Recommendations for Private Elementary Schools archived

"Academically rigorous" being the primary criteria, I'd suggest you check out Kent Place School in Summit for your daughter and maybe Pingry (lower school in Short Hills, middle and upper schools in Martinsville) for both. Both have rigorous reputations.

Newark Academy (Livingston) begins in 6th grade; another consideration with reputation for some rigor.

Montclair Kimberley Academy is supposed to be a great school, especially regarding close proximity to West Orange/Montclair, although my understanding is that it is fairly well-rounded and not necessarily rigorous with regard to academics.

Far Brook School (Short Hills) is a small slice of heaven for young children through 8th grade, but priority is on childhood and promoting a life-long love of learning and education through the arts. Sets a solid foundation for a capable student to continue on at a high school with much rigor.

Many schools are holding open houses at this time. Newark Academy has one tomorrow, Kent Place school is holding an open house this Sunday, Far Brook holds one December 2nd. Pingry has a lower school open house on Dec. 3rd. You should attend several if possible to get a feel for the campus and curriculum and have your specific questions and concerns addressed. If you are not able to attend open houses, call the schools to arrange meetings and tours when you are local. Know that all schools will require your kids to take either the ISEE or SSAT entrance exams and applications have to be submitted early in 2010. The process starts now if you are considering for the 2010/2011 school year. You will also want to apply to more than one school since all the schools receive many more applicants than they have space for.

Good luck!

PS. Start here http://www.njais.org/

I'd concur that Pingry is the most traditionally academic, and if you can have both children in one place it's easier. I think MKA may once have had the reputation of being more nurturing than Pingry; perhaps it still is. I would certainly look into it as well as Pingry and have your children visit/interview in both places. I think there are relatively few WO kids at Pingry--MKA is so much closer. But there has always been a substantial Maplewood South Orange contingent at Pingry and the trip to the Lower School of course is very quick and getting to the Upper School is surprisingly easy once you get used to the idea of being on 78.

I would not discount Far Brook--it may be more creative in approach than Pingry but it sends a lot of its graduates on to Pingry and Newark Academy and they are well prepared when they get there. It's is a nuisance to have to apply to high school though so if you can start at a place that goes through grade 12 it may be easier.

pdg summed it up very well. My daughter attened Kent Place School from pre K through 6th grade. It is both academically rigorous and nurturing. I would also look at The Peck School in Morristown which goes up to the 8th grade. Oak Knoll School in Summit is co-ed in the lower grades and all girls in the upper school. It is Catholic, but is an independent school rather than parochial. Good luck.

dear pdg, thank you for your thorough response. everything you've mentioned fit in with what i've learned so far on my preliminary research. I heard the same about MKA so we probably won't apply there even though it is the most convenient location. Kent Place is on the top of our list for our daughter since she currently attends an all-girls school in london.

grayhill, how is athletics at pingry? my kids are into tennis and swimming and i would like them to be involved in school sports.

sarahzm, where did your daughter go after 6th grade? do you recommend Kent Place over Oak Knoll? during your daughter's time there, were there spaces available in different grades through attrition? we are waiting to see if there are spaces available in 4th grade for september 2010. they tell us that currently there are no spaces available. do you know if they make exceptions?

overall, do you think the education is worth the tuition??

i feel like i'm applying to colleges with all the forms to fill out!

thank you all.



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I have substitute taught at MKA. I would really check it out yourself. It might -- might -- be more nurturing than Pingry, but not in the upper school and not by much. I love that Pingry has an upper and lower school; I think it's a great model. MKA has that, too, and they're blocks apart. Still, you get the convenience and culture of one school that can serve different ages very well.

If tennis is a passion for your kids, check out Newark Academy. They have frequently ranked first in tennis in the state and have a very rigorous academic program, starting at 6th grade on. It is one of the few schools that offer the International Baccalaureate degree as well, as I recall. As for swimming, I believe their new fieldhouse has a state of the art pool.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with Far Brook?

Yes....I have had three kids at Far Brook and one has graduated and is now at Columbia HS. PDG knows a lot about Far Brook as well.
I would be happy to answer any questions you might have!

