Our daughter started at Raskob in 3rd grade, after trying two different schools (public and…read moreprivate) that did not provide her the support that she needed for her learning differences. It has been an absolute game-changer for her (and our whole family!). She went from hating school and feeling bullied by peers to loving school, forming sweet social bonds and making strong academic progress. Her teachers have all been extremely caring and attentive with great home-school communication. Each child has an individualized learning plan specifically tailored to their needs and core subjects are grouped by skill level, not by grade level. So a 3rd grader with stronger math skills might spend math class with a 5th grader who is more challenged in this area. We haven't experienced middle school yet but I know that kids graduate from 8th grade at Raskob and receive great high school counseling to help them choose the just-right school for them (I've seen some kids graduate on to O'Dowd, or public high schools and others stay in private schools for learning differences like Sterne or Orinda Academy). It really depends on what the kids need at that point. Huge Raskob fans in our household!

They kicked my son out a few months before he was to graduate for reasons that, I'll say were…read morehighly suspect. In a meeting with the school they said some things about middle schoolers in general were pretty terrible in my opinion. That meeting was recorded by lawyers present. Can't imagine what they would say off the record. Inner monologue must be be pretty bad. Stay away.

Sport L.'s experience doesn't reflect the Redwood Day School that I send my kids to. Redwood Day is…read moregreat in so many ways, from the teachers, administration, the beautiful campus, and a true sense of community. I have two kids at the school, and I am grateful that I made the decision to send them here for these very important years of their education. For math, the school uses a hybrid form of Singapore Math, which for most parents seems very different from what we learned, but it works (and has success metrics - students in Singapore have one of the highest math mastery in the world). They use a different model in the Middle School for the 6-8th span that equally prepares students for higher level math in High School. Redwood Day has ways for kids who need or seek more in math - my kids are always challenged. They also have a Math Olympiad program and programs/staff to help students who may need additional support. I have never found Redwood Day to be lacking in helping my kids learn, grow, and master math. Culture and celebrations are also very integrated at the school - which celebrates everything from Latin, African American, Asian American, and Jewish Heritage months to Women's History. The school is having something for Ramadan, and I know they have also hosted a Shabbat dinner in addition to other cultural celebrations. All to say, Redwood Day is super inclusive, and my kids come home learning a lot about their friends' cultural traditions - just a couple weeks ago, they did a Holi event. No school is perfect, but I believe that Redwood Day is always evolving, changing, and listening to the parent community. For discipline, I'm thankful for the social and emotional learning that starts in K and goes through 8th. Even as 5 year olds, kids learn about choices, options for dealing with conflict, and what and how to make different (and better) choices when there is conflict. I don't know what the prior post means about authoritative discipline, but long gone are the days of that type of discipline model. My kids (and these next generations) need to learn self-awareness, self-regulation, critical thinking, and agency in working out their own differences - with the guidance and oversight of teachers, coaches, mentors, and role models. Personally, I much prefer that my children talk through issues with their friends, take accountability, practice humility, and have the support of trusted adults to help them navigate challenges. Not everyone is the right fit for any school - and as a parent, it is absolutely on us to ensure that we find mutual synergy with the school, teachers, faculty, and community. For me, Redwood Day was the absolute right choice for my kids - and I know they are more because of it.

