Our daughter used Compass (Bay Area) for three exams during her junior year of high school: the…read morePSAT, the ACT, and one AP (calculus). Her results speak for themselves: National Merit eligibility on the PSAT, a 36 on the ACT (single-sitting), and a 5 on the calc AP. As caveats, she is extremely bright and is an inherently good test-taker, and we were proactive about selecting her tutors to match her personality and scheduling needs. That said, I had no significant complaints. Jill and Alex were responsive and worked to conform to our requests, and our daughter found her assigned tutors engaging. And she, in turn, did the assigned work. We originally found Compass via recommendation by parents of an older student who had already used them. We, in turn, have now recommended them to parents of younger students whom we know. We told them the same thing I'll now tell you: Compass isn't the cheapest option, but I suggest you use them anyway. To us, the results were well worth the expense.

I highly recommend Compass Education Group. They helped my son with the Reading and Writing…read moresections of the SAT, and his score improved drastically from 620 to 760 (99th percentile).

Jai at LifeWorks has been transformative for our son. He is not just a tutor but a counselor,…read moreadvisor and friend. He is a trusted adult for our son where he feels comfortable sharing his struggles with school. Based on that trust Jai can help guide and provide first class educational support. My son now loves math! Thank you!

Jai and his team worked with my daughter throughout high school. Through this experience, my…read moredaughter benefited from meaningful mentorship that went beyond specific subject matters. With their guidance and support, she built confidence in her intellectual abilities - all of which has helped her as she navigates college and the next chapter in her life. Highly recommend!

As a decades long veteran of community acting in my area, and a graduate if Jim Dunn's Theatrical…read moreArts Dept. at the College of Marin, I'm always impressed by true professionals when I get a chance to see them. While The Magic Circus' website speaks to the kinds of activities for which you can hire them, it doesn't talk about the fact that they are truly professional and inspiring performers. I hired the Magic Circus for my Wife's birthday party, an adult event, and the magic show and performance that Bebe and Benny delivered was entertaining and engaging, and people are still talking about it years later. There was a piece that Bene performed, with just the brim of a hat, that was hysterical and showcased his effortless range as a comedic actor.

The kids had a blast at my sons virtual 4th birthday puppet show!! The show kept them captivated…read moreand they even personalized it and mentioned my sons favorite stuffed animal. We would definitely do it again! Thanks so much!!!

"A radical change is going to be needed to get a learning system fit for a democracy. It needs to…read moreget away from domination and its endless stream of uninvited teaching. It needs to recognize that, in a democracy, learning by compulsion means indoctrination, and that ONLY learning by invitation and choice is education." - Roland Meighan Full Circle Family is in process of opening full-time sites for your family's educational enrichment. In each site during a typical day you will find the following in full swing. Sites are comprised of adult staff and children ages 4-19 in ratios of about 1:10. Members freely intermix between age groups. The children choose the topics they explore via 100% self directed learning with choices being governed within a 100% pure democracy (each member: adults & children, carrying one vote). Adult staff entrusted with the safety and nurture of the children both emotionally and educationally are on a first name basis and children are able to truly experience being fully responsible for themselves. Young members learn through life experiences, practice learning as they go. They initiate their own academic learning, choosing their method of learning as well as taking their own initiative as to the timing of their learning. Welcome to education from the inside out! We can't wait to meet you.

I'm going to be honest and share that Educare wasn't our first choice. At the time, I thought I…read morewanted something more niche or up with the trends of other types of school styles and we chose Educare because we found them to be the most dual income family friendly with hours starting at 730am-5pm and year round so no need to plan for summer camps. Turns out, Educare was the best decision we could have made for our us and our kids, especially having compared notes with friends from other schools. We started there as early as 22 months- the youngest that they'll take them. Educare has provided so much growth for my kids- both socially and academically. They've grown to speak up for themselves, to work both independently and as a team, to behave appropriately at restaurants, make friends easily at playgrounds, focus on tasks, cope with quiet time, try new things/foods, and transition successfully through various situations and scenarios. The teachers and staff approach everything with such empathy and love- even potty training. My youngest had issues pooping in the potty and it was a long two month journey. Instead of making it my problem, the teachers approached it with patience and worked with my little one until she was fully able to let go of the fear and anxiety. One of my favorite things that Educare does, aside from providing breakfast/snacks/lunch, is celebrate all the various cultural holidays and occasions. They also provide two parent/teacher conferences twice a year- both of which the school stays open vs closed like others. The community of parents and friends we've met have been so special. Lastly, I couldn't have asked for my kiddo to be more prepared for kindergarten. We didn't have to spend time after dinner or before bedtime to help them catch up either emotionally or academically. As our kinder teacher shared during our first parent/teacher conference when discussing various school assessments, "the Educare kids usually all do really well."