One child at FB, one FB grad at Millburn HS, and I can vouch for kmk's expertise. ;^)

kmk and jr, what are your thoughts on sending your kids to expensive, private elementary schools and then switching to free public high schools later on? don't you get more "value" for your money the other way around? why didn't your kids stay in private schools? i am just curious as to the various educational paths taken by families. i have 4 young kids so i'm sure we will be doing a little bit of everything.

thank you

Hi paola,

I attended The Peck School in Morristown. Obviously it's been awhile since I went there but I loved it. If you're looking for a school that is academically rigorous then I think you'll like Peck. I still keep in touch with some of my friends who went there.

After we graduated I had a number of friends who went on to Pingry, Kent Place and Morristown Beard. I gathered from friends that Pingry is big into athletics at the high school level so this could be a good thing depending on your children.

Each of the schools has their own personality and I think it's important for you to tour all of them. I bet your children will find schools that "click" for them.

Organized athletics are very strong at Pingry but that's at the middle and upper schools, not at the lower school. The middle school does have an active interscholastic program; at the upper school there are both junior varsity and varsity teams in most sports (probably not swimming, which I think is all varsity) but certainly tennis. Definitely take a look at the pingry.org site--you will get a sense of the pride the school takes in students' achievements in athletics as well as the arts and academics. Lower school students have an active PE program and there are lovely playing fields at the Short Hills campus; many students also participate in town teams of course so there is a strong athletic culture as well as a strong academic one, and they are often shared by the same students. It may not always be a lovable place but it is a really excellent school.

Thank you all for your insights and detailed description of your child's experience. The comments really gave me a good picture of each of the schools and their strengths. At the end of the day, one is paying roughly $24,000/year so the education can't be that bad; one only hopes that the value is worth it.

We are applying to Pingry and Kent Place for the September 2010 school year (2nd and 4th grades) and both schools told us that they are full at these grades at the moment. We are not sure yet what we will do if they are still full by September but we will probably homeschool them from January to September when we return from London in December. In London, my daughter is at the City of London School for Girls which has been consistently ranked the number one preparatory school in the UK over the last 5 years based on test scores; she was admitted age 6 after 2 days of testing. Hence, she is strong academically so we don't think she will be challenged at the local West Orange Public Elementary School. Does anyone think otherwise?

Does anyone know of other homeschool families in the area that we can connect with for socialization and exchange of ideas?

Sarahzm, I think you alluded to attrition rate in your response. Am i correct (and hopeful) that from your experience, there are usually 1-2 spaces available in each grade due to students leaving? is it more true in the lower or upper grades?

Thanks, everyone!

paola, I dont think anyone can predict or guarantee attrition, but during the years my daughter was at KPS there were usually 1 or 2 openings every year in each grade in the primary school. In the middle school there seemed to be more.

My advice would be that to apply to several schools for each child. That would improve your chances of admittance to at least one of them.

There are a lot of families who homeschool in the area. I used to know several, but by now their children are in college or grown. Good luck.

I wouldn't rule out spending half the year in the public schools, as you await decisions. Unless you make a huge effort otherwise, it can be tough for a kid moving to town and attending private schools to meet anyone local. Sure, there are local sports, but not so much in January, and I think kids at that age make most friends thru school. One thing about the private schools is that you become a "road warrior" really fast, driving here and there for projects and playing. It's nice to have someone in the neighborhood. (I also think it takes the stress off the kids' relationship if they have other playmates--- esp in the long winter months.)

Consider St Rose of Lima Academy in Short Hills. To be sure, there is no campus to speak of, but it has been our experience that SRL presents a challenging academic environment and a wonderful community of parents, teachers and kids working together. The tuition is a fraction of the cost of the other schools mentioned. Whisper if you're interested in further information or a visit.

http://www.lacordaire.net/

My kids went here, they turned out all right, one is going to be a rocket scientist.

hi bigriver, i'm going to visit lacordaire as well. do you know the annual tuition? i also saw that you've posted free karate classes for maplewood/so residents. my kids are taking karate classes in london and i would like them to continue in NJ. can you recommend any other places since we are WO residents? have you heard karate usa in livingston?

