children from West and enrolled them in a public school in a thriving community. What a learning curve. Went from A's & 100's with no effort to having to work very hard to catch up to the children enrolled in the reasonable school district from the start. Don't believe the defenders. No, this is not about the ethnicity of the children. In fact, all the children started school with the capacity for high levels of achievement. But they were enrolled in a school in the wrong region for achievement. This is not about poverty rates. The children in Binghamton School district from households with educated employed parents do worse on all indices than those living in poverty in the district my children were transferred to. Outcomes are also telling. Sometimes differences between school districts show many years later. But now my kids and their friends are mostly out of school so it is possible to look at differences in opportunities afforded people that graduated from different school districts. Whereas the children my kids met in their new district nearly all attended (or now attend) well rated 4 year national colleges/universities, now have exciting careers, and are thriving, their friends from Broome County went to local colleges if they attended college at all and most eventually settled into Broome County in a region saddled with a failing economy, few job options and downward mobility. In other words, they've settled into their parents community despite it being a failing community devoid of opportunity. People who exert effort to get their kids out of a failing region and their kids are probably different from those that don't in many different ways. Bottom line is that those graduating from schools in Broome County have nowhere near the opportunities available to kids in prosperous thriving communities. Don't delude yourself into thinking anything different. It's not just the poverty level. Those living in poverty elsewhere do better than the well-off children in Broome County. It is the attitude. It is being surrounded by failure, depression and other depresson-inducing aspects of the region. Get your kids out of there!

As a former substitute and current teacher (of 5+ years- not in BCSD) I can truly say the lack of leadership and disrespect from the principal was unimaginable. I had items locked in the teachers lounge stolen by students and her lack of empathy was unprofessional. I hope they have placed someone new in the position. Great students and some great teachers. Needs better leadetship and resources.

Saint James school's small class sizes and 21st century learning techniques allow my children to receive the attention they need in an environment that they not only feel comfortable on but that is setting them up for future success.

The Crescent Academy is a great start for an elementary level child. Teachers are all certified with a number of years of experience. Very homey and lovely environment.

My son completed 8 years at St James, I am also an employee of this school. Here’s what I liked: There were about 20 children in his grade, I’m am very familiar with all of the parents. We’ve attended many, many birthday parties together over the years, I feel like we are a community of parents. I love uniforms, it is easy to prepare for the morning & unifies the children, rather than dividing them. The children pray before they start the school day, & before they eat. This reinforces the faith that we teach at home. Here are some things I feel can be improved upon: Disruptive children are often left in the classroom. (Although I feel there is a lack of discipline, I am aware it would likely be worse in our public school.) There are remedial classes, there are no advanced classes or Talented & Gifted programs. The playground is very small, so the children often play in the parking lot. A grassy area to play games like kickball would be a great addition. This is a Catholic school, but many of the teachers are not Christian of any type which means there is a sliding scale of moral standards in curriculum at times, too. Our religion teacher gave out a weekly publication that taught amoeba-to-man evolution as a fact! I often wondered if she ever took the time to read it herself. Art class is underfunded or unimaginative, my son drew or painted on paper for all eight years of art class, with very few other types of art being utilized. Despite my complaints, unless you can homeschool, it is my opinion that St James is the best option for elementary education in Johnson City.