Primary Prep Elementary School

41 Tuers Avenue

Jersey City, NJ 07306

32 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-9
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 05, 2021

I have two girls going to Primary Prep. One in the second grade and one in a toddler's program. My second grader started at Primary Prep in Kindergarten. She loves her school and all the teachers she had so far. My two year old loves it too and has not cried once. I love the fact that it is small but very diverse and also very affordable compare to other private schools. All my daughter's friends are from different backgrounds; Russians, Indians, Filipinos, Koreans, multi-cultural families, LGBT families,,, all in her small class of less than 20 kids!I wish the school has more progressive educational method with more outside recess time and nature oriented learning experience but I knew going in it is more traditional school. My girls are doing exceptionally well and sometimes I feel my older one needs to be more challenged but what is the most important is the loving and caring environment and she definitely has it at Primary Prep. Also Mrs. Hoffman and all the teachers and staffs have been amazing during this pandemic. The school has been open with in-person classes this whole year with a very few closes and we also have virtual class options. Even in the beginning of pandemic, school came up with structure for virtual classes very quickly and ran smoothly. All my friends who moved out to suburbs with the best school districts continue to suffer even to this day. I have to say, Primary Prep's tuition is much less than my friends' property taxes in the suburbs. This is the best hidden secret in Jersey City!
Submitted by parent on November 30, 2020

Super teachers and great curriculum. Sending emails and grading time to time makes you aware about what is going on school... My daughter is in this school since pre k and I am very happy with her..
Submitted by parent on June 18, 2020

I have 2 children at this school and we are very happy. The environment, the teachers and the community help us make the school life best for the children. We wanted to find a school that the children can start and grow into until they finish 8th grade and this school answered that. We have flexible options for after school activities as well as aftercare.
Submitted by parent on June 16, 2020

I have two very different kids at Primary Prep and I could not be happier. We've been at Primary Prep since my daughter was 2 years old. We've done toddler, preK3, preK4, K and 1st grade. The school is very focused on kids both academically and emotionally. Teachers are warm, thoughtful and attentive. I've gotten positive feedback and constructive criticism, which I loved. Both of my kids are thriving and I highly recommend it to other parents. I was especially impressed with how quickly and effectively the school switched to remote learning. Compared to the nightmare that public schools had, this was as seamless as possible.
Submitted by parent on June 16, 2020

Excellent school. I would like to thank all the teachers for doing a great job. I saw my daughter’s progress. I’m hoping that this Covid will end soon so that my daughter can go back to school. She always mention that she missed her classmates and teachers. Enjoy your summer and once again thank you for doing a great job.
Submitted by parent on April 02, 2020

Not good, feeling uneasy at the overt unfairness. Looking for other options and don't believe all the hype. This school is average, at best.
Submitted by parent on January 15, 2019

Primary Prep is a hidden gem! The school provides a rigorous high-quality education to families in the Journal Square area. It's also a bargain for a private school (third child receives free full tuition… unheard of elsewhere) compared to similar schools in downtown JC! As a former senior school administrator overseeing seven schools in Lower Manhattan, we knew Primary Prep was a premier school when we attended their open house. Mrs. Hoffman, Head of School, and the rest of the staff are such caring and compassionate people. Not only are our kids thriving academically but they are loved and cared for by their amazing team of educators. We were thrilled that Primary Prep also has a language school which offers Chinese, French, Hindi, Russian, and Spanish. This was very important to us as my husband and I speak six different languages. We lucked out when we found this wonderful school for our boys!
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2017