Hi Paola and welcome to our community. St Rose of Lima is a Catholic, co-ed academy located in Short Hills. They cover K-3 through Grade 8 and total enrollment is about 250. My sons, ages 8 (grade 3) and 5 (K) have been enrolled there for 4 years. The kids are wonderfully well adjusted and the curriculum is challenging and well rounded. It is a decidedly Catholic school which begins each morning with a general assembly, prayer and scriptural reading. There is a recently constructed state-of-the-art science lab which is the pride and joy of the school and a great variety of extra-curricular activities. The families tend to be very involved in fund raising, governance and social eventt and the school has a very welcoming community feel. Tuition is about $5K per year I think. Explore the website at the address below and if you wish to take a look or meet the Principal, I'd be happy to put you in touch.

http://srlacademy.org/

thanks, ragnatela. the schools sounds wonderful on the website--good combination of academics rigour balanced with reasonable tuition (versus $24K!!). I will email the principal to see if there are spaces available in jan 10 for grade 3 and 1.

you might want to try saint patrick's in chatham. my nephews went there for two years. or saint rose of lima in east hanover. it's a short ride up route 280. there is also montclair academy in verona?

Montclair Kimberley Academy is in Montclair, near Verona. Both my kids are there and it is a fantastic school. The education is excellent, as are the faculty. The thing that drew me to them was their signature programs -- Core Works, Ethics, and the Writing Challenge. These are programs with threads that run throughout pre-K to 12th grade. I myself went to an academically rigorous boarding school that was missing the focus on ethics, so am happy that it is incorporated in this school. I also interview applicants for my undergraduate college, and have found that the candidates from MKA stack up very strongly against other schools. College placement is excellent. My kids did not begin MKA until the Middle School (which begins at 4th grade) so I do not have experience with the younger grades. I would definitely encourage you to visit and meet with the educators over there to see for yourself. Once I visited MKA, I stopped visiting schools and only had my kids apply there.

just the aunt, is this different than the saint rose of lima school in short hills? names are similar.

saint rose of lima in east hanover

I've got a five-year-old in the Kindergarten at MKA. I just read 7 pages of comments in preparation for our Parent Teacher night this week. It's pretty rigorous at the kindergarten level, in my opinion.

My wife teaches at the High School there and she used to sit on the admissions committee, and there were kids transferring from all around into MKA, she would review the applicants and said she saw high quality students from all of the schools listed. (Except she didn't see many transferring from Pingry to MKA, and I think whatever you assume about that is probably correct.)

Posted By: paolajust the aunt, is this different than the saint rose of lima school in short hills? names are similar.

saint rose of lima in east hanover

Two completely different places. I'm talking about Short Hills. Don't know anything about East Hanover.

Paola,

I'm concerned that my first response somehow left you with the impression that I do not consider Montclair Kimberley Academy to be a good school! I absolutely did NOT intend to leave you with that impression and frankly believe quite the opposite! Please read the "whisper" I am about to send you for specific clarification.

My daughter is in third grade at Kent Place, and we have been very impressed with the rigor of the academic program. I have found the school to be very nurturing, and her teachers have been excellent. The girls are given considerable exposure to the arts as well.

There have been openings in her class every year because families have moved or have opted to place their child at a different school. I would imagine that you stand a good chance of having your daughter admitted to the school.

If you have specific questions about Kent Place, please feel free to whisper.

Good luck!

pdg,

I'm not super defensive about MKA, although, as I stated, my wife works there, so there's that. I'm surprised that you chose to suggest it's less rigorous academically publicly, then amend the statement privately.

Isn't the proper netiquette to do the opposite? I'm sending my kids there, so I'm also curious to hear your comments. I just hope they're not disparaging my wife's teaching.:wink:

Posted By: paolajust the aunt, is this different than the saint rose of lima school in short hills? names are similar.

same names, different schools, different towns.

We have a child who is in high school at MKA. We have found the curriculum to be extremely rigorous. I think that cultural differences exist at the various schools mentioned but that you can't go wrong with any one of them. Biggest thing is finding the best match for your child.