We joined this campus in 2021, and I noticed that the negative reviews were from several years ago. The school changed its principal a few years back, and I am currently very satisfied with its operation. The school's director is very responsible, and the teachers are all very nice and have a strong sense of responsibility in guiding my child. The environment is clean, the campus is spacious, and academically, it consistently maintains corporate uniform standards, which I appreciate. My child is slow to warm up, and every day when I pick her up after school, she wants to play a bit more and doesn't want to leave. For me, that's enough. Overall, I am very happy with this campus. Updated 2025 Review: We are still extremely happy with this campus! Our daughter is now a 4th grader, and the school continues to impress us with its organization and commitment to excellence. Every teacher we've had so far has been amazing--supportive, caring, and highly professional. The management team runs the school very well, and the front office staff is the best--super responsive and always helpful. What we love most is their strict adherence to academic standards, which has helped our child improve tremendously. They truly care about the students; even when my child had a special medical issue, the staff took it seriously and were flexible in accommodating our needs. Because of this wonderful experience, we've decided to enroll our 3-year-old here as well, so he can start early. Highly recommend this campus to any family looking for a structured, caring, and academically strong environment! read more

In our experience with Challenger School, a student created a tkinter project for computer fair, but got a lower ranking than other projects that were less difficult. Although this is just one of the minor cases, students have been judged unfairly multiple times typically favor a certain groups of students. In another example, a student drew a really realistic picture of an animal yet got a way lower ranking than a student who did a colored drawing that was really 2d. In our few years of experience here, it is found that every year many executives have shown bias to certain students clearly favoring them over others which caused students to receive unfair treatment. As a school which vales the Challenger values of justice, rationality, and ect., the school is ironic in a sense by favor students which is not an act of justice. Hope this helps! read more

Our experience with Challenger School (Sunnyvale campus) has been deeply disappointing. While the school emphasizes academic rigor, our recent experience raised serious concerns about how student safety, behavioral incidents, and exceptional family situations are handled. There were repeated concerns involving inappropriate behavior toward our child that were known to staff. However, the response remained limited to warnings, without a structured or proactive resolution. This lack of escalation or preventive action was concerning. The situation became even more troubling during a genuine family emergency that required our child to be with us. The school's approach lacked empathy and flexibility, and decisions felt rigid and disconnected from the realities families sometimes face. Additionally, decisions following the incident were made with limited transparency and without meaningful parent involvement. The overall process felt unilateral, with little opportunity for discussion or consideration of context. As a result, we withdrew our son from Challenger School with immediate effect due to concerns about accountability and unilateral decision-making by the school management. We urge other parents to monitor their children's well-being closely, as these issues may not be apparent in day-to-day school life. Awareness and proactive communication can help avoid situations like ours. We hope the school reflects on this experience and improves its processes around bullying prevention, incident handling, compassionate handling of family emergencies, and parent communication. read more

As a former student, I would not recommend this school. The teachers were not nice at all and blatantly favorited certain students. One of my peers was baselessly accused of cheated. 15 people that were in my class have already transferred out. read more

It was my first time to sign my kid up for a Challenger summer camp as he was a little behind on phonics and reading in his play based school. And I have to say that the summer camp at Challenger School exceeded my expectations! The program is a great balance between academic rigor and summer fun. My 6 year old son excited to go every day and came home eager to share everything he learned about. He also loves the science and art session a lot and would not go home until he finishes his project every day. I want to especially share my thanks to the head teacher Dhruva Tamboli in Kindergaten Class, who played a key role in my son's major progress during the 7 weeks. Her encouragement and patience and dedication not only improve key academic skills but also boosted my son's confidence and love for learning. At the end of the program, my son took the assessment and proudly passed it and he will become a happy first grader in Challenger soon. read more

We are proud parents of Challenger School Sunnyvale and have had a wonderful experience with the school over the years. Our older child has already graduated from Challenger, and our younger child is currently in 8th grade. Both of our children have benefited greatly from the strong academic foundation and supportive environment the school provides. The teachers are knowledgeable, experienced, and genuinely care about their students' growth and success. The management team is excellent, and we especially appreciate the leadership of the current Principal, Mr. Krimmel. He is welcoming, approachable, and always helpful, which makes a big difference for both students and parents. We would also like to recognize the front office staff, Ms. Esther and Ms. Jeanelle, who are always professional, kind, and responsive. They create a warm and organized first impression and are a pleasure to work with. Overall, Challenger School Sunnyvale has been a very positive and rewarding experience for our family. We highly recommend it to parents looking for a strong academic program with caring leadership and staff. read more

