Great school, family oriented, diverse students. Excellent education. Pre k to grade 8. This…read moreschool provides an environment that is safe, provides an excellent curriculum and treats everyone like family

love the school and the staff over there. they groom the children so well that i am proud of it.read more

I will always feel a deep sense of gratitude that my daughter was lucky enough to attend the…read moreGreenmount school. No school is perfect, but we felt Greenmount came awfully close to meeting that parental ideal. It provided our child with a five star education at a modest for private, school cost and was academically and socially transformative. The staff were bright, creative, nurturing and insightful. Even the two tough love teachers were lovely folks who I respect and have genuine affection for. Some of its faculty were down right brilliant and amazed us left and right. We are both educators so know good teaching when we see it and most times it was amazing as were the administrators: Steve, Elaine and Liz. I can't speak to the present staff, as a few of our favorites have moved on, but when we were there, you would be hard pressed to find a more talented math and language arts faculty. Every one my daughter caught, were knock your socks off good! Sometimes I'd sigh with pleasure watching them teach. One that we nearly worshiped, Ms Tanza is is still on staff and she was an outstanding educator, but went to a much needed administrative position. The administration and office staff were always welcoming, and generous with their time and so kind. If they said they would look into something, or amend it, they promptly did so. I don't know of another head of school who would drop everything and personally walk down and check on a child who was feeling a bit anxious like Ms Elaine and Ms Liz, or a history teacher who would bat around a project after school with your child for 30 minutes, like Fletcher. I felt that every staff member genuinely enjoyed children and took the responsibility assigned to them. They are committed, kind watchful, hard working and the majority deep souled. We loved the small cozy feel, communally imaginative and artistic hum, and a staff that strategized together, and things like Shakespeare plays open to all, vibrantly interesting themes, spiraling curriculum and creative after school club offerings. Their mutual concern for students extended beyond academics, and strongly factored in each student's confidence, learning style, social and emotional well being. Issues of bulling and unkindness were addressed, as well as academic remediation and encouragement provided. Teachers invited students to drop in after school with questions. If a mistakes was made they owned and and apologized. I adored that about them.They were great about email. Many were witty, humble and delightful. I once watched two well up with tears at how far my child had come. My child was dyslexic and dysgraphic and hated writing and would be in tears for hours and left a strong writer and great speller thanks to the combined talents of Ms. Tanza, Ms. Allison and Ms. Pam. They literally remediated her in a 1.5 months and took her fear and dread of writing away. They were miraculous. She was quiet and made great friends and grew in confidence. I saw children who hated math grow to relish it and describe it as their favorite subject. In fact, I have never seen a group of children so fired up and in love with math. Mr Luca was as outstanding at the language arts staff. Unfortunately, those instructors have left, retired or taken admin positions, but they were worth every penny of that tuition. Science other than my daughter's first two years with Pam and Ms Elizabeth who were awesome, could have been stronger, but we haven't been at a school were I wouldn't level that same complaint. It is hard to find capable science faculty and do so on the limited budget most schools have, even at the 35K a year schools. There are sometimes good club activities to round that out and they were actively working on improving the situation prior. Like all private schools, there is a lot of staff turnover. That is both a good and bad thing. Sometimes you hit it right and catch some rather breathtaking educators who are only in town for a few years, or unfortunately near retirement and you are heart broken to see them go. Yet anyone not up to snuff is rarely retained for more than a year, which is more than you can say about public school. It's sad when the stellar ones leave, but comforting when anyone struggling is moved along, and the experience is uniformly allotted. If public school is not a great fit for you child, race to GreenMount, it really is a gem of a school with the most caring and delightful staff.

Greenmount is a small community focused on giving its students a large education. The classes are…read moresmall, 12 in Kindergarten and 12- 15 in the elementary and middle schools. The curriculum is developed around 3 themes annually and theme is the same for the entire school K-8. It is also a parent co-op with each parent required to volunteer to defray costs. This means the tuition is more in the $10 - $12 K range, a real value in a city where independent school tuition can be +$25 K.

