This place is completely overpriced and lacks any pricing transparency. We paid over $700 for a week camp and then the day before was told we also had to pay a $40 "materials fee." My daughter got a small binder with a cheap reusable bag and they charged $40 for that?! When I complained, they said it was the cost to develop the curriculum and the labor to print it and deliver it. Wouldn't that have been covered by the $700. The worst part was my daughter hated it and found it very boring. Save your money for a better enriching experience. read more

My 8 year old daughter took the playscripting class with Ballentine over the spring break through Cupertino. She loved it! Class sizes are small and you can tell the teacher is great with kids. My daughter came home every day talking about how much fun she had and was determined to get her homework done. Classes are pricey but well worth our spring break! Thank you! read more

I am writing to complain about the camp instructor called Daniel. On 8/1 he tried to call parents at noon for non-emergency matters but unfortunately we were both busy at that moment. Then he called my friend's number which I gave for emergency. Furthermore, he did not verify the identity of the person who he was speaking with, and he even started to discuss my son. According to my friend, his attitude was rude and disrespectful. Eventually she realized the nature of this call and stopped him. This incident made her feel so upset. After it happened, I talked with Daniel. However, he failed to give any justifiable reason but kept saying "It is my first time to do this." He did not apologize. His inappropriate practice shows his lack of experience and communication skills. Ironically, this camp is designed to improve communication. I consider his misuse of emergency contact to be irresponsible and reckless. He should not be the camp instructor in the future. read more

This is an overdue review of their Spring camp in Fremont. I would give them zero stars if I could! I sent my son for a Spring camp through the city of Fremont's RegeRec program. My usual experience has all been very good with all camps with RegeRec, but this one was a true HEAD TURNER!! The instructor was late for his first day of camp and then kept blaming others for why he wasn't prepared with the forms to signed by parents. His manners and communication were both pathetic, so it's funny that he was actually there to teach communications, when he would never even respond to morning courtesy. The curriculum was more of a robotic outline with no benchmarks. This camp was expensive, so I didn't expect such low quality of education. I did call and report this to the city's office too, but I see that they are still working with them. It's sad to see hard earning money being wasted on camps like these. Please be wary of this camp before you sign up for it. read more

This place is just ridiculous . The idea behind it is great, but they put some older girls in my daughters 5yr old class who were bullying her. The teacher says she didn't really notice it, and at some point she thought my daughter was having a hard time, and she just brushed it off!! I confronted the office about it and they basically said that its probably because the other kids are high functioning kids and that all they could do is apologize and I'm supposed to move on! I really thought they lady there was crazy, if she thought I'd bring my child back to a place like that. That let's bullying occur and then says "sorry, now get over it!" These girls are 5!!! I asked to speak to the director and never heard back from them, and the won't refund my money back either. Don't send your kids here, especially if they need confidence building read more

The classes sound impressive but they were a disappointment. My kid dreaded to go to the class after few weeks. She complained its boring and didn't find it interesting. My daughter has gone to different classes for dance, drawing, swimmimg, summer camp but this one didn't interest her at all. The instructor seemed new and though was soft spoken didn't sound confident herself. I expected this to instill a confidence and good oratory skill but it just fell flat on my expectations. The price they charge is high compared to the outcome I saw in my kid. read more

I am writing this to share with you and parents who are thinking to send their kids to Communication Academy about my experience with Communication Academy and Mr. Lam. Alex is my 6 year-old son. He was always hesitating to speak in front of people he is not familiar with. Sometime this is too much so I put him into this public speaking class. Originally I thought to just give him some opportunities to speak and let himself realize there is really nothing to be afraid of to mitigate his fear. Of course I didn't expect changes happen all of the sudden. Interestingly after second class we noticed that he started to be consious about the elements of public speaking when he talks to people. Signs come and go but we were still very happy about it. Finally in the last class he made a better than ever in his life talk with loud and clear voice, confidence and audience awareness. All my family were there and all felt so surprised about his improvements. Mr. Lam is Alex's teacher and a great teacher. Sometime I peek from outside. I can see Mr. Lam is always well prepared for the class from logistics to contents and very well skilled. He keeps kids' interest and focused in the class. For different kids he tailores his teaching methodology to adapt every child's learning curve. He also spends a lot of time talking to parents about their kids' progress and places that need attention. By this parents know how to help kids in everyday life to enhance the influence of what has been learned. I can also see that Communication Academy has a proven successful program in public speaking subject. I was going over homeworks with Alex. Apperantly their material is very easy for kids to understand and follow. It covers most important aspects of this subject and summerizes them clearly in simple language for kids to remember. I really appreciate Mr. Lam and CA since this is really invaluable for us. By Jin He, PhD from Fremont, CA read more

