Why does the lowest guy on the totem pole say he "owns" Garden School's bus "biz" & makes a nice profit off of it, since the nonprofit paid for the buses? He said this in context of wanting to run cafeteria; does he "own" the food "business," too? Why did the bus fleet disappear from the school's 990 financials? Why does the Finance Director own, as CEO, a for-profit business whose headquarters address is the nonprofit's address? Why is she allowed to run the school after-hours for her own profit instead of for the nonprofit's mission? Where's the $6 mln from the sale of Garden's athletic field? They said they paid off $3.5 mln of debt and $400K to open a UPK biz. Where's the other $2.1 mln? Why is the UPK an opaque LLC that wasn't disclosed until they absolutely had to in their financials, more than a year later? Why doesn't the school want parents & donors to see the LLC's finances? What happened to the $250K-$300K of annual "profit" that Treasurer Muzzy Rosenblatt promised Garden would get from the UPK? Where is the money they raise for "scholarships" at the Gala & fundraisers? Their public 990 financials show a big fat ZERO in the scholarship account. They say they used the $2.1 mln field remainder for the school, but refuse to give specifics. What kind of a board of "trust"-ees lets a hired hand just wave his arm when $2.1 mln is at stake? Where is the money? Why did they pay for expensive jackets for the custodians that say "Garden School," but sequester kids in a classroom who have already paid tuition when they don't pay an extra $45 donation for the annual Walkathon & Fair? And yet they have to take money out of the annual fund every year to buy such simple things as a kitchen oven, a boiler, new bleachers, which cost, at most, tens of thousands. What happens to the rest of the Annual Fund, because, based on the number of people credited on their web site for donating & the amount of money attributed to each donor category, the Annual reaps a minimum of $50K/yr, but the annual facilities improvements they announce cost far less. What happened to the $25K the PTA earned one year to supposedly "renovate the library," considering that the renovation was done on the cheap and almost exclusively with donated blinds, carpet and furniture? Why do they keep as President of the board a man who is so bad at money that the city's ACRIS system shows he paid off two personal IRS tax liens shortly after the school sold its athletic field? A board president who constantly brags about his Phallic Art collection, even at events where kids are in the room? Why do certain teachers of kids of board members do re-tests every time the board member's kid gets a bad grade, but not when the board member's kid gets a good grade? Why are parent board members (&/or lawyers) allowed to nit pick every point for their kid, but other parents are brushed off? Why do board members get red in the face and start screaming when you ask any money question? Why did the school pay more than $80K for a fire alarm system, which shouldn't cost nearly that much? Why, shortly after the "alarm system" was installed, did administrators start materializing out of nowhere and striking up conversations with parents who complained about the school's money on school grounds? Did they add audio monitoring to the ubiquitous cameras? Wonder. Why does the school keep the "owner of the bus business" on payroll when multiple parents of girls have complained about him, either for non-sexual intimidation & harassment or intensely focusing attention on certain girls? Twice caught him making an obvious display of staring at girls' butts as they walk. Why is board prez allowed to use the school's garage free on weekends for personal vehicles, and store tables he owns at school for his private events, when the nonprofit could be renting that space? Why did the school say about 5 yrs ago that the white & gray van was too old to use, the head custodian drives it after hours? What happened to the gray station wagon the school bought 2 yrs ago, but was only seen in service for 1 yr? Why do only 2/3 of students pay tuition? Why do some of the "scholarship" families drive Mercedes SUVs but not have a checking account or credit card to their names? Why doesn't the school follow its governance docs & hold PTA elections? Why do some PTA Officers & scholarship families hide the fact that they're pre-existing close friends w/ the admin? Why is there so much nepotism--principal hired his wife, bro, niece, nephew, sister-in-law, neighbors & goodness knows who else, & headmaster hired his daughter-in-law on the sly? Why did headmaster's "other comp," which he says is "life insurance," soar to $17K/yr from $3K/yr right after the field sale? How much life insurance does he get? Is it appropriate for a nonprofit to pay for such a huge amount of life insurance for a hired hand approaching 70 yrs of age? Is it safe for someone with such deep financial needs to run a nonprofit? read more

