They do very little to support new staff and everything in their power to protect tenured teachers…read morethat have no place teaching/ have teaching practices that went extinct along side dinosaurs. Punitive teaching styles across the board and an admin that will listen to the tenured teachers regardless of how out of touch with reality they are. Students with behavioral issues are always assigned with newer teachers while the ones that have been there since the invention of electricity have the gate students or advance placement students. Very shady practices district wide and very little is done to protect lgbtqa students or any student that may be bullied. This would never be the school id chose for my child.

My Son has had a great middle school experience so far! He…read morestarted off having difficulties with a few peers, but now their all friends . The staff have been extremely helpful and supportive. His teachers have been wonderful.

We initially chose Odyssey because it promised a strong sense of community, solid education, and…read moresafe educational trips. Unfortunately, our experience was far from what was advertised. My son was bullied by a group of girls for half of his crucial final school year, and when he failed Algebra 2 (with a D grade), the principal--who also taught the class--blamed my son entirely. What was left out was that the principal had to frequently cover for other teachers, making his own teaching inconsistent, and the school even went without a science teacher for half a year. Worse yet, he failed to inform me when my son came forward about the bullying. The teachers at the 8th-grade level didn't step in to stop the bullying until I personally got involved, and that's unacceptable. While the trips were enjoyable, they were not as safe as we were led to believe. There were several issues that my son told me about only after the fact, and I wish I had known earlier. Overall, I can no longer recommend this school based on our experience.

Odyssey School in San Mateo has been a gem for our family. Over the years, both our sons went to…read moreschool and graduated from Odyssey (not at the same time). The impact on them? Huge. As products of public K-12 education followed by college, my wife and I always put academics as a priority. We were a bit wary of Odyssey's smaller size at the start. But, a close friend's endorsement and our interactions with the faculty convinced us to take the plunge. The outcome? Our boys got more than just book smarts; they received tailored education thanks to the smaller classrooms. Importantly, each of the boys didn't just pass through Odyssey; they flourished there. Both boys enrolled in their preferred local private high schools post-Odyssey. While we always emphasized academics, the expeditionary feats at the school--like scaling Mt. Whitney, exploring Japan, or sailing the Channel Islands-- helped make them who they are today. Big kudos to Odyssey for this experience.

I graduated from Serra over 30 years ago. I appreciated the smaller classes and the teachings in…read moremorality even though I'm not Catholic. They don't try to convert you to be one, but there are requirements to take religion classes. I do remember that even the science classes had a hint of God's handiwork being taught in them which made a profound impression on me. The number of AP classes was quite limited back then (only about 4) compared to some of the top teared schools. I appreciate the fact that they have a requirement to participate in community service volunteering. I think that is helpful to have priviledged kids give back to the community. They didn't have a Calculus class back then, even though Dick Phelan tried to teach 6 of us at lunch it was beyond him. I had to take calculus during my senior year at CSM. Because it is an all-boys school means that there is a lot less machismo around in every day life. No use trying to strut your stuff to impress the girls. I found it to be a lot less cliquey than when I was at a public middle school (Ralston). No alpha males trying to put freshmen in lockers. If you acted up or was a bully you were back in the public school. I've been back in recent years to participate in the career days where we can talk to the boys about what life is like on the other side. What I'm very impressed with is how respectful and polite all the boys are, as opposed to the thugs you may find in public schools. The fact that parents have to shell out $22k to send their sons there mean that there are not going to be academic slackers there, which help to create a better learning environment overall.

Send your son here if you want him to turn into a jerk. These boys are a menace on the roads every…read moremorning and are incredibly rude. The parents are not much better...one of them tried to run me off the road.

I was class of 1998 This was a good school I miss it all the teachers had a good smile I miss Maz…read more rest in peace Mr Lydig was a good principal Mrs Ballmana It was awesome school I miss you so much

When I was in high school locally, the options weren't great at the time so my parents went the…read moreprivate route. I wouldn't think twice about sending my boys to HHS. The small learning communities model is genius and the extracurriculars are varied and quality. As an educator, my bar is pretty high and the teachers and administration at Hillsdale have proven top notch. At Back to School Night, I was so impressed with the resumes of each teacher; each was highly educated, clearly engaged and the level of care and nurturing is obvious. When my son needed support, I reached out to his advisor Amy Rally and counselor Jenny Rienzo and received such helpful feedback and guidance. Highly recommend Hillsdale High School; Go Knights!

My daughter started her academic journey at Futures Academy in San Mateo last year as a sophomore…read more She previously attended our local public high school as a Freshman. Futures Academy is a best fit for my daughter as it provides a personalized and flexible curriculum that allows her to continue to travel to other states to compete in tournaments with her rigorous practice regimen. My daughter loves the 1:1 teacher - student setting. Her teachers are knowledgeable and enthusiastic; they are passionate and mindful of her progress, strengths and weaknesses. All teachers and administrators truly care about her success and go above and beyond to make her thrive. She loves her History, English, Math, Spanish and Journalism classes. As parents, we can see a difference in her interest and learning capacity compared to her freshman school year at the public high school. Futures Academy had been very responsive and swift during the Covid-19 outbreak. They have already instituted online sessions during the first day of the Shelter-in-place order on 03/16. My daughter did not miss any school work and the online sessions had been very smooth. The school had provided us peace of mind during the outbreak. We highly recommend Futures Academy in San Mateo if your child fails to thrive at his/her current school.