My son has taken Debating and Public Speaking classes from Communication Academy. It has been great experience for us. All my son's teachers are well qualified (They are college professors). The course material is organized in the way that student easy to follow. My son has learnt many different ways to communicate in variety of situation. The classes give each student an opportunity to practice the skills in front of all students. For debating classes, the students are divided into a few groups. They debate between groups. From these courses, my son has gain practical communication skills that have greatly contributed to his recent winning as class president. As a parent, I am very pleased with their customer support. My son had schedule conflicts and had to miss out couple of classes. I called Elisa Fireman/ Education Manager and she always tried her best to make-up classes for my son. She is also very knowledgeable for the classes. read more

Students get personalized attention in a small classroom setting and learn how to improve their communication and professional public speaking skills quickly. Big improvements in building confidence, self-esteem, and overall ability to learn how to deliver professional speeches. Great team, committed teachers and staff. read more

I enrolled my 6 yr old son to one of thier classes. I was disappointed that during the session he was there, they changed 3 instructors. The instructors seemed keen on getting out of the class, rather than being focussed on the children. At the end of the 10 week class, the final evaluation said that the child just needs to get over his nervousness. Duhhhhh. That's why I sent the child to your class in the first place. So, I miss the point of the feedback. They also did a little narration of the chicken-little story in the end. The instructor chose to give biggest number of lines of kids who were doing well. My son was wondering why he got to say just 2 lines. It didn't help to boost his morale a bit. The class is also quite expensive at $250 + course fee. read more

My son attended two weeks of summer camp there. I have to say we are very disappointed. The classes are expensive. And my son has not learned much at all. In the end the teacher's assessments are about advertising the regular classes they have during school year. It is as if the summer camp sessions are just teasers, very very expensive teasers. read more

The idea seems really good of the kind of things they are trying to teach. I really wanted to send my child here and attended their open house recently. However, the place is really not very kid-friendly. Drab and dull white walls, really old dowdy looking furniture that looks like it is from the 60s. Really really boring for a child between 5-11 to be there. I was sitting there for an hour and a half thinking how sad it would be to be there as a kid everyday for hours during camp. However, this is easily fixable. Some bright red or yellow paint, some fun wall decals, with kid friendly bright colored new plastic furniture (even IKEA for crying out loud!) would do wonders for this place. read more

I send my 9 yo daughter there. She did not learn much. The place is old, small and tuition is expensive. She is better off writing at home with mommy and daddy doing the correction. She said she don't like going there. Practice, practice and more practice at home will save $$$. She is doing better now, at school with more practice at home. read more

We have taken the first pre-public speaking course and are almost done with a repeat course for reinforcement. The Communication Academy staff has been very helpful to our child in learning the steps to speaking confidently. The material for the course is designed effectively for the ten weeks by the director, staff and teachers. The instructor Mr. Wood has provided a fun and educational environment in the class; additionally, parental encouragement outside the classroom was highly encouraged through weekly assignments for the students to practice the concepts which were taught during that week. The program helped my child with the knowledge base for better speaking in my opinion. I appreciated one other aspect of the course. The class presented an enjoyable play on the last day that the students had to practice and rehearse throughout the length of the course. There were about eleven students in the class of 5 to 6-year olds. Each of the children had just a few lines to remember, had to recall their cues when to speak, and were encouraged to practice key ideas about public speaking (such as the 5-Bs of the speaker). The children did a wonderful job speaking in front of an audience of parents and siblings. read more