I don't usually participate in online discussions, but I'm speaking up here again. Redwood Day has…read morea history of downplaying negative experiences that don't fit their narrative, and their response here is no exception. 1. Singapore Math is an excellent way to teach math. However, its execution at Redwood Day falls short tremendously; pacing is inconsistent, and children move between levels without achieving mastery first. 2. I'm glad the parent in the previous review had a positive experience with inclusivity. Listing cultural months and one-off events, however, is not the same as demonstrating that all children feel equally seen and heard. Inclusivity is not a calendar; it has to be embedded in the ethos of the school and in day-to-day practice. When the classroom consistently centers the voices and experiences of some communities over others, children from less represented backgrounds are left on the margins. It's worth asking whose experience is reflected in a positive inclusivity review and whose isn't. 3. Authoritative discipline is well-defined in child development research, and it's worth understanding before dismissing it. All the qualities that the parent wants their kids and the next generation to learn are in fact core to the authoritative discipline model, which calls for: administering fair and consistent discipline when rules are broken; allowing children to express opinions; encouraging children to discuss options; expressing warmth and nurturing; fostering independence and reasoning; listening to their children; and placing limits, consequences, and expectations on behavior. Redwood Day's approach to discipline lacks clear boundaries and consistent follow-through. If teachers struggle with conflict resolution, how are they going to model it for children? It's worth understanding a concept fully before using it to invalidate someone else's experience. Redwood Day is teaching children that it's acceptable to be whoever they are without consideration for the world around them. Teaching history, social justice, and displaying cultural symbols is not enough; all of this is superficial when there is no expectation from children to be upstanding citizens of the world. It makes for a good brochure, but does little for the social-emotional development of children. Every family deserves a school that genuinely aligns with their values. For those considering Redwood Day, I'd encourage you to look beyond the marketing and beyond the parent advocates who echo it. Ask hard questions about whether what's promised is what's actually delivered.

Brilliant tuition with expert teachers. They really know how to craft engaging lessons that are…read moreacademically rigorous, playful and holistic. The teachers here know how to teach to the whole child. Could not recommended higher.

From the owner: I am an elementary teacher and reading specialist with over 15 years of experience. I offer one on…read moreone support for children struggling with literacy and math. I specialize in supporting kids with learning differences, IEPs and 504 plans. I offer in school support as well as family advocacy.

A magical place! My 6-year-old son is autistic and it was such a relief to be welcomed by a team…read morethat just gets it. The space is super clean and feels like a kid's dream. There's so much to do, climbing, building, exploring, getting wiggles out, and even a quiet room to chill. You can tell the folks behind it really thought through everything. The vibe, the décor, even the website feel so neurodiverse-affirming. They have tech to help build community around members too. We live in Novato so the distance makes a membership tough right now, but I'm hoping we can join in the summer when school isn't in the way. I'd love to see Spirited Play Labs expand to more places as this is the future IMO (please come to Novato, I'll help!). For families like ours, where typical play spaces can feel stressful or isolating, this place is a true gem, welcoming, thoughtful, and hopeful for the future. Thank you!!!

We've been coming to SPL for years, and it has always been such a positive experience. The play…read moresessions with Lia mean so much to us. we truly appreciate her patience, guidance, and support. Every visit, we notice progress. My daughter used to play only by herself, but now we see her becoming more independent and interacting with Lia, which fills our hearts. As a mom of a child on the spectrum, I know how hard it can be. My daughter doesn't have friends, but when we come here, she has one. In other spaces, the stares that come with her stimming can be so difficult to ignore, but here at SPL, we feel safe, accepted, and not judged. That sense of belonging is rare for special needs families, and we are so grateful to have found it here. I love how the staff embraces inclusion and acceptance. it shows in everything they do. I truly wish there were more places and programs like this for our kids, because families like ours need community.

These services are a scam. Since Seneca has been in my home things are worse than before. The…read moreamount of time these people take vacations blows my mind. I believe part of the reason these services are the way they are is because the connects are in between lapse and "time off".. having parent support services didn't happen for me. Never a stable person. My husband and I got no help. If you want an effective team to help meet the family and child I would look elsewhere.

I cannot say enough about Seneca family of agencies, my daughter goes to school. I one other sites…read more She has excelled so much. It's incredible and the staff are absolutely wonderful and they really care about the kids. The classes may be seven children in one class the whole school may have about 40 students Now this is the school that she goes to PathfiindersAcademy, and Union City. Absolutely amazing.. I really really appreciate them because my daughter was having a really really hard time with bullying getting her work done staying in class and not eloping and now she loves to go to school and always has positive things to say when she comes home. Altogether a wonderful agency.

