My son has been attending MLC since TK and we just started 7th grade. I specifically sought out a dual language school for a number of reasons. What I found was SO much more. This school also strongly focuses on community, social emotional learning, justice, equality & equity. Students are not only taught to "learn", but also to THINK. There really is a difference. I love that the majority of their education is hands on & project based...not text books, lectures & paperwork all day everyday. I feel like it's so much more impactful. I feel like my son has retained so much more knowledge from this format. I also LOVE that the school is so small. I feel like my child has gotten so much more individualized support & help from everyone (aides all the way to the principal) than he would at a larger school. If you're the kind of parent that only cares about HIGH academic rigor bookwork, busy work, graded papers & test scores...then no, maybe this isn't the school for you. Pro tip: dual language students DO tend to have lower test scores in Elementary School, but catch up by Middle School. That's the whole reason it's a TK-8 school. They're learning in two languages while most only have to worry about one. Is this school perfect? Duh, of course not. Nothing is. However, they are pretty spectacular. :) read more

This school is amazing my children are thriving here and their teaching is great, also teacher and staff. I highly recommend this school my children Spanish has improved very much. read more

What an amazing school! Staff and teachers are super connected with the students. My daughter loves school. She is also fully bilingual thanks to them. The school hours, the food they serve and the after school program are just amazing. I can only say positive things about them. I recommend to every parent I stumble upon that is undecided where they want to take their kiddos or are unhappy with the school they attend. read more

My daughter came over from a school full of mold. They were able to take her mid year and love her like shes been there all year. The school is very attentive. The staff is amazing in the sense that everyone know your child and is aware of the children. read more

We've had a wonderful experience at MLC. The teachers truly care about the students and it's clear they love what they do. The school also does a great job providing emotional and academic support through counselors and staff, which creates a very positive environment for the kids. The Spanish immersion program has been amazing for our family. Spanish isn't the dominant language in our home, yet our son (currently in second grade) comes home speaking and reading Spanish with confidence. We've even had native Spanish speakers compliment how well he speaks. We're incredibly grateful for the education and encouragement he receives at MLC and highly recommend the school to other families. read more

My daughter has been coming here since TK and she loves it more every year, its a great small Charter School that has amazing teachers, staff and volunteers, they hold many events for the kids and community. Recommending MLC is a no brainer for me. read more

The school has been very communicative and supportive of my child who has special needs. I am able to get the information I need even though I am unable to speak Spanish. read more

it has been amazing having my now 2nd grader & Kinder children at this amazing community school. I love the way the attention each child gets based on their individual style of learning and level they are at in every subject. I also appreciate the focus on socialemotional learning and resources. My kids love the teachers and how much fun they have while learning. I'm so lucky to have found this amazing school. read more

We are so glad we chose MLC for our kids! When they started, they knew a few words of Spanish -- now they're fully fluent and it's amazing to see them switch between English and Spanish so naturally. The teachers are honestly incredible. They've made learning fun, kept the kids excited, and have been so supportive every step of the way. My kids come home teaching me new words and even correcting my Spanish, which cracks me up. It's been such a gift to see them grow up not just learning a new language, but also gaining a deeper appreciation for another culture. We couldn't be happier with the experience! read more

I enrolled my two daughters the year MLC first opened its doors. As foreign born professionals, my husband and I knew that a dual immersion program would give our girls the opportunity to learn Spanish academically which would offer them great career opportunities in the future. At MLC, we found a wonderful and dedicated community of teachers, staff, and parents dedicated to providing a safe and nurturing learning environment for all children. Over the years, we have stayed in touch with many families and staff from MLC and have witnessed the school's community impact, as well as the growth of its programs. Today, my daughters are thriving professional women with advanced degrees who, everyday, make a difference in the community thanks to the great years they spent at MLC. My gratitude and congratulations to everyone involved with MLC. read more

