St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy

I live in the neighborhood very close to this school and walk my dogs by frequently. I felt compelled to write a review today based on what I witnessed. My children are not students there, nor do I have any involvement with the school, however I witness how the children are treated when they are outside playing quite often. I have often heard abrasive, belittling and very non constructive tones use with the children by teachers. Today was the worst yet. I have no idea how anyone in their right mind would send their children here. I just saw a past comment warning the school tolerates bullying, which does not surprise me because what I witnessed was straight up bullying by the teachers to the students. No wonder where they learn it. The teachers were lining the kids up in the yard when I heard one yelling (literally screaming) at the children. She kept repeating «you’re horrible» «I cant stand all of you anymore». When I moved closer I realized it was actually more than one teacher acting like this. Both of them took turns long after the children lined up and were quiet, yelling nasty, condescending things and even singling out children. One left his lunch and she yelled something nasty about him leaving over so all the ants can eat it. This went on for quite a few minutes while the kids stood there to hear over and over how «horrible» they were. I know working with children (I believe these were 1^st graders) is not easy. These teachers were not constructive in the least, they were mean, intolerant (again, after the kids were long quiet and in line) and condescending. If they don’t like children that much, why are they teaching kids? They clearly had a temper and relished in belittling these children. Its disgusting that there were multiple teachers doing this. It was extremely inappropriate and I would be disgusted to find out my children were being spoken to in this way. There is firm and then there is just being a bully. These teachers go way to far and should NOT be working with children. I caution anyone who sends their children to this school. I would pay very close attention.

Be careful. This school has a history of tolerating bullying. For two years in a row parents have complained and the Principal does nothing. Kids being bullied end up leaving. School is run by bullying parents. Its a pretty bad situation.

After checking out a couple of preschools around Boerum Hill and Park Slope for our 3-​year old daughter, we found St. Joseph the Worker last year. It had not yet opened (it was formed from a merger of two schools: Holy Name and IHM) so we had to wait for things to get finalized before we could register. It was worth it.
We really loved the 19^th century architecture, instead of the cold, institutional feel of post-​war school design. And it was surprisingly the one of most affordable preschool in the area. Great teachers and a good group kids and their parents. This Fall our daughter will be old enough to qualify for the «free» NYC public Pre-​K but after our positive experiences thus far, we’re opting to keep her at St. Joseph the Worker,

I visited this school and 2 other catholic schools in the neighborhood. This is the only one that had an open house on Sunday. I was unable to speak with the principal so I do not much about this school’s vision, mission and goals.
Also, the application process started late; they started taking application forms (pre-​registration) end of January and as of today, the tuition has not even been finalized for next year. Other catholic schools have already sent a notification to families.
One more thing to consider when enrolling your child to nursery (Pre-​K 3) or Pre-​K 4: She or he may not be able to enroll in Kindergarten! The school currently has 50 Pre-​K 4 students. If they all re-​register, they will have 2 kindergarten classes next year, but if they only get a partial re-​registration, priority will be given to the first 30 students with the rest being placed on a waiting list until they reach 40 students. Your child may not be able to enroll kindergarten next year and it will be too late to apply to other schools.
By reading the above, you can assume that the class size is between 20 and 30 students vs up to 20 students in some other catholic schools such as St Saviour Catholic Academy.
Also, children entering Nursery (Pre-​K 3) need to be fully potty trained. If your child has an «accident», the school will call the parents to have them come to the school and change the child. The child will be suspended if he has several «accidents» and will not be able to attend school until he or she is fully potty trained. Other schools expect the children to be potty trained, but they also understand that accidents happen. They also let toddlers wear diapers, which is less stressful for parents. I really can’t imagine getting a call from the school because my toddler had an «accident» and I need to change him!