The best activity we've ever done for my son. Erin is wonderful, the junior staff are amazing…read more This program is so phenomenal.

I put my daughters (8 and 11) into Feelosopher's Path's Adventure Summer Camp in 2014. My…read moredaughters are shy and have a very hard time joining group activities, especially when they don't know anyone. They also tend to have a "can't do" attitude about new activities. For that reason, they generally hated summer camps. They hated CuriOdyssey, Marine Science Institute, Galileo, Steve & Kate's, you-name-it. Feelosopher's Path's stated goal for camp was to encourage kids to become more adventurous and independent -- at a gentle pace. I figured it was worth a try. Well, this was the first summer camp where I did not have to drag them there every morning. On the first day, as usual, my daughters hung behind me during check-in and stared worriedly around. Erin immediately got down to their eye-level and started chatting. By the time I finished checking in, both girls were relaxed and conversing and I saw them join the other kids before I left. Every morning, they were eager to put on their new wristwatches (part of the camp equipment list) and go on another exploration. And my non-outdoorsy, non-hiking girls hiked to the Angel Island campsite carrying all of their own gear and came back dirty and joyous. After the camp ended, both girls were adamant that they wanted to return. By June of 2015, they were asking on a weekly basis if Feelosopher's Camp was the next week! They were so excited. They had just as much fun at FC Adventure Summer Camp 2015. Feelosopher's Path is a great organization. It truly feels to be that Erin and Hiro create community. This isn't just about keeping the kids busy for the summer with activities. They are taught to be part of a larger world and to become more independent and more caring. The school year programs don't work with our schedule but they sound awesome. We will be back for the summer camp and someday we hope our kids will feel independent enough to say they want to go to Japan for the sister summer camp. That would be a milestone. I will finally add that having Hiro and kids come from Japan to run/attend the summer camp is wonderful. It shows the kids that there is a whole world to explore.

I am looking to complain to this YMCA about its unreasonably hard pool lane dividers in which one…read moreof my pinkies was injurred this morning but since I'm here I'm going to be fair, give a rating of 4 stars, and refute to several cranks here. I've gone to this and the Mission Valley YMCA for years. I find the complaints about the front desk to be frivolous. There are no towels except small ones for use with disinfectants and thus that complaint is frivolous. This is Yelp and it draws a lot of defective people to complain.

It's the Y. It's not a fancy schmancey, hoity-toity, lala gym. It's a neighborhood gym for normal…read morepeople. Average Joe's if you will. And I love it. We left Crunch after 17 years (well, technically it was Gold's before but you get the point) because I had a female stalker and Crunch wouldn't help me (even with restraining orders). I was wildly unimpressed with their non-assistance. We went to Equinox bc it was supposed to be nicer and it was only a 1 mile walk from our house - fantastic. While it looked nicer, it was not nicer. It's old, outdated and limited. It's stupid expensive. And the hours really, really suck. So after a year, we left Equinox and we were wavering on going back to the Bay Club or joining the Y. Our kids really wanted to work out and the Y was a great option for a family plan. So we joined for them. While testing it out and thinking we might bounce out to the Bay Club, we ended up loving it. They recently upgraded all the equipment to smart equipment and I'm diggin it! I haven't seen these machines since I was at an upscale gym in Houston a couple years ago! I love the price ($185 for all 6 of us, plus it as daycare vs $230/mo at equinox per person and no kids are welcome) I love the normalness of the Y too. I may make great income, but I don't want to be with the stiffs. I want to be where my roots are.

My 4 yrs old and his 2 cousins go there. Love the place! Definitely got the money worth. They also…read morehave nice camp sessions!

I recently had a terrible experience at this facility with my daughter. After reading similar…read morereviews, I realize this was not an isolated incident. My daughter has attended several classes here, and she has complained to me about the constant switching of coaches, which has made her feel uncomfortable. At her age, she wants to have some familiarity with her coach and build a relationship with them. Completely understandable. The coaches appear to be young, with some being attentive while others seem disengaged, even using their phones during her class. This is understandable to some degree with teenage coaches, but the lack of proper management is alarming. Initially, I wasn't sure who the manager was, and when I asked to speak to one, I was told she was unavailable, handling something in the office. I politely waited, but after about 20 minutes, she never came out, so I had to leave. I was given the manager's name, Charisse, but she appeared to be laughing and joking with others while I was waiting, making no effort to address my concerns and come out to speak with me. The worst and most unprofessional part was during my next (and last) visit, when I made a point to speak with the manager, Charisse. She demanded I speak with her outside, for reasons unknown (maybe to avoid being in front of other parents). She was incredibly rude and unprofessional, refusing to listen to the concerns my daughter had the courage to bring up. Instead, she mocked me and belittled my daughter's skillset, claiming that if she didn't like the coaching changes, she should look elsewhere because they didn't need our business. I was shocked by this situation. I strongly urge all parents to reconsider entrusting their children to this poorly managed establishment. As Charisse advised, please look elsewhere - this organization does not need YOUR business. (This happened a while ago but held off on posting a review in hopes of improvement.) I also know of a ton of families who have switched gyms for similar situations. Management needs to address the unprofessionalism of this manager and begin to have a more routine coaching schedule for the gymnasts to feel comfortable.