Time for an updated Review. Our family is beginning our 10th year at Multicultural Learning Center. Our oldest has just graduated 8th grade and begun high school. We have a 6th grader and a 4th grader. Our journey at MLC has been amazing and our family is truly a part of this community. My kids have always felt safe and cared for and that is something that is extremely important to us as parents. It's unrealistic to believe that during our time at MLC we have been incident free, of course our kids have gotten into disagreements with others or had rough days or weeks- there have been behavior concerns at the middle school etc. BUT the difference between MLC and other schools is the manner in which things are handled and addressed. Parents are informed, action is taken period. Restorative practices and policies and procedures are in place for a reason and as parents we have to trust that the decisions made are in the best interest of our children. My son, who is 14 is completely bilingual and biliterate and has entered his freshman year confident and academically ready. I am happy to say that that wasn't just us- we have to give credit to the teachers and staff at MLC. Our new middle schooler is already more organized and approaching her middle schooler responsibilities with newly acquired organizational skills. She is planning, tracking and using strategy to navigate this new world- that is not just us- that's MLC. And our youngest, learning to be independent without big sis on campus. She seemed extra needy that last week of summer and the morning we went back to school as I am doing her hair I asked her to name some adults that she could go to for support in case she needed it-she practically named the whole staff, again- that is MLC. At the end of the day you have to choose a school that is right for you and your family and yes, I have seen some of the negative reviews and yes, I know some of those people and all I can say is- maybe MLC was never the right fit for those families and secondly why did they stay for so long?? You have to wonder right? Look at other reviews that they have written, has a business received a one star because they weren't allowed to be entitled or demand special treatment? read more

2 kids in the middle school, 1 in the elementary. This is a great school if bilingualism, social emotional wellbeing and caring teachers is what you're looking for. Small class sizes. Fun art and music program. The after-school program offers free fieldtrips on some of the school holidays and during breaks. Parent involvement and volunteerism is supported and encouraged. They also post about local opportunities for family welfare, multicultural experience opportunities and fun. read more

Love the friendly environment and how kids are learning to be respectful using "dame cinco" standards. Of course, kids can be mischievous but here at MLC, they make sure to support them in becoming kind, safe, and respectful individuals. read more

After 5 years at this school I feel compelled to write this review, not to bash or slander anyone at this school but to bring attention to others so they can be best informed and really understand the truth of how this school functions or lack thereof. If my review can provide someone with real recent insight and save them the terrible experience we have had, it will have been worth the time to write this. First, I'll start by saying that this was not our first experience with MLC. My husband and I initially chose this school when it first started so we were one of the founding families with our first son. . It was a great option for dual language then when our community didn't offer such a school option. It was a small community school with a family feel. Even though not everything was perfect at first, the founder was mostly approachable and amenable to parents. We had a great experience the first go around and so we thought we would try again with our second ...years later. We were able to have our second child enter 1st grade which was during the pandemic and virtually. While not the best start learning virtually, our teacher was so amazing and dedicated to providing a great experience. She is really the only good thing left about this school to this day. Our child then started in person from 2nd grade to this year in 5th. We quickly started to notice many differences in the way the school was ran and in the level and quality of the teachers. With our first experience, MLC had excellent teachers. They were all well educated, well versed in teaching dual language and understanding how to reach a child where they were at in their academic and emotional needs. Shortly after starting in person, we started hearing of the high turn around with both teachers and families. It was clearly evident that teachers were leaving under the direction of the current principal who as others have shared here, harasses parents and staff, is very oppositional, hostile, offers no support or leadership and is just horrible. Last year,after the librarian of many years retired, the school then hired another very nice young lady. This new librarian was so welcoming and helpful as she once created an entire list of suggested reading books based on MY child's interest. Unfortunately, she was only there about a year before the principal ran her off. While there, we recognized in second grade, that we would have to augment our son's math skills with an outside math program because this schools math program was very weak. We had no choice but to enroll him in an outside program in which we had to take him out of school a bit earlier in order to attend on time once a week. For doing so, this principal started to harass us, saying our child would get marked as truant and we would be reported. She kept harassing us until we had to fight back and tell her that her this was what he needed and we were going to do whatever we felt was necessary for his success. Later from third grade to fourth, she presented statistics in how students were performing. She showed that only 4% of students were meeting grade level in math. Of course she referenced this low achievement due to the "pandemic loss". Since not all parents were able to attend this meeting, I asked her if she was going to schedule another meeting to allow other parents to learn of these very important statistics. Her reply as is stated in another reviewer experience here, was "no, why should I hold another meeting to inform parents when I've already held this and parents don't attend. What more do people want" That's all I'm doing". This was her attitude. She clearly lacked any real interest in the academics of these families and their success. Mind you, this meeting was held on a Friday when most parents were WORKING! From that it went to her harassing us for having to take him out 15 minutes earlier at the end of the day to get him to his competitive swim practice. We expressed that there were changes in staffing within the swim program and our only choice was to leave a little earlier to allow time to get him there. She then continued harassing us saying that he was missing a "very important" PE and interaction with his peers. We responded by telling her that swimming was essential for him as it helped with his focus challenges and we would not budge. I couldn't believe how once when I was picking him up early from PE which had already started, the only thing my child was doing was circling a tree with a friend. THAT was their idea of an "effective PE"time. Later I confronted her with this and told her we would continue to take him out earlier until we needed to and that he gained much more from the 1+ hour swimming than the 30 minute of supposed "PE" at MLC. read more

