Backup repost from 11 months ago…read more "I'm giving four stars because I do not think the issues and censorship I experienced are an atypical response from a school. When I tried to bring light to bad deeds, I was suspended and threatened with expulsion. I never encountered physical violence. Bad deeds included severe emotional abuses, motivated by sexism, from older staff here. This and sex-based victim blaming - resembling misogynistic patterns - contributed significantly to suicidal my thoughts. Dehumanization was added through transphobia. Newer staff were less problematic than integrated ones, suggesting the administration's leadership is a source of problems. Last time I interacted, the administration did their best to manipulate the image to feign their innocence at all costs. These issues are adult topics, which adolescents like me ideally would not face; my experiences occurred about one year ago, and while I have learned to better describe them, I am not mature enough to understand the issue's whole systemic contexts."

As the parents of two high schoolers that could not be any more different, we have a deep…read moreappreciation and respect for the value of Palo Alto Prep (PA Prep) and their amazing educational staff. While one child has thrived in a traditional high school, our eldest did not. They are an amazing creative thinker but also challenged with the headwinds of a variety of learning and related social challenges. While they also handled middle school well, even thrived academically, to say that traditional high school was a train wreck is an understatement. We needed help as a family and PA Prep was there. Thankfully we discovered PA Prep through our engagement with the The Bodin Education Group (also highly recommended). After a careful evaluation of options (Bodin know them all!) and engagement with the team at PA Prep we could see that our son would benefit immensely from all that PA Prep is, and all that it offers to students like them. Is it perfect, absolutely not. But the positives for a student/young adult like our son far far FAR outweigh any minor drawbacks. The great: 1. Incredibly intimate teacher/staff/student relationships. You want your child to be known and know their school staff, they will. The ability to cater and focus on what works for your student is incredible. 2. Incredibly capable and proficient teachers who know how to work with students for whom regular school isn't a good fit. 3. Patience, understand and flexibility. Need to take a "break" road trip with your student on a moments notice? PA Prep understands and accommodates with complete understanding. 4. Diversity of classes and programs to engage an out of the box learner. From art, outdoors to flight training. Just because it's small doesn't limit the exposure of options for your student, lots to offer including independent project programs to nurture student led initiative. The realities (not bad but worthy of mention): 1. It is small, and high school is high school, no matter where you attend. This can sometimes magnify any typical social dynamics. The staff is incredibly attuned to this, but you also should be as a parent. It is important to recognize this is still high school and immediately addressing issues is critical, the staff is exceptional at partnering on this. 2. There is a diverse population of students with a diverse set of backgrounds and needs. With this comes the realities of all their experiences, lives and challenges. Your student will be exposed to this, as they would in any high school, it isn't a fully sheltered and manicured but it is absolutely safe. It is incredibly important to stay aware of this as a parent. I will ensure you the staff is very experience and aware also, together this can help any student navigate the realities of high school life safely and holistically. 3. Passion, intent and caring are the hallmarks of PA Prep staff and teachers. Organization and "manicured administration" perhaps not so much the strong suit. Do not go in expecting perfection in communication, organization or logistics. I promise this is ok, and everything is handled with the best of outcomes for the students. If you are used to the polish of a "elite" private/public high school you will notice a difference here. My strongest advice for a successful PA Prep tenure is to invest in your parental (and student) relationships with staff, they are both open and available. This will help your student, and family, easily manage what is lacking in any size, scale, capabilities on this less critical administrative front. In closing: We loved PA Prep, we could not imagine our son achieving high school success without it. For the right student this IS the right place. Attend one graduation ceremony and that is all it takes to see how different, special and wonderful Palo Alto Preparatory School is for its staff, students and families!

Chris is an outstanding counselor. He helped me write my essays for UCs and the Common App and…read moresupplementals for schools such as NYU and Columbia. His organization and the information he provides about all of the schools are amazing and reduced the stress of having to research all of the small things for each school I was interested in. The way he guided me to write the essay was efficient and saved me a lot of time as I didn't have to write the same essay for another question that was similar to the last. I was able to finish my essays by August. It was a big relief and the whole process seemed very manageable with his help. His ability to provide fluidity in my writing and his knowledge of college admissions helped me especially because my writing was "impenetrable" or difficult for someone who didn't know me to understand. Besides the support he gave me with essays, he was also very easily accessible and understanding. I had his number and if there was anything that came up in the way of a meeting, I could just text him and I got a response in less than an hour. Any rescheduling of a meeting was simple and caused no trouble. Chris is a very straightforward person and gave me the support and advice I needed to write my essays. He is also pretty funny and a down-to-earth person which helped as meetings didn't come as something I didn't want to do. Chris was a great college counselor and I recommend him as his understanding of the application process and his ability to tutor and write were a great help.