I am an alum of NLS from a single parent home in East Oakland. From there I went to Marin Academy…read morefor high school, received a bachelor's degree in economics from UC Berkeley, last year I received my MBA from Stanford University, and I currently work at Google. I would not have achieved any of those things without NLS. I split my elementary school years between public school and private school, so I'll speak to what makes NLS special. From my perspective, many schools (public and private) can provide a strong academic foundation. NLS was just as good as my strong public school in that regard. What I gained from NLS is belief in myself that anything is possible. It came from the dreams fulfilled that line the walls, the stories told at morning circle, and from teachers and administrators truly caring about what I wanted to be when I grew up. And in a practical sense, the school provided access, access to the most elite prep high schools in the U.S. Before NLS, I had not even heard of the majority of them. NLS represents a turning point in my life in terms of building confidence, ambition, and knowledge of opportunities that were previously unknown to me.

It's so sad that I have to give this school such a low rating, but it is very well deserved when it…read morecomes to how they nurture 5 year old children. I am writing this review not to bash this school, but to make prospective parents and current parents aware of the principle and the kindergarten teacher Ms. Jennifer and Mr. Peter; the director of student affairs. These three people at this school support yelling and snatching from children. Now this school promotes anti -bullying and respect, however do not display this toward the children. I will give a brief on my particular experience. Ms. Jennifer is one of the kindergarten teachers at this school. She is an emotional wreck and has expressed that she gets very frustrated with the children when they aren't orderly and she admitted to snatching from my child and others. Her reasoning for this was because and I quote "It's the end of the day and I'm dealing with 15 5 year old's and your child has told me multiple times that snatching isn't nice". On this particular day, my child walked out of the classroom at the end of the day crying hysterically. Ms. Jennifer didn't tell me the whole story when I asked why my child was crying, she just told me that she told my child "no" and that made her cry. But the real story of why my child was crying at the end of the day, was because this lady yelled at her and snatched something out of her hand in front of the entire class. When I asked Ms. Jennifer about the incident again she said, " No I didn't yell at her, I just spoke to her in a really mean way and in a really loud voice, honestly I just got really frustrated and yes I did snatch from her". Now when is it ever appropriate as a kindergarten teacher to behave this way? That was rhetorical..... Not ever. I appreciate the honesty, but it's never OK to yell and scream at a 5 year old or snatch. I tried to have an additional meeting with this lady, to try and see if we could move past the situation. She walked out of the meeting like a 5 year old and her supervisor Peter is an enabler because he coddled her like a 5 year old. I guess she can dish it to a 5 year old, but can't take it from an adult. I reached out to the principle about the incident, she sent me some 5 paragraph reply which 3 of the paragraphs was a copy and paste. Non the less, she said she didn't think that the teacher acted inappropriate. She's a joke! Collecting money from the state, acting like she cares about our black babies, but really what their doing behind closed doors, is not what they're advertising. Just be aware!!! Their fraudulent and after 25 years, you would think this Michelle lady would be way more professional and know the difference between appropriate behavior and egregious behavior from her faculty. I definitely reached out to the organization that they are members of and filed a complaint and took my child out of this school. You get what you pay for. I'll take my $1,000.00 somewhere else. My child is so amazing and a blessing to me and so may other people that meet her. I will not let anybody dim her light or steal her sunshine.

After several failed attempts to get my info from their website, I decided to go here in person…read more Although there were 2 ladies sitting at the front counter, only one was willing to work. The unhelpful older lady just sat expressionless and uninterested. I pleasantly explained to the other lady what I was requesting, but was redirected to another location for my request! The next day, I went to the recommended location, but that lady only worked on certain days of the week, so I was told to come back on another day. I'm currently trying to find out how I can get a job with OUSD Admin so I too can get paid for doing nothing.