The Community School only has 1 teacher who got his teaching license by completing 4 years of…read morecollege in 1 year Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 are mandatory classes to graduate high school, yet The Community School doesn't teach either course. There is a ton of work yet it's all busy work, not work that is needed. The head teacher and founder, Tom, has only one interest, and it's getting access to presenters to come to the school and receive donations. I wouldn't recommend The Community School. You are not allowed to miss school due to being sick or even surgery. My son had to have life saving surgery and due to him having surgery he was treated terribly. Tom would say mean things to my son everyday in front of the whole class. Tom called him names. Tom put him down. Tom didn't allow him help from his brother with getting things and picking things up. He even forced their seats apart so his brother couldn't help him. My son was not able to pick up more than 5 lbs or bend and twist for 6 weeks after surgery. My son sat in class every day in pain as his teacher made him feel like he was worthless. Then, Tom kicked my son out of the school because I as his mom called and told him not to talk or treat my child like that. My son wouldn't of went back this year but to kick a kid out because you can't treat him like dirt and get away with it. After my phone call, Tom chose to stop speaking to my son all together and ignore him. My other son graduated this year and his 4 years at this school wasn't good either. He had to teach his self algebra, have a tutor for calculus and took college courses plus self taught his self because Tom chose to use him as a junior staff member instead of letting him graduate a year early when he had already been through every course he was learning for a second time.

I was recently invited to speak to the students at The Community School for one of their Friday…read more"Conversations with..." sessions. Teenagers are some of my favorite people -- old enough to think abstractly and autonomously, yet young enough to still have space in their hearts and minds and spirits for inspiration and excitement that is essential to creating change in our world. So, I accepted the invitation, hoping to connect with at least one young person there, who might be open to - perhaps even seeking - a spark of hope, and peace. And wow! I was the one who left inspired! Every single student was clearly tuned into the presentation, and then thoughtfully engaged in meaningful conversation that followed - and that could have gone on for hours and hours. During my visit, I had the privilege of hearing a few students share essays (powerful stories and well-written), and discuss aspirations (supported with academic and extra-curricular activities that are a part of the school day), as well as reveal hesitations and pursuits for life (these are amazing young people who exemplify "resilience" and perseverance)... and more. And what I witnessed was a community in the truest (and finest) sense of the word. This was evident in the from-the-heart adult guidance and mentoring and dedication of the educators and staff and volunteers who are there to teach the accredited academic curriculum, and to nourish both body and mind, and who also clearly love every one of these students and are committed to supporting their personal growth as young people who matter in this world. And it was evident in the from-the-heart dedication of these students who shared their excitement about embracing the opportunity for an excellent education (despite previous challenges). These students are bright, polite, and creative, and clearly care for each other with compassion (a reflection of what they are experiencing from the role models in this school). Every student described this community as an extended "family" -- and a gift for their future. To all the funders and supporters and educators and volunteers and students of this small inner city store-front one-classroom (really) high school -- wow and thank you for being the embodiment of commitment and potential. I am already looking forward to ongoing interaction with The Community School -- and to these amazing students and adults who matter to me.

Attention parents of students who are looking for an SAT prep class: I encourage you to avoid…read moreKaplan at all costs. Both of my sons took Kaplan - the first because we didn't know better and the second because it fit into his lacrosse practice schedule. Not only did the course provide little to no proof it helped raise either son's scores, but they just really made me angry by refusing to provide answers to a practice test left over from his Kaplan-provided SAT book. That being said, son #2 took the PrepExpert SAT prep class over the summer and raised his SAT score by 160 points. So not only is Kaplan a crappy prep course, they have lousy customer service skills, too.

From the owner: The Baltimore Kaplan Center provides tutoring, classroom, and online preparation for the GMAT, GRE,…read moreLSAT, MCAT, DAT, OAT, PCAT, SAT and ACT. Kaplan also helps students prepare for the NCLEX-RN nursing and USMLE medical licensing exams. Preparation for the PSAT and TOEFL is also available. Kaplan admissions consultants can assist students in applying to Business School, Graduate School, Law School, Medical School, Dental School, Pharmacy School and Optometry School. At Kaplan, we have a program tailored to your specific needs. We offer on-site services at Towson, UMBC, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Stevenson, Goucher, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, University of Baltimore, Gettysburg, York, Morgan State, Coppin State and McDaniel College in Westminster. We also offer services in Columbia, Ellicott City, Annapolis, Pikesville, Owings Mills, and Bel Air. Prep smarter, score higher. Guaranteed -- or your money back.