A preparatory where they care about the students, the support they receive is incredible. I am very…read morehappy that my son attends this good place that also prepares them very well before going to university or colleges.

Amazing school. One of its kinds in the nation. No where in the county can you find a school that…read moresponsors first gen kids all through four years, provides boarding, provides FREE meals for everyone including teachers, provides a ton of extra curricular and community service opportunities, provides free tutoring, provides a specific college prep curriculum with professional college counselors AND on top of all this provides support not just while you're IN COLLEGE but also AFTER college as well (to help you find a job). I mean ya truly unbelievable. It is a challenging school so you will only succeed if you have a growth mindset and are ready to work hard!

Horrible horrible horrible school. The people that run the school are clueless to what they're…read moredoing. Before the school year started most of the teachers all quit. Now they have brand new teachers that they can pay little money to that just came out of college. I love the kids here are complete ghetto.

A huge shoutout to Miss Ella and Miss Jahaira! You are the main reasons our daughter wants to keep…read moregoing to school (and returning for a new school year). Looking through our daughter's portfolio made our day, it shows how much you (and other teachers such as Miss Karen) have done for her. Thank you for introducing them to artists like Mondrian (so inspiring!), for your endless patience when she didn't want to nap, and for always being so open and honest with us about her development. It means the world to know she is in such caring, dedicated hands.

Both of my daughters have had great experience at Stratford Palo Alto campus. My older one attended…read morein her pre-K year, and now my younger one is in the Mandarin bilingual preschool program. I'm impressed by the well-designed curriculum which balances music, art, phonics, maths, science, outdoor play time, and of course language skills. She has made great progress in both English and Mandarin Chinese (and also picked some Spanish from the Spanish class). Beyond that, they celebrate all the major cultural festivals with fun activities, including the most recent dancing lion performance in the classroom to celebrate Lunar New Year. Her teachers are amazing! Ms Ella and Ms Jahaira are kind, patient and encouraging. I really appreciate the care they give the children. They often share the fun things that my kid does at school - the small progress she made, her interaction with other kids, etc. They are super attentive and caring. Since I'm writing this, I also want to take this opportunity to thank Ms Martha in the early preschool class who helped my daughter transition well last year, Ms Stephanie, and Ms Sonia and Ms Karen who have been with the school for many years and also taught my older daughter. Ms Kate, Mr Alexis, Ms. Yi, Ms Lois, Ms Nova, along with several other floater teachers, make the school feel very welcoming and friendly.

Idk, they didn't let me do anything here ! Zero support from…read moreteachers or any type of staff. I wouldn't go here. If I could have a chance to go back in time I would NOT have gone to this high school.

The school system is generally good, serving a student body that is predominantly affluent, with a…read moresmall number of disadvantaged students. The staff are competent, and the PTA is comprised of mostly helpful parents. However, a small minority of volunteers within the PTA have historically been difficult to work with, exhibiting controlling or disruptive behavior over the past three decades.

I know this school is built for people with learning disabilities and ASD, but I feel like the…read morestudents here don't reach their full potential. This is not necessarily the faculty's fault, but I think the curriculum here is way too slow and dumbed down for students. My daughter struggled in this school because it was too slow for her, and she was way ahead of her classmates despite having ASD. The accommodations were great, but I believe the school didn't provide my daughter education she actually learned. She would come home and talk about how much she played on an iPad or a device, which is just unacceptable. Why are kids playing video games in class? This is school, they need to be learning different subjects. My kid talked about how their classmates were playing mobile games on their iPads that they brought to school. I think this school can be better if they focused more on pushing kids beyond what is expected, because if we keep holding our children's hands throughout life because they have autism, it invalidates that people with ASD are actually extremely capable of succeeding. I pulled my daughter out of this school, and I believe it was the best decision. She is now an undergraduate and researcher at the University of California, and I notice that no one from Hope Technology school attends the University of California, nor do any of the staff members graduate from there.

Out son had a wonderful experience at HTS that helped prepare him for public high school…read more Incredibly dedicated staff.

This school is for you if you want your bike to get stolen or see graffiti and paraphernalia in the…read morebathrooms. SHAME, because it has a great campus, exceptional teachers, and a wide variety of courses. Its journalism, sports, and robotics have received many awards and championships. Without the neuroticism of some crazy students, this school would actually be fantastic.

I just heard the following on the KTVU Channel 2 Morning News…read more That Palo Alto High School made the list of top 100 schools in America according to a U.S. News & World Report. Go Vikings!

My child and her friend attended the WriteNow! summer writing camp focused on "creative" writing…read more The teacher Chuck Bernstein, who is also president of the Early Learning Institute at the school, was harsh and punitive to both kids as well as to other students in the class if they didn't do exactly what they were told, down to including very specific story elements in their stories. Even if they did do the assigned writing, but finished early and then worked on something else, they got in trouble - Chuck crumpled one of their poems and nearly threw it away because he thought they were off-task, rather than asking. Every day he had students present at the end of class, always running overtime into pickup time, and then angrily shushed both students and parents who made ANY noise (even just entering at the door, whispers, or rustling papers). An easy fix would be to do these presentations earlier so they didn't run over-time, especially for parents picking up multiple kids at different camps or otherwise on a tight schedule - but he did not react well to this feedback. On the first day of the program, the person at the front also was angry that we were dropping off at the time we did, even though we had paid for the before-care. On the second day they had a sheet of who had before-care and after-care, but did not on the first day. But to get angry at us for dropping off, rather than asking about before-care, is also baffling. The program's flyer boasted that kids would love writing after this. My child went in loving writing and came out disliking it much more than previously, and her friend started out hating writing and ended the same. Since Chuck also teaches at the school, I can only imagine that this harsh approach is one he takes with full-time students during the year, too. We will certainly never return.

We enrolled our son in the WriteNow! Summer Writing Camp with high expectations because he enjoys…read morewriting and we hoped he would be challenged and receive meaningful guidance. Unfortunately, that was not our experience. I spoke with the teacher, Chuck (Charles) Bernstein, and was told that he cannot judge students' writing because they have to judge themselves. That approach is completely nonsensical to me, especially in a writing camp where students should be getting instruction and feedback from an experienced teacher. My son spent about six hours straight writing, yet he was not given any comments or constructive feedback on his work. As a parent, I believe feedback is one of the most important parts of a writing program because it helps students understand what they are doing well and where they need to improve. Without that guidance, it is hard to see how students can truly grow. Don't waste your money enrolling to this camp as you kids will be wasting time here.

We picked Mid-Pen because it was the only high school near us with small classes, lots of…read moreindividual attention, and a fine arts program. They really work at having a connected, school community, where no student can fall through the cracks. The teachers, and the kids, really look out for each other. Their new building is beautiful, with a gorgeous dragon fountain in the entry, designed by a Mid-Pen student. (The dragon is the school mascot.) The walls are hung with lots of Mid-Pen art, and the kids seem pretty happy to be there. Just last night my daughter had 9 of her Mid-Pen friends over for movies and pizza, and I was really impressed with how considerate and thoughtful these kids were! Come check out one of our really useful Parent Education evenings, if you are curious about our school!

This school is the best kept secret on the Peninsula. With an 8:1 student faculty ration and a…read more9:30 start time, this is a kinder, gentler way to do high school. This year's Fund-A-Need was for more gender neutral bathrooms. Everyone is accepted and respected for who they are. They offer ASL as a foreign language option, have a stellar music program (no experience required), and supportive sports teams (everyone gets play time). The heart of the curriculum is core, where there is emotional learning and support built into the class. We could not ask for a more inclusive and supportive experience.