We have used City Smarts with both of our children, who have very different personalities and…read morelearning styles. All of the City Smarts tutors were excellent -- not just in their expertise and knowledge of the tests, but in connecting with our kids on many levels -- including emotionally and academically. City Smarts takes great care in pairing the right tutor with your child. These tutors were somehow able to inspire our kids to study and do practice tests, on top of an already-demanding school workload. With City Smarts' help, our kids never lost sight of the fact that these tests are just one tool among many in the high school application process. Their whole approach is level-headed and holistic, and they managed to reduce the stress and insanity that the NYC school-search can engender. Separate from their tutoring services, I also recommend their individual consulting in your search for the best schools (private and/or public) for your child. It's not cheap but we found it was money well-spent. They take a real interest in learning about your child and figuring out what will best serve him/her/them. We've sent many friends to City Smarts and they've all been so impressed with their tutors and their kids have all gone on to great schools where they're thriving. We highly recommend City Smarts!

City Smarts was a life saver for our family. Our neurodiverse child struggled mightily during…read moreCovid falling behind in math and science. City Smarts came in with patience, grace and talent to help get her back on track. They were collaborative with her teachers as well as flexible with our schedule. Their talented team was able to not only get her back to grade level, but also repair her relationship with math! While they are known for their ability to help kids with striving for new heights of achievement, they are just as capable and wonderful with getting kids back on track. Thank you to the City Smarts team!

Buckle My Shoe is a magical place where young children thrive! The wonderful teachers and staff at…read moreBMS truly love and care for for each child, and (in true Reggio style) create a curriculum based on each child's unique interests. My son transferred from the TriBeCa location when he turned two, as we live right around corner and the commute can't be beat. The teachers took such care to ensure a smooth transition. They arranged multiple play dates in advance of the move. His new teacher bought books about planets (his current obsession) and created a special space-themed nook in the classroom. These kinds of thoughtful touches mean so much to kids (and maybe even more so to parents!) Each day at BMS is rich with play-based learning and social and physical (indoor playground!!) development. And then there is the added bonus of community involvement, specialists, and parent participation (bake sale for charity, field trips to the NY Philharmonic, Literacy Week, weekly music, yoga and French class!). Just today the kids unveiled heir year-end collaborative art installation. Together they built magical tunnels, individual self portraits, a bubble wrap dance floor, slime station, and other sensory wonders. They were so proud! At the end of year parents receive their child's portfolio (the Reggio approach values documentation). It's a lovely record of your child's experience and development. I can't wait to receive this year's in a few weeks! I cannot say enough about BMS. It is a truly special place!!!!

My daughter went to Buckle My Shoe from 1 year through 5 years, until she went to kindergarten…read more This pre-school has the best Reggio Emilia inspired program in NYC! What I loved about this school is the learning environment and the highly trained teachers that nurtured my daughters imagination, creativity and independence. She also learned cooperation, empathy and confidence and loved going to school every day at BMS. This foundational education has made her a successful and outgoing student. Each student is nurtured so their own creativity and intelligence will flourish. If you want your child's curiosity and thinking to develop their full potential you should check the school out.

Our experience with Organizational Tutors was exceptional. From the very first session, our tutor…read morelistened attentively to our daughter to ensure that she was appropriately addressing her strengths and challenges. She provided extremely helpful feedback and perspectives, and used a strengths-based approach to help our daughter meet her goals. Their sessions were very productive, and the tutor provided an in-depth summary and analysis after each one so that my husband and I could continue to support our daughter more effectively than before we started tutoring. Our tutor was kind, thoughtful, and reliable, with a warm and positive energy. Our daughter learned a lot from her, and we would definitely return to her (or the organization as a whole) if we ever need to resume this type of tutoring. Thank you so much!

