Original Research by School Decision on Mary Kay Mcmillin Early Childhood Center
The Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center serves Berkeley Heights children from pre-kindergarten through second grade. It is a regular public school that feeds into the district’s elementary, middle, and high school buildings. Because the school serves only these early grades, state assessment data is not available; New Jersey’s standardized testing begins in third grade. The school does not have a graduation rate for the same reason. It sits outside the academic-performance comparisons that apply to schools with tested grades. A parent evaluating this school will want to focus on the environment and program fit for the youngest learners rather than on achievement metrics that do not apply.
The school enrolls a student body that is diverse for a northern New Jersey suburb. A majority of students are white, with roughly a quarter Asian, a substantial Hispanic population, and smaller shares of multiracial and Black students. A very small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high-income character of Berkeley Heights. Data on students with Individualized Education Programs and English learners was not available in the current data; a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education and language support services.
Berkeley Heights itself is an affluent commuter town to New York City. Its residential character is suburban, with a downtown corridor along Springfield Avenue that has restaurants, a post office, and the NJ Transit train station. The housing market in the township is expensive, with prices well above national and state benchmarks. Homes sell quickly, and the market is competitive. Rent is also high. For a family considering relocation, the cost of living here is considerable.
The district has made several recent changes that matter for a family with a young child. The district launched full-day kindergarten in the 2024-25 school year, expanding from a long-standing half-day model. This means that children entering kindergarten now receive a full day of instruction at the Early Childhood Center, which may align better with working family schedules and provides more time for early literacy and social development. The district has also expanded STEM and STEAM programming across elementary and middle schools starting in the 2023-24 school year, adding robotics, coding, and engineering curricula. A comprehensive mental health and wellness initiative began in 2022-23, adding counseling staff and integrating social-emotional learning into all grade levels. The district has approved consecutive budget increases that have raised the property tax levy, meaning the tax burden for residents is rising.
The school sits on a campus separated from the downtown, as is typical of the district, which has six school buildings spread across the township. Civic life in Berkeley Heights is concentrated downtown, but the municipal building, police station, and train station are within that corridor. The school itself is located on Mountain Avenue, a main road that runs through the township.
For a family with a child entering the Berkeley Heights public schools at the pre-kindergarten or kindergarten level, the Early Childhood Center is the starting point. The launch of full-day kindergarten and the district’s investments in STEM and mental health programming are recent, concrete improvements to the early education experience. The school’s small enrollment for its grade band and the very low poverty rate suggest a well-resourced environment. A family considering this school will want to understand the district’s feeder pattern and the elementary school their child would attend after second grade. A parent may also want to inquire about the availability of preschool programs, special education services, and the ratio of students to teachers, which the current data does not provide. The broader context of Berkeley Heights as an expensive, competitive housing market with rising property taxes is a practical consideration for any family evaluating this community.
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