My daughter joined the Garden school exactly one month ago after K-8 in the public school system…read more It was a a hard decision to switch to private education but I truly cannot express how happy I am with the school, the administration, the teachers, the coaches, and the students. The atmosphere in the school is warm, caring, supportive and at the same time academically challenging. They make every child feel like they are seen and heard. BEST DECISION EVER!

I cannot comment about Garden School in the current era. I…read moreattended many decades ago. I found that the teachers were genuinely interested in teaching. This was not the case in the public schools. At the time, and likely now, teachers earned less than the public school salaries but were motivated by children who actually wanted to learn. I found that the low ratio of students to teachers permitted a better knowledge of the individual students by the teacher and a warmth between teacher and student that did not exist in the public schools. All in all, it was a great place to learn.

A positive and safe environment, multiple opportunities for learning, with kind caring teachers. My…read morechildren have been very happy at this school and feel the workload is not overwhelming- however it's still challenging. I have not had any issues with the administration and have always received an answer when asking about something. I can say that this school has been excellent.

Not a good environment. They are not supportive of students who are being bullied and they try to…read morecover up for the kids who are bad. They care about their image- not about the truth. They are very hypocritical when they discuss morals. There were great teachers and I have heard that many of them have left. Many of the people who have graduated have sadness towards the school and the way they were treated.

This is a horrible neighborhood for a school. The teachers are horrible and not professional at…read moreall. It's a very small school for elementary, middle, and a high school. If you want your kid to flourish this is not the school.

I was a student here and I just got reminded by some of my friend on this school. The education is…read moreactually not ad and most reachers are great. However there is ONE teacher who is actually killing me (not literally).

During my time (2000-2004) in Newtown High School, it was a very diverse, mostly immigrant…read morecommunity, and many families were struggling with economic and educational issues. Diversity is a blessing but it can also bring struggles such as misunderstanding and unequal treatment. In that environment I often felt discriminated against, unsafe, overlooked, judged and unsupported, especially as a person with a disability. During my time there, the student body was approximately 35% Asian, 50% Hispanic, 10% African American, and 5% White. Around 70% had moved to the U.S. after age 11, 80% came from less-educated families, and 70% were from low-income households. About 65% of the students' parents worked cash-paying jobs. The graduation rate was about 55% and Ivy League acceptance was around 20%. Newtown High School has not been in a good school district and did not feel like a well-resourced environment during that time, and it felt like the system became so focused on its reputation that students with disabilities were often overlooked. There seemed to be more emphasis on increasing graduation rates and Ivy League acceptance rates than on supporting students who needed help, which I find deeply wrong. It was more difficult for me, because I thought I would get support from Mrs. Chen (Guidance Counselor) and Mrs. Wang (Assistant Principal of Guidance). I thought they would understand my situation, especially because we were from the same cultural background (Chinese). Instead, I often felt dismissed, discriminated against and misunderstood, and it was painful and confusing. It made me realize that bias and lack of support can show up anywhere, even where you hope it wouldn't. Over the years, I've noticed that Asians and my Asian classmates are the same. Whenever there's a problem, they're very passive and don't speak up no matter how angry they are about the problem. They just talk about it amongst themselves. I have lived in the USA for nearly 40 years, China for 5 years, and am close to most of them and I get upset when they just accept things that they know are wrong. When I ask them why they don't ever speak up, they say they don't want to stir up trouble and they don't trust management. It actually connects to something that happened to me back in 2003 at Newtown High School. I accidentally got locked in a girls' locker room one Saturday afternoon at 1pm on a summer of 75 degrees after class . What I thought would be a quick trip turned into being stuck there for about two hours. I was shouting for help through a small open window, getting weaker, and at one point I honestly thought I might pass out. "Help! I am stuck at the girl's gym on the 5th floor!" I didn't have a cell phone and my water. Just when I was close to passing out, two students (an African American boy and a Spanish girl) heard me and immediately got security. Their quick action prevented a much worse outcome, and I've always remembered their courage and responsiveness. As the security guard was walking us to the main entrance, we ran into Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Wang right outside of the Guidance counselor's office on the 2nd Floor. I was told that this was also near where my calls for help had been heard. What struck me just as much, though, was realizing that Mrs. Chen (guidance counselor) and Mrs. Wang (Assistant Principal of Guidance) had heard me but didn't act, and later treated the situation lightly. That experience made me feel dismissed and unsafe. What's most shocking is that the next few days, I heard some Chinese students, who lived across Newtown High School, had heard me, joked about it, and wished something bad upon me. Not only they didn't bother to call for help or report it, but they ignored it and treated the whole situation lightly. Even though my enemy shouts out for help, I would call for help or report it to authorities. Moreover, Mrs. Chen, who consistently belittled me, didn't refer me to proper support and services, and discouraged me from attending college, believing that people with disabilities are incapable of completing higher education. As a person with a degree, I wouldn't recommend this high school nor would I want my child to go here based on my experience.

