My son attended 82nd Street Academics in the Pre-school and Pre-K program. One thing I can say for sure, they absolutely care about your child in every way possible. My son took time to adjust his first year and in no time he was making friends, loved his teachers and learned beyond what I expected. They are attentive, communicative and they've become part of the family and we're very thankful. We had the pleasure of growing with amazing teacher who I hope to still be around when my youngest is ready to attend pre-school. read more

The teachers in this school are really nice. But they do not teach kids anything. My child was in this school last year for pre-k and i was under the impression that she was ready for Kindergarten but now that she is there I realize that they didn't even teach her how to write her name. As a concerned parent I encourage you to look for another school. Kindergarten is pretty tough, the point of having your child at a full day preschool is so that they can be prepared for the next grade and in this school they failed. read more

Do not waste your time here. They have helpers not teachers who are not qualified to handle children. The program directors or Supervisors do not have degrees in early childhood education, or patients, only a matter of time before they get sued. read more

Caring, enthusiasm, responsibility, positive attitude, flexibility, and peace of mind are what first comes to mind when I think of 82nd St. Academics. My son has attended various programs there for 4-5 years. He started with a dual-language preschool class and has also attended pre-K, summer school and afterschool. There are three qualities that impress me the most about 82nd St Academics. First, they do a great job at hiring teachers and staff who genuinely love kids. The teachers are enthusiastic and really seem to like what they do. The admin. staff is kind, responsive and accommodating. They all really seem to understand our needs as a family. The second quality I love is the school's felt sense of mission to care for and educate the kids and its drive to improve and grow continually. The school has always considered our feedback seriously, gotten the parents involved, added classes, even adding a site in another neighborhood. Third, 82nd St Academics has a really positive way of handling setbacks. For example, when this year the afterschool site suddenly increased its fees and the afterschool had to be moved to the main site, a detailed letter went out to the families explaining the problem, clarifying that this change wouldn't affect our fees, and adding benefits that offset any loss, such as added activities and improved catering for the afternoon meal. 82nd St Academics is doing a lot right. I'm thankful for their understanding of our needs as a family and their enthusiasm for the kids and for education. read more

Second year that my child attended after school program. Last year was a great program with a great principal Mrs. Perchman but this year she resigned. This year director of after school program Ronald Tompkins without any notice or meeting expelled my son from the after school program in just 3 weeks of attendance. This just shows that he has no patience with children and shouldn't be running a program were children are involved. read more

Contacted this business 6+ times over the last 2.5 years to remove me form their mailing list and have been given the run around multiple times.... I have received 20+ postcards/notifications about their programs even though I have no children.... At one point I received 8 postcards in a span of 2 months (2015).....what an insane waste of finances for someone who has requested to be removed.... One person tells me they will remove me.... Another person tells me they will tell a higher up/manager/etc to have me removed.... Most recently I was told they don't decide who gets the postcards advertising their programs. It is decided by the post office....This was back in *edit* *early* May (2017)....go figure....what do I receive in the mail today....another postcard.... read more

I have a child who went to the summer program. During the summer despite being given repeated assurances that they could work with children with an IEP at 1:10 ratio, this however turned out not to be the case as during the summer after my child was already enrolled they stated that they were understaffed. They said that the staffing issue would be resolved by the fall and my child would be welcomed to the after school program. On the 2nd day of school they said my child could not attend as there staffing issues were not resolved. It took 5 calls over the course of a week before I was able to get someone to return a call regarding the situation. I would definitely not recommend that you send your child to this place especially since the administration does not appear to respect children or their parents. read more

Very upset with the communication with this school. It takes days for them to respond and when you want to call and talk no one answers the phone. Our child was having changed this summer due to household changes and had a little behavior problem. The beginning of this school year the first day we pick him they say he's not welcome for the after school program. Not a call ALL SUMMER to tell us to look elsewhere. And no explanation. Our child had approved and is on medication and they just said no and said they're understaffed. No excuse, you call and have a convo with us. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILD HERE!!! read more

