Children's Happy Day School is possibly the best preschool in the Boston area. They offer a…read moreterrific curriculum, and the head of the school, Ms. Helen, provides hands on guidance and support to children, parents, teachers and families. Founded in 1987, CHDS has a tremendous history of educating young people. The building the program is housed in was built specifically for use as a preschool, and the classrooms are bright and sunny. Their prices are less than other West Roxbury preschools, and they are walking distance from Millenium Park.

From the owner: CHDS is a fully NAEYC accredited school that offers four different programs for children age 2.4 to…read more6 years old. Parents have the option of full day or half day programs and a choice of either 10 months or 12 months. Our literature based curriculum is enriched with a music and movement program, yoga and field trips.

Our family is extremely fortunate and blessed that our son's first social experience was at Solbe…read more He started school when he was just one year old, and was greeted with unparalleled love every day by his class teacher, all the other teachers, the director, and the chef. Now, he runs out the door and into his classroom. This 2 years old ability to love others and accept himself is on full display not only at Solbe, but also at the park, the supermarket, and on trips, where he greets everyone with a smile and a "Hello!" As parents, I am most grateful for : Solbe's nutrition system, the best in the US. Three meals a day, chefs prepare fresh, nutritious, and varied menus, allowing our young children to experience a wide variety of foods and get the most nutrition. So I can forgive myself when I serve him just chicken nuggets at dinner :) Furthermore, from such a young age, the teachers provide new art experiences every day. My son loves drawing, talking, singing, dancing, and running around--all of these activities are spontaneous and active. Thanks to Solbe, his brain, mind, and motor skills have developed remarkably, and most importantly, he seems very happy. So I can forgive myself when I let him watch TV before dinner time :) I am grateful to the teachers and staff who provide the world's best early education, nutrition, with a big love spirit and we truly appreciate their professionalism.

"My daughter loves SolBe. The teachers are very loving and welcoming. She always has fun,…read morelearning-filled activities to do and has made great new friends. She loves going to school every day."

Both of my kids (soon to be in 3rd grade, soon to be in 7th grade) are thriving at Wellan. It's a…read moreterrific learning community for pre-K through 8th grade; ~300 children, from pre-K to 8th grade, with small classes and skillfully staffed. It feels like a traditional schoolhouse model right in the heart of Newton center. The Montessori method leverages a child's interests, inspiring curiosity, creativity, and a desire to learn.

I recommend NMS to anyone that I can. When going on tours of various preschools for my son a…read morecouple of years ago, I had no real knowledge of what Montessori teaching was. Honestly, I thought it was very "hippy dippy", kids just doing whatever they wanted all day. When I took the tour (Deanna is awesome!), I was amazed... like jaw-on-the-floor amazed. The things she was showing me in the classroom just MADE. SENSE. It was like a light bulb went on, and I knew my son had to go there. We are now in our second year at NMS and couldn't be happier. The building is filled with people who care, immensely. The amount of planning that goes into a classroom is insane. NMS has a great community around it, the events held for student and families outside of school, educational events for parents (like Montessori in the Home), and fun events for parents too. The administration at NMS is amazing, every teacher is amazing, the specialists (library, music, language, etc) are amazing, the Parent Association is amazing, the early/late care staff are amazing, the office staff are amazing. I know that I am doing the best that I possibly can for my son by sending him to Newton Montessori. I've already seen the difference it has made, and I know that it's really the best environment for him to become the best, happiest, smartest, kindest, little boy he can be. And those are all things that will serve him throughout his life. Everything in his classroom is there for a reason, whether it works on fine motor skills, or how to hold a pencil, it all builds on lessons throughout the Montessori classroom years.

I can not say enough good thing about the commonwealth learning center and about my child's tutor…read moreAmy. my child was struggling with reading was diagnosed with dyslexia and was becoming so discouraged with his school. since Working with Amy his reading has improved tremendously and his confidence. Amy works so well with my child always keeps me up to date with everything they are working on and my child is comfortable working with her. We are so so happy with this learning center .