Its pretty sad how a few people end up giving Newtown a bad name. Now I have to be honest when I…read moregot into this school had the opportunity of going into on of the specialized high school but I just didn't want to make the commute everyday. I can truly say that Newtown has teachers that care. Even after graduation I have teachers that I'm still in touch with. Heck I'm always going back to the school every once in a while. Now there are teachers who obviously don't care about the students - but you find people like that everywhere. There were fights but what school doesn't. Honestly I can say in my four years there I only witnessed two fights and when I heard about fights it wasn't even an everyday thing. The one problem that the school has is the security guards. I don't know if it was just my luck but they would always make my life harder walking in the hallways - with a pass... and yet I would see people who would cut everyday and were so familiar with the guards the the guards would walk with them. If you get the right teachers (there are plenty - don't want to name any because I don't want to leave anyone out) and do what you are supposed to do Newtown is pretty good school. Newtown Class of 2011!

My 4 year old daughter attended JHELC's camp at the Annex last year & my 2 year old son has been in…read moretheir program at St. Mark's since October. Though my children are quite different from each other, JHELC has been able to cater to their individual needs with ease. My daughter had a fantastic summer. The staff at ELC kept her inquisitive mind at work - she was tasked and happy, soaking up their weekly themed programming. They wore her out with playing too, which is not an easy feat. On the other hand, they have treated my son with a more gentle touch, working with him on communication - his greatest obstacle. His language skills have greatly improved since starting at JHELC & I know that's it's not because he's not being heard there - it's because he is. This review may seem a bit biased, but it's only because I have been so happy with my experiences at JHELC. My kids love the staff and I know that the staff genuinely and passionately care for them too. We are welcomed with open arms every day and my children are treated as individuals with unique needs and keys to learning. The staff is open to input and feedback, which is very important. The administration is hands on and always enthusiastically working to elevate the program.

My son went to JHELC at St. Mark's church and my daughter and son attended the Summer Program…read more They loved it and always were excited to go to school. The teachers were warm and attentive and the activities were fun and creative. The owners have always been kind and have supported me as a parent. I strongly recommend JHELC, in fact, I now work there too and feel very fortunate to be part of the staff.

This review is for the summer camp. My son has attended the COA summer camp for 2 consecutive years…read moreand we plan on re-enrolling again this year. They provide breakfast and lunch daily, weekly trips (which my son loves!), there are weekly special activities on site and they do water play and go to local playgrounds. My son has made friends that return in the summer, just like he does, and he looks forward to seeing them. There is a lot to do and ms. Surita, ms. Wendy, ms. Lulu communicate well with parents. They offer full time hours (5 days a week, 10 hrs/ day) for 8 weeks, this is hard to get with the free, public school Summer camp program. Overall, we recommend their summer camp.

my son was here and was hurt by one of the day care staff, no justice was served not even sure who…read moredid it (from observation I possibly do) or if anything was done. I don't blame the place but people gotta do better when hiring and watching their employees, especially when it comes to our children.

We absolutely love Miss Shaz's class and her teaching method. Our toddler who had been going to a…read morebilingual nursery prior to coming to Miss Shaz's class only started to speak and retain words she taught them. She is very engaged and makes sure that learning Chinese is fun for them. She would play supermarket and would 'sell' fruits (Strawberries and grapes). She haded out paper money with Chinese numbers on them and children would have to use money to 'buy' fruit they like. In the process, they are encouraged to speak and count the names of fruits in Chinese and read the Chinese letter on the money. And they get to eat real fresh fruit that they 'buy'. So brilliant.

