Ahhh! Good Shepherd! I spent my whole elementary school experience here from pre-K to 8th grade…read more I will brag that I was valedictorian of the Class of 1999! It was a killer speech; sorry you missed it! Good Shepherd School is also one of the few surviving Catholic co-ed schools within the Brooklyn area that is a teaching center for young Catholics that are wanting to continue with their faith even after graduation. The classrooms are usually filled with 15-23 children at any given time, and the classes have expanded to second languages (that of which I sadly didn't get a chance to take advantage of when I was attending) to music and much more. Catholic education IS expensive, but worth the investment for your children or grandchildren to instill in them the values of ethics, faith, and discipline.

UPDATE: It hasn't gotten any better, but it is not the worse. One of my children are about to…read moregraduate this year so this will be my last time mentioning the horrible things this school has put them through. First of all, let's talk about how they don't care about the students once again. You'd think after all these reviews, HLA would better themselves as a network and parents would refrain from putting their kids here, but clearly no one thinks the injustice is severe. There is nothing, and when I say nothing, NOTHING, for the middle schoolers to do. They don't host no activities for them to be excited about, and when they do, most are shunned out of the fun. The kids that go here don't have nothing to look forward to but graduation and prom, which they use prom as an excuse not to host anything for them. My lower school kid has gotten a lot for just breathing more than my middle schooler who has put her everything into keeping her grades afloat. Another thing, grades! When it comes to grades, the teachers and deans have no understanding what it means to actually put in grades. Some put multiple bad grades in and one good grade, acting like that one good grade will balance everything out, but when a child comes to them upset that they didn't make merit role because of them, their confused. A good chunk of teachers are bias, and they don't put the grades students deserve, they wage it on how much they like them. And sadly, that means biases towards bad kids who are more outspoken. And when someone who has been quiet for most the time finally expresses their feelings, they are labeled as angry, specifically the black kids who attend HLA. The teachers here DO NOT know what it means to be neutral, they always want somebodies friend. Some teachers poke at the bear, in this case students, unfairly. Nitpicking everything they do whether it helps them learn or not. And when that students decides enough is enough and they lash out, guess whose held accountable? I'll give you a hint, it's NOT the teachers. Student's should be able to feel like they have enough freedom to express themselves on what they like or don't like what teachers does without fear of being gossiped about around teachers or being gossiped around peers because it was their favorite teacher. They've had past child preying teachers in this school, and they turn a blind eye every single time a complaint comes through. In conclusion, there is a lot of things to be fixed, and it's better to restart everything. Get a better principal who actually cares, and teachers who care about their students.

I would give this school negative starts if I could If you want your child to actually learn do not…read moreput them here they have poor leadership the teachers do not help you understand the work at all at the first beginning of the year I was there 2 of our teachers quit you do not learn anything positive the gym teacher was horrible he put songs that have cuss words in them and he cuss at us and I got severely bullied they bullied me for everything off thing in your body the students act like animals, they fight almost everyday, they are way too violent they do not get punished and the students are really racist I could not name one good thing in this school if someone asked me to the bathroom stinks the students steal your stuff the foods that they give does not look edible at all in afterschool instead of them giving you actual snacks they give fruits that looks like they've been sitting for weeks. one again I do not recommend.

We attended brainy academy on and off for several years. Here is what I love about the program:…read moreThe teachers are amazing, dedicated and LOVE the kids The place is super organized, everything happens on time and on schedule. You wait while your child attends classes and watch them on tv so you know exactly what is going on at all times And there are plenty of no commitment options which is amazing in terms of flexibility. Amazing place and I just signed up my oldest for their wonderful summer program again! She can't wait to attend.

WE love Brainy Academy. My son who is 5 now, took montessori classes here about a year ago, and…read morelego robotics at the Park Slope location. We cant say enough good things. everything is clean, well organized and the teachers are warm and helpful. He did another similar program and did not respond well to it at all. At brainy we watched him blossom in front of our eyes. We have a baby now, but when he gets a little older he is definitely going here as well! So glad a place like this opened up in our community

My son no longer goes to this school but when he did he had a great experience. From the Principal…read morewho is no longer there to the Secretaries who were at our every beck and call. The parent Coordinator was great as well.