My daughter and I met with Alex, the director, for an initial consult. Alex was well-prepared,…read morehaving read, highlighted, and annotated the test results I sent to her ahead of time. She also was prepared with a set of questions based on that material. Alex is caring, thoughtful, and even during the initial meeting demonstrated deep knowledge and experience. We are so happy to have found them.

RSM is an after school private enrichment program for mathematics. It caters to children from K-12…read more I attended RSM about 10 years ago when the school was still small. I was forced to go every single weekend for about 2 hours of extra math by my parents. I lived in Andover, which at the time didn't have a branch of RSM, so the only option was in Newton. Trust me, driving an hour for math was not my idea of a fun weekend, neither was getting stuck in traffic for an extra hour both ways when I had weekday classes. For some reason, my parents never complained about the drive- I guess because they knew it was for my own good. Class sizes at the time were pretty large- from what I remember there were only two levels. When I first began, I strived to be in the advanced class and worked up until the point when I was moved up- the occasional McDonalds trip with my father helped that motivation too. I also consider the homework at RSM an integral part of the curriculum. It is extremely important for children to actually sit down and do over the course of a week, not the 30 min car ride homework session right before my class that I would sometimes try get away with. What is taught in the 1-4 hours of class time is not enough for a child to retain for the next week or in a year, at least in my case. Throughout the constant battles of doing homework with my parents, I realized that the times when I actually spent 2-4 hours on my homework, would be the most benefiting classes for me. I have actually spoken to a lot of parents and their kids in the past couple of years who have/currently do attend RSM. A lot of parents simply send their children off to RSM and expect their kids to "do" the hw. "Doing" homework like it is done in public elementary schools is just not enough anymore. I have a younger brother who scribbles god knows what on his paper, hands it in, the teacher draws a big star on the sheet of paper and gives him 100%. I'm sorry but 9x9 does not equal to 75-- effort should be awarded, but how is he going to learn from his mistakes if the teachers don't even take enough time to look at his mistakes? And this is why I continue to love RSM. I probably received about 50 C's,D's or even F's on my homework or quizzes.. why? Because each teacher I had took the time to grade each problem-- looking for key strategies taught in class, including the correct answer! It wasn't until I entered high school that I personally realized what RSM had done for me. I was in honors classes all throughout high school, took AP Calc and AP Stat and did pretty well. --Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a whiz to begin with, but RSM developed critical thinking skills in me from childhood that helped me understand and grasp new materials easily. SAT's at this point, seemed like a piece of cake- thankfully, I was able to avoid the annual SAT craze. The SAT craze is what I call the obsession for SAT cramming in sophomore/junior year of high school. Andover had a huge SAT craze as the local parents went crazy for the "best tutors" for their children in high school. I completely disagree with spending hundreds of dollars an hour during sophomore/junior year in high school trying to cram information into a child's head. Of course the SAT's are all about tricks, but you also have to have a solid foundation of the material in order to complete the test quickly and correctly. Throughout the RSM curriculum, by the time I was in 8th grade, I took my first SAT test for the Johns Hopkins Competition. Believe it or not, I did better than an average junior or senior in high school. By my sophomore year, I did not have to take any additional tutoring sessions and now was the one with all of the free time. While my friends crammed in 4-6 hours of SAT prep, multiple times a week, with extremely expensive private tutors, I scored in the high 700's for the math portion of the SAT I and SAT II, and got to finally relax on the weekends of my junior and senior year. On top of the quantitative proof of the results of previous RSM students and their astonishing accomplishments at higher institutions of learning, RSM fosters a place of personal development and growth. I grew up spending most of my weekends at RSM and ended up making friends who are actually my roomates in college now. I treated RSM as an activity, like any other sports team--I went to learn and even made a few lifelong friends along the way. In conclusion, Many of us have seen the new "Waiting to Superman" documentary which was right--how can we expect the next generation of children to advance the world if their education is limited? Well, the solution is in your hands and RSM is here to help.