School is negligent. Do not attend. They do not provide students with a safe environment. Staff are not vigilant and do not redirect students when altercations arise. Please look for other schools in the area. Do not waste your time. read more

For two years (kindergarten and 2nd grade) I have taken my son to 82nd Street Academics' after-school program. My son has always enjoyed himself safely, under the dutiful care of the counselors, who also assist him with homework. Against local alternatives, the program is fairly priced, so our family is very thankful for 82nd Street Academics! read more

My 3-year-old daughter attended March & April 21'. During these months she was pushed 3x by the same student. Once she hit her head on the tile floor, another time she was pushed off a 3 ft. high playground surface. I requested a meeting with the teacher and the program director, Amalia Rodriguez. I held them accountable for the incidents and demanded that they keep every child safe, including the child who pushed my daughter. I asked them to be more vigilant, since there are 3 adults to 15 students, and that should be enough supervision. I asked them to provide strategies that would help the other student manage her behavior (she had also hurt other children). I asked them to notify me immediately and to provide me with incident reports. The meeting ended well, Ms. Rodriguez apologized several times and made a plan to help. Three hours later I was asked to come in. Ms. Rodriguez then stated "we cannot meet your expectation of safety, therefore today is your daughter's last day. We cannot change school policy for you." I demanded an explanation, asked what was my expectation and what school policy was I asking to change? She did not answer, but said that they couldn't guarantee that the other child would not hurt my daughter. I reiterated what I expected, which was NOT that the other child be kept away from my daughter, but that they provide more care and notify me immediately. I asked to speak to the executive director, Ronald Tompkins. Things got worse. I've never met someone so unprofessional, disrespectful, and with complete disregard of children and families. He did not greet me and instead began to give me a speech about how "prestigious" his school is. He tried to hand me an envelope and said "go elsewhere". I began to speak, but his exact words were "I don't want to hear what you have to say" and walked away. I demanded an explanation as to why my daughter was being kicked out. He ignored me, walked into a room, pushed me out with the door, and slammed it in my face. He then did not leave the room, even though I waited in the lobby over an hr. I have worked with the DOE for over 10 years, therefore sought advice from colleagues and an educational advocate. I was advised to take the check and remove my child from the unsafe environment. It is clear that Ronald Tompkins does not care about the community he is supposed to serve, which is predominantly POC. I say this because since I've shared my story on social media numerous parents and former employees have shared similar or worse experiences with him, all POC. His website states that 82nd street does not discriminate and that every child deserves a chance, but why was my daughter kicked out? Why her? Is it because I advocated for her? Do yourself a favor and look up the school's name on Facebook groups such as Jackson Heights Parents or the District 30 education page, look up my name (Norma Natalie) and read the comments on my story. Keep your children away from 82nd street academics. Ronald cannot do good by children; he is practically a child himself with a power trip and a fragile ego. He treats his school, families, children, even employees with no regard, care, or consideration. To him 82nd street is a business, not a school. He did not think about the damage he was doing to my child, who cries every day because school is "closed". He stripped her of her education, friendships, and routine, during a pandemic and at an age when this is essential. All because I asked for help. I want to add that the mother of the child who pushed my daughter accompanied me to his office. She was as shocked and upset as me about the removal of my daughter. Ronald refused to see us together. Why? Also Why the knee jerk reaction of kicking my daughter out? Why was he so quick to give me money and ask me to leave? What is he hiding? The correct response and what you would expect of a director would've been to listen to my concerns and address them, instead of kicking my daughter out, the victim of his unprofessionalism and the school's lack of vigilance. read more

We have returned to 82nd Street Academics multiple times, both for pre-K and summer programs. Particularly the summer programs have been very successful. The program coordinator, Jessica and her staff, are terrific and genuinely care about the children and parents' concerns. We are very happy with the summer school teachers this year as well. We always enroll in extended day programs, and those have also been a success. read more

82nd Street Academics leaves nothing to be desired. They think of everything, are available and responsive, and most importantly do a great job with the kids. read more