If I could give 10 stars, I would!!! We have finished our summer program at Sunnyvale campus. We are absolutely lucky to have some amazing teachers who care and inspired my kid! Especially Miss Sunita and Miss Stacy who are truly one of a kind. They are the reason my daughter woke up every morning excited to go to school. Their warmth, patience, and ability to connect with each child are beyond words. Miss Sunita is always smiling and cheerful. Miss Stacy is always playing with full energy with the kids. They created a space where kids feel safe and seen. Every little effort is noticed, every day we were told about the highlight of my kid. As a parent, it's rare to come across someone who not only teaches but inspires. We are endlessly grateful -- this summer has been unforgettable at Challenger Sunnyvale . THANK YOU all from the bottom of our hearts! read more

Our daughter attended the pre-K program at Challenger School Sunnyvale last school year with Ms. Ann, Ms. Swati, and Ms. Shilpi. When she joined in the spring, she was a bit behind in phonics and spelling, but the teachers supported her with incredible patience and care. She quickly caught up academically and grew more independent and organized. Most importantly, she genuinely enjoyed going to school every day! She loved all her teachers--even those from the other pre-K class--and eagerly shared stories about her day. We feel truly fortunate to have had such dedicated teachers during this important early stage of her education. read more

I exceptional recommend the Sunnyvale Challenger for its professional, loving teachers as the biggest asset. Ms Mandy, Ms Sangeeta, Ms Riecha, Ms Rane etc., the list goes on and on for their dedication to daily life of teaching. I have 2 kids taking their education here and I witness how they grow to be self driven and responsive little ones who are affluent with their academic yet more, as a happy and healthy souls. read more

not good. the pe teacher made 12 year old girls run on their period and 2 threw up after. the english teacher is overall rude and immature, talking about weird topics in class like his girlfriend drinking or whatever. a lot of other teachers are mean,dont care abt the kids education and have favoritism. no im not a student i left the school years ago this school sucks dont go here read more

Great school, caring teaching staff and principle. We transferred to Challenge from out of state in 2019. There is a disconnection in terms what was taught in the previous school vs what's been taught/required here. Ms. Murali was very kind and assured us that she and her staff will help us to close the gap, and they DID! English teacher Ms. Arura my daughter needs improvement in our grammar diagramming. She volunteered to spend 1 hour everyday after school, for 4 weeks, with my daughter to improve this area. Ms. Arura was doing similar things for another boy in a lower grade, and she asked my daughter if she mind doing the afterschool session with the boy. My daughter preferred to have 1:1 sessions. No problem at all. Ms. Arura did the session 1:1 with my daughter, in addition to the other session she was having with that boy(also 1:1). During the pandemic, the school offered both in person and online option. Even though there were only 6 person in her grade opted for in person, the school continued to provide great learning experience. Dedicated teach for most subjects, as well teaching assistant sitting through all classes. During the application season, Ms. Murali provide very tailored and detailed guidance on the application processes of various highs cool. She also followed with us almost monthly on the progress and provide suggestions on the next steps. The past 18 month has been challenging but we're so glad we chose Challenger Sunnyvale. We're successfully admitted to a great private school. We can't do this without Ms. Murali and all her extraordinary staff. read more

Challenger School - Sunnyvale - Elementary Schools Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