Most importantly, our kindergartener son loves going to school and his teachers. He is in his third year at Primary Prep, and all his teachers, assistant teachers and activity teachers have been warm, nurturing, patient and effective. The principal knows our son by the name and she is always willing to listen to us, parents. The school celebrates diversity which is apparent in the make-up of the student body and staff members. Also to expose children to other cultures, each class is focusing on a chosen country this semester. The teacher to student ratio is excellent. The facility is more than adequate for the size of student body, and the tuition is very reasonable. The classrooms are spacious and cheerful. Primary Prep offers excellent after-school activities including sports, art, music, chess, coding, languages and robotics. Our son at age 5 enjoys reading, writing and counting which is more than we've thought we can expect for a kindergartener. The school also puts on a show at the end of each semester when you can really enjoy witnessing the bond between peers & teachers and what the school and children mean to the teachers and the staff. Primary Prep is an outstanding school with a focus on academics and its children becoming good, compassionate humans.
Submitted by parent on September 29, 2017

Primary Prep is an excellent school. It espouses values important to our family. Their culture encourages children to love education by providing a rigorous curriculum in a supportive and nurturing environment.We brought our child back to Primary Prep after spending less than one month in a Catholic, Blue Ribbon school in a neighboring town. Primary Prep excelled in every aspect above and beyond what this Blue Ribbon academy touted as their achievements: outstanding class instruction, a challenging workload and commitment to ensuring a rich, academic experience. Primary Prep celebrates a beautifully, diverse staff and student body, engaged and invested teachers and wonderful parents who share and promote community.I urge you to make Primary Prep your first choice. We saw another school and quickly realized how good Primary Prep truly is.
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2017

As a parent whose kids had the "pleasure" of experiencing the public school system in Jersey City for a year and a half, before describing these teachers as mean, I would recommend that the below parent try that nightmare for a couple of months to put things in perspective. After dealing with the public school system bureaucracy, lack of vision, ineffectiveness, excessive child discipline and yes, nepotism, Primary Prep was our saving grace. Walking into a building where every administrator and teacher knows you and your kids is a breath of fresh air. This is our second year here, and we really feel like we're a part of a family. Personally, I strongly believe that good quality education should be accessible to every child, regardless of income, especially in a country where the government spends so much money on it already. However, reality of the situation is very far from that. I don't think any family makes a choice to spend thousands of dollars per year on their kids' tuition lightly (no matter how cheap you may think it is in relation to other private schools), so I really take offense to your statement of using this place as a '"drop off" school which parents use to raise their kids'. After all, isn't every school a place where your kids are raised? My kids have met some wonderful friends here. The atmosphere is of inclusion and respect. Every teacher we've had took personal interest in our kids, and knew the best way to get them engaged and excited about what they were learning. They are exposed to a multitude of nationalities and ethnicities here, and a large number of mixed families of every kind. They have access to music, dance, art, computer science and sports. The principal and teachers are always open to parents' suggestions and ideas. Is this the kind of place I'd like to raise my kids? ABSOLUTELY!
Submitted by parent on September 08, 2017

My daughter went to school here for three years (PreK3, PreK4 and Kindergarten. We absolutely loved the school. The teachers had a wonderful approach to teaching and are kind and compassionate. It is great that all the kids say the pledge of allegiance and sing a patriotic song at the start of school in the school yard. Children are taught respect for their everyone in the school, outside of school and for their country. My daughter excelled in this school. We moved out of Jersey City and we were very sad to leave. Our daughter would definitely have graduated from this school.
Submitted by parent on July 24, 2016

School curriculum, teachers, administration, children development year over year is above expectations. My son is in this school last 3 years. Very impressed!
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2016

The teachers are enthusiastic and responsive. The aftercare programs are wonderful. Hopefully, they will be able to expand on athletics one day. The classes are small.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2015

The students that go to his school have parents who have money, so if they pay for private elementary school they will definitely pay for private HS. The person that is defending all the comments is obviously Hoffman. Don't use the fact that the parents have money and will put their children in private HS as part of the schools doing!! Please!!!
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2015