This is one of the best run, most fun classes I've ever seen. My daughter looks forward to…read moreattending her Mandarin class all week, and has learned and retained so much. The class is perfectly paced and Miss Shaz keep the kids 100% engaged at all times. She is a brilliantly gifted teacher and the kids respond to her so well. The activities and crafts are creative and helpful for learning. Also, the learning materials she provides (flash drive, links on Google Drive, notebooks, etc.) are priceless to supplement the learning process. I highly recommend this class and wish I could give it even more stars than five!

My wife and I were talking about how much our son's life, and in turn our lives, has changed since…read morewe enrolled him in Q Studio Lab for kindergarten this past February and we wanted to share our experience. We, like so many parents and children, were struggling with remote schooling and the emotional fallout of having to work full-time and help our six-year old son with school. After 5 months of trying to make virtual learning work we were desperate to find an alternative. Fortunately, Q Studio Lab had one remaining spot in their kindergarten class so we promptly enrolled our son. He had attended the affiliated Amazing Magic Beans for two years before Pre-K so we knew and trusted Lauren, who founded both schools. At first our son didn't want to leave his old school (despite seeming to hate every minute of remote learning), but Lauren encouraged us to try it out for a few days. Q Studio's kindergarten/first grade cohort of 12 students with two teachers was a welcome change from our son's virtual class of 30 kids (with two teachers), and the emphasis on social interaction was sorely needed. The first week our son was there, the class was focused on putting together an aquarium and tying math and science lessons into the project. Right away we noticed a change in our son's general attitude towards school. It's now been over two months and he regularly talks about how much he loves school and his classmates; he even recently went on a two-day field trip to the Queens Zoo! Q StudioLab's decision to use the Brightwheel app allows for regular communication between parents and teachers/administration and helps to foster a real sense of community. We've been so happy with the experience that even as it looks like public school will be open in the fall, we've decided to keep our son enrolled at Q.

This school was a nightmare. The only reason I'm giving the Q Studio Lab two stars instead of one…read moreis because most teachers were kind and did the best they could to teach us. However, there was serious emotional harassment going on among the kids, and I was the target of a bully. I suppose it's really who your classmates are, but in my years there, my classmates had terrible tantrums, crying fits, and more. The head of school would not reply to any emails or messages sent to her about these issues. Even though the teachers were nice and tried their best, they taught things we should have known in first grade. Most teachers could not control the class at all. The only reason I entered this school is because of its great summer camp. They promised that the school would be just like the summer camp, and my family and I fell for the trap. This school is definitely not worth your money. Now as a finally caught-up student, reflecting on this school brings tears, trauma, and anger. Just remember this review before putting this school on your list. All that glitters is not gold.

I've had the awesome experience of having 3 children attend this school + summer camp. We started…read moreat 6months with my youngest and continued with my oldest to 1st grade (when they did have 1st grade, now they transition out after Pre-K). The care they provide the children in unmatched. I travel over a bridge each day to drop my little ones because I haven't found other places with equitable services. The communication is great. We use a Pro Care App and the teachers check in throughout the day. My 6 y.o. loves the summer camp and looks forward to going each day. 4 of the 5 days the children are out of the building, and they go swimming each week! The extra meal service is helpful so I don't have to worry about prep. The program provides trip shirts, so aside from her shorts I don't have to worry about wardrobe headaches. My daughter loved making new friends in camp. Last year we attempted another camp for a few weeks that was closer to home and quickly switched back because she hated it. For my youngest who is now 2, he too participated in the summer program. What I liked about his program is they have an awesome backyard and have outside water time daily (weather permitting). They also get to have inside gym time to keep their bodies active and moving. His bookbag was always full of activities he completed in school and my pro care communication app, always up to date showing me the fun activities he was engaging in. The best part for me, since I am always running is I could communicate with the staff when I was in transit so they could being to prep him for departure at the end of the day. As far as the cost, it's worth it and comparable to other programs that have infants and toddlers. The program we attempted in 2023 with my middle child was a bit more expensive, and just didn't work out for us. We will be back next year!

My son went to the summer camp in August. He was very happy and said the teachers were nice and…read moremade more friends during the summer. My son, " I enjoy going to the fun trips, the teachers, the food, the schedule they make for camp and recess and activities they do with the mat." Thank you for a great summer.