My son went to Bright Kids on west 58th Street (now closed). We chose 12 sessions of G&T bootcamp…read moreand purchased a couple more classes at the end to keep the momentum going until his test. On his initial diagnostic test, his ability to focus was 'low average' and his frequency of breaks and guidance from tutor were 'often.' Bright Kids did a very good job in preparing my son and teaching him some tricks and test taking skills. Gratefully, my son scored well and is currently attending a citywide G&T school. Our child frequently got different instructors administering the lessons. After each lesson, I would be given a quick recap of what occurred. Later a more descriptive summary report would arrive via email. This was useful in helping me to concentrate in certain areas of weakness at home. Our Account Specialist Taylor was very responsive, he answered emails promptly and was very accommodating with our scheduling issues. The only negative experience we had at Bright Kids was with the Round 2 Hunter playdate. It was overpriced, with 3 sentences of vapid feedback.

Our son went to Bright Kids -Upper East Side and we had a wonderful experience. Our son tends to…read morebe on the shy side, so we wanted to get him used to working with different teachers prior to the start of Kindergarten. All the tutors were great with him and he learned a lot. After we were done with our sessions, he kept asking if he could go back for more!

We have been with NY Smart Start for over 3 years and it has been an absolutely phenomenal place…read morefor my children to learn everything from the basics in reading, math, science, geography to etiquette and everything in between. I saw them morph from toddlers who could barely trace to reading books before the age of 5 and embrace learning with profound curiosity and precocious inquisitiveness. This school is unique in many aspects which I think all stem from its principal, Nicky. She is extremely passionate about teaching, compassionate to all children, a fair disciplinarian with high professional integrity and overall a selfless person. My children feel like it is their second home and many times ask to be picked up later. We are truly a family here and feel very hurt by the malicious words about our school.

NY Smart Start was a tutoring center that turned into a "home school". This school was recommended…read moreby a friend whose daughter no longer attends it. I thought the idea of having only 3-4 kids in a classroom would be great for my son since he would get the attention and help needed to excel in school. I was worried that transitioning from a daycare setting to a school setting may be hard and wanted only the best for my son. The price was very expensive compared to other schools, $1,200 per month from 8:45 am - 3pm plus an additional $350 for the after school program. Although this school offered no breakfast, no lunch meals, no security at the premises, no cameras which were "promised" by Nicky Varisov AKA Nika the "principal" of the school. We decided to try it out solely on the fact of the amount of students in the classroom. It has become the most stressful and hardest transition for our family that we regret so much. In about less than 3 weeks, my son has been in three incidents with older students who are not in the same grade or classroom as him where he came home with bruises and scratches on his neck and face. The staff in the school along with the principal Nika belittled my son in numerous ways. After one of the incidents happened he ran to report it to one of the staff members and the principle Nika stated that if he continued to "tattle tale", he would not make any friends in this school and, apparently, be subjected to a more physical type of response without supervisors intervening. On that occasion, an older student grabbed my son and choked him, yet my son was criticized for "tattle taling". When my fiancee picked up my son that day, she gave him a brief explanation of how she was present during this incident but refused to get in between because "this is a school with different morals that are not in style with the American way of schooling". My fiancee and I were very upset and worried when we spoke about the situation later that evening and decided we both show up in the morning to speak on this situation when we dropped off our son. The following morning we tried to communicate with the principle Nika about how worried we were that this happened and the response from Nika was "I have no time to discuss this situation as I spoke with your fiancee yesterday and explained to him what happened". She refused to hear us out or assure that she would run a facility safe for our son and other students. Principal Nika neglected to provide my son a safe environment in this facility, which is located in a private house. She refused to address this situation and continued to state that she has no time for us. We were very frustrated with how she handled this matter but did not want to make a scene and decided to "let it go" on the outside chance that WE were taking it more seriously than we ought to. Following that incident, my son's entire regard for and attitude toward going to school has changed and he attempts to have us let him stay home. While we encouraged him to continue and anticipated that this event would be worked past in time, we were sorely disappointed. The second week, my son came home with a swollen eye and a bruise near it. The staff-member's explanation was that my son and another student were playing with a ball and ended up head-butting each other. My question is why only my son had a resulting injury from this incident. Another incident in another week's time, but very understandable based on the staff-member's explanation and my son did confirm he got hit while playing ball with another child so we both let this go as well. We can understand accidents happen, especially with young children. However, a third incident occurred on what became his last day attending their school. Another classmate hit my son on the face because my son was apparently playing with a toy that child wanted to play with as well. Principal Nika stated to my fiancee when he came to pick up my son that it would be better for my son to be taken out of the after school program. The result being that my 4 year old son needed to be taken out of after school program because another child hit him in the face. How exactly was it my son's fault? Principal Nika then said "We don't have enough teachers/staff to watch all the kids during after school and we would not be able to observe/prevent all incidents with students". My fiancee told Nika that we are pulling him out of that school and this isn't working out. Principal Nika is not properly running the facility, admittedly understaffing it and under-supervising young children. It seems that it is only a matter of time before serious harm is done to one or more children due to their facility's operation. We are very upset with our experience, but now feel it is our obligation to ensure that others are not subjected to the same and potentially much worse.

