This place has motivated me to stop lurking on Yelp and to turn into a proactive user by writing a…read morereview. My 2.5 year old son has been going to Compass Schoolhouse since he was 12 months old. He loves school. He started in the infant room for 2 mornings a week. This year is in the 2's class. The staff are so friendly and welcoming. Every time I drop my son off, the head teacher greets him and he dances into class. The staff are nurturing and some of the caregivers/teachers have told me that they sent their kids to Compass originally. Parents are kept informed with weekly emails reviewing what the kids did that week. I just can't say enough. It's wonderful to be able to count on Compass for a safe and stimulating atmosphere where my son plays and learns at an age appropriate level. Next year, both of my kids are attending and I couldn't feel better about it.

Both of my kids went to Compass Schoolhouse and the both loved it. I can't say enough about the…read morecaring teachers and the quality of the education. They also have a parents group that encourages parents to get to know each other. Great school, great teachers.

My two children attend St. John the Apostle. My eldest is currently in 7th grade and we are…read moreconfident she will be more than prepared for high school. The technology and education are top notch. The school offers a variety of activities, clubs, and sports. It is everything we expected and more from a Blue Ribbon School.

My two daughters attend St John the Apostle School and it has been a truly enriching experience. I…read moream pleased with the curriculum and with the extra curricular activities.

Beyond disappointed in the bait and switch we received by the school. We toured the school 3 times…read moreand weren't given all the information needed to make a decision for our sons to attend under AFTER they received our registration fee AND the Friday before they were to start at the parent orientation. They make the 4 year olds wear uniforms (never disclosed), all children must use the school provided backpacks (never disclosed) amongst other school related decisions we were not disclosed. When we attempted to get our registration fee back we were told we're weren't charged tuition and the charge wasn't enforced as a "good faith" gesture. Pretty much you're lucky so no your $600 registration is ours. The owner was absolutely rude and snarky. The education director is cold and very rude. Make sure you ask every question you can think of because they don't ask, don't tell.

TL;DR: This is an amazing school with caring teachers. Your child will learn so much and will love…read moregoing to school. Our now 2yo daughter started at Primrose of Florham Park last summer after we relocated to the area. During a time of such transition for her, Ms. Samuels and her other teachers provided so much nurturing, love, and compassion for her. She has since transitioned into the Toddlers class where Ms. White and Ms. Santana are loving and patient with her antics AND she learns so much. Over Christmas, she came home one day and just started naming colors (at 18mo!!). She now counts as she goes down the stairs. It's clear that education truly is the foundation for everything they do and that they do it with love for each child. Lastly, I will say that in addition to her teachers, our daughter has great relationships with people at Primrose who aren't even her teachers - Ms. Cathy, Ms. Joseph, etc. To me, this shows that the culture at the school is amazing in every classroom environment. Another benefit of going to Primrose is the app they use - Procare. This may seem trivial but it's been a huge upgrade from our previous daycare. You can customize notifications to get real-time photos and updates from your child's day. And, on tough mornings, the school will send extra photos to reassure you that your little one is okay. Regarding COVID-19, the school has taken critical precautions that thus far have prevented any school shutdowns or outbreaks. It is sometimes inconvenient to keep our daughter home with a cold while we wait for a COVID-19 result; however, it gives me peace that everyone else has to do it too. Overall, we're so glad that we chose Primrose. And our daughter is too - she squeals when we pull into the school parking lot most days.

My daughter started Goddard (Jan 2021) when our preschool in South Orange abruptly closed during…read morethe pandemic. The facility is exceptionally clean and they had no disruption with Covid. I believe they stayed open the entire time. We were so blown away with how well the school was sanitized daily. It felt like the right place to enroll my son as an infant. Comparing our experience with two daycares my daughter attended.. at Goddard my children are rarely sick or sent home. Like both my kids missed no more than 3 days in 3 years. Goddard really values keeping kids healthy and safe. I enrolled my son around 10 months old and it was a great transition. The teachers in the infant room were so pleasant and truly are like family. They were very accommodating with special requests about milk and nap time. Speaking of communication, I give the admin staff 5 stars with how well they run the front office. They have exceptional follow up and communication-daily reminders, photos, reports and weekly newsletters. I also appreciate the diversity of the staff and families. As a mom of color, I really love that. There have been many special events to bring the community together. My favorite events have been Halloween parade, the carnival, the "prom" for graduating class and Mother's Day/Father's Day appreciation. So much thought goes into all these celebrations and it's special. Once older, my kids were constantly entertained with art, yoga, music, water play, so many fun things. Always tired from a fun day. While the tuition may not be the cheapest -- you get what you pay for. It's well worth it for the safety, health and well being of our children. I highly recommend!

My review is based on my recent tour. The staff seemed pleasant as was the owner who facilitated my…read moretour. But the price point, paired with the lack of color, excess of whites and grays and somber feel of the facility didn't scream childcare to me. Felt like I was walking into a prep school for much older kids and couldn't envision my 6 month old enrolled here. Location is great for Montclair residents but in the same vein, they applied the Montclair-esq pricing...the curriculum for the various age groups was also underwhelming in my opinion. My sentiment upon exiting was "meh"

We have taken our son to Chatham KinderCare since he was 3 months old and he is now 2 years old…read more Every class and teacher we've had so far has been absolutely wonderful. He has learned a lot, gotten to interact with other children, and loves going each day. They run an excellent center and would recommend to anyone looking in the area. Food is provided which is a great help!

