The Mandarin Immersion (MI) program at Orion Alternative Elementary is hands-down Redwood City's…read morebest-kept secret for an exceptional public school education. It is an extraordinary environment where students of all backgrounds can thrive. For non- Mandarin speaking families, the dedicated support, including a specialized TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) ensures kids catch up to grade level. My own daughter attended TK elsewhere and had no trouble catching up in Mandarin when she started Kindergarten here. What Makes Orion Special: Dedicated Staff & Leadership: The teachers are exceptionally kind, attentive, and engaged. Principal Winnie works tirelessly to address parent feedback through frequent, accessible touchpoints like Zoom check-ins and Principal Coffees. Vibrant After-School Support: A huge shoutout to PlayThrive, the on-site Mandarin after-school program, which provides fantastic enrichment and care. They help kids with homework and support the mandarin learning, but also offer extracurricular activities (for an added fee) of Math camp, Photography, Sports, etc. An Unmatched Parent Community: Parent involvement here is incredible and it really feels like a collaborative team effort to help our kids succeed. Beyond cultural celebrations like the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lunar New Year, and Dragonboat races, there are constant opportunities for parents to connect. Our family has gotten involved in "BroRion" (the dads' group), moms' pickleball and even parent dragon boat racing! Things to Keep in Mind: Like any growing public school, Orion faces a few operational hurdles: Facilities & Funding: Facility maintenance and air conditioning can be ongoing challenges, but the active parent community consistently steps up to help bridge the gaps. For instance, during the hottest day of the year, the air conditioning was not working well in some of the TK portables but parents dropped off air conditioning units. The school also relies on annual fundraising drives to fund classroom assistants and extra enrichment classes. Admissions: While TK often has a waitlist through the lottery, the program's expansion means there are usually plenty of openings for Kindergarten. Academic Outcomes: Don't be deterred if some students transition to North Star Academy after 3rd grade. CAASPP assessment data consistently shows that the MI students who remain in grades 3-5 score exceptionally high in Math and ELA, with the vast majority testing at the "Advanced" level. This is especially impressive since they learn Math in Mandarin, but test Math in English. Orion is a warm, high-achieving, and deeply supportive community. We are very fortunate to be part of this school!

We bought a house in Redwood City specifically so our child could attend this school. Since we…read moredon't speak Chinese at home and our daughter was diagnosed with a speech delay at age two, I wasn't sure how much Mandarin she would actually pick up from the Mandarin Immersion program at Orion, especially without extra support from us. But after completing kindergarten and halfway through first grade, she surprised us by initiating conversations in Chinese on her own. I'm pretty sure I cried the first time it happened. The teachers are incredibly thoughtful and professional, especially in guiding young kids through learning two languages. In the first few years, about 90% of the school day is conducted in Chinese, which provides an immersive experience during those crucial early years. I remember my daughter sometimes mixed up calling her teacher "mama" and calling me "Wu Laoshi" -- small but meaningful signs of the trust she was building in this environment. The quality of education is outstanding. It's project-based, with a rich blend of art, gardening, STEAM, and physical education throughout the week. During lunch, the kids have options for how they spend their free time. My daughter loves cooling off in the air-conditioned library on hot days, gardening with friends, or practicing her monkey bar skills on more moderate days (after all, Redwood City is known for its slogan, "Climate Best by Government Test"). What matters most to me is that my daughter wakes up excited for school. She genuinely looks forward to her day, eager to see her teacher, curious about the new things she'll learn, spend time with her friends, and engage in the many activities this wonderful space offers. It's a place where she's building her own community, being challenged academically, and hopefully forming friendships that will last at least until high school. At this age, while academics are important, a positive and supportive community matters even more to us. Finding both at the Mandarin Immersion program at Orion has been an absolute gift, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have this school in the Bay Area.

I would not recommend this school for cantonese, but ok for Mandarin. They only use Mandarin books…read moreto teach cantonese. My kids are all confused because so many words taught are not truly used on cantonese language. Teachers are nice though.

Saturday school from 930a-12:15 with a 15 minute recess period. I'm not exactly sure how many…read moreclasses there are in total. First time attending Chinese school here for $210/June-Aug. It's a bit disorganized which I recommend as a suggestion for them to improve upon. A syllabus would be helpful. There is quite amount of homework.

