NCCL School (Newark Center for Creative Learning)

My children attended NCCL School from 1st and 3rd grades through 8th grade and thrived there.The teachers and entire school community allowed them to be themselves, learn and grow in a safe, supportive and challenging environment. They are confident, curious, independent, and prepared for high school. They care deeply about their community and the environment thanks to NCCL School. I highly recommend the school.

NCCL was the perfect middle school environment for our son because of the focus on building his strengths, social-emotional learning and community involvement. He learned conflict resolution skills and developed strong bonds with his teachers only possible in a small class setting. We were impressed with the incredibly unique programs like apprenticing and the Choices class that challenged him to not only learn real-world skills, but gain confidence through independence and accountability. As a current 9th grader, he is excelling academically and has a deep sense of who he is even while at a larger school, thanks to his time at NCCL. Beyond an education, our son (and family) gained a caring community and many lasting friendships.

NCCL has been the most AMAZING school for our child. We wanted to find a school that actually cared about students as more than just their grades and we absolutely found that. This school prioritizes conflict resolution, creative thinking, and confidence building. Our daughter has become much more independent and has built her confidence in the two years that she has been here. I've spent time volunteering and working at the school as well and am VERY proud of the staff and their commitment to DEI and inner work to continue to better themselves and the school. I'm proud to be a part of this community!

NCCL teachers are so loving and nurturing to our children and supportive to parents as well. I'm so grateful they are a part of our families' lives and a role model of compassion and positivity. Before we even had children, we knew we wanted a creative and compassionate environment for our children as they grew up. A place where their self-esteem and self-efficacy would bloom. We've found that and more at NCCL. It is such a wonderful community, and we are so appreciative to be a part of it!

NCCL is a wonderful community! The importance of teamwork, social justice, independent thought, caring for the environment and treating others with respect and kindness are just a few of the amazing aspects of this school. The teachers and staff truly love their work (and the kids!), and it shows every day.

NCCL is an amazing place. My children have learned so much from the smart, dedicated, kind, and wise teachers here. In the years my children have attended NCCL, they have grown to love learning of all sorts (from math to art to poetry to writing to science and history, and the list goes on) because all of these ways of understanding the world come together in NCCL`s classrooms. NCCL`s teachers know the children in their classrooms so well that they can connect each subject to the human beings in front of them.

We are about to finish our first year at NCCL and are thrilled with the school. There is not enough room on this page to list out the strengths so I will state 3 that jump to mind:1) Passion of the teachers and students - this is a place where the student's passion (regardless of topic) is encouraged and developed in every way possible....and is matched by the passion of the teachers. My 1st grader spent the last several weeks researching a particular dinosaur (through books and her own internet searches), wrote a 12 page report accompanied by art work and, along with her classmates, produced a full dinosaur museum for the entire school and parents! My 3rd grader and his class did something similar on the topic of religions. The 5th/6th grade teacher dresses up and acts the part (never out of character) of a different type of government leader (monarchy, dictator, democratically elected, etc...) for an entire week. The 7th/8th grade teachers have an internship program for students on Friday afternoons at local Newark businesses. These are just a few of the experiences at NCCL. They not only keep the child's flame of curiosity burning but also provide valuable life skills. 2) Leadership of the students - kids, even at very early ages, are setup to value and demonstrate leadership. This occurs both in and out of the classroom including: ownership of classroom tasks (younger children), being the official buddy of a younger student and musical performances led by students.3) The whole is greater than the sum of its parts - the kids are grouped into 4 classes (K, 1st.....2nd, 3rd, 4th......5th, 6th.....and 7th, 8th) but their lessons and activities have a common theme that bring together the whole experience. Additionally, there is a true school community that is on display daily at recess, in the weekly all-school meeting or in such things as the full study body support and attendance at a city basketball championship game for a team that included several NCCL players.

We LOVE NCCL! Our daughter is about to finish 1st grade and the progress she has made over the past two years is amazing. She is genuinely happy to go to school each day and loves her teachers and classmates. As parents, we love that the school focuses on developing the whole child - academically, socially and emotionally. At NCCL our daughter is exceling academically, and she is also learning other important skills like conflict resolution, empathy, self-confidence and leadership. NCCL truly is a gift and we are so grateful that our daughter can experience it.