We love Oakwood Academy (preschool). Our son joined in October of 2025 as a 2.5 year old. The…read moreschool is very clean and organized with processes that support safety, stability and care for the kids. My son has already learned so much in less than 6 months. I love that they post the lesson plan so you can reinforce the learning at home. There is a lot of communication through the Class Dojo app and postings at school. He also was potty trained fully in 2 months which I was more than happy to pay the extra $25-30 a week for that guidance. They have fun activities like field trips, Christmas recitals, special guests like firemen, dentists, etc. He LOVES his teachers, Ms. Cynthia and Ms. Khalifa and we do too! They really understand each child and their personality nuances. I can share what is happening at home and they help guide and reinforce behavior changes at school. It takes a village to raise a child and I'm so thankful to have Oakwood Academy as part of mine!

We love Oakwood Academy and their staff. Our daughter has blossomed since she started attending…read moreOakwood. She is excited to go to school in the morning. The staff is so warm, loving and inviting. Academically they challenge my daughter and has her excelling in her schooling. Our daughter has meet a lot of new friends and love her OA family. There are so many great things about this school not enough space to type on this review. We also love the diversity of staff and students as well. So glad we found Oakwood

Our daughter has been attending St. Barnabas Catholic School since TK, and the difference has been…read moreincredible. After a difficult experience in public school, we were heartbroken seeing her not get the attention and support she needed. Everything changed when Mrs. Kellam invited us to have her try a day--and from that moment on, we never looked back. The teachers truly care and make every child feel seen and supported. The communication is strong, the environment is nurturing, and the focus on both academics and character really stands out. Our daughter is now confident, happy, and thriving--and we are so grateful we found this school.

I have had all three of my daughters go to SBS. Two of them are currently there. I am also a…read morecurrent public school teacher in a different city, and i feel that the knowledge, foundation and guidance that this school gives to the children is truly remarkable. I would highly recommend this school for all ages preschool-8th grade.

We are not year-round family at Westerly, but we consistently return for their summer camp…read more Our eleven-year-old son had attended all the local summer camps in Long Beach--JCC, 49'er camp, the city's parks and recs--over the past few years, and he ranks Westerly the highest among all camp experiences. The staff is accommodating, the hours are flexible (7:30 am to 5:30 pm), and he has a great time.

What can I say. Our family loves Westerly! Our eldest started at one of Long Beach's blue ribbon…read moreschools, but with the huge classes we decided to take a look at Westerly and we couldn't go back. Since then all our kids have thrived in their Westerly experience. It starts with a sizable campus with a beautiful grass field for sports and activities, newly constructed learning studios and the amazing arts village. What a great place to learn. Then the passionate teachers and staff deliver a whole child program, with a better than 10:1 student/teacher ratio. The Westerly program includes: Curriculum and instruction - Enthusiastic teachers with a well thought out curriculum and small class sizes enabling teachers to adapt the curriculum to the needs of your child. Technology/STEM - Westerly recently hired a full-time Director of Instructional Technology to enhance an already strong technology/STEM program throughout the curriculum. Think coding in class, 3D printing, science and engineering fairs, etc. Visual and performing arts - Incorporated in the curriculum is an annual school-wide play lead by the folks at TKTC. The visual arts program is second to none with the kids being exposed to public arts projects, ceramics in the new ceramics studio, mixed media, painting, photography, etc. I wish I could take the classes myself. Wildcat, the after school program is a blessing. Our kids beg to go to Wildcat to play with their friends, work on yearbook, take film, dance, music, robotics and other after school enrichment activities. Athletics - A legitimate, well-run PE program with enthusiastic instruction and basketball, volleyball, football teams throughout elementary and middle school. Music - Every child takes both general and instrumental music as part of their Westerly experience. Spanish - Kindergarten through 8th grade all the kids get introduced to the Spanish language through a dedicated Spanish instructor. Leadership - This is quite possibly one of the most amazing parts of the curriculum. Continuing on the theme of whole child education the Director of Student Affairs leads an amazing program that goes so beyond student council, creating leadership opportunities for so many children. Programs like student council, district representatives, green team, etc., start in Kindergarten and the kids grow in responsibility as the children grow themselves. Each child also gains leadership responsibilities as a student mentor, where each older student is paired with a younger student as a mentor. Service learning and field studies - As the kids grow in maturity so do the service learning and field studies. Our children have enjoyed trips to Catalina and other local camps, but the highlight of the program is a one week trip in 8th grade where the whole class travels to Nicaragua to conduct a service learning project, practice their spanish, and are exposed to a different culture and way of life that they are used to. Community - Westerly is a place where without question every family places a priority on securing a great, well-rounded education for their children. Being in an environment like this is so fantastic. Independent school is not cheap, but in our minds it's the best gift we can give to our children. Westerly also offers significant financial aid support, so if that is an issue be sure to discuss your situation with the school to see if they can make something work for your family. P.S. This may sound like a paid ad, but it's our true feelings about this place. It's really special.