Our son spent two years in the Butterfly class at Challenge School's San Mateo campus, and…read morehonestly, sending him here is one of the best decisions we've made as parents. When he first started, he was a quiet little boy. He'd come home from his old, all-English school and barely say a word about his day, and making friends never came easily to him. That slowly changed here. From his very first days, Challenge felt safe to him, and bit by bit he came out of his shell -- chatting about his friends, laughing more, growing into the outgoing, happy kid we'd always hoped to see. Watching that happen has meant more to us than we can put into words. So much of it comes down to the teachers. He adores Teacher Francis and greets him with a hug every single morning, and there's a genuine tenderness in the way the teachers treat the kids -- right down to the little nicknames they have for each of them. What really stayed with us, though, is how the school shows up when things get hard. Last year our son got bigger and full of energy, and his afternoon nap started keeping him up later and later at night. Bedtime turned into a nightly battle -- some nights we were still at it past midnight, and the whole family was exhausted. When we brought it up, they didn't just nod and move on; they sat down and worked through it with us. They offered to move him to the after-school class, and -- knowing how much his friends mean to him -- suggested he could still spend his mornings with his original class so he wouldn't lose them. His sleep eventually sorted itself out and we never needed to make the switch, but the fact that they were so willing to bend for one family told us everything. His Mandarin has blossomed here, and so has his confidence in English. He mostly speaks Mandarin, but Teacher Hanan gently coaxed him up for Show & Tell each week, and he went from not wanting to say a word to standing in front of the class and telling his story in English. The teachers keep a close, caring eye on the whole child, too -- they check in with us often about how he's doing with his learning, his play, his communication -- and they're always adjusting to help him along. And it's simply a joyful place to be a kid. He's forever bringing home crafts and drawings, he helps look after the classroom plants, and he counts down to every holiday they celebrate -- Easter, Halloween, Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day. We're deeply grateful to Francis, Hanan, Nicole, and everyone at Challenge School. If you're looking for a warm, bilingual preschool where your child will be truly seen and truly cared for, we couldn't recommend it more.

Our son had a wonderful experience in the Butterfly class and summer camps. The teachers were…read morecaring, knowledgeable, and genuinely supportive. The curriculum was thoughtful and engaging, and we were especially happy to see how much his Mandarin improved. The facilities were always clean and well maintained. We also loved the many events held throughout the year, including Lunar New Year, Halloween, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Our son's performances were such a pleasant surprise, especially the Christmas performance at the mall! We're very grateful for our experience and would highly recommend this preschool.

Our 8-year-old daughter had a blast at Type, Coding & Minecraft Camp…read more Aside, we signed her up for her first Minecraft account this past weekend. Hopefully, she can do it again next summer if schedules permit.

Alvin and Jessica were both very helpful. My almost 10 yr old really enjoyed the camp. He enjoyed…read morethe typing and coding games with his friends there. He asked to go back there again. During their free time, he enjoyed playing Minecraft. We will definitely bring him back.

My 14 year old son has been going to the Coder School for half of his life now: he has had weekly…read morecoaching sessions with Teacher John, who has been awesome and incredibly patient in teaching him all sorts of computer coding and languages - from Python, to Java, to C++, and nowadays they talk about AI and construct projects for him to do that feed his intellectual curiosity. John has been so helpful and creative, and he has maintained a balance between answering my son's myriad questions while also having him execute complicated projects. John has been a constant in my son's life for seven years, and the school is very organized, responsive and helpful whenever we need to make a change to the schedule. I HIGHLY recommend!

Great way to get kids into coding they started in the Palo Alto location and now go to San Mateo…read more My son and daughter both do weekly coding lesson and it has been a great experience. The staff are really top notch and take the time to make sure the kids understand what they are doing and also try to make it topical to games they might play Learning Scratch, python, java etc My kids love making their own games and are looking forward to summer camp where they might make mobile apps

My kids have loved their summer and winter camps here! The teachers are highly skilled and I love…read morethe variety of media and techniques taught in the classes. My kids have gotten to do watercolors, chalk pastels, india ink, printmaking, sculpture, and more. They are able to use high-quality supplies and the class sizes are good.

This review is for their summer camp. The kids eat lunch on the curb. No attempt is made to take…read morethem to a playground or a park or even an adjoining grassy area! They can perhaps talk to the church authorities close by for use of their grounds or take them to the end of scenic way (4 minute walk) and use the grassy area there! There was no ice-breaker so the kids shy to talk to each other and there was little or interaction among the kids! Classes start at 9 am. Break is from 10-11 an and lunch is from 12-1 pm and classes end at 3 pm! I will update this review if things change!

Rosaura was great! Answered all questions and made the class/session fun. The pace of the class…read morewas good. The combination of the students' hands on experience, with her observations and suggestions made for an enjoyable and productive class.

It was an excellent course with a great atmosphere, and Rosaura was very good at explaining the…read moreinstructions. You should invite Richard to teach courses--we'd love to see him there again.