River School

As a brand new parent, to a 3.5 month old, the administration and teachers at the new, Jersey City location did nothing to make me feel comfortable about leaving my child here. Honestly, they seemed exhausted with my questions (and it’s not like I had that many)! Although the school meets child: infant caregiver ratios, I believe 12 infants in one classroom is a zoo. Children weren’t encouraged to nap… and it was constant crying. It’s way too hard to get some quiet time in a class w/​12 infants. Nor did they have a chair for the teachers to sit down in when feeding the infants bottles. The 3 teachers and 12 infants were crammed onto one rug that took up about ¹⁄₅ of the room size. Why not carpet more of the room? There was no dimmer for the lights over the cribs… so children slept under bright ceiling lights. The Director could have cared less when I gave notice that I was taking out my child. There was no «gosh, we are sorry to see you go! Do you have any feedback we could apply for the future?» Nothing. Just a «okay, please give us your last payment.» (Please note, I also paid 2 months of tuition just to hold my son’s spot). I think there is such a long waiting list for this school (and all day cares in the JC/​NYC area) that they don’t need to care. It’s unfortunate that we had to pull him because we live in the building where the school is located! How convenient it would have been! But we are so much happier at the new daycare. My advice would be to have more than 1 option open to you and your family.

This daycare is very expensive, more expensive than a lot of daycares in NYC. I guess the high tuition is due to lack of quality competition/​alternative in the area. While they do open at 7 am, how many families really need it? The waiting list is extremely long, if you get in part time first, they don’t really give a full time spot to you when it’s available, because they want you to stay in that least favorable spot (for example, Mondays and Fridays, because most school holidays fall in those days), you end up paying a lot of their holidays.
The lead teacher leaves early, like 3 pm, you seldom have a chance talking to the lead teacher when you pick up your kid. My kid got diaper rash all the time, I doubt they change diapers more than 3 times a day, or in a timely manner, because we always have unused diapers left. Forget about teaching, when you don’t know when to change a diaper, that’s the bottom line.
It’s nice to live in a good neighborhood like Newport and take advantage of walking your kid to the daycare, but considering the high tuition and low quality, no thanks.

My daughter just graduated from River School and had been there for 2 years (she went to Zebras and then to Giraffes). I have to say that I had a really good experience with this school and felt very comfortable dropping off my little one, knowing that she was happy and taken care of. She made great friends and learned a lot.
Miss Cara (the new Director) is great. She listens patiently and whenevr I approached her, she was very responsive and provided the help I needed. So big thanks to her! Miss Andrea is great too and I want to thank her too for the great year my daughter had in Giraffes.
I would reccomend this school.

The school’s motivating interest is not children, it’s money. The director that oversees all the schools is nasty and does not truly care about any of the children. She has never shown any kindness or consideration; not in her tone or manner. Instead, she has all the personality and compassion of a prison warden. Just the kind of place that children thrive in… The new director (Cara) of the school is so young and inexperienced that I really question her actual role at the school. It’s much more probable that the head director (Sarah) views her as easy to manipulate so she can still assert total control over the school.
Our child had been with the River School for a while and while they (the school leadership) may pretend to say that your child is part of the River School family, if they require even the slightest bit more attention they quickly will work to remove your child from the school.
Ultimately, I would seriously counsel against any parent sending their child to this place. There are many other places to send our children to and once the blinders are off to what this school is all about no parent would want to send their child to this place.

Now that I have one niece studying here and another at the over-​hyped & rather snooty Waterfront Montessori, I have been able to appreciate the true worth of River School. Very grounded approach with lots of personal attention and activities. No wonder they have a long waiting list.

My child is currently enrolled at River School and has been there in two classes since 3 months old. I have had nothing but good experiences with this establishment. I would heartily endorse this school and have found all the teachers, directors and office staff to be friendly, warm, welcoming and nurturing.
I cannot disagree more with other reviews. On one occasion, my child had very bad diaper rash from new foods and the teachers actually made suggestions on how to handle it and cure it, which worked. I found the teachers have gone out of their way to suggest solutions in the classroom to help my child deal with his new toddler emotions and are very forthcoming in working with parents to reach solutions.
The teaching staff are all very approachable and to be honest, probably know more about my child than I do! They regularly tell me new foods that my child will now eat and funny little stories about what my child has been doing in the day.
The school provides regular feedback and is very open in its communication with parents. I have emailed directors or phoned them with questions and they have been very responsive and helpful, often spending time with me even when it is their closing time and I rush in at the last minute.
I sincerely recommend River School at Newport and I have a huge piece of mind knowing they are taking great care of my child.