Thornhill and Montclair Elementary Schools
Hello All,
My daughter is going to enter t-kindergarten this coming year, most likely at Thornhill elementary. I wanted to hear from parents that whose children have or are attending the school. Also what has the afterschool been like?
Also we are looking at Montclair Elementary, so if you have experience there let us know.
Warmly,
J
Nov 14, 2016
Parent Replies
Hi! Both schools are great. I suggest that you attend their open houses and check out the facilities and ask questions. Our sons both went to Thornhill and we had a great experience there! Montclair does have a nicer campus, and I love their Principal. But for us, it was more about the community and lessons taught than the facility. The thing that makes both schools good is the level of parent involvement and fundraising. Get used to it now, you will be asked for money. But...think of how much you would be paying if you were sending your kid to private school. The class sizes are not super small, but our sons did fine. There are some teachers who are outright incredible, but most are really great. You may have a year though where you get a teacher that just does not suit you, but for us, there was only 1 of those teachers. I also love the community that was built at the school, it felt very much like a protected world where the kids knew each other and felt welcome. There are also some amazing traditions at the school musically, culturally, and there are overnight learning trips for all 4th graders and then again in 5th grade. We moved to Berkeley for the rest of our public school experience, but we still love and miss Thornhill. Also, both of my sons were able to coast their first year in the Berkeley schools because they had learned so much at Thornhill, which gave them a chance to relax and focus more on making new friends. But you can't go wrong with either school, honestly.