Our family toured Challenger School-Sunnyvale in February with our daughter entering Kindergarten. The headmaster gave us a tour and, at the time, suggested that we schedule an assessment for our daughter. She told us about the summer program and how it would benefit our daughter's development. She said we could put a deposit down for the school year and the assessment and that all was refundable except for the assessment fee. The school took our down payment for the school year before the assessment and acceptance letter to the school. They were eager to persuade us to write the check. We attended the summer program where our daughter was bit by other students more than once. The teacher communicated the first incident without any resolution to the problem. The next day my daughter was bit again; this time, the office admin called to tell me. There was no written incident report for either scenario, which was odd. At the end of the program, we learned from the teaching staff that the leadership staff reprimanded the teacher for telling us our daughter was bitten. At that point, we decided we didn't want to return to Challenger School. We didn't like how they handled our daughter getting assaulted. We kindly asked for our deposit, and they refused to return it. I even asked the admin staff in the office before my request if the deposit was refundable if we changed our minds for the school year, and they reaffirmed what we were told during the tour, that it was. This staff is dishonest and does not handle behavioral issues responsibly. They quickly take your money without taking any responsibility for their lack of leadership. Keep your child away from here. read more

Most horrible school. My daughter went there at age 3. The teachers made fun of her in front of the whole class and traumatized her. She is now 13 and still carrying that trauma with lots of anxiety issues. I wish I never sent my baby there. read more

Nothing but great things to say about this school. Staff and teachers are great. My son and daughter both enjoyed their classes very much and boy did they learn a lot! The office staff were really helpful and attentive as well. Highly recommend to start your kids young here. They can actually learn a lot and the teachers/curriculum can really bring out the best in them and reveal their true academic potential! Only downfall is of course the tuition but if you can afford it, I'd say it's worth it. read more

Super strange...I scheduled and toured the Saratoga Challenger and had a great experience. Not so much here: I booked my tour on a Friday and came in on Monday for my appointment. I was asked to fill out a form immediately, and when I requested to have my tour first, was first given strange looks and then basically told that this was their process by three people at once (no joke). The stories I have heard now from parents about bullying being ignored by the school make sense - this is their way or the highway. On my way in, noticed that kids were doing some low-energy version of PE in their day uniforms. This is probably not the right school for us. read more

My two kids have been there for one and half years, because Sunnyvale middle is not satisfy our expectation. The experience in Challengers Sunnyvale is horrible. My kids move in from public school, and some knowledges they learned are not match the Challengers syllabus. At the beginning, the principle Murali said she could help to catch up the gap. However, finally the kids did not get any courage for their progress, but the complains that the parents did not help the kids for learning. The parents are not allowed to contact with the teacher. If you want to know how kids is going on in the school, NO WAY. Every issue have to go through Ms Murali, and sign some document that the school do not take responsibility for Kids failure. Unlike public school, some teacher in Challengers Sunnyvale have heavy accent. It is hard for kids follow. In Challengers Sunnyvale, The teacher could not address the topic in interesting way, so they use huge amount of homework to let student to "memory" the concept in repeat way. They do not teach any AMC math, but ask students to take AMC math test. Sometime, The teacher in Challengers Sunnyvale do not teach the lesson based on any textbook. For example, Their social science teacher, Ms Calson, give the exam only based on her flavor "opinion" to Russia. Challengers Sunnyvale has no gym, no quite music classroom, no quality art studio. The students have to have the lunch under the sun and do PE in the wet play ground. We are not sure if such environment could stimulus the kids and make them strong. The kids just feel boring and suffering. Ms Murali promised she would help and would work together to resolve those issue in laster summer. However, we get disappoint again and again, and decide to move the home to another school distinct. read more

Great school and very thankful to the caring administrators who would take time to call and check how everything is going with the student at home. We are very happy that school is able to deliver online learning and literature class teaches really good traditional values to my first grader. We like the curriculum very much as we believe in the value of hard work and integrity. read more

I need to enrol my child here. I panicked because my child was not listening. Later, he listened after going to this school.

Terrible school. Furious parents protested in the front of the school very often. Very rude to children. No diversity, and majority of teachers and students are south Asians. read more

Challenger School - Sunnyvale - Elementary Schools Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

2 kids here and happy. There are lots of homework but nothing too much. We moved kids to this school 2 years ago since public school did not meet our needs. We feel satisfied here. Kids love the after school sport and activities. I would recommend the school to other parents. read more

Challenger School - Sunnyvale is very good school, awesome teachers/educators! But saes is a so so one.... be aware of a teacher in performing art department .... do not send your kids to saes ; Overall the quality of instruction is great. Teachers are knowledgable and classwork is structured. read more