love the school great staff!! my child is very happy to attend and be part of this school.

My son started in TK and now is in 4th grade! We love our Panditas!!! Great before and after camp is great too!

We love the school community here! One of my kids completed elementary here and is moving on to MLC Middle school. My other child just started and we love it. The Admin team is wonderful. The office staff is friendly and helpful. The teachers have been awesome. The support staff is exceptional. They get to know the kids, they host several events to involve parents, they are receptive to suggestions and concerns. We are definitely proud Panditas! read more

My daughter attended k-8th grade. Best academic decision we ever made. She's in college now... biliterate and bilingual in Spanish/English and bc of the love of language she got at MLC she also studied Italian, Russian and is now fluent in Arabic too, on her way to study abroad immersed in the Arabic language and culture! She took Spanish 3 in 9th grade and AP Spanish in 10th grade and passed the AP exam with a 5. Admin was very accessible, teachers caring and knowledgeable, fellow families friendly. When my daughter attended, parents were very involved in school community. My daughter did have a rough time socially in the middle school, but middle school can be a challenge for an introvert anywhere. Would have appreciated more diversity in the student body but they did strive to honor all cultures and worked to maintain a balanced language diversity when kids start in Kinder. (1/3 spanish speakers only, 1/3 english speakers only and 1/3 bilingual speakers) Don't think it's the right school for every kid/family but when it works, it really works as it did for us. read more

This school is way ahead of the curve. I have been continually impressed by the school's dedication to social and emotional learning, growth mindset, and effective language learning. All of these pieces are really are the building blocks for a good foundation of learning, empathy, and globally-minded students. read more

Loving this Charter School! My daughter is starting her 2nd year here. We are excited to have the opportunity to have a bi-lingual & bi-literate daughter since we only speak English in the home. We were able to switch her last year when a spot became available, as we didn't initially get in by lottery. After switching from Pomelo....I see a BIG difference in the Charter Schools. Pomelo was ALWAYS hitting us up for money. MLC encourages volunteering. Example: Pomelo's Father-Daughter dance was $50. to attend. MLC's Father-Daughter dance was free, but they asked for canned good donations to support families in need. I also just received a notice that the School Picture package is $3. I thought this was a typo because I've been hit up for $30.+ for pictures in the past. I've experienced caring, dedicated Teachers, a kind and helpful Administrative Staff and feel lucky that my daughter has this opportunity! read more