My son began his high school career as an anonymous student going through the "assembly line"…read moreeducation provided by the NYC DOE. I knew he was capable of achieving higher grades but he was never challenged. The decision to transfer him to The Beekman School is one of the best investments I could ever have made for his future. Headmaster Higgins and his professional staff welcomed my son and provided the kind of attention only available in small class size settings. The educational staff helped my son realize his true potential and his grades soared. My son actually looked forward to waking up early and going to school because he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The staff make you feel like family, and although my son graduates this year (with the highest grades of his academic career) I hope to continue the relationship as my daughter hopes to attend as a freshman this September.

Without a doubt, the best learning center for kids in New York! I've been referring parents and…read morechildren to BLC for over ten years and I'm always impressed with the results. In addition to their outstanding educational evaluations and tutoring services, BLC's warm and empathic staff's is particularly gifted at lending parents a helping hand and giving children the tools they need to succeed (their Homework Therapy program is a favorite of mine). If your kid is struggling with academics, this is the place for you.

In 2002, my son was diagnosed with dyslexia while attending a downtown Manhattan independent…read moreschool. Sharon Thomas, Director of the MAIA Education Resource Center was one of his first tutors. In addition to building his skill in decoding and writing, Sharon helped to build his confidence and restore self-esteem. She guided us through the process of applying to special education schools, and my son transferred to the Stephen Gaynor School to complete elementary and middle school. We called for advice when he wanted to attend Bay Ridge Prep in Brooklyn for high school. Now a senior majoring in biology at SUNY Geneseo, my son is shadowing a renowned orthopedic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital this summer. Without Sharon's early intervention efforts and expertise, my son would not be competing with his peers on a level playing field for college studies, let alone graduate work. He will be taking MCATs this year. I have referred her to friends whose children had learning differences, and each reported being very satisfied with the guidance and insights she provided as Director of MAIA. Her genuine concern, coupled with her depth of experience is exactly what distressed parents need when they seek answers on how to effectively manage a child's learning disability. Many parents are in a state of denial, or hope to hear there is a quick-fix for the child's issues. In addition to gently and expertly nurturing my son's intellect, Sharon was able to teach me patience and give me confidence that her process and approach would work. When it comes to problem resolution, she can help if parents/guardians have enough faith and discipline to trust what she has to offer.

We went to MAIA with help finding a school for our new foster daughter because Sharon Thomas came…read morehighly recommended. I went from knowing nothing about the NYC school system to having a strong understanding of the strengths of several schools and confident in my ability to choose the best one for our daughter. I went in with a preconceived idea of what I wanted - Sharon gave us her professional advice and provided us with information so we could make our own decision. Thanks to Sharon's wise council, I quickly realized my original idea was not the best for our daughter. Sharon is kind and gentle when addressing sensitive issues. She is knowledgable and very connected with the educational community which helped us get through to the right people. I would go back to her again and recommend her highly to anyone looking for help finding the right place for their child.