I really don't know why Challenger school (Sunnyvale campus) has received such negative reviews! My child has been attending this school for over a year now and I've seen tremendous progress!! He's gone from a shy boy to a confident student who's learned about all sorts of interesting topics. Do come here if you value building a strong foundation for your kids. It's not cheap but could you put a price on education?! Kids absorb what they learn like sponges! Simply amazing. The teachers care about their students and know their strengths and weaknesses. Their facility isn't as "fancy" as Stratford, but where do you want your money to go ultimately?! read more

My son went to this school recently for 2nd grade and really enjoyed his experience here. His teacher Ms. Nayak was instrumental in bringing him up to speed on the curriculum as he had moved from a public school. In just a short period of time he developed confidence in public speaking, his vocabulary and handwriting improved tremendously, not to mention the key skills in math and science. They also spend time learning logic, logo programming, music and art, rounding out their education. He went from being bored in public school to wanting to go to school to learn something new everyday. The school does require investment of time from parents to help the student complete their assignments and reinforce learnings from school to meet performance expectations. Other comments about the school demographic is fairly accurate but that is a personal choice and you can see that during class tours. read more

As a student who attended this school for a decade as an alternative to my local public school, I valued my experience and thrived afterwards. However, I have also recognized that the Challenger franchise forces conservative rhetoric on its students. I think this is very important for parents to know BEFORE sending their children to this school, so they can have active conversations with their children to see if this is still happening, and if Challenger has started including any other ideologies in their curriculum. Despite being strongly conservative themselves, my family was disgusted upon realizing that conservative rhetoric was being force fed to students in school, completely unbeknownst to them. My family wanted me to come to my political opinions myself, not be mentally manipulated during my formative years by my elementary/middle school. As students, we frequently had history lessons and school assemblies that focused on how "great and powerful" the USA was. I was constantly told by my teachers that the US is the "strongest and most powerful country in the world" and that we should "trust in the government and military." It's important to note that almost all the school at this point was comprised of Indian and Asian immigrants or the children of immigrants. Essay topics often focused on writing about how great this country is. Themes covered in history lessons also included how having to live on welfare from the government was irresponsible, and that Octomom was a disgrace who should have just had the moral responsibility to not have so many babies. Furthermore, every few months we'd get worksheets pushing political propaganda disguised as reading comprehension exercises. An example of one such thinly veiled worksheet went like this: The porpoise party believes in hard work, protecting people's earnings, national pride, and defending their people. The dolphin party does not emphasize working hard, believes in sharing everything that is earned collectively, and lets its party have too much social freedom. Which party is more likely to take initiative to defend its people if there is a war? Which party is more likely to make sure its people are employed? Which party do you think you belong to? If you were one of the students who understood what was going on and wrote "dolphin party" for all your answers, the history teacher would look at your answers and, in front of the entire class, ask you to explain why you wrote the "wrong" answers. For my final and most blatant example, my eighth grade class sang a mandatory introduction for an evening talk by Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative conspiracy theorist, pardoned by Trump (nearly 10 years later) for a felony conviction of making illegal campaign contributions. If we did not sing at his introduction, we'd be chastised by the teachers. Aside from us, the audience consisted solely of the parents of students were forced to sing the introduction, because they were the ones who needed to pick us up and take us home. Sneaky. My parents (again conservatives themselves) left livid. Once we started getting into middle school, my classmates and I understood what the school was trying to do, and no one ended up actually being "brainwashed." In fact, Challenger's conservative rhetoric actually probably had an opposite effect on us than they intended. My classmates and I still remain in touch and frequently discuss this now as adults. At another challenger campus, a history teacher forced a class to recite "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Now that we are adults, we're all pretty disgusted by the extent with which this went on in the school, and it's enough that we all agree that we wouldn't send our own children here. There are other private schools in the area with more transparency than this one. We also are old enough now to speak out with authority about our experiences to other parents considering sending their children here. In summary, if you send your kid here, have active conversations with them about what they're learning in school. I personally don't believe that it's the school's place to impress political ideas upon its students, but that if it is doing so, it should damn well be informing the parents. From 2000-2010, Challenger pushed strongly conservative propaganda on its students without telling the parents, and it very likely could still be happening in stronger force today. read more

The online classes were terrible. We had a one hour live session and it was glitching out. Bruh moment

My daughter transferred to Challenger Sunnyvale during elementary school and continue her middle school there. The experience has been really good. Overall the quality of instruction is great. The teachers are more knowledgable and the course work is structured. In addition, the principal truly cares for the students and leads the teachers to deliver the best curriculum possible. Whenever we have a concern or question, the principal listens and proposes solutions timely. We are very happy that we chose Challenger Sunnyvale and would recommend it to our friends immediately. read more

Going to this school with shitty online classes, they are literally making us pay half the fees for this BS. I would hive a zero if I could.

