JCC of Bayonne

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This school leaves alot to be desired. It is a shame that the teachers are not engaged . When I pick him up, my child is constantly watching TV, while the teachers are constantly texting. There has not been one day since school has started, that they have not been texting.

For the price you pay for this school, it is ridiculous. So many times I try to put a TV program on for my child, when I am trying to get chores done round the house, but my child tells me he has seen the TV program already at school.

Also, the Center director of the Jewish Community Center is extremely rude. On numerous occasions, I found that she does not even say hello, when you see her. For the amount of money we spend, one would expect her to respond when spoken to.

I will be taking my child out of this program. I find it to be a COMPLETE WASTE of MONEY! Also for anyone considering this school, they do request that you pay a yearly membership fee, in addition to the tuition. Also, I have been advised that I will need to pay 1 1/2 months extra tuition, due to taking my son out. UNREAL.......I DO NOT recommend this place!!!

Their price increase of $240 for tuition for the upcoming year is outrageous. We are very unhappy with this change.

Camp prices, I feel, are also outrageous. The prices have increased again.

Their camp prices have increased to go else where. When I inquired about the cost increase, they said "we must increase tuition to be competitive with other schools". When I asked what else we get with the increase in price, there was no explanation - except, we are raising our prices to be competitive. Seriously? Raising prices with no benefit to children?

With all the fundraisers, the only improvements I have seen were an improvement to the façade of the building & the children's bathrooms were re-done.
As for camp, be advised, they usually take the kids to the park for 3-4 hours. My neighbor is a Stay at home mom & she used to see my daughter there for hours, while some of the teachers seemed to be texting quite often.

I would not recommend with the price increases. You get more for your money elsewhere.

JCC used to be good. But with the change of directors almost every two years (or less), it's disappointing. The fee is up, but service down. My kid got injury on head. There's another kid broken bones. The only good thing there is that they got a lot of kids in the summer, so kids can play with each other and "happy", and the staff (look like high school student interns) in the summer camp can sit there checking their phones, and the office manager is happy to count money.

They cancel classes and you'll have a hard time getting refund. You need to call again and again, and wait for the refund months later. The place is money-making machine.

We were very unhappy here. It is Very expensive and lack of supervision is real - from texting teen counselors to texting teachers. In this case, you do not get what you pay for. We had a child in day care and a child both children in camp

Went to camp last year and won't be back - one of the counselors was caught up in a NJ State sting (if you know what I mean - it is on NJ (dot) com in an article from Dec 2, 2017. Teen hitting on the older children in his care. Counselor sent VERY inappropriate messages and even worse. State investigators questioned my daughter, in what she knows about it. It was a complete nightmare for us. The manager of the camp area (initial "M. F." - took no responsibility). What a horrendous experience!

Aside from this, the counselors are very young and complain about kids being spoiled and that the counselors are not paid enough for what they do.

The only reason people stay, is because it has been the ONLY game in town with child care from 8-6:30 for a long time.

The Director Ellen Goldberg (or DOCTOR Ellen Goldberg, as she refers to herself) seems disinterested, oblivious and apathetic. How can you be a director of a large organization like this and be ignorant to what is going on around you?

Very sad state of affairs here. Clearly, I DO NOT recommend

I have been happy with my child's teacher.

Be aware of other things thought:

1) They have SIGNIFICANTLY increased their tuition, with no benefit to the children. NO COMMUNICATION FROM THE DIRECTOR, except she says she wants to be competitive with surrounding areas. There is no increased programming for the child,

2) There is a program called B-ENRICHED. Initially, I was told what a robust program it was when I had my child join, but it died out after 1 semester. They had children doing all sorts of programs from Swimming, Math, Computers, etc. for every day of the week. Now, a year later, they are giving the children 1 special activity for 45 minutes for 1 day per week. It is certainly NOT the program I was told it was.

3) THEY HAVE 20 HOLIDAYS!!! in total for the year. A calendar of school holidays was provided. They ALSO added Christmas Eve Day (unannounced until the week of), as it was not on the original Holiday Calendar.

They take off Catholic holidays, Jewish holidays, Martin Luther King Day,etc...... THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY HOLIDAYS for the price you pay.

As a working parent, I have to work on the Jewish holidays, Christmas eve, day after Thanksgiving, MLK, etc......Tuition is so high and then you factor in childcare for these additional days it is ALOT of MONEY! If you do go here...take note You'll need to consider the child care costs for covering ALL of the holidays in this school and that they may just add a holiday that they did not have on the calendar. Be prepared for outrageous tuition spikes, without sufficient notice too.