It appears that the review of February 9 is a rewrite of the Nov 16 note. The review posted immediately after the first review suggests that you be completely honest and forthright. Posting a second negative review is just being vindictive. It is puzzling how this author could state that the teacher parents work on the "cheap". It is highly doubtful they had access to the school's salary structure. It is also puzzling how someone could label the teacher parents as below par. Does being a parent automatically make you an inferior teacher? The school's academic success is evidenced best through the school's current 8th Grade. All are going to private high schools ( St. Peter's Prep, Hudson Catholic, Friends, St. Dominic Academy), or to the magnet schools (McNair and High Tech). As a group, they accumulated a total of $200,000 in scholarship awards. This achievement completely validates the curriculum, teaching methods, and dedication of the teachers. Primary Prep is by far the best choice for my children.
Submitted by parent on February 09, 2015

Primary Prep is a huge disappointment and we are scrambling to find another school. The school is overcrowded and on days of bad weather, the kids can't use the gym due to lack of space! The cafeteria is surrounded by napping preschoolers so kids eating are expected to be quiet and not allowed to enjoy themselves. Activities like art, gym, music, Spanish, are only taught once a week! The fees just took a huge hike and the services are the same, if not worse due to overcrowding. The school hires a lot of parent teachers; our hope was for the best teachers on the market, not the most convenient for the school. The children that receive good grades do so more from outside tutoring and parental involvement more than what the teachers contribute. We've heard from many that this is even more true for the older grades! The school may look nice with its new lunch menu, children in neat uniforms, and hyped up class descriptions but we know differently. After a few years too many, we see it for what it is: its priority is making money opposed to providing a nurturing and excellent academic environment for children.
Submitted by parent on December 10, 2014

It's very important that the reviews here be open and honest given the importance of the service provided, but to the parent that wrote "We are very disappoint[ed] with our experience at the Primary Prep" (posted November 16th) I suggest you try to engage positively with the folks at the school rather than take shots at them; you might find that to be more productive. Moreover, your observations are pretty inconsistent with my experience at Prep. The other option of course is to go elsewhere; June is right around the corner. :-)
Submitted by parent on December 10, 2014

Early in our marriage my wife and I moved around in pursuit of career stuff, but once we decided to have kids, we were drawn back to this area to be closer to family. Since we both grew up in Hudson County, we were familiar with the quality of the educational institutions that would be available to us. This was a major cause of concern, but in the end we decided that growing up in the midst of a large, loving and involved family would make up for the spotty quality of the local schools. We also committed to the research/legwork to find the best school possible. This turned out to be a challenge; most places we visited had a warehouse dynamic. We noticed their focus was mostly on providing supervision rather than enrichment. That s when we found Primary Prep. We now have 3 children and they all attend Prep. We ve been very impressed/extremely happy with the quality experience; not just our kid s experience but ours as well. The challenging & holistic academics, individual attention, sincere openness, parent engagement and community feel available to us at Prep have been a major factor in our commitment to JC as a long-term home. We highly recommend Prep.
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2014

We are very disappoint with our experience at the Primary Prep and It is true 100% that instead of hiring the most qualified staff, Primary Prep employs relatives, friends of the Primary Prep family, and even parents of students...many which do the teaching! The hiring of parents to teach is beneficial to the school because the parents work for cheap and their kids get tuition break. There is little benefit to other parents not employed at the school because they don't get the best and most qualified teachers on the market and if there is any conflict with the teacher, it is quite uncomfortable when they are fellow parents too. It is unlikely that the principal will fire her own family or friends, regardless of how ineffective they are at teaching or dealing with children. Many of the children students of the parents that teach become "favored" in various classes throught out the school since all teachers know each other. This is all just disgraceful practice and in such poor taste. The fundraisers are endless and the rules in the school are all bent to benefit the school while causing great inconvenience to parents.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2014

Our kids just finished their first year at Primary Prep, in Kindergarten and Second Grade, and we couldn't be more pleased. They have both made amazing progress academically, and are both really sad that the year is coming to an end - both lamenting that they don't want school to end because of how much they will miss their teachers and fellow students.