This school is ok. The teachers and staff there are getting less and less stricter. The curriculum is also better. However there are a few suggestions I would like to make. First off, you could really add some exercise clothes. Kids these days do bad in PE just because his or her clothes are not fit for the job. My parents had to buy me three extra pairs of pants just because I split my old pants doing jumping jacks. Overall though, Its ok to send you child to this school. read more

Let me start out by saying that I went here for middle school a decade ago. My parents now live near this campus which inspired me to write this review (I visit them often). I come from a traditional 1st gen Indiain Asian family that believed that sending me to Challenger would provide me with all the tools and knowledge necessary to be successful later in life. This is a very destructive mentality that many 1st generation Asian parents have because this follows the old paradigm of Asian education. In today's world, this paradigm is simply not effective. The truth is that Challenger shelters its students from reality and cripples them mentally, socially, and physically. Challenger may teach more advanced English and Math, but this same quality of education is offered by many public schools to those students that want and deserve it. Challenger will force their education down a student's throat and if the student cannot handle it, the student will be discouraged. This sort of stress is unhealthy to a young child who may simply need a different way of learning materials than the fast-paced memorization that Challenger adopts. Aside from mandatorily advanced English and Math classes (NOTE: It is questionable as to whether these concepts truly stick to a child's head), there are lots of social issues with Challenger: - Naturally gifted students will find it much easier here because the teachers will be biased towards them. Normal and straggler students will have their self-esteem crushed. They will be ignored. - Many Challenger students aren't encouraged to find their personality because a kid is likely to be yelled at if he/she doesn't follow the Challenger model of being quiet and studious. The kids who do follow their standards are doted on (mostly the naturals) and usually go on to win many of the competitions that Challenger hosts. - P.E in Challenger is a joke since there are no exercise clothes. Students run and perform physical activities with the same uniform they wear in classes to take tests. - Challenger has no library - Challenger doesn't teach social skills. For instance, Challenger has a speech competition, but doesn't teach kids the concepts of public speaking such as tonality, vocal control, pausing for emphasis, thinking on your feet, and practice. Pretty much the naturals win these competitions while the rest struggle speaking. There are no attempts made to help those who are struggling. - Even if your child is social, the child will socialize with the same group of Asians of the same demographic. In reality, this demographic makes up less than 2% of America. Your child will likely not know how to conduct herself at the presence of a group of 1st Gen Mexican immigrants, or varsity athletes or WASPy/preppy folk or simply the average American. - Any attempts to explain or understand the budding attraction the opposite sexes felt for each other were ignored and discouraged. I mean this is the age boys and girls discover each other. It's completely natural. At least a teacher-figure to properly guide us on about what we're going through would've been helpful. The truth is that I was a straggler student. I struggled with the academics Challenger offered, and I was told by many teachers that I had a "dark" future ahead of me. And of course they would drag the parents in with the dreaded parent-teacher conferences to explain all this, so I was definitely under a lot of stress! I was greatly discouraged, and to me a successful day would be when I received a B on a test so that I wouldn't disappoint both my teachers and my parents. Needless to say, after Challenger, I went to a public high school. A decade later, I graduated top of my high school, graduated from an Ivy League, and now I live in the Marina district of San Francisco (read very affluent neighborhood) working for a top tech company as a software engineer earning 6 figures in my early 20s. I have to say that I regret having gone to Challenger because their negativity really held me back in life after. It took a lot of effort to unwind from the Challenger experience, and accept the positivity and education that the public school teachers gave me, which helped me become the normal high-achieving all-rounded American student I was meant to be. read more