Freshman at this school I love it, it is amazing I love the people that I met and it's just a…read morereally amazing school I would definitely recommend this school to students who get good grades and don't skip school...because you are just wasting time skipping instead of going to your fun classes. I would recommend MEDs pathway if you are into medicine that's my pathway and I love it! #futureorthodontist

This school has been so very good for my daughter. She is thriving, excelling and being mentored…read moreby her teachers, counselors and staff. The classes are demanding and challenging as I think they should be. If there was a 6th star, I would mark it.

I was a student of this school class of 2025…read moreI loved it. funny moments and all. great teachers that cared about grades and homework!

Absolutely Great School, kids are academically challenged and it feels like a close-knit community.read more

As a tai chi instructor, I gave an introduction class to the wonderful of Maple Village, Waldorf…read moreschool who very thoughtful and appreciative of the art presented. It's great to see a teaching establishment provide the artistic world to students who have a thirst for all art forms. Dav-Ekon, the Art of Tai Chi

My son has been going to this school for 3 years, that is until we found out the truth about the…read moreplace we called home. My son has seen his friends get grabbed, physically removed for messing around, get hit (the teachers would defend the people hurting them), and racism. I've also spoken to some of the moms that have left recent reviews to get their feedback, and they told me their reviews were taken down by the school. When me and my husband looked at these reviews we have also noticed that a lot of the stuff stated in the reviews are still happening. When my son and his class went to the park, he saw the teacher yell a derogatory Asian slur at his old classmate, then when my son came home telling me the news, me and my husband were furious that a teacher at the school has taught my son discriminatory language. We were angry that we were paying over $1,000 in tuition per month for my son to learn hate before fractions. I'm about to list more situations in this review: 1. My son is more quiet and doesn't get in trouble at all, but he has watched his friends get grabbed, cussed at for telling the teacher to not touch them, the teacher started a dynamic which disrespects kids, and they're rude to their parents. 2. The teacher would talk about her husbands g-string, and would talk about sexual things that I don't want my son to hear. 3. The teacher would also take away my son's lunch if he had to re-do the work, and there was this one incident where he didn't listen to the teacher because he was starving and just started eating his lunch, then got kept from going to the park when the class was going, then for the rest of the day he was isolated in a classroom and made to think he was a bad person when really it's the school being cruel. 4. During games class, I find it unsafe for kids to play in an alleyway that has homeless people in it, and I also find it unsafe that they have to move every time a car comes by. 5. When me and my husband were on the fence questioning ourselves about if this is the right place for children, we sent our kid to the school the next morning with a tiny notebook and a pencil and we told our son to take notes of everything that everyone says and happens in those bad situations. When my son came home me and my husband took a look at the notebook, and me and my husband were pissed. From what the notebook said we were upset to learn that the teachers actually violently grabbed a kid that didn't do his work because he was thinking about stuff emotionally at his desk. 6. From everything that we have our son tell us all of these people there sound very unskilled, and should work with kids. Me and my husband admired the Waldorf scene of it being creative, hands on, and supportive but these teachers aren't supportive at all to certain kids who are different then what they like, me and my husband talked to the parents of the kids who have been violently punched or grabbed by teachers, or students. And these parents were very nice people, from this other review, I read all I have to say is you shouldn't learn about the school because it's a cult on my prospective, it's not inclusive if not, everyone is supported at the school then it's not supportive at all, the tuition is over $1000 for your kids to be wearing hate,and to be playing in a alleyway with shattered glass and homeless people. And I fully support all of these kids who have left the school because so many kids have left that they had to merge a few grades together because the parents weren't the same truth I have. and every time me and my husband would have meetings with these teachers. About how they would act with other kids. They would deflect it towards the kid who is actually getting bullied because they are different. the school has also let my son learn about the N-word, sexual jokes, sex, and racist jokes from other kids, This school dose not censor what the children talk about. What I have to say after my experience here is get your kid out before this school is a huge waste of money, and time. For all of the people reading this review get your kids out of there, or if you're learning about the school do not let your kid out there, and maple village if you respond to this review don't try to say none of this happened, because you guys know it did.

