Primrose Hill School

Posted: July 7, 2019

There is a culture of bullying that is only given lip service once a year during the anti-bullying week at the school. There is little to no proactive social and emotional development taking place on a school wide level. Although it does seem that some of the teachers and the librarian have taken the initiative to foster good classroom communities.

Posted: July 7, 2019

The leadership at this school suffers from a lack of professionalism, modeling excellence in behavior, accountability, follow up, and thoughtfulness. The principal at Primrose Hill Pat Tolento seems genuine in one-on-one interactions, and I believe she wants to do a good job, but in addition to the district not providing her with adequate support in the form a of an assistant principal, she also lacks the professional skills necessary to lead a school. This manifests in small ways like typo ridden weekly "Newsletters" that are nothing more than a couple of sentences to bigger concerns. Serious parental concerns persist despite numerous meetings and assurances the issues would be fixed including but certainly not limited to: unsafe un-managed morning drop off routines, zero handwashing before lunches, prevalence of unacademic media in class rooms and even the lunch room, culture of bullying among students, lack of active monitoring during recess resulting in everything from fights to children breaking their arms. These problems are not isolated to my child experience with the school over the course of 2 years. Many, if not most parents have had some major negative issue with the principal or school.

Posted: July 7, 2019

My son received adequate speech services, but I know several families who have struggled to receive academic supports they children need.

Posted: July 7, 2019

On more than one occasion my son suffered from both verbal and physical bullying at Primrose Hill. A lack of active monitoring during recess allows children to play chase games that end in children-unwilling in my son's case-being pinned down with a hand covering his mouth. When he came inside crying the children responsible simply said it didnt happen and since none of the adults were watching they went unchecked. When one of my son's friends was being bullied in class he told his teacher and was told "Don't be a tattle-tale."

Posted: July 7, 2019

The student's are not assigned homework at all, which I agree with. However, there is also very little effort to make ANY school to home learning connections. You seldom know what is going on in class in any meaningful way.

Posted: July 7, 2019

The teachers at this school could be effective and I believe most sincerely care about the kids, but they are not held to high standards by school leadership. This takes the form of showing non educational videos in class (ie rocky and bulwinkle), worksheets-so many worksheets, and lack of social emotional support and development.

Posted: July 7, 2019

Primrose Hill School has a student body and community that could potentially foster a truly excellent education. The quality of the test schools when you look at this school by the numbers should mostly be attributed to the largely affluent demographic who can afford to supplement the sub-par education offered by this school. A lack of leadership, low teacher expectations and accountability, weak district oversight, and lack of consideration for the student as a whole child make this school a place we are very glad to leave. If you are considering buying in this school zone be prepared for an average education if your child is high performing, and to be constantly annoyed by the lack of professional clear communications from the school leadership. I give Primrose Hill school 2 stars instead of 1 only because of my positive experience with other families at this school and a couple of teachers/staff members.

Posted: April 23, 2018

We were only part of the Primrose Hill community for a short time, but during that time, my daughter flourished. Her last school was not a good fit for her at all, and she had begun to resent having to go. The first week at Primrose turned that all around, and I have my happy daughter back - the one who is anxiety-free, who fits right in, is able to make friends easily and who wants to go to school. We are so pleased- it takes a special staff (and kids) to be able to turn her around so quickly.

Posted: April 23, 2018

Posted: April 23, 2018

Posted: April 23, 2018

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Posted: August 6, 2016

Amazing Principal, Teachers are passionate about teaching, the PTO is heavily involved to make the experience for the students fantastic, and most importantly, my daughter loves her school, friends, teachers and has a passion for learning. This would not have been possible without the support of the Primrose Hill.

Posted: August 6, 2016

Posted: August 6, 2016

Posted: August 6, 2016

The school administrators and teachers go out of their way to figure out what works best for each child. For example, the principal knows every child's name. Another example is that my child had speech problems that we thought were resolved, but was brought up again through her teacher. They provided the resources, such as a dedicated speech pathologist to give her the support she needs to overcome her speech problems. In a few short months, our child has greatly improved in her speech. For that, we are so grateful to the school.