My daughters have attended Communication Academy for the past year and a half. As such, I believe my comments reflect the experience of many parents there. That is, the types of classes they offer, the quality of what they teach, and the experience of the kids are all excellent! I first learned of this place through the DeAnza brochure. I was particularly interested in the Academic Grammar and Writing class for my 3rd grader. Having seen my oldest do a lot of writing in elementary school and even more so in high school, I know it just gets tougher, so I wanted to ensure my youngest had a solid foundation. Also, I work for a large company, and I've seen people demonstrate good communication and writing skills, and I've seen those who have not. The latter generally have unsatisfying careers. The good communicators excel and move forward. My 3rd grader took four grammar and writing classes in her first year: Narrative, Expository, Response to Literature, and Journalism. Class sizes are small and limited to 12 students. My daughter made new friends each time, which she enjoys. Teacher interaction with the kids is also excellent. The teachers are knowledgeable and engaging. By the second writing class several months later, I noticed my daughter's writing skills had developed at least two grades further... maybe more. My 3rd grader learned grammar basics and was writing paragraphs, essays, etc. She was learning to organize her ideas and communicate them. Her essays had extensive feedback from her Communication Academy teachers. The teachers were encouraging, and the classes were fun. My daughter's elementary school teacher also noticed. It appears my daughter did an in-class assignment where she wrote an essay. The teacher's comment was "Incredible!" My husband and I read the essay, and our jaws dropped. It was at the same level as my oldest daughter when she was a sixth grader. The 3rd grade teacher would not have believed my daughter did it herself if it weren't for the fact that it was all done in class. And that teacher went on to use that essay as a demo in her class assignment at Santa Clara University. As for a favorite class at Communication Academy, my daughter would say Journalism. She was able to apply all that she had learned that past year to something real - creating a newsletter where she interviewed people, wrote stories, etc. In short, my daughter enjoyed all the classes. She is not a genius. She enjoys learning new things, and the extensive feedback and encouragement from the teachers really helped guide her. Others we know have also sent their kids to Communication Academy. The kids that get the most out of it are those kids that want or are willing to learn more. And that would appear to be the makeup of the kids that go there. It is worth the cost for the solid foundation and confidence it has given both my daughters. (By the way, my oldest daughter took 3 SAT prep classes there. She says it is helpful and a great learning experience.) read more

My kid attended the essay writing course, they had a good teacher initially and then suddenly after couple of class they replaced the teacher who does not looked experienced. I discussed this with a friend who had similar experience with Communication Academy, to switch the trainer once the class begins. It was expensive class and my kid did not learn much from the class. I will not recommend this place for tutoring. read more

We sent our 5 yr old daughter to the pre-public speaking class in Sep 2013, at Fremont site. Ms. Readye was the instructor. Although my daughter had no problem talking with family or friends in private, she was always hesitating to speak publicly, with very low voice, and almost no eye contact. We didn't hope much but just want to give my daughter some opportunities to practice, after all it's only ten times courses. But after a couple of course my daughter started to talk about 5-Bs and other key elements of public speaking. In the last class, we surprisingly saw my daughter looking at audience, speaking clearly and confidently, even with proper gestures! My husband and I told to each other: "It's a miracle!" We can hardly believe the big changes happened within just a couple of months! I also noticed that for kids that still hesitated to speak at the last class, Ms. Readye very patiently encouraged them first, then tried saying the first sentence and asking kiddo to say the left; if not work, then asking kiddo to take turn speaking with her; if still not work, then asking kiddo speaking with her altogether. All kids spoke more or less in public at the end. Thank you Ms. Readye for being such a talented, patient and helpful instructor! My daughter registered in the pre-public speaking class in Spring 2014 and we cannot wait seeing you again! read more

My kids (in middle school now) have taken many public speaking, debate, and writing courses over the past three years, and I am more than pleased with their wonderful performance at school this year, especially in their English/Writing classes. Instructors were very experienced. knowledgeable, and patient. Both my daughter and son received detailed feedback after each class, and their advice really helped their performance at school. So happy to see they both got A's in their English/Language Arts and Writing classes in school this year. read more

My child 8th grader took many one on one or small batch - classes for competitive math training. They are really good and have vast knowledge of all math competitions and was very helpful. Jackson Chow is very knowledgeable and provides good suggestions to our individual needs. I drove all the way from North SJ to Cupertino just for these classes. My son even got a Perfect Score in recent AMC8 . So I'm very happy to recommend this place. read more

Communication is in short words, a drab and boring place. First of all, the rooms there are small, drab, and boring and it looks like it's a 90's class. Second, the teachers are old-fashioned, and waste a lot of time and money. In short, don't even think about coming here. Period. read more

My kids took several classes here. They love coming here. As a parent, I don't want to push the children to learn. But I am very pleased with the progress they are making. I get to see their daily feedback on what they have been doing as the carry home bags always contain work that was completed during the class. They don't have outdoor area, and the rooms are small.. But this is fine for me. read more