I come from a non-traditional educational background, having gone directly to the US Air Force out…read moreof high school, only to stare down my UC undergraduate applications at the age of 29. Chris helped calm my nerves during the entire process. Chris is patient and has a unique talent of channeling your talents with the best possible outcome. He reassured me that my uniqueness had value. He got me talking about my achievements, made me feel proud, and helped me coalesce my thoughts into an essay that won me acceptance to Cal. In fact, after my acceptance into Cal, the admissions team asked if they could publish my personal statement to help other prospective students. Out of thousands of applications, they remembered mine! I highly recommend Chris for anyone who struggles to put their thoughts to paper for a personal statement. Thanks to Chris, my life trajectory changed in ways I never imagined. Chris has also tutored me in other areas such as Math and Writing. Learning never ends and Chris is unceasingly helpful in all aspects of my life. He is the most incredible writer I have ever met. I also plan on using Chris' services when I enter the work force after college. Meticulously written cover letters, resumes and thank you notes will put you above the rest. Thank you Chris. I am forever grateful.

I am very appreciative of the guidance that Kathy Chi provided my daughter during her high school…read moreyears. Kathy helped my daughter select activities and courses that allowed her to show her leadership skills and passions throughout her high school years. She does not have a cookie-cutter approach to college advising. She wants each student shine in their own individual way. This is different than the traditional advising service that recommends you join this club, be elected as an officer, take this AP class, etc... Kathy was a source of inspiration and encouraged my daughter to research different opportunities rather than outlining a specific path for her. Working with Kathy was a growing experience for my daughter and helped her not only have a stronger college application but also to learn how to create opportunities. I highly recommend Kathy and the Admissions Academy!

Eugene has been my daughter's high school math tutor for one and a half years. He was highly…read morerecommended by a close friend of mine whose son had been tutored by Eugene for more than 3 years. Eugene has a wealth of knowledge and experience tutoring high school math and physics, and truly meets the student where they are. He focuses on strengthening understanding of the fundamentals before moving to more challenging problem sets. I noticed a clear improvement in my daughter's confidence in tackling challenging mathematical concepts and problems. Highly recommended!

Eugene taught my son AP Physics 1 and did a fantastic job. He explains theorems with examples and…read morealso makes students read the textbook a lost art in today's schools. This made my son grasp principles really well. I would recommend him w/o any reservations.

Ruby helped my son prepare for both the PSAT and SAT, and we found her to be friendly, helpful, and…read moreextremely effective. To prepare for the PSAT, my son took a group course with Ruby, and he found her advice and guidance extremely helpful. His scores on practice tests improved quickly, and he ended up scoring in the top 2% of all California students. For the SAT, we arranged for him to work with Ruby one-on-one, and he again found her advice to be valuable and the preparation extremely helpful.

Highly recommend Ruby for SAT math tutoring. My son needed a math tutor for his SAT prep. Ruby…read moreunderstood my son's needs, reviewed chapter by chapter, which my son found to be very helpful. With her help my son was able to score 1550 on his SAT. We highly recommend anyone who is looking for SAT math tutoring give Ruby a try, we did and it paid-off big time.

We are incredibly happy with our experience at Huntington Learning Center. Our first grader was…read morestruggling with reading and I felt lost in terms of how best to support her. She just couldn't seem to focus and was falling behind. In the 4 months since we started, I have seen great improvement in reading skills, but most importantly, an increase in her confidence and reading is less of a battle with us. She is happy to be there, loves her tutor, and most importantly, enjoys reading. More recently we have had to switch to online tutoring given the Shelter-in-place order. I was very worried that our successes would come to a halt. It took some adjusting but the tutors and center have been creative in finding ways to keep her engaged and focused during our video sessions. We have our good days and our not so good days when my daughter is less engaged, but the best is when she tells her sister about how fun Huntington is.

Our granddaughter has been going to Huntington since second grade. She is currently in third grade…read moreand we have seen how she has improved and gained confidence in her math studies. The way schools are teaching math today differs from how we learned many years ago. It can be frustrating for parents and grandparents to help with this new math. Our granddaughter likes her tutor and doesn't complain about going to tutoring and having someone else explain concepts (even though we wish the school that we pay for did a better job at this). A tutor can take the frustration away from us and our granddaughter which helps her to be more open to learning. Huntington has been flexible when a schedule change is necessary. Additionally, it is nice to see how our granddaughter has improved when we meet with Huntington for her progress reports. Admittedly, it is not inexpensive, but our hope is that it will give her the confidence and foundation to be successful in math in the future. Thank you to Geetanjali and Casey.

The best tutor I've ever had…read more Where do I begin? Throughout high school he taught me how to properly write, critically think through math, English and logic problems. I wouldn't be the educated and articulate man I am today without his guidance. He sees where the disconnect is for people who don't understand something and helps them see how things work using their learning style. I am now passionate at writing for fun-thanks to him as well. All of my best essays in high school were under his tutelage. Best tutor I've ever had in my life and I am grateful that he works so hard and has continually been helpful in my life. He is also a very funny and patient person. Would recommend him over any other tutor in the Bay Area! Forever thankful for all that he did for me to get good grades, and learn how to flourish and be confident in my capabilities.

David is an excellent math tutor. He is patient, clear and thorough in his explanation. My son got…read more29/30 on his math test after working with David only a month. Thanks David!

They gave our son excellent coaching in track. Very caring and very professional. We were so…read moreimpressed and grateful for their great work.

Sports & Scholars provided an excellent tutor for our daughter. She connected very well with her,…read moreand was a very pleasant person to have at our home. She visited our daughter at our home and made it very convenient on her schedule, balancing homework and sports. Overall she was a great fit for our daughter and very professional as well. Mike and Shari Pace