I have only the best things to say about Chatham Kindercare. My family moved from Manhattan to a…read morelocal town and I was looking for a great facility that would offer the smoothest transition from the private preschool/full-time nanny combination we had in the city. We needed long hours since both my husband and I commute into NYC. We visited around 6 different daycares and preschools and this one had the longest hours from 6:30am-7pm and the brightest and cleanest facility stocked full of toys/books. Ms. Jaime the site director was extremely welcoming from the onset and took time to get to know each of my children from day one. All the teachers are very nice, warm, and engaged with the children. My children really enjoyed their time there. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any of my friends or family.

I agree with the previous review, but there is more to this. Coincidentally, I got curious about…read morethe reviews regarding this school almost a week ago. I was surprised that everywhere on the internet, there were good reviews (this last one on Yelp wasn't there at the time). In addition to the messy situation in handling the health crisis, there are more important things to me. Maybe other small schools with substandard facilities (similar to Bamboo Shoots) also are facing similar problems with COVID19 --- although I am not sure how much you should try to get an admin person as confused as the poor Sylvia. However, not all schools are academically like this one. First of all, nothing too terrifying is going on. This is an average school providing mediocre education. I guess that other schools in the area (especially some underrated public schools) are on par with this one. The problem is that when I was taking my child to this school, I was expecting something better than the level of a bad public school. For instance, if it were comparable to a good public school, we would not be regretting our school choice. I thought this was an environment where my child would be academically challenged; provide the students with something stimulating at least some non-trivial level. That is, a place where 3,4,5-year-old children are treated with the appropriate attention (without exaggeration) and, importantly, not with indifference. These are the educational values that, in my view, should be embraced by a school for this age level. Unfortunately, Bamboo Shoots operates far away from any of these foundational education values. Importantly, all of the above are directly reflected in the child's happiness, intellectual and physical development, and overall growth. Thus, in this sense, Bamboo Shoots is not just academically mediocre, but rather a wrong choice a parent can make. I'm disappointed with this choice because, like every other, my child attends each class at school once (no second try, same as in other important things in life). When we made the school decision, we could have chosen another one from several other schools with a good reputation, such as the Genius Academy in Springfield. In retrospect, I regret not taking my kid somewhere else. You can't do much when it's too late.

My child attended Bamboo since she was an infant, has since graduated and is now in the public…read moreschool system. The teachers and staff were constantly friendly and reassuring to this nagging first time mother who had a million questions and worries. I felt good leaving my baby with them and knew that she was happy and thriving. She was always happy to go to school and was happy when picked up . I was updated and kept informed about my child's progress in many different forms. I received a daily information sheet when she was young as well as a verbal update about daily life at pick up . As she got older there was a back to school night, organized social events(pre covid) and holiday events for me to be able to be involved as a parent. I was given opportunity's to speak with her teachers with parents teacher conferences twice a year to see how she was doing in more depth also . Everyone was always so nice . Once my child entered public school teachers complemented me on how ready and prepared she was for 1st grade with the knowledge of all the concepts she should have been introduced to. Those comments are what is prompting this review . I couldn't have done it without Bamboo Shoots ! I just Love them and can't say enough to express how much I appreciate the hard work they do for the children daily !

My son has been going to MSS for some time now and he has learned so much and has made so many…read morefriends. The owners are amazing and I can't say one thing bad about any of the teachers. My son likes to put on a show in the morning pretending he doesn't want to stay but this is his way to have his teacher come over and hug him and give him extra attention, he's " slick" because it works every time. He is happy when I pick him up and always has something exciting to tell me about his day. I know he is in good hands at My Special Spot

My son has been in the infant room since he was 4 months old, and we couldn't be more grateful to…read morehave found such an excellent daycare. We work long hours so he's there all day (2nd kid in last one picked up), but he's very happy. The teachers are all very kind, the school is very clean, and there's lots of learning and stimulation. He hasn't been ill once (no fevers, ear aches, just the normal sniffles sometimes) which is more than I can say for any of my friends kids. This is because of the strict sanitary protocols there. They also have the best ratio of any daycare, and the teachers in his room are warm, happy, and patient women. All the teachers in general smile and seem to enjoy their jobs. I have absolutely no concerns when he is there, and he gets very excited when I am dropping him off. The school is very well run, and the owner Jeff is always there and knows all the kids and families well. There's a big outdoor play area and playgrounds, a gym area with a ballpit our son loves, a library with tons of books, and it's a nice modern building. They do lots of fun learning activities with the kids like hatching baby chicks, butterflies, zumba, yoga, and music classes. Also the price is the same as every other local daycare, but way more services. We checked them all out and are fully convinced we made the best choice with Special Spot.

I am two years into having a child at this school and let me tell you I am still being…read moreflabbergasted by how amazing an experience it has been for my child. The creativity that goes into the activities and thoughtfulness to growing her skills is over the top. These teachers are the real deal. They are smart and knowledgeable. They check in and really understand my child holistically - her strengths, weaknesses, personality, and home life. They factor it all in. They avail the kids to the latest in educational methods - always include sensory experience. I could not ask for a better school (more like a community) for my child! Please do not hesitate to welcome these people into your family. You will love it.