Professor Lee (Lee laoshi) was a great teacher for me and other adult Chinese language learners…read more Thanks to her, I was able to communicate effectively with my wife's relatives and properly participate in funerals for extended family in China. Previously when working with her, I learned enough to travel on my own in Beijing and surroundings. I highly recommend working with her if you want an intensive, focused program of learning spoken or written Chinese.

My children age 9and 10 had been going to this establishment for over two years . I originally was…read morepleased with the place and their teaching . As time has gone on my kids had not picked up as much of the language as I thought they should , so I had contemplated moving else where ... but the class is super close to there elementary school so we stayed . Then the worst thing I could have imagined was made clear to me. My kids let me know that The owner Celine who instructed my kids had been SWATTING the back of their heads with her hand to get them to pay attention!! I was and am in SHOCK , no body touches my kids. IT was hard enough to frighten them Both and this is why I strongly feel other parents need to know this happened . Please do not be fooled by her kindness this will eventually be to your child's disservice . Also I have emails and voice messages with Celine the teacher apologizing! She even went so far as to have a mutual friend try to get me to forgive and forget! Probably knowing I'd write this very sad true information. Be warned ..

TestCrackers completely changed my GRE experience, especially thanks to Yuri (Quant) and Seth…read more(Verbal). I worked with TestCrackers for over a year, primarily through small-group tutoring, and I cannot recommend the program highly enough. I came into GRE prep from a humanities background and had historically struggled with quant. Math had never felt intuitive or comfortable for me, and I truly never imagined I could perform well on the Quant section of the GRE. Yuri, who taught Quant, is hands down the best tutor, and honestly the best math teacher, I've ever had. He completely transformed how I approach math. From day one, he created a learning environment that was supportive, engaging, and genuinely enjoyable. His lighthearted teaching style, dad jokes, and famously theatrical reactions to common mistakes made concepts stick in a way I had never experienced before. To this day, I still hear his voice in my head catching me before I repeat errors, and it works. Beyond his teaching style, what makes Yuri exceptional is how genuinely invested he is in his students. He took the time to get to know me, truly believed in me, and pushed me to do better in a way that made me feel capable rather than intimidated. He often went over time, not because he had to, but because he wanted to help more. It was clear his motivation came from a place of real care and generosity. To put my progress in context: my first Manhattan diagnostic was a 151 in Quant, and my first official PowerPrep test was a 144. I ultimately ended with a 163 in Quant on my exam. At the time, I didn't even know if meaningful improvement was possible for me. With Yuri's guidance, I not only improved significantly, but gained the confidence to apply to MBA programs that once felt completely out of reach. Seth was equally impactful on the Verbal side. His guidance completely changed how I approached the section strategically. I still hear him asking, "Is this 100% provable?" in my head during verbal questions, which helped me stay disciplined and precise on test day. One of the biggest breakthroughs from Seth's teaching was learning to let go of certain science passages and instead focus my time and energy on passages I knew I could get right, a strategy that made a huge difference. I started with a 153 in Verbal and finished with a 161. Thanks to Seth's emphasis on error logs, thoughtful review, and strategic prioritization, my Verbal score improved dramatically. I consistently reviewed session notes, maintained a detailed error log, and applied his frameworks throughout the exam. Thanks to TestCrackers, and especially Yuri and Seth, I finished my GRE journey with results I genuinely never thought were possible. More importantly, they helped me see what I was capable of before I believed it myself. If you're serious about improving your GRE scores and want instructors who are deeply knowledgeable, incredibly effective, and truly invested in your success, I cannot recommend TestCrackers enough.