this place sucks. It is horrible, dirty, and boring. When I…read morewent here it was so dirty. I literally found a piece of chewed gum on my desk. I learned nothing here, This place is horrible for teaching. 1 star

We have had a fantastic experience here! The facility is great--the pool and locker rooms are…read morealways clean and well maintained. One of the biggest pluses is the water temperature; it's perfectly warm, which makes a huge difference for kids getting into the water. Most importantly, the instructors are incredibly kind and patient. They truly know how to work with children and build their confidence. Highly recommend!

My experience at CRA started out great but has gone downhill, and currently, I'm really…read moredisappointed. When I started last summer, I had a great instructor and learned a lot. I continued on after the summer, paying $200.00/month for adult small group lessons. Some of the lessons were cancelled due to "black-out dates" or swim meets. Other lessons involved substitute instructors, some good and others who seemed young, inexperienced and lacking in teaching skills. CRA states that "there are occasional dates on which programming is cancelled. These interruptions are taken into account when calculating monthly tuition." So there were at least 9 cancelled classes and it is hard to wrap my head around the math - it seems like a few months, we were paying $100.00/class. I guess the money spent is OK if the instruction is consistently top-notch, but not if it is otherwise. Recently, there was an abrupt change in swimming instructors, and I wanted to talk to someone in management about it. I wrote two emails, waited a week, and was promised a call which I never received. So I'm finishing out my time with CRA since I already paid $200.00 for the final month of May, but as I said, I am SO disappointed and will likely not return. It is a real bummer. Follow-up: The new director of aquatic programming finally called me back and it was one of the most unsatisfying conversations I've ever had. He doesn't listen in an open-minded way and has canned answers. Although I doubt he has taken lessons with the instructors at CRA, I was wrong and ALL the instructors have the same level of expertise and can provide the programming I need. He had no desire to really listen to my concerns. Any nuanced people skills are woefully non-existent. I think CRA has hired the wrong person for the job.

Rashi is a different type of school. Your children first will get the world class education…read more My daughters student teacher ratio is about 8:1, not including the gym, art, social justice (more on that later) and Hebrew teachers. However, Rashi is unique for reasons other than a great education. Their partnership with Newbridge Senior center is inspired. Your child will get life lessons and wisdom from people much older. Kindness, Respect, and Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) are the other hallmarks of a Rashi education. Students learn to see the world as it and how best to improve it. Social justice isn't preached, its intertwined with the curriculum. I once asked a teacher at Nobles why he sends both his kids there. His reply speaks volumes. He said Rashi kids at Nobles are different. They are more grounded and respectful than other kids. Lastly, the community is just plain awesome. Seriously. They are just a hard working bunch of parents who want what is best for their children. I normally would end a review there, but October 7th has taught a valuable lesson. I want my daughter to be proud of her heritage and be able to stand up for herself in an increasingly hostile world. Rashi is the only place where education, social justice and your heritage will be taught.

For a Jewish Day School, Rashi lacks Jewish values. We found Rashi to be unprofessional, unethical,…read moreand the school's administrators to be highly disrespectful. There was no transparency/communication in the admissions process - after countless hours, including a ninety-minute tour and on-site assessment/pre-screening, and $125.00, we were told that there was no financial aid left for the coming year, which should have been communicated to us before beginning the admissions process. I would not waste your time and money investing in Rashi!

My son absolutely thrived at Pine Manor last year. He looked forward to going every day and was…read moreexcited to tell me all the activities he did each day. The teachers really worked with him on what he needed and helped him grow. They were warm, kind, and seemed to truly love each child for who they were. We're so lucky to have found them!

Both of my kids went to Pine Manor's CSC for 3 years each and they loved it! The program offers…read morewarm, nurturing and experienced teachers led by an awesome director in an idyllic setting. My kids had such positive experiences there -- I cried when my little guy had his last day ever!