Ventana School is a truly wonderful school and I'd give it my highest recommendation. It starts…read morewith the leadership, who are a passionate group with a founder's mentality and a strong philosophy on how to inspire lifelong learners. And, this ethos and commitment extends down the line, through the teachers, administrative staff and the students themselves. I am blown away at how well each of the teachers understands the Ventana goals and curiosity-based (Reggio) method of teaching, and how they can explain how classroom structure, lessons and activities relate to it. And at how the kids understand it, and apply it. This is not just a stale mission statement taped to a wall somewhere. It's a real intellectual commitment and culture, and it shows. We've been at Ventana preschool for a couple of years, and a few other great things stand out. First, everyone cares. The environment is nurturing, and beyond that, deeply invested in the long-term success of your child. Second, the parents community is wonderful. We've met great new friends through the program, and been delighted by the way people show up to activities and care for each other with the parent groups. And we've found folks to be pretty down to earth for a Bay Area private school (and we've seen a couple other programs, so this is at least a somewhat qualified comparison). Lastly, we've seen the kind of kids that graduate out of the program. The Ventana philosophy really seems to deliver. The leadership recently noted that in an incoming Stanford class, there are 3 Ventana alums. 3 students out of a single-class graduating size is impressive. More impressive is how well-rounded the 5th graders are. They are articulate, grounded, capable of holding complex abstract extemporaneous conversations with adults. We look forward to the rest of the journey for our little one!

I highly recommend Ventana School to anybody in Bay Area, especially to those who seek a warm and…read morekind community and whole child education where students grow up feeling happy every single day. My four children all enjoy Ventana in their own unique ways and my husband and I are both thankful for having this school in our life. Both in preschool and elementary school, my kids grew up so much at Ventana. I can tell that every teacher loves teaching and they are very enthusiastic in helping children to find learning a true happiness. One of the key words at Ventana is "curiosity" and my kids are always very curious :) Also, they all feel cared and loved by the whole school community, and it's making them nourish very strong self-confidence. At play dates, parks, outside of school activities or even at supermarket, many people have asked where my kids go to school because they play collaboratively, show kindness and have good leadership. I always feel that I myself get great support by school. Small conversations with Ventana teachers at pickup and drop off are always positive and encouraging, and school began providing different kinds of instructive parenting classes after Pandemic and that's very helpful too. Preschool: Lots of hands-on activities The teachers prepare a variety kinds of hands-on activities every day. They are incredible and I can't do the same at home. Through those sensory activities, kids explore their own wonder and learn so naturally. Elementary: Depth of learning Ventana provides a great teacher-student ratio in each classroom. So, each student can get full attention from teachers, and I'm always amazed to see how well the teachers know about my children. The teachers catch when the students need support, and they don't miss the cues when the students are ready to have challenges. That creates ideal educational environment where every single child will acquire firm reading/writing/speaking/communication skills and mathematical ability. In my sense, it's more important how deep they understand rather than how advance they learn, and in this way Ventana alumni are so ready for middle school.

We've had such a positive experience with Living Wisdom School. From the beginning, our family was…read morewelcomed with warmth and genuine care, and our son transitioned from public school far more smoothly than we could have hoped. He quickly felt included, made friends easily and has truly enjoyed going to school each day. What stands out most is the balance between strong academics and personal growth. The students are not only challenged academically, but also given practical tools to build confidence, emotional awareness, responsibility, focus, and resilience that they can carry with them throughout life. The teachers and staff are thoughtful, engaged, and clearly care deeply about each child as an individual. We've also been impressed by the sense of community throughout the school. It feels supportive, intentional, and uplifting for both students and parents. We're very grateful to have found a school environment that nurtures individuality, creativity, well-being and a genuine love of learning alongside academics.

The schools focus on holistic education shaped our sons personality in ways that we were really…read moresurprised and happy. The curriculum, method of teaching and even small things like starting the day with a meditation calms the kids to drive more focus. The annual play is a great exercise in getting kids to be more independent and work together as a team on something that is larger than themselves. Would highly recommend!

Truthfully this is by far the best community for your children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren…read more I speak from experience, my daughters attended SJC and currently my grandchild is attending. The education, community and lifelong friendships are why I love this school so much.