ok school kinda sucks i reported a teacher giving me their number and i got dismissed for not…read morehaving enough evidence and the schools offer was to have me go to a different center while keeping the creep teacher around, didn't end up happening but as soon as i graduated they let the teacher come back. also the coach for the girls soccer team so if you want to send your kid to a school where teachers allow each other to be unprofessional and ask for your child number send them this way and ask for emilio!

don't bother. receptionist can't be bothered to stop talking to the young girls long enough to help…read moreyou with paperwork or enrolling your kid

It was a great school for our family, our children started in preschool and stayed through sixth…read moregrade!

We adore this school. The staff investment in the lives and well-being of the students is so…read moreapparent. As an alum I can say I am happy to have spent my formative years here and glad for my child to attend here

We love bethany! My son started here pre-k summer camp and now hes going to be in 2nd grade…read more Bethany has become our family/community.

Leaving Bethany School was the most rewarding decision for our family. Many parents are naturally…read moredriven to private schools given the perception of superiority, impression of additional resources as compared to public schools, and the idea that teachers are better trained/educated. However, this is far from the case at Bethany School. Fortunately, we didn't waste too much time there and have successfully moved on to better opportunities for our children. Our kids are now happy, thriving and actually being challenged. As a parent, it is in your best interest to strongly consider the public schools within the Long Beach system. The LBUSD has staff with bachelor's degrees at a minimum, many with master's degrees/other secondary level education and ALL are fully credentialed (not the case at Bethany). In addition, LBUSD focuses on emotional intelligence, empathy, diversity, equity, inclusion and welcomes/accepts kids that learn differently. Bethany School admittedly prefers "obedient," cookie cutter kids due to their "limited resources and staff training." Although, these repeated statements were concerning given the high cost of tuition and continuous (often daily) pleas for donations. Bethany School prides itself on being "Future Focused," however, the curriculum, operations and staff training do not support this statement. For example, the utilization of "Clip Charts" as a daily behavioral management tool is widely known to be outdated and the theorized benefits have been refuted by studies and research (perform a simple Google search on the "Clip Chart Method" for your own assessment). Also, the end of the week "prize boxes" (and other extrinsic motivators) at Bethany are outdated and actually cause more harm than good to children. Prize boxes decrease a child's long-term ability to develop intrinsic motivation, an organic love for learning and the natural desire to be kind and compassionate. I question how Bethany labels such deeply outdated tactics as "Future Focused." In addition, there was an over-emphasis on the recitation of Bible verses and other religious content that created a gap with what the kids should be learning. In fact, many parents needed other educational content to supplement the Bethany School curriculum to ensure that their students would remain on track. Overall, we were thoroughly disappointed by the pipe dream that was sold to us via their website and during many on-campus tours, especially given the amount of tuition that we were paying. This has been an eye-opening experience about the educational system in the city of Long Beach. Private schools in LB, whether religious/Montessori/other are not superior, do not challenge kids, do not welcome kids with learning differences and have an alarming lack of emphasis on emotional intelligence (which we all know should truly be the focus of the future). Choose your children's education wisely. Don't ignore the red flags. Pass on Bethany.

I absolutely love the staff and how much they genuinely care for their children. My children love…read morecoming here and are making many friends . They are accepting of our children and help them grow as great community members. There are many positive role models at this school. We are grateful that our children have had them as their teachers. They feel this daycare is a second home to them. Early drop off and late pick up is great. They walk our school age kids to school and they also pick them up. This has been so convenient for us because we arr such busy, working parents. Would definitely recommend.

Both of my children attend the Children's Center for before and afterschool supervision. The…read morefacility actually takes, and picks up my kids from school which is a big deal if you are a working parent. The staff is fantastic, and management really listens to parents. They are absolutely an extension of our family. I highly recommend this facility.