Our daughter has been at 82nd St through 2 yrs of preschool, summer camp, and continues today in after school. She learned a great deal in preschool, made great friends and had some great teachers. The administration at 82nd St has always been open to suggestions and worked with us to make caring for a child with both parents working more manageable. We always know that she is safe and looked after at 82nd St. read more

Our daughter has been at 82nd St through 2 yrs of preschool, summer camp, and continues today in after school. She learned a great deal in preschool, made great friends and had some great teachers. The administration at 82nd St has always been open to suggestions and worked with us to make caring for a child with both parents working more manageable. We always know that she is safe and looked after at 82nd St. read more

My son is a young PK student, in the dual language PK and we are very happy with his progress in all areas. He also attends after school, and i noticed he is doing a good amount of enrichment/academics. We had some other options to enroll him elsewhere, but I am very happy with the decision to place him in this program. The after school is costly compared to other places i have seen, but i like that the teachers in after school stay engaged with the kids even in the late hours. read more

I have sent my daughter here since she was 2 1/2. She did preschool, pre-k and continues to do their summer and afterschool programs as a now, 9 year old. Being a single mom with no help in the area, this place has been a god send! I trust them, they are friendly and helpful and i know my daughter is safe and well taken care of. In afterschool, she completes her homework and they do fun games and lessons with some weekly dance and drama classes. My daughter has also made some great friends here. I would highly reccomend 82nd street academics! read more

I loved their programs!! This is my son's second summer school year. He comes home so happy telling us everything about what he learned during the day. The same when he goes to the afterschool program!! He learns a lot and has a lot of fun at the same time!!! One of the features while he is there, is that I get to peek on him with their camera. During work! And I always see him happy dancing, painting creating things!! Peace of mind as a working parent! I definitely recommend it! read more

The preschool program is pretty neat and well organized, the teachers and assistants are great but the only problem is the after school program. I decided to enroll my son in the after school program and in the first day of class I dropped him off which is quite unusual because all students come with the their teacher from previous classes so I was the only parent to bring the child to class. First of all my son and I waited more than 20 minutes outside for the assistants to finally let us in, when I asked where was the teacher they told me she was running late but remember! the class was 20 minutes late already. I asked for the schedule of the class to know exactly what activities my son will be doing and at what specific time. I thought at first the teacher was very unprofessional for not showing up early to class and the assistants were not willing to answer my questions therefore I decided afterwards to pick up my son early from class. The class was supposed to be ending approximately at 6 pm so I showed up at 5:45, to my surprise a couple of kids were playing by themselves, my son was sitting alone, the teacher was gone (according to what they told me she stepped out) and the only "assistant" was sitting with the phone in her hands texting, how upsetting. That was the first and last day he attended after school, I never met the teacher and had to pay approximately $230 for nothing. I came to the conclusion that the after school program is a mess most of the staff and the parents are gone after 2:30 so between 2:30 and 6:00 nobody is watching if the teachers are following the schedule, taking care of the children or actually teaching them, unless the rules change and the director, manager or head teacher goes to every class to make sure the staff is working and not texting or stepping out of the class don't waste your money because the classes are not precisely cheap. Other than that like I said before I have no complains whatsoever with the preschool program and pre K read more

An outstanding, caring preschool in Jackson Heights, NY, where it is one of the most sought after options. Incredibly diverse, with a range of paid preschool ("extended day") and universal (free) pre-k options. Each classroom has 3 teaching staff, one of whom is the lead teacher. The UPK class provides weekly newsletters that update parents on curriculum, and meals and snacks are provided as appropriate during the day (though it would be nice if there were better vegetarian options, and more extensive healthy selections). Additional facilities provide after-school programs for elementary age children, as well as supplemental activities like chess, piano, and the exceptional "kids music together." The preschool does a great job of exciting kids about learning, focusing on teaching through a combination of play, music, reading, and other hands-on activities. Attached outdoor space gives kids room to run around and explore. The program fosters a loving, family-like atmosphere, while laying a strong foundation for further studies. We have had our daughter there all year, and have also used a bit of the supplemental programming. We love the place, and the staff, as does everyone we know who also have children there. Brilliant. read more