Absolutely love the TK/K class. The class size is small due to the Cupertino population aging with…read moreno new inflow of young parents. In addition to that, a big chunk of teachers and students left after some conflict with the former principal. The school is now rebuilding with the new principal, Dr. Palladino, who is awesome with kids. The TK class I've experienced so far is fantastic. The curriculum is well structured and my child is engaged all day, thanks to the small class size. They even split the already tiny class to fit each child's needs. I've noticed that a few kids are doing additions and some kids are taking it a bit slower and focusing on writing numbers and counting. I've toured almost every school within a 15 minute drive and SJC had the most productive and structured daily schedule for TKs. I felt like most of the schools have too much free playtime and nap time and some have half-day classmates, meaning all the learning ends by noon. At SJC, the teachers are doing something with the kids all day, whereas many schools have several hours of mere childcare. I love that the day includes number senses, math, English and language arts every day. They also learn Spanish (the teacher is amazing btw), P.E., art, music, science once a week. The teacher follows a well-known curriculum from start to finish, rather than piecing in materials from here and there. Another point I love about this school is that the older kids are nicer in small communities. The big kids play with my child and take care of her at extended care and everyone gives my child a hug when I pick her up. I highly recommend SJC. I've seen some people discouraged to join due to the small class size but I'm seeing positive effects on my child. The kids all play well together and they don't divid into groups. The eight graders look like they are basically a family. I suggest that you at least try it out in TK and see how it is. If you decide to move, most schools expand their class size in K, so it won't be that hard to get in.

We are new to this school this year, I really like it and have found them to be very organized and…read morecommunication is good. They seem to handling virtual learning better than I have seen other schools handle it.

This school was goated back when I was here everything was humane. If the buddy benches get removed…read morethat would be a good thing. Btw keep up the good work

My child was a victim of rumors, which were later proven to be false, and as such was excluded and…read morebullied by his classmates and betrayed by his friends. The administration did little to help him clear his name and preferred to sweep his suffering under the rug instead. Some of the teachers were really good and caring, but teacher turnover is pretty high.

My son attended Kehilla last year, and I loved it. It is a nurturing, supportive school that…read moregenuinely cares about the education and welfare of the kids. I was really sorry that my son transferred out (to Palo Alto High School) where we have had the exact opposite experience. If you have the choice to send your child here, you are fortunate.

Although we ultimately chose a different school for our child, I want to share how impressed I was…read morewith Hillbrook's admissions process. From start to finish, the experience stood out in all the best ways. During our initial visit, I noticed something remarkable--several students came up and hugged the admissions officer. It was clear that the kids not only felt comfortable but also genuinely connected to the adults on campus. That kind of warmth and trust speaks volumes about the school culture. Throughout the process, the staff had multiple thoughtful conversations with me and invited our son to visit the campus more than once. It wasn't just about evaluating our fit for them--it really felt like they wanted to ensure the school would be the right fit for our son too. Everyone we interacted with was incredibly kind, transparent, and generous with their time and insights. What really set Hillbrook apart was how open and communicative the administration was. In a time when many schools can feel closed off or overly cautious, Hillbrook was refreshingly honest and forthcoming. That kind of openness is rare and deeply appreciated. Even though we didn't enroll, I left the process with a very positive impression of the school and the people behind it.

The best school but it does cost a lot. Though if you do have the money it is…read morereally nice.

Small school with cultivating environment and supportive community. I think it is a good…read moreenvironment for my kids to grow up at.

My two daughters go to Montclaire. My older daughter saw that it only had 3.7 stars and wanted to…read morewrite a review to share her positive experience. Here's what she says: "Hi, I've been in Montclaire for...5 years! TK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade! I just finished 3rd grade and I still can't wait for next year. I have loved all my teachers (including the STEAM, art, library, music, and English arts teachers + the principal). They have been really nice and fun. I also really like the fund-raisers and other fun school activities, like STEAM night, WATSA, musicals/plays, open house, and other fun stuff. I also really like that the principal memorizes all the students names, is very hands on, will read once a month to each class, and has fun rewards and will come to see the students very often. And I'm almost 100% sure my sister agrees with everything. So I hope this five star review will help give a better review on Yelp."

this is the father of Pritam Ramakrishnan. this is the worst school ever. the bathrooms are out if…read morecontrol. I've got people peeing all over the place, i even got some on my new jordan 67s. i would rate this 0 stars if i could.

It it a chaotic organization. I had 9 years ago 3 kids in…read morethis school. I head to pull out 2 of my younger children because they got bullied and cyber bullied. I could not sue them because one of my children had to finish the Abitur. He passed it with a low GPA because favoritism was on number one. We figured it out after we did several experiments... teachers used unbelievable words you would not use it in your mind. Probably Kid with parents in the board, parents how spent a lot, or non German has the best chance to get a good GPA. But it definitely to 80 percent not the work what it is graded. I put my other kids in the independent GISSV Saturday school which was great managed until the main school of GISSV took over 2 - 3 years ago. Just recently is the most unprofessional leading of the Saturday school on email answers - no reactions, just slow in everything. Sadly I had to pull my last two kids out of the Saturday too. I heard that they had to reduce the classes from the other parents, because they kicked out the teachers or it is just a miss management. In case you think about to put your child in one of the schools of GISSV - be prepared of unprofessional miss management and cross the fingers that your child will be under the favorites.