We have been with NY Smart Start for over 3 years and it has been an absolutely phenomenal place…read morefor my children to learn everything from the basics in reading, math, science, geography to etiquette and everything in between. I saw them morph from toddlers who could barely trace to reading books before the age of 5 and embrace learning with profound curiosity and precocious inquisitiveness. This school is unique in many aspects which I think all stem from its principal, Nicky. She is extremely passionate about teaching, compassionate to all children, a fair disciplinarian with high professional integrity and overall a selfless person. My children feel like it is their second home and many times ask to be picked up later. We are truly a family here and feel very hurt by the malicious words about our school.

NY Smart Start was a tutoring center that turned into a "home school". This school was recommended…read moreby a friend whose daughter no longer attends it. I thought the idea of having only 3-4 kids in a classroom would be great for my son since he would get the attention and help needed to excel in school. I was worried that transitioning from a daycare setting to a school setting may be hard and wanted only the best for my son. The price was very expensive compared to other schools, $1,200 per month from 8:45 am - 3pm plus an additional $350 for the after school program. Although this school offered no breakfast, no lunch meals, no security at the premises, no cameras which were "promised" by Nicky Varisov AKA Nika the "principal" of the school. We decided to try it out solely on the fact of the amount of students in the classroom. It has become the most stressful and hardest transition for our family that we regret so much. In about less than 3 weeks, my son has been in three incidents with older students who are not in the same grade or classroom as him where he came home with bruises and scratches on his neck and face. The staff in the school along with the principal Nika belittled my son in numerous ways. After one of the incidents happened he ran to report it to one of the staff members and the principle Nika stated that if he continued to "tattle tale", he would not make any friends in this school and, apparently, be subjected to a more physical type of response without supervisors intervening. On that occasion, an older student grabbed my son and choked him, yet my son was criticized for "tattle taling". When my fiancee picked up my son that day, she gave him a brief explanation of how she was present during this incident but refused to get in between because "this is a school with different morals that are not in style with the American way of schooling". My fiancee and I were very upset and worried when we spoke about the situation later that evening and decided we both show up in the morning to speak on this situation when we dropped off our son. The following morning we tried to communicate with the principle Nika about how worried we were that this happened and the response from Nika was "I have no time to discuss this situation as I spoke with your fiancee yesterday and explained to him what happened". She refused to hear us out or assure that she would run a facility safe for our son and other students. Principal Nika neglected to provide my son a safe environment in this facility, which is located in a private house. She refused to address this situation and continued to state that she has no time for us. We were very frustrated with how she handled this matter but did not want to make a scene and decided to "let it go" on the outside chance that WE were taking it more seriously than we ought to. Following that incident, my son's entire regard for and attitude toward going to school has changed and he attempts to have us let him stay home. While we encouraged him to continue and anticipated that this event would be worked past in time, we were sorely disappointed. The second week, my son came home with a swollen eye and a bruise near it. The staff-member's explanation was that my son and another student were playing with a ball and ended up head-butting each other. My question is why only my son had a resulting injury from this incident. Another incident in another week's time, but very understandable based on the staff-member's explanation and my son did confirm he got hit while playing ball with another child so we both let this go as well. We can understand accidents happen, especially with young children. However, a third incident occurred on what became his last day attending their school. Another classmate hit my son on the face because my son was apparently playing with a toy that child wanted to play with as well. Principal Nika stated to my fiancee when he came to pick up my son that it would be better for my son to be taken out of the after school program. The result being that my 4 year old son needed to be taken out of after school program because another child hit him in the face. How exactly was it my son's fault? Principal Nika then said "We don't have enough teachers/staff to watch all the kids during after school and we would not be able to observe/prevent all incidents with students". My fiancee told Nika that we are pulling him out of that school and this isn't working out. Principal Nika is not properly running the facility, admittedly understaffing it and under-supervising young children. It seems that it is only a matter of time before serious harm is done to one or more children due to their facility's operation. We are very upset with our experience, but now feel it is our obligation to ensure that others are not subjected to the same and potentially much worse.

This was my elementary school when I was younger. It was great back then and it still is a great…read moreschool. Great staff, great teachers who pour into your life. Very involved with the community and giving back.