Tried very hard last year to reach out to an administrator for information about the program...no one ever got in touch with me...the new administrator got in touch with me over the summer - apparently, the last administrator who never responded to my messages is no longer there. Then met and toured with new administration staff and teachers and enrolled our child shortly after. Very happy with the program so far, our daughter loves coming to school and doesn't even want to leave some days when we come pick her up. She is learning alot and we are happy we have the opportunity to come here and we rest easy knowing she is safe, being taught, and taken care of all day.

My husband and I toured at The Lauren Wendroff Early Children's Academy earlier this past summer and we were almost immediately convinced we'd found the perfect place, and have been just as happy as we'd hoped we would be.



The teaching staff here is very professional, experienced, and attentive. There is an equal balance of learning and play. I am always hearing about what my child learned and how much fun they had during the day.



My child is a high-energy child and the teachers are patient; they are able to channel these characteristics in a positive way and keep my child engaged.



They preschool offers a vast amount of enrichment and extracurricular classes and The Center also offers different extracurricular/after-school programs that I currently have my child enrolled in. There is little room for my child to be "bored" while at school or at the Center.



There is a great teacher-student ratio and the school is diverse in many ways; ethnically, ages, etc. The administrative staff is well-run, upbeat, and organized. They are happy to talk to me and assist me with whatever questions I may have.



I highly recommend The Lauren Wendroff Early Children's Academy. I absolutely love it and so does my child, who looks forward to coming to school every day. My child has steadily grown and developed so much in the last few months and as parents, we are so grateful for that.

I received an odd vibe upon visiting with this school last year. I played phone tag (which actually means I left countless messages) with the director and she never called back.



Until now my daughter Isabella was staying with my husband's mother because we have yet to find a suitable school for her.



A few months ago, this school (i believe they have just undergone a name change and are now called "Early Children's Academy) gave us a call and apologized for the previous director's lack of "care" in having my child attend the school. Supposedly that director is "no longer with them" and a new director is in place. Good news so far.



I met with this new director last week and sat through a parent orientation, in which the director invited me although we haven't registered yet, this week to find out more about the

program... Let me just say, wow! This new director seems to really know her stuff and answered every parent question, even the sort of ridiculous ones, with ease. The teachers and other staff were very pleasant and knew so much about their plans for the year. The one aspect that really made me happy was the curriculum this school offers. Very well put together and you can just tell it will really benefit my child.



I heard from a neighbor and now the comments on here that the tuition recently went up. Has anyone actually calculated other schools in the area? I met with the director of a new place Preschool Playhouse two weeks ago and their program is nearly the exact in price but instead of a great curriculum, the kids will be playing a lot more (which is fine for some parents I believe but not for us).



We will be registering at this school next week. My family is very excited or Isabella to get the opportunity to learn here. Take a hint everyone--call the school and find out more about the program! It will be worth every penny.

I have been part of the Jewish Community Center since I was a little kid; my brothers and I all went for camp and swimming since we were in about 1st grade. My wife Kim and I started sending my son Jack when he was in Pre-K which was three years ago. Now, he is going into the 2nd grade, and attends the afterschool program "Club 1050" and plays in the center's flag football/indoor soccer league. Every year my wife and I are pleasantly surprised with the constant upgrades and positive changes made by the already great community center. My niece Melissa also worked there for about three summers up until last summer when she went off to college. She did say that she wasn't paid millions but expected as much being only in high school entering college and it being a summer job (however she mentioned that the summer camp still goes on great trips like Six Flags and Boston which makes up for the seemingly low pay. She went back summer after summer because she truly enjoyed the kids, activities, and co-workers. Great place to send your kids! I would go back if I could (but I guess we all have to grow up someday right?). I wouldn't change my memories for the world.

After reading the review posted before mine I have to admit I was completely shocked!

My husband and I, along with my twins, moved to Bayonne six years ago from Delaware and we have been part of the JCC's nursery and then Club 1050 program ever since! Especially within the last two years, Club 1050 has proved its worth. The program is very organized and the counselors are very attentive, most of them working in the program year after year.



My kids rave about the activites in the program and sometimes even come home saying that they has fun doing their homework with the counselors (never thought I would hear that from two nine year olds!).



If the counselors were treated as badly as the review before mine has stated, why would they continue to return year after year! Most of the employees are in college or even out of college!



All in all, great place for kids and family and I have nothing negative to say! A+++++

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE THE STAFF IS A BUNCH OF TEENAGERS WHO SIT ON THERE CELL PHONES AND CURSE IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN THE POOL IS DISGUSTING WAY TOO HOT AND THE CLORINE BURNS YOUR SKIN ITS HORRIBLE I ALSO HEARD THAT IN THE SUMMER THE STAFF GETS PAID 3.00 A HR BECAUSE ITS A NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION !!! COMMUNITY CENTER YEAH RIGHT ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN IS TAKING YOU FOR YOUR MONEY I SWITCHED OVER TO PAL!!