One of the biggest problems of this school is that many teachers pick favorites, choosing only to work with the good students rather than with people who actually need the help and don't understand school lessons. I believe some teachers actually only like the more popular kids too, seeing how they barely did much when a student was being rudely bullied by her peers. They gave a speech which stopped the bullying for about a week, but soon enough it began occurring again. Some teachers are even bullies themselves, not only to older kids but even elementary school kids. I remember when I was in the 2nd grade, my friend told me what happened in her class. Her teacher told this one boy to come up to the front of the room and she asked the students to raise their hands if they liked him, even when she knew no one would dare raise their hands. She was right, and the boy walked back to his desk, abandoned his usually hyper personality, and began to sob and cry. Instead of encouraging students, one teacher actually rudely insulted me behind my back. She then loudly mocked me in front of everyone. She didn't even realize that what she did was unscrupulous. Also, I don't know why the teachers think being strict is better. My classmate told me that she saw one of the teachers go to one of the meaner, less understanding teachers for help. She then started yelling more. Now she is trying oh so hard to be strict and controlling, forcing students to participate or else you get a zero. Even when you decide to change your past ways and participate, she sometimes won't notice if you've got a reputation for not participating--so much for turning over a new leaf. Also, one of the teachers smokes. That is ironic considering that we are being taught not to smoke. Are these people really supposed to be our role models? A few teachers are much better at teaching and more understanding, but others are just plain mean and ignorant, paying attention only to the better students and not willing to help the students who actually need it. Do we really want these people to be our teachers and leaders? Do they want us to smoke five packs per day and bully people? Do they want us to solve all our problems by yelling and intimidating others?! You gotta be kidding me! But what is absolutely the final straw is that the principal herself also shows preference over students. For the student council, this boy and this girl were running for president. The boy received more votes, and he earned the position of president--however, the principal decided to create a NEW position, which she gave to the girl. She made up some position just because she wanted the girl to win so badly and be part of the student council rather than the boy. Imagine how the boy must have felt even though he won, to find out that the principal didn't want him to win. In all the years that I've been here, this has never happened before. Also, they FORCED students to buy food from the student council by taking away their special privileges until they did so. Parents pay so much money to go here and they're still trying to make a quick buck just because they wasted the school fund on ugly beige paint, donut-shaped trash cans, and decorative rocks. What a joke. Basically, if you want your child to get yelled at, controlled, and bullied, sign 'em up for Challenger--brainwashing kids since 1963. read more

I am updating the review so that yelp post the review. Teachers and middle school principal will bully parents also.

I should not give even ONE star for this school. This school has full of crooks in administration. I was looking for a private school for my son (6th grade) and daughter (kindergarten). We have visited at Hollenback - Challenger School 3 times before we registered for assessment test. The ladies in administration explained us about registration process every time we visited. They did mentioned assessment test fee $30, registration fee $120 and tuition fee $200 in addition and refundable if we decided not to enroll our kids. They didn't tell us the due date every time we visited and asked them every time, even on the day I registered for my son and daughter for assessment test at the front desk. Even director didn't tell us about refund due date on the day we wrote the check total of $700. My son passed the assessment test but my daughter fails. They called me the next day about the result and I received the official mail one day before due date. In the official mail also, didn't mentioned about the notice of registration fee even a word. Later I found out the due April 29th was written in the hand out . So when I realized and called them for refund in early May, they denied to refund my son. They also told me to refund for my daughter but I didn't get any official mail or written notice. I have emailed several times, I got one courtesy written reply. Director did call back when I got upset. I believe those people are trying to catch the parents to rob hardworking parents money in easy way by not telling the due date. It has been almost 3 months already and I haven't got any official email / mail for refund. I am not sure if they are planning to bone the money. It was so difficult to talk to those higher officials. The admins are trained to defer the calls to those big guys. No matter how the school is good, but the administrations and the systems are trained to be UNTRUE, I would not even consider to visit to that school. So my advice to the other parent, please find out others reviews and judge with your own opinions whether you should send your kids to that school. read more

There is no parent teacher communication channel. If you want to talk with teacher, you have to go through office appointment. Teacher is not nice to children. When children ask for help, Teacher only ask children to read the text book again, or try to figure out themselves. The school focus too much to let the students to follow all kinds of rule or policy, and do not encourage any creative. Art class and computer class are such an example. The school ask students to remember too many rare used vocabulary, but do not spend much time on those high frequency words and assume students already know them very well. read more