Thank you Testcrackers!!!! So grateful for the Testcrackers Team, Yuri, Andrew and Sarah!!! I spent…read moreover a year studying on my own with Gregmat, Magoosh, Kaplan and ETS PowerPrep and I just wasn't getting anywhere as far as progress goes. It felt like there were too many videos to watch, too many areas to study and I felt overwhelmed and unmotivated. At 38 years old, the last math class I had taken was over 15 years ago, so it was a pain relearning all the math they test on Quant. Andrew broke down which areas were not tested as often and let the class know which topics to study on their own (due to class time restraints) if they were trying to score 320 and higher, which I very much appreciated. I only need a 290 for a program that requires that for admissions. The first GRE I took in August, 2025 was 279 (141V, 138Q) with practice tests ranging in the 270-280's. Today, I scored 294 (147V, 147Q), with practice tests ranging from 289-302. I studied 3-6 hours a day, 4-6 times a week (homework included) for two months to obtain this score, which I am very happy with. I'm sure I could have scored higher if I studied a bit more and did more homework. If you are thinking about taking their prep course, take the next step and make that investment because it is totally worth it!!!!!

First of all the German is bad, second a Chinese teacher in 4th grade was too strict but taught 1st…read moregrade math, because the Chinese teacher taught math in Chinese. Last The food service is really bad.

Never pressed submit so my review is dated but still accurate. - I just have to give a shout out to…read morethe staff at my children's school during such an insane time in the world. I feel incredibly fortunate that we are part of this community during such trying times. Many people have been so negative and I believe that is primarily due to the fact that this is obviously a terrible time for so many people. INTL is doing everything in their power to provide the best education possible during a world wide pandemic. We have to keep this in mind. My children's teachers have been exceptional considering the challenges of the world right now. We are lucky they even get to go to school. They are excited everyday, I feel like they are safe onsite and that the school is doing everything to the best of their ability. Teachers have found unique ways to share what happens at school with parents online. Pandemic aside- my children are only exposed to Chinese at school and come home singing to themselves in the mirror in Chinese. The program is IB which focuses on creativity and questions. They learn through discovery. The school is as international as you can get in the Silicon Valley which was really important to me having grown up internationally myself. Thank you INTL for working so hard to make such an unreal time in our lives as good as humanly possible.

My daughter has been attending BALA for years and I can't recommend it enough. It's such a good…read morebalance of education, fun and hands on experiences. I think Ms. Keli puts together a great program with community based programming and does such thoughtful things for holidays and celebration. She's extremely responsive and caring. The teachers she has had have been wonderful. Ms. Julie is such a really brought out the confidence in my daughter and Ms. Sophia continues to help her grow and express herself. They make the after school experience fun with more that just educational programs and help with homework (which I love). I'm so glad we found this place!!

This is an very nice after school program it has friendly staff,nice kids and clean space for a…read morechild lot's of work time plus mandarin classes I do recommend you do try it out I hope you have fun

Excellent tutors. These folks know what they are doing and really connect with the students. They…read morealso are incredibly responsive and easy to work with. I couldn't recommend them more.

We had the most wonderful experience with LA Tutors 123. Eric was so responsive and knowledgeable…read moreon all things tutoring and prepping and met us with an absolutely fantastic tutor (Angela). We were very late to the game, not understating the whole ISEE process and with only 10 hours of tutoring pretty close to the test day, they did the absolutely everything to teach while motivating my daughter. She improved tons, got a solid score and had fun! She would have 10+pages of homework at days and actually had fun doing. She missed days without tutoring. I can't recommend this enough! Absolutely 5 star experience!

I would highly recommend Manhattan Prep instructor Ryan Jacobs for your studying needs! Ryan helped…read moreme study for the GMAT in just under 9 weeks, during which my score improved 130 points. Ryan helped tailor the material to my needs and gave me plenty of homework to do that helped me strengthen my weakest content areas. He was very calm and focused but also made things feel light-hearted and less intense by cracking jokes or reassuring me of his own past GMAT mistakes. Ryan was a great resource to have and I couldn't have done as well as I did on the GMAT without him! I would also recommend the Manhattan Prep GMAT books (All the Quant, All the Verbal, companion guides, etc.) as they extensively cover everything you need to know for the GMAT exam.

I took 5 classes with Ryan Jacobs and I highly recommend him as a tutor. My verbal was stagnating…read moreat 32 and I needed my verbal to go higher so I could break into the 700 range. Ryan offered me many tips and gave many insights as to how to improve my verbal. One of them was how to change my mindset when studying for the GMAT. The shift in mentality was what helped me improved my verbal by 6 points in the actual GMAT.