I honestly wouldn't recommend sending your child to Oakland Unified schools. My experience with the…read moredistrict has been frustrating and disappointing. While I've dealt with a specific school, the bigger issue is the district as a whole. They weren't transparent, they were often disrespectful, and they rarely took accountability for their actions. If your child has special needs and you're the type of parent who advocates for them (as you should), prepare for a fight. The district doesn't make it easy--they operate with a "this is how we do things, take it or leave it" attitude. I experienced firsthand how real the discrimination is and how poorly privacy is handled by some of the staff. Communication is seriously lacking, and trying to get clear answers or basic follow-up was like pulling teeth. There's also a strong sense of favoritism--when staff mess up, others rush in to cover for them instead of fixing the problem. It feels like a system designed to protect each other, not serve families. That said, I won't say everyone is bad--there are some amazing staff and not all schools are the same. But unfortunately, the leadership and culture at the district level trickles down, and it shows. If OUSD wants to do better, they need to start with training their employees--especially the ones at the top--on the rights of students and parents. And they need to hold people accountable across the board. Until that happens, I'd strongly suggest families think twice. And let's just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Oakland Unified built themselves a brand-new, shiny district headquarters at 1011 Union St., Oakland, CA 94607--ground up, all the bells and whistles. Meanwhile, the auditorium seats at Oakland Tech still look like they're straight out of the 1950s. But hey, at least the admin folks are sitting pretty.

Update- kinder and 1st graders are combined classes due to small size of kinders this year. Also…read moresome of the 1st graders are with 2nd graders. Despite of the combos, we do not see any problems with it. I have a kinder and a 2nd grader. My kids love their school, their teachers and peers.

We love Garfield - our son is part of the first TK group to start this year and he's thriving. I…read morelove that the class sizes are small and he'll be in the community through 5th grade. The teachers + support staff are wonderful, they really give time and attention to the full student experience. Our kiddo had trouble transitioning to school-made lunch, so we worked with the teachers and staff to develop a food plan. We've also been invited to a number of school activities for kids + parents (and a few parent-only) and I love the community we're building. Garfield was recently fully renovated from the ground up, so even though it's proudly one of the oldest schools in SFUSD, it's also one of the schools with the newest infrastructure. Also? My kiddo tells everyone he basically goes to school at Coit Tower (and he's not wrong). For anyone worried about the hill: there's a VERY easy drop off and pick up process and the staff keeps it going, so much easier than the other two schools where we had to deal with odd parking/drop off and pick up situations!

Well, here's a review from someone who doesn't work at CCC…read more I've been teaching for 18 years and have taught more reading programs than I can count. When I first saw the materials from CCC (then DSC) I thought I was seeing a mirage. This is how I was taught to teach reading, but the big basals don't present reading this way. So for many years I've been taking what I was given and modifying it to make sure kids have the reading strategies they need to be successful. When I saw a program that did all that work and presented the lessons in a way I could easily share with other teachers I thought I must be dreaming. It's not a quick fix and it's not easy for the teacher or for the students. But it's a program that actually forces the kids to think like readers and really interact with the text. This is my third year teaching with these materials and I never plan on going back to a basal program.

The materials they publish are diverse, and promote a new wave of teaching. Their team of…read moreconsultants offer guidance and support of how to deliver their materials. They key hey is not only the materials, but also the WAY it is taught.

Wildcat Canyon community school is an amazing and healthy environment for children and families…read morelooking for a like-minded community! Waldorf education is a world class education serving the children with a wide variety of subjects and languages, math and science all given through the arts. "Education from the inside out" the children are thought to freely think and with empathy and compassion for each other and the world. This is our fourth year at the school and our two children are loving it! Every year we fall deeper in love with the curriculum, teachers, and community members! Truly, a futuristic school that gives a Renaissance style of education with top-notch educators and holistic minded families. It would be in your best interest to take a tour of the school and then you will be able to see and feel the uniqueness for yourself! Don't be surprised if you see healthy children running and skipping and singing and climbing trees and gardening and playing games together just like schools should be producing healthy, open minded free thinking, individuals!

My partner and I had our child in East Bay Waldorf school for three years. EBWS shut down during…read morethe pandemic and some families, like ours, participated in "pods" with the EBWS teachers who were laid off. We contemplated participating in this "restart" but fortunately made the decision to send our child to another school. We made the decision to send our child elsewhere because this "restart" of EBWS under a different name is , unfortunately, plagued by the same cultish, administratively dysfunctional, and subtly racist practices that characterized the original EBWS. Without going into detail here, our child experienced a consistent pattern of discrimination and exclusion by both teachers and other Waldorf parents. The only regret my partner and I have now is that we didn't take our child out of this school sooner and go elsewhere.