Challenger school has done nothing great compared to public schools! They didn't help us get into private high schools or anything! As a graduate I can safely say NEVER SEND YOUR KIDS THERE! I mean up until third grade it was actually good, but after that it was awful. We never had fun, never went on field trips, never had sports. Only academics nothing else. Now we see kids from public schools are at the same math level as us. So there's no point in being tortured. All the money you pay them is a waste! read more

My daughter started to attend Challenger Sunnyvale since this March. At first I was a bit nervous about switching her to a new school in the middle of school year. To my surprise she adjusted herself beautifully. Teachers were very patient and experienced. She surprised me on a daily basis with songs and rhymes. We all know teacher turnover rate is fairly high nowadays. But it's not unusual to see teachers with more than 15 years experiences at Challenger school. She's in Kindergarten this year with two very experienced teachers again. One day she came home to perform the poem The Swing in front of me and my husband. It just melted our hearts. I can see she's making progress everyday. Her handwriting is neat; her composition is fun and creative. I'm going to watch her growing and blossoming here. Personally I thought Challenger offers the best curriculum in the industry, experienced teachers, excellent behavior management for kids and very competitive after school program. It has the best value within its class. I take one star off only because I wish it could be more diverse culturally. read more

As a former Challenger student, I am obliged to post a review to warn other prospective students and parents. I attended Challenger from second grade up to eighth grade. Challenger may seem like a great place for your child to learn, but it detriments their ability to think creatively and converse socially. After graduating from Challenger, I had a tough time making new friends in high school. I was actually socially awkward. Because of the lack of encouragement to push social communication, Challenger crippled me as I went onto high school. Parents might not care about their child's social status, wanting their child to succeed rather than be "popular", but in this community where top high schools are literally everywhere, social skills could really benefit. I can't stress enough how the teachers at Challenger forced students to be quiet when we simply only wanted to talk to our friends. During lunch, the unqualified, mean teachers forced everyone to eat in silence. We're allotted 40 minutes for lunch: 20 for eating and 20 for playing; yet after the first 20 minuets the teachers force the students to go outside and play even though they haven't finished their lunch. That is just simply outrageous. At the end of the day when students are waiting for their parents to pick them up, the patrolling teachers force each student to shut up so that students can hear the teachers calling their name to go outside. If the student does not go outside, all of the teachers get mad and start scolding the kid. Who are they to have the right to scold a child? With all social problems aside, you may think that Challenger will give your child a great boost academically. The only thing that Challenger does is teach higher level math and grammar. Even then, public schools offer the same curriculum to students to QUALIFY to take higher level classes. The bad thing about Challenger is that even though the student may find the class challenging, the material is forced upon them. Teachers may try to help, but there is only so much a teacher can do. Some students need to take it slowly before moving on. I remember specifically how my classmates would often get frustrated about contests and programs that the school offered. No matter how hard a student tried, only the seemingly top students would win. The drama/speech teacher constantly picked on one single person to excel instead of putting her efforts on improving the quality of everyone's learning. I remember being forced on stage to present a speech when I was not prepared at all. I was scared to death about how I would fail. Instead of encouraging me, the teacher would offer criticism. Only after I moved onto high school did I learn that I did not have any problems speaking in front of people, it was simply the fact that I was not taught the ways to speak properly. I had trouble presenting myself, yet nobody in Challenger encouraged me to do better. Science fairs and speech contests are also forced upon every student. The teachers grade roughly and only want their favorites so succeed. Usually, students are allowed to pick what they would like to specialize in, focusing on their interests, but in Challenger, they want to create the "perfect" student in which they're completely well rounded. It seems like a good idea, but no matter how hard they try, a student can not simply like certain subjects. Teachers are also under qualified. There is the occasional teacher that makes an impact on the student, but others are just there to give students hell. My history teacher specifically once gave us a unscrambling word problem test. Not only did it not test us the material, but it was simply there just to confuse the students. I remember her explicitly saying that teachers in high school and college will use such tests, but I have yet to experience that. Using confusing tests does not challenge the student in the right way, it just lowers their self-esteem. I have so much to say, but I'm probably making this review too long. All in all, Challenger boosts their top performing students, leaving the others to perish when it's not their fault in any way. They discourage the development of social interaction and force academics upon students who may not even have the ability to comprehend those ideas. read more