I'm so happy that my kids have had the opportunity to go to MLC. Gayle, the Director, is very warm and has always been accessible. All three of my kids had Senora Menendez for both kinder and first. She's amazing! The school is welcoming of students with disabilities and our IEP services have been great. I love that my kids are bilingual. It's amazing when we're out in public and they're able to communicate with people from different backgrounds. MLC is small so it's more like a family- everyone knows everyone and the kids grow up together. It's been a great experience. read more

My children attended this school from k-7th grade. At first the school was great and my children loved it, but by 2nd grade I started seeing signs that it was a terrible idea. The first director the school had while my child was there was Gayle. she was great, my kids loved her but when Mrs Aragon was named the principal my child no longer wanted to go to school everyday because she was "scared" of Mrs Aragon. My daughter constantly had stories of lock downs and many other traumatic experiences. While lock downs are uncontrollable, I feel as though being exposed to that at such a young age can be very damaging. There where also many stories about times people where racist or homophobic to many of my daughters friends which is unacceptable and was not handled the right way. There where slurs being thrown around everywhere which also, very concerning considering there where Kindergarteners in the area. We kept her in because it was the only option we had that would make her bi-lingual. Her being able to speak Spanish has come in handy, being that we have family members that only speak Spanish. I feel like it is also important to add that MANY of the teachers where very inexperienced in teaching and controlling the classroom. I remember one year, my daughter learned almost nothing because the teacher did not discipline the students at all!! Now that we are at a new school she was unprepared for the new environment and homework. Many of the teachers at MLC did not "believe in homework" which seemed fun at the time but now is paying its price because of the constant stress my daughter faces now in 8th grade. The only good or special thing about this school is the fact they will teach you Spanish but trust me, IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!!! Do not waste your time or energy on this school. read more

Awesome opportunity for children to be exposed to another language! The staff is super friendly and helpful! We are super excited to have our daughter at MLC can't wait to see her blossom! read more

Principal is oppositional, hostile, and downright nasty. We had some problems that were (easily) solvable and a group of parents tried to arrange a meeting with the principal and she told the parent she didn't want to meet because she "already hosted several meet and greets. What more do you people want?!" But, you ask, were they actual problems or just high-maintenance parents? 1. a child BROKE HER FINGER and the school didn't call the parents - they sent her back to class with an ice pack 2. there was a lot of hitting during class time 3. There was some relational aggression with older children picking on younger children - like third grade girls picking on kinder girls in the bathroom 4. They put all the new families with a new teacher and then gave the new teacher ZERO supplies. Returning families were given fully supplied, seasoned teachers. During the meeting we had once we went to the woman running the school, the principal and head administrator threw the teacher under the bus. They refused to take any responsibility. They refused to agree to a plan of action. They refused to apologize for the principal's hostility. The parents who led the parent organization told us that there had been many problems with the new principal and that the admin refused to do anything about it. They knew and chose to allow her to behave badly. read more

We have two boys at MLC and we had success with them learning both Spanish and English. It is a small school and a great community atmosphere. We highly recommend MLC! read more

I write as a parent who feels both lucky and grateful for the support and excellent teaching provided at The MultiCultural Learning Center. My daughter has attended since Kindergarten(now in 6th grade) and I have am continually impressed with the dedication of the faculty and staff. My daughter enjoys her classes and her overall school experience. I feel I have found a school that listens and responds to children and parents. I love that the whole environment is encouraging, positive and caring in its ethos. Every visit I have to the school truly impresses and touches me! I think the school's communication all round is excellent and I feel very happy to have such confidence in the school. read more

Love the school, my daughter just started three days ago and she loves it. Staff is super friendly and Knowledgeable. Been looking for a dual language school since she was in kindergarten, she's becoming more fluent in Spanish since she sees other kids speaking the language. When I go to pick her up and I ask her how her day was, she says "great mommy" that makes my heart happy. She adjusted really fast made friends and all. As parents sometimes our concern is if our child will adjust or if the transition from one school to another will affect them, I know that was my concern, but I also think as parents is our responsibility to let them grow and embrace the fact that that's life and sometimes changes are good. And this change turned out to be really good Thank you MLC! read more