Educare is such a wonderful school. We had our son at a more strict, more well-known Montessori and…read moreit didn't feel right (too sterile, no smiles!) -- then we found Educare and my son has absolutely thrived here. The teachers and staff blend a high degree of learning with fun, they host so many great events to learn about different cultures, and it's a total bonus that the kids learn in both Spanish and English. As we're heading to kindergarten this fall, it's clear that the Educare kids are extremely well prepared to enter kindergarten with confidence. And if you're planning to be in the LCM public schools, it's awesome for the kids to have so many familiar Educare kids at their elementary school. I'm truly grateful that we found Educare and want to spread the word -- they didn't show up as prominently in my original search as some of the preschools with a more 'elite' reputation. But now that I've seen many friends go through many different pre-schools, I can say with confidence that Educare stands out for nurturing and preparing kids for kindergarten -- socially, emotionally and academically. Moving my son to Educare is one of the best parenting decisions I've made.

My son is now a different person thanks to Lina!…read more Before we met Lina: We found out my younger son, Yi, had speech & fine motor delay when he was 15 months old. Early intervention started when he was 18 months old, followed by OT, ST and PT. Then he got the ASD diagnosis at 2-year old and ABA started two months later. However, with all the helps from all the therapists, no one was able to help Yi establish eye contact or help him learn to point. I got perhaps half a second eye contact with Yi in an entire month. Even when we had it, I was not sure because it was so brief - I thought it could be just me imagining things. Yi had many tantrums a day, very intense. He's in pain, we were in pain, every single day. When we met Lina: Day 1: within half an hour, Lina helped Yi establish SOLID eye contact with me!! I almost cried! He saw me! Day 2: Yi started to point, thanks to Lina! Before meeting Lina, I felt so overwhelmed and didn't know what I should focus on. Lina helped me prioritize and establish a plan for the next steps. - Thanks for Lina's push, I started the GCCF diet right after the training. Yi used to vomit when he had tantrum and cried a lot, which happened on a daily basis. A week after cutting out milk, Yi's vomiting stopped. - I signed up and took Hanen program "More Than Words" parents training, thanks to Lina's recommendation. It was another really helpful program that helped us a lot. Soon after meeting Lina, Yi's eye contact dramatically increased (we adopted the same method from Lina and taught all other therapists to do the same). He learned to point to communicate his needs. His vomiting stopped. With all these changes, Yi's tantrum greatly reduced. Yi has transformed from a suffering child living in his own iron bubble to a cheerful little boy who opens up to the outside world. I can't say enough thank you to Lina! She took time to understand my son, and gave us individualized trainings based on Yi's unique needs. You can tell this is not just a job for her. It's something that she cares deeply and passionate about and she's highly competent. We lived in the South Bay and I work full time. I'm so glad I made the decision to take time off from work and brought Yi with me to see Lina. It was the best decision I made and time really well spent.

We have been seeing Lina for a few years and she has been both an instrumental "boots on the…read moreground" and "eye in the sky" when it comes to our autistic son. I cannot think of any higher praise that I could provide other than she is the model of what I think an excellent consultant is; knowledgeable, experienced, practical, compassionate, passionate, and responsive. Her services are truly valuable, both for my son, and our family as a whole. Having someone in your corner with the above skillset is hard to find in any profession, let alone the autistic one, and I recommend you not lose her number.