My son is a student at Futures Academy in San Mateo. We enrolled him right before SIP began. It has…read morebeen a great experience. His teachers and the school have been very responsive to his needs and he engages in his learning in a way that did not happen before. I highly recommend Futures Academy. We are glad we found it!

This is by far a very good school. I grew up in San Mateo and went to this high school from…read more1995-1999. It is very diverse and many extra curricular activities for everyone. If my son can go here, I would be very happy. I'm curious to know which teachers still teach here. Class of 1999!

This review is for their outdoor field - it's very big and well maintained and great for sporting…read moreactivities. The field is astroturf and is surrounded by a running track. There are bathrooms located onsite and plenty of seating space in the bleachers. The parking lot is right next door with ample parking spaces available.

It was a great experience to go to Borel middle school. I had lots of friends, great teachers, and…read morea great campus. I was very sad to graduate

Some kid touched my balls at lunch 2 stars because he wasn't…read morecute mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmisthis85charactera

I have 2 kids attending UP Academy and they love the school!…read more My older son used to struggle in a public school with math and writing. 3 years ago, at 2nd grade, we transferred him to UP Academy, and, within a few months, he has become a lil writer. He fell in love with writing. He wrote one full-page of very a fun story. I can't thank you enough to all the educators there. Since then until now, he always happy every morning that he gets to go to school. He loves the community there and the small-sized class makes him feel like a part of the community. My younger one started last year as a kindergartner. He loves his teachers and his friends. He learned a lot academically and socially. We love how UP academy teaches kids by their own paces. Thus, our kids get challenged throughout the year. If you are looking for a project-based learning, a place where you child can build confidence and empathy, small class sized, great community, and personalized learning, UP Academy is the place for your kids.

We love UP Academy!…read more My older one went to the school since 2nd grade (now 3rd grader), and my younger one since TK (K now). The school is relatively new (2.5 years old) but our kids attended since 2 years ago. We are happy with the school in the full two years. ***Strength** We love the super low teacher-student ratio, the differentiation of learning. We also love the mixed-age classes, that allow kids to grow and thrive not limited by grade but by the their own levels. The school focused on growth mindset and recognize the efforts and progress. We also love the focus on project-based learning and social-emotion learning. The school also offers foreign languages classes, Chinese/Mandarin and Spanish. This might be a good plus for some families. We love that. We also appreciate the schools offer afterschool extension to 6pm as well. This is very helpful for parents who are both working. The school builds a great community. Teachers that we experienced - which means all teachers since we have two kids there for two years - are all very caring. Kids love each of them. The founder has an amazing vision inspired by a strong why. We love the philosophy, the vision & mission of the school. ***Potential concerns some families may have*** - Small school space: As a micro school, the school space is small - basically an office building only. But with various field trips and outdoor learning opportunities, especially during the pre-pandemic era, we don't have any concern at all. There's indoor facility for exercise, and kids love it. - Small class size For some parents, the small class size might be another concern for social issues. However, I appreciate this a lot since it also means great individual attention from teachers. Every kid can develop his/her own learning plan, academically and socially. We particularly appreciate the small size of the school during the pandemic time. A small class makes us feel safe to send kids to school in person during pandemic, knowing that the school is small and our kids could still learn and socialize safely in person with the COVID precautions that bigger schools may not be able to offer. The school remains open in 2020-2021 school year with the waiver. I believe it's heathier for kids to interact in person than virtually on Zoom anyways. - New school This is a progressive lab elementary school, and yes it's pretty new. We've seen the school evolving in the past two years, and overall towards a even better direction. I do encourage families to experience the school themselves during the trial-out days. We did so before we transferred our kids from a good public school in the following school year. Kids loved Up Academy so much that we made the decision right after they experienced the school. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made. Overall, we love the school and highly recommend the school to other families.

Intensely academic school that works hard to provide as many extracurricular offerings as possible…read moregiven its size. Thoughtful, organized, communicative and forward thinking in everything they do, from adjustments to curriculum to their handling of distance learning programs and the hybrid in-person schedule during COVID restrictions. Teachers, staff, administration are the best in education that one will ever encounter. My kids are challenged in the best way and we feel very fortunate they are students at here. You'll notice that the negative reviews here are from individuals who did not attend or have students that attended Crystal.

This is a good school but The campus was weird and the people were kind of mean, needs to work on…read morethe social skills, the school makes people/ me feel like we're dumb because of the standardized test you have to do to get it, I think everyone should get the chance to go to the school and everyone automatically gets into the school.