Beware of their tution fee practices.....They'll collect $125 registration plus $200-$300 prepaid tution in advance starting in January of each year for the fall program. There will be a tiny window of one week to cancel the program sometime in April (which is odd because you wouldn't know at that time whether your kid get admission to other schools or not ), otherwise you forfeit both registration fee *AND* prepaid tution. In case, you don't decide to enroll your kid, because your kid got an admission at a different school....bummer! Got bitten badly. read more

Our child has been at Challenger school for a year and a half, for all of 2nd grade and the first half of 3rd. We are very satisfied. Previously, we went to our local Cupertino public school which seemed to have little in the way of academic challenge. Off topic, our experience with Cupertino public schools (three children, a mix of elementary, middle, high) has been that the program is way over-rated. The system depends on parents to motivate and watchdog their kids, and on the kids to navigate the material. We did not experience a school system that was strong, nor did we experience stellar teachers, instead the community itself is strong. Before Challenger we also tried Stratford for several years (pre school, pre-K, K, 1st grade for one of our kids). Stratford is exceptional in arts and humanities but not as strong in science/math and classroom behavior. Coming to Challenger was an improvement for us. We are very happy with the teachers, the level of the homework, the after school program, interactions with the office...indeed just about everything. I've given a 4 rating. We're picky. Stratford had terrific class performances and strong art, Spanish and music programs, for example. But we're big fans of Challenger and consider it the best choice overall. read more

Teachers are bullies here and have lot of attitude. That is what I don't like about the Challenger branch in Sunnyvale.

Very honestly, I am not at all satisfied with this particular Challenger campus, although I will include the limited pro's of the school. First off, there are 4 main reasons for my disappointment: Administration, academics, social skills taught, and teachers. *This review is mostly based off the middle-school.* Administration: The admin are horrible, atrocious even. The old principal lacked enthusiasm and care for the students, disregarding every request the student body and the classes made, such as better dances and a more fun last day of school. Due to the neglect, middle school students had to do impromptu arrangements for activities so that the lower grades to have a fun last day of school, and so sacrificed their own. Also, not only are the admin rude to the students, they are also rude to the parents. A person in the office argued with a parent, who is a practicing doctor, about what they should do to calm down swelling of the child's eye. The new principal is also rude, unqualified, chaotic, and passive-aggressive. Academics: The academics of the school are not very good either. All that is taught above public school level is math and grammar, potentially literature. The homework is too much. In addition, the tests are very objective or subjective, leading to memorization or finding out ways to become the teacher's favorite so one can get a good score. Social Skills: Talking is banned in Challenger Sunnyvale. Students are not allowed to talk during class, even if it is to ask for notes if he or she missed some. They are immediately punished and scolded for trying to keep up...sad. Kids are not allowed to share anything, supposedly building independence and responsibility, but also making kids bratty and arrogant. Teachers: The teachers here are shockingly horrid. For this, I am only going to discuss the middle school teachers, as all of the elementary do not seem very bad. Firstly, logic and computers teacher: she forces kids to do assignments without even teaching the material. She is also forgetful. She once gave a kid who had completed an assignment very well, done correctly, a B+ for no reason at all. The science, history, and literature teachers are all good, however. They know how to keep students at least somewhat engaged, but the last two give rather subjective tests based on favoritism. Moving on, the math teacher is really bad. She does not know how to effectively teach Algebra and Pre-Algebra, leaving students to do it themselves. The grammar and composition teacher is really mean; she does not want students to have an opinion, especially on their own behavior. She also punishes students who did nothing, leaving them crying, and does not even apologize for wrongly accusing the student. It could be through what she perceives of the child out of school. Lastly, the music and P.E. teachers are quite bad. The P.E. teacher is so-so, he does only his job and nothing more. The music and speech teacher has very clear favorites. She only picks the favorites and forces him or her to perform even though he or she may not want to perform. So, in all, Challenger is a bad school, and one should not send his or her child there because they are subjected to "dirty politics", favoritism, and lack of a conducive learning environment. read more