Don't be fooled by the word "camp" in the summer camps they offer. Maybe the parents from East or South Asia consider drilling a sport, but these are not "camps" by American standards. The students are crammed into a small room with small desks facing the blackboard. They sit there all morning/afternoon and don't even get to come out during the break. They need to get the key to go to the bathroom. The classes are boring. The "public speaking" is more like acting (reading the script out loud with the book in hand) without a theater. The teachers are old-fashioned and unwilling to communicate. If you attend a 2-week session, the teacher even shows you the same movie on the last day as if it's still entertaining. The rates (around $400 for 5 days of half-day camp, slightly varying by subjects) seem ridiculous. You can take this money elsewhere for a full-day camp and, whatever you are getting from that other camp, your kid will at least have more fun. read more

My son (11) attended two courses. He thought one was great (4.5 out of 5) and was very disappointed in the other (1 star). Drilling into his disappointment; was not having fun, was bored and found the work tedious. He eventually got quite angry about it and stopped attending. On the other hand, the course he enjoyed he went to willingly and without any need for encouragement. What was interesting is that he had the same instructor for both courses so it was not the personality but the course content that was not a fit. Seems at no point was the class engaged in a conversation about what they wanted to achieve (pretty standard practice I would have thought) and, as such, he felt he was getting nothing out of being there (except an appreciation for how slow the clock moves when you are bored). My recommendation would be to pick the course carefully and find out what the desired learning objectives are and ensure they match your (and your child's) expectations. read more

Very dissapointed with a Public Speaking camp my son took this past week. I attended the last day presentation and also happened to be a few minutes early to pick up my son during the week, so wasn't impressed how the class was going. The rules not to scream, listen to the other, one person speaks at a time were not apparently enforced. I believe, even if it was a game, you have to follow the rules, this is the whole point of the class. My kid also said there were a few "shut ups" from other kids during discussions. The teacher himself does not speak clearly and loud enough, his speech has a lot of 'ahems' when he didn't know what to say. The presentation only showed that kids didn't learn much. I couldn't hear most of them, the speach wasn't loud and clear. There was no interaction with the audience, looked like they wanted to get it over with, instead of to deliver the message to us. Non-verbal communication was also bad, nothing had been practiced. The material my kid picked was too hard, a poem with half of the words he doesn't understand. I wish the teacher worked on it with my kid or adviced a different piece. Here is the description for this class: "Creative Interpretation emphasizes the use of gestures, emotion, facial expression, and body language in addition to the basic public speaking skills." - None of these I saw during the presentation. It is a huge dissapointment. The tuition is very expensive, wish I have my money back. One week of summer waisted too. I would not recommend this class to anyone, save your money. read more

This class was a joke. It was the most expensive one week public speaking camp that did not teach anything!!The couple that was teaching it seemed very unfriendly. They made the kids play games instead of teaching. They tried to sell the binder for $50 and the end of the camp that was provided to the kids at the beginning. The folder contained poems that could be printed online. Very disappointing! My daughter absolutely dreaded going to this camp. This camp was in Shannon Community Center in Dublin in June for a week. This place should hire more people friendly staff, at least for a public speaking class!! read more

I took both math olympiad and public speaking classes way back in middle school and early high school. These classes helped me score well on the SAT and score well on my AMC's, and this strong foundation helped me do well throughout high school and I am now at my dream school in the Ivy League. I firmly believe it was in no small part due to the enrichment I got here and am thankful to Jackson and the instructors for being so flexible in accommodating individual student needs. read more

My daughter Amanda is 10-year old 5th grader. She loves to go to the speech classes at Communication Academy as the teachers are nice and curriculums are well structured. My daughter also participated summer speech contest last year, which really inspired her to speak with confidence and clear voice. It also helped her win the student council election 2 years in a row. I would recommend this place for public speaking related programs. read more

This place is bad, the classes are so expensive, the people who work there including the director have the worse attitdues. They only care about making money and they don't care about your kids at all. The facility is dirty and dusty, the space is so small, how can they do summer camp and lock the kids in such a small place for 3 hours? Did you see the break room/waiting area of that place? how could they provide such a dirty place for their paying customers? We went there for 6 months and my kid did not make any progress at all. read more

My 13 year old spent 5 weeks at Communication Academy summer camp and made huge improvement. She has lots of chance to practice her speech and debate. She also wrote many articles as a journalist. We are very happy for her. read more

My son signed up 10 weeks writing class. He did not even learn anything from his teacher. Beside that the teacher made him feel miserable and sad. He felt isolate and ignored from his teacher. I can't believe this company can hire some one like that to teach kids. I did not recommend this company for any one who wants to send your kids to writing class. This company is rip off people's money. read more