My daughter's school, to my knowledge, has never hosted events geared at taking pro active steps to…read moretalk about and address issues regarding race and gender. So, you can imaging some of the hesitation. But I can guarantee to you that Tarah is the person to have at the helm if you are interested in bringing socially conscious training's and workshops to your school or business. Tarah met everyone right were they were and created a space were people could begin to unpack their life experiences around topics that are far too often tucked away in our hearts and minds. I would love to say more but I would just recommend that you call her, talk to her and work with her if you would like to Start Dialog and create transformational change at your school or business. Tarah: The work that you do is powerful. I recognize how adept you are at navigating the space with passion, deep knowledge and true tenderness. I know this is heart work that can really change the world. Several parents expressed that the time was too short while others wanted to narrow the scope and go deeper on one subject or another. I think these are all good signs that there is much work to do at TRIS and at all our schools. In just that little time so much was learned from you and each other. I hope this is truly the beginning of dialog at TRIS and I look forward to following up with you in the coming weeks/months to schedule you again for round two!

Tarah has presented several workshops at both Merritt College & Chabot College to Early Childhood…read moreprofessionals and cross disciplinary faculty & staff. She is an amazing presenter! Her Participant evaluations are consistently outstanding. As the Vice President of Chabot I have received multiple requests for her to present to other groups because her workshops are interactive & transformational. I highly recommend Start Dialog to any institution that is looking to 'start dialog' about difficult issues about diversity & equity.

Throughout my entire life, going to college and starting my own life has always been a big dream of…read moremine. I just never knew how I was going to achieve that. Both of my parents are immigrants and as they try their hardest to help me achieve my goals, they did not have much information on how to apply to colleges or what colleges I should even apply to. That was when my friend referred me to the college planning center where I was given my very own college counselor, named Rajani Rao who showed a deep care in seeing my success in this college process. Every step of the way she gave me direction and deadlines ensuring I would get all of my applications done on time. Whenever I needed help with anything I was able to turn to her incredible knowledge and get a fast, swift, and helpful answer. She made the college application process, which is an extremely stressful one, more enjoyable, easy and she showed that she believed in me throughout every step of the way. I ended up getting in to one of my dream schools and I could not have done it without the college planning center's and Rajani's incredible help. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone looking for help and guidance through their college application process! -Selihom Kibrom, Class of 2024 Going to Cal Poly Slo!

Through this tedious college process, I found myself quite lost and overwhelmed with the weight of…read morecollege applications and the stress it had on me. In reaching out to the college planning center, Rajani reluctantly was willing to take me on late into the process. She was extremely organized, timely, and helped me get all of my early applications done far before the deadlines. She was very informative and helpful when reviewing my writing and truly guided me to putting my best work forward. Her tentative support and care for my applications and future truly shown through. She was quite patient with all my fears, concerns, and desires as well as being excited and encouraging with me through it all. With Rajani's help, I was accepted into 9 out of the 10 schools I applied to! I believe that anyone who is lucky enough to have Rajani as their college career counselor will have the swiftest, stress free college application process, alongside someone who truly cares about your ambitions and passions. Without her guidance, advice, organization, peer review, and heartening support, I wouldn't have ended up where I am today. :) -Ava McMinn, senior in high school

We ADORE Mighty Bambinis! Our son (4) currently attends and is thriving in this fun-loving,…read morenature-centered program. We've seen his curiosity and joy come alive and every day he looks forward to going to school. Evelyn and her team are incredibly thoughtful about every aspect of the program, focusing on child-led play and social and emotional development support. The teacher to child ratio (1:5) is the best I've seen in Marin and it really shows. 10+ stars if I could!

Mighty Bambinis is completely amazing. Such attentive, skilled, and caring teachers, great…read morelocation, wonderful opportunity for kids to be outside, and perfect, ever changing curriculum responsive to interests of kids. Highly recommended for all kids but especially a great choice for parents considering a TK alternative as there is an academic component but in such a fun way. Evelyn the director is such a wealth of knowledge not just about preschoolers but families in general. Also a great choice for families looking for a bit more community rather than just drop and go. We really enjoyed the camping and family days.