Bergen-Lafayette Montessori School

Jackie S _{on Google}

Jul 31st, 2022

BLMS is well-managed AND full of loving and skilled staff. My son is in his second year of summer camp there and he says he wants it to be his camp forever. Even for his half days for a few weeks, they have fostered his independence so much. He comes home and tells us all about the experiments they do and things about other countries. The camp price tag is a total bargain. I think much higher quality than so programs for twice or three times the price.

Megan A. Smith _{on Google}

Oct 4th, 2022

Bergen-Lafayette Montessori school is absolutely incredible. We sent my daughter there when she was 15 months old and she was enrolled until we moved out of Jersey City when she was 3. Our son also started there at six months in the infant room before we moved. The teachers are loving, caring, and attentive. This is a legit Montessori education that is truly transformative - what my daughter was able to learn and accomplish at such a young age, and the independence she gained from attending this school has authentically shaped who she is today. The infant room teachers cared for my son deeply and supported his transition from being home from maternity leave to going to school. They were also excellent partners while we worked on potty training for my daughter. This place also builds community in a beautiful way, with many opportunities to get together at the school site and have fun together. My daughter has made lifelong friendships and the parents that I've been able to connect with are warm and welcoming. We would have stayed if we hadn't bought a house in another town, but I still bring the kids up to attend school related events (as they are open to alums of the school), and my daughter still says that BLMS was her favorite school (she's four now).

Huijun Wang _{on Google}

Jul 13th, 2021

Be very careful to register your kids to this school, especially during this pandemic time period!!!
I enrolled my son into the Toddler class in September 2021. The school claim once you register your kids, you need to stick with them for the whole year. To ensure that, they charged me two month tuition in advance and $1000 material fee. In December, the school had one toddler got COVID and the toddler class was closed for 14 days. It was really over 30 days including the holidays. As a working parent, it made my life very difficult. I had to call my cleaning lady and pay her hourly to watch my kid since I had to work. It cost me over $2000 while at mean time, the school charged me $1700 for the same time frame.
I asked the school to consider partial refund because for the whole month my son was not allowed to attend school at all, and my whole paycheck was spent on watching my son by hiring someone else. The school should give me refund since they did not watch my kid for a day in the past 35 days since Jan 7. However, Queenie, the school employee, told me that no refund from school because her school policy said so. I had to bit my tongue and eat the cost.
After this class reopen in January, only a little over a week, another kid got COVID. Mayani, the owner, announced another 14 days school closure. AGAIN, I had to pay my own nanny on top of the $1700 school fee.
School closure is constantly occurring. I'm not surprised that the 3rd and the 4th closure are happening very soon. And the worst part about this is, when I ask the school to help working parents not just charging tuition, or allow me to change to another school , they gave me long articles of what the health department policy was and what the school policy was......... Basically they are saying, I have to bear with it, no matter whatever circumstances or whose fault it is, I have to pay them. .
Be very careful with this school! They are very greedy and just want to tie you up for the whole year no matter what...