If you pay tuition here, you are getting a bad deal. First, you are covering the education of 1/3 of the other families; the school still says it provides 30% scholarship money, and as you have noticed, there are no truly "poor" students attending here. I have known "scholarship" families with Mercedes...and they were NOT merit scholarships, by the parents' own admission. P.S., their legal forms to the IRS, which are public information, show NO money going into their "scholarship" accounts. Headmaster Marotta and the other administrators & board members had to sell some of the school's land because they had driven it into the ground financially, then Marotta and the administrators got a BIG raise but the kids got NOTHING. Look at the IRA 990s. You have to look at the pay pages on the 990s going back to 2012, 2013, 2014. AND teachers had to wait a couple of years for a SMALL raise after the "crisis" was resolved. Now-Marotta drives a big SUV, looks like a Mercedes to me. Principal Vogel sent all 3 of his adult kids to Europe for a summer and his wife bragged about it at school. Oh yes, even though it's not allowed (might be illegal), Vogel hired his wife, his brother, his niece, his nephew, his sister-in-law. Nepotism. Well, you might say, what about the board? Please. The current board president claims to be a big successful real estate developer, but New York City records show he just recently paid off several IRS tax liens. Parents, this is the kind of "leader" you are entrusting your money to. What about the PTA, you might ask. Please. Two of the three recent PTA presidents refused to pay for anything at a big fundraiser--they'd just have their kids pick up the stuff they wanted and refuse to pay. The third PTA president in question-she just let them get away with it. Some parents are nice but most are extremely transactional...all about the money. They wouldn't condescend to help in any manner; one current PTA officer refused to even hand out hot dogs at a party the first few years her kid was at the school; now that the administration asked her to be on the PTA, all of a sudden she wants to help? Don't you think her kids is getting something? Oh and by the way - the PTA elections for 2018 - 2019 were cancelled. Parents wake up! Oh my gosh it is so obvious what is happening to your money. read more

Heads up, parents, the guy who runs the cafeteria--and gets a free lunch every day that you pay for--is allowed to overrule the school's policy and deprive your kid of food if your lunch account runs low. This was reported to the headmaster and the guy who now runs the upper school, and they refused to even acknowledge it happened. If you're not sure who I'm talking about---it's the sloppy guy who stands out in front every morning to guard the entrance. This guy has made many comments to me over the years that indicate he has a financial interest in what's going on over there, and I guess he is protecting his pocketbook when he refuses to feed your child. In fact, this hired hand has stated openly that he earns a profit off of this nonprofit school's so-called "Garden School Transportation Co." Say what? Those buses were purchased by the school. In fact, parents, if you look at the IRS 990 forms that are publicly available, even after the school lied and said that it had paid of "all" of its debt, the school had actually taken out LOANS that appear to have paid for those buses. So--either you're paying for his profit-making business, or this guy is a psychotic liar. What does he have over the administration that they let him get away with this stuff? On top of it all, he's gross and gives a bad impression of the school standing out front. He often wears filthy blue jeans that look like he spent the night in a dumpster and stands there picking scabs off his bald head, with his foot up on the wall. Gross, by his own bragging someone who is earning a profit off of a nonprofit's assets, and someone who breaks school policy to make your kid go hungry. The parents at this school need to develop a spine and a voice. Don't wait for the PTA to do it - elections were cancelled and the school hand-picked a PTA president, then put her on the board of trustees....all against the school's governance documents. Again, parents, a spine and a voice. read more

i. Garden School is very bad in dealing with bullies. If someone complains, the administration becomes very rude and victimizes the child. ii. Teachers turnover is very high because of rude administration. Education quality is pathetic despite that the school charge very high tuition. iii. Teachers do not check homework on daily basis. They assign this task to other fellow children who check each other's homework. iv. Teachers do not explain math problems in class. There is no functional lab and library in this school. They have one library in the school, but children are not allowed to get books from there. In the science lab, they do not do any experiments but hold classes for other grades. v. This school keep asking for donations and if some parent can't afford to pay, they victimize the child. vi. This school prefers only rich parent children. This school runs a fake charity, and their only purpose is to accumulate wealth for themselves. vii. Google Garden School and you will find that one of their students died in school because of school negligence. read more

This school is a joke. If you are even remotely thinking of sending your child here, you seriously need to re-evaluate your thinking. Bullying is not taken care of, the school is filthy, no money goes towards the children and it certainly doesn't go to towards the school. Where does it go? Google Garden School Pension Fund Fraud. You might learn a thing or two. Also, the school is out of money and desperately trying to get a loan. Have they notified current parents of this? No. Because they don't care. You and your kid do not matter in this school. read more

Nice private preschool program passing by One staff member told me about so call teacher super rude to everyone in the building especially parents and coworkers. Heard she by one bus driver Rodica doing dragging and hurting a young little girl from school bus. Rumors said to also she potentially have violated young child to building the young girl where no one can see hurting her. Beware of this crazy old cranky vieja abuela No buena she might hurt children drinking their Por favor no sent your niños a ella ella muy loca read more

Garden School provided me with an excellent education, various extra-curricular opportunities that included leadership roles, amazing domestic and international trip experiences, and thoroughly prepared me for college. Not only is the tuition lower than other New York independent schools, the quality of education is higher. The school also offers merit scholarships which I was a recipient of. The Garden School community has become a second family for me and the many other students who attended. read more

teachers are the ages of teacher assistants (20s). no experience and no tolerance for questions. my child was not able to grow and develop because the teachers, especially in math and english, do not engage. school lunch costs above 1,000 and is poor quality. read more

The ones who are complaining how horrible the school is tend to be semi illiterate. I would not take their complaints too seriously.

bad cirriculum with unproven textbooks and staff/educators do not care about their students