An absolute gem of a preschool!…read more ​We cannot say enough wonderful things about this school. It is exceptionally well-organized, and they are always planning fantastic events that bring the class (including parents) together--our absolute favorite is the dance performance, which always completely blows us away! ​The teachers are incredible, and the convenient lunch options make our morning routine so much easier. Most importantly, our daughter comes home happy every single day. Seeing her love school this much gives us total peace of mind. Highly recommend!

We had a great experience with Challenge. Great teachers and community. Highly recommended!read more

My son has been in the Challenge preschool side since 2 years old and continued on to this…read moreChallenge School since Kindergarten. The teachers are fluent in Mandarin and immerse the kids in Chinese speaking environment. The teachers are very encouraging and warm to all parents What I like is the consistency and stability of the class - my son has been with most of his classmates for over 6 years and really have gotten to known them. same with parents - many of us started with Challenge early on and have gotten to known each other over the years. There are monthly public speaking practices as part of routine class curriculum. There are many cultural celebrations as well for all to enjoy kids' performances.

Our kids have been attending Belmont Challenge after school program for years. Not only does the…read moreschool offer a trusting and organized learning environment for the kids, the teachers are patient and friendly towards the kids. Our goal was for our kids to maintain their bilingual skills and be in a fun learning environment, and Challenge offers what we wanted and more! Under the guidance of the teachers, our kids have improved greatly in their public speaking skills (in both English and Chinese) due to the school's thoughtful curriculum in helping to develop students' public speaking skills. Most importantly, our kids thoroughly enjoyed being at Challenge and often requested to be picked up later :) Overall, we are grateful that our kids can maintain and develop their Chinese skills in a safe and friendly environment at Belmont Challenge!

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.

My daughter went to kids connection preschool from age 3 to almost 4 until it was time for…read morekindergarten. This is an excellent school with great curriculum and loving teachers. I would highly recommend

My son attended the Kids Connection Summer Camp Coyote Cubs with Mrs. Floro. We originally signed…read moreup for just one week, but he loved it so much that we enrolled for a second week. If we hadn't had a vacation planned, we would've absolutely continued! Each day after camp, he would run up to me excited to share all the fun he had, something I haven't seen at his current school, so it made me so happy to see him so engaged. I really appreciated the blend of academics and fun, he thrived in that environment. Every staff member we met was kind and welcoming. The front desk team and the morning check-in ladies were always friendly, which made the experience even better. Thank you for putting together such a thoughtful and enriching program!

Our son goes to Odyssey since he was 2 years old and he absolutely loves the school. During these…read morechallenging times they have been very upfront about all the changes to keep students and their families safe. Reduced # of students per class, individualized materials and rules for picking up the students are just a few examples of what they are doing to keep everyone safe. Couldn't recommend more Odyssey!

We've had wonderful experiences with Odyssey Preschool in Foster City. Our oldest child started…read moreattending when she was 20 months old and is now 5 years old. From Ms. Lihua's classroom to Ms. Jing's, and now Ms. Ping's, our child has been thriving during her time there. All the teachers (and assistants) have been great; they pay attention to our child's strengths, weaknesses, personality and behavior tendencies and adjust their teaching accordingly as opposed to applying one standard approach to all the kids in the class. When we had our second child, we were eager to send her to Ms Lihua's class right when she turned 18 months. The personalities of our two children are quite different; but Ms Lihua's caring and loving style really shines through to get the little ones acclimated quickly to a new school setting, regardless of their differing personalities. We're excited to see our second child go through the other classes in the future as well. It's great that Odyssey is continuously able to retain their amazing teachers for so many years.

Future Valley is at it again even though we spoke about this and they promised never to do it…read moreagain. Another driver is blocking the same driveway, the van is completely blocking the driveway if the home of an elderly woman. The front bumper is also in a red zone. He was parked here when I arrived and still there 15 minutes later when I left. Do better Future Valley!

This is a review for the school day craft camp and summer music camp that my son went. He is a huge…read morefan of the camps. He learnt several Chinese songs (with some dance moves) and English songs from the music camp, played Ukulele and went to parks to have lunch. He also got himself a playdate from the camp (he is not even 4). The best part he claimed is they have a play area downstairs that they are allowed to be bare feet and no one push him to take a nap. Because of his normal school does not allow bare feet and nap is required, he always talks about the camp now and wants to go back to the camp soon. Thank you, Future Valley for my kiddo to have a great summer time.

We initially looked into KUBO thinking it was a Japanese-run facility, but we soon found it is…read moreoperated by a wonderful Filipino team. For any Japanese families considering this school: while the origin of the name might be different than expected, the quality of education is world-class. Having gone through a Montessori education myself, I have high standards, and this program exceeded them all. The teachers provide amazing attention to individual development, supported by an excellent student-to-teacher ratio. The curriculum perfectly balances education with character building. The level of discipline and respect shown by the graduates here is truly admirable--something often missing in standard TK programs. We also appreciated the professional touch of annual parent-teacher conferences and detailed progress reports. On top of the great environment, the food is fantastic! It's healthy, balanced, and introduced our children to delicious flavors like lumpia. We are so grateful to Mrs. Jeck and the entire team. If you are looking for a place where your child will be treated with respect and given the tools to excel, this is it. Our yongest is graduating this year and we are sincerely going to miss seeing Ms. Jeck and the staff on a daily basis, but we look forward occasionally swinging by just to say hello!

Long overdue review! We're so fortunate to have found Kubo! We had a very bad experience at another…read moreschool and had to pivot fast. The moment we stepped into Kubo, I knew it would be the perfect place for our daughter. It is a very serene and loving environment with a wonderful Montessori curriculum . The teachers are amazing! Homemade meals- what a life changer! A supportive parent community. We could not be happier to have found this little gem.

We love Edison Montessori School. All 3 of my children have gone there. The teachers have decades…read moreof Pre-School and Montesorri experience. The students learn and grow the Montessori way. They learn to be independent and on task. My eldest started at 2.5 years old and continued until he went to Kindergarten. He is now 9 years old. My middle child went for a full year before moving on to Kindergarten. My youngest will have spent an entire year there before he goes off to Kindergarten this upcoming Fall. The directors Ann and Angela, Teacher Beckie, Teacher Virigina, and all the rest- are the best. We adore all the teachers there. My youngest remembers the songs they sing, about who the officer was during their circle time, he tells me about historical figures and the science of his internal organs! They practice writing, math, reading, science, geography, art, music, they even have a soccer coach! I will miss their Pre-K years at Edison Montessori after my youngest graduates.

My son has been here since February and he absolutely loves all the teachers here and all type of…read moreactivities scheduled. All the teachers here are very patient, which is what we care about the most when touring for schools. I also really appreciate teacher Angela's approach. She explained to me very patiently how kids need a lot of fine motor exercise before writing letter and numbers, but the same time they get to be exposed to older kids writing which will give them a sense of what it would look like, for us single child family this can be very helpful. I also like how they encourage kids to open their own lunch boxes and have lunch and how we can provide a more kids friendly lunch box to enable that. They also provide soccer class during summertime which is excellent! We don't have to send him to other places for only less than an hour. We toured many other schools as well, but sometimes the director might be very friendly and professional but their teachers are not doing what we've been told; other times they are patient but it's mainly just taking care of kids. Overall, I like how they encourage independence for kids in a friendly and professional way, and that teacher Angela is really paying attention to details. When he first joined he was a little scared and didn't want to go to school for around two weeks because he didn't know any kids and teachers. So if your kids feel the same, give it a bit more time and you may see the change like we did.