I'd have to say that putting our son here was one of the worst choices we had made in a long time. His Teacher was very nice but my son is TK and this school is extremely academic driven. Worksheets all day long not enough time for play have hands on learning or learning through play just worksheets. Not enough staff for the amount of students I volunteered in the classroom and witnessed kids just being shuffled from workstation to workstation. If you happened to be at a station that had the teacher or her aide you may get some help but if you didn't you could easily fall behind. My son cried every morning that I forced him to go to school. The parents there are extremely nice which is why we lasted so long. But the constant drilling and ton's of homework even over Christmas break. Just to much for young developing minds. My son is much happier now that we put him back at the local school and is in a TK class. read more

MLC is the BEST Charter school in the Valley. I have all 3 of my children in MLC. The Staff are loving, caring and super excited about teaching. read more

An amazing school the teachers are great, the education shows above average. I highly recommend this school.

Biliteracy is the gift of this school and we are blessed to be part of this community of learners

As I read the good and the not so good comments and reviews about MLC, It only confirms that everyone has a different point of view and experience with anything and everything in life. Nothing or no place is perfect for everyone. I personally love MLC, it has given my children the dream education to learn in two languages and the gift of growing up with a true diverse experience learning about different cultures. My son is a senior in high school now and has been an honor student the whole time in a very rigorous college-prep school. The foundation and education MLC gave him is invaluable. He is part of both the Spanish Honor Society , Cum Laude Society (top 10% of his class) and president of the Senior class National Society. I share this not to boast but to give you evidence that the education given at MLC works. I was so happy with it that 8 years later I'm came back last year with my daughter in Kindergarten...She is now in first grade with Mrs. Bethel just as amazing a teacher as Mrs. Duenas( my sons kinder and 1st grade teacher)...She is already reading in both Spanish and English...she loves the school. During our time there...when we have had any issues or concerns, as it is part of a healthy life, the teachers and administrators have been nothing but open to listening and finding a solution together. Happy New Year! Yeniffer Behrens-Mendoza read more

MLC is an amazingly wonderful school! It's a small K-8 school with caring, dedicated teachers, staff and administration. Everyone on campus knows all of the children and are there to support them. MLC is a Spanish Immersion school, so children have the gift of learning in two languages. We have been so happy at MLC (children started in Kindergarten) and grateful for the MLC community. One child has graduated from MLC and one is in MLC Middle School, and both are thriving. read more

MLC has provided a special and unique learning environment for both our children. Their personalized experiences with caring teachers and staff are preparing them for a bright bilingual future. This is a forward thinking K-8 school, where student needs are placed first. read more

Horrible school, teachers, and administration. Make sure to check your child's cumulative folder because they will put things in their that are not true and do not relate to the student. Be cautious. read more

The new afterschool YPI project is ver bad unprofessional woman in charge should learn the manners to adults, kids both. She is bad example to all her staff she rather socialize with than work her job. She let kids run free with no adults around out in the field or betwen school building very dangerous and when you pick up kid early they don't know where kid is, take 20 minutes to find kid or they send you to yourself looking for your kid is not in the class. And takes weeks to start new year of classes. No structure no orgnize no manners. Kristi who ran before was very better never such problems. School admins is never budget right they last year had to funraise money to pay lights bill! They try to keep these secrets but many parents knows. Always asking parents for moneys, supplies for school office and too also the classes! If your kid is not normal to them they will want you out of the school they only want the smart and normal perfect kids or they will give you many problems to make you want to leave te school. This is our family experience. Yes the parent are good and many teachers good too but not the admins and not the aftershool YPI no not at all. Could be so good but need many trainings! read more