Our toddler started at SolBe on day one of the school opening. We had very high hopes after our…read moreinterview, despite the cost being much higher than the alternatives. For the added expense, we were promised minute by minute updates, a two-to-one ratio of teachers to students, and a focus on education that could be overlooked elsewhere. Unfortunately, despite an excellent experience with the Director and our son's first teacher, a significant change was made after a few months. The Director, along with many more staff members, were replaced, and the focus seemed to shift notably towards higher profits and cost cutting measures. Our son was moved into a much larger room where there were often two teachers for eight babies, even after they showed up late. The stress put on the staff still making an effort meant that the "minute-by-minute" updates through the app were ignored until the afternoon when they played catch up while all the kids were napping. Often, we wouldn't find out if our son had eaten or had a diaper change until hours after he'd been picked up. The high ratio also contributed to clothes being lost or ruined with art materials unsuitable for infants, diaper changes being skipped, brusies and scrapes, and a near weekly changeover of staff who were clearly frustrated with the experience as well. Our son's class shared a changing room with another, and it was very common to hear the teachers there, unaware they were being observed, repeatedly screaming at the toddlers "everyone come here" and "be quiet". Another thing for prospective families to consider is that SolBe considers themselves a school first and a daycare second. On the average month, SolBe closes around three working days for holidays, conferences, and "teacher enrichment", meaning that working parents will suddenly have a child to account for (not even to mention the frequency that they contact you and ask you to bring your child home early because they "seem like they're not feeling so well', with no other symptoms than a low fever and a lack of energy; a very common experience for young kids). Obviously, the monthly cost is the same regardless of how many days they actually care for your child. Ultimately, we found another center that is offering 5 nine-hour days a week for the same price that SolBe was charging for 3 seven-hour visits. The new school doesn't have a fancy app or gourmet lunches, but we feel our child is a lot more than just an income source in their eyes, and we're much happier. (FYI- This review refers to the new location on Sherman Road, which doesn't have its own listing as of this date.)

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.

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 was the most stressful experience I have ever had with my kids' extracurricular activities…read more The class was fine -- teacher was actually pretty good -- and the math was good and kids were able to do their homework without too many challenges; the administration was awful and I have never encountered such a mercenary business, particularly one that is for children. We told them when we first came in to get an evaluation that we are a middle-class family and would need financial assistance in order for our kids to attend. They told us that they had an application to fill out and I was pretty confident we would get one as we do for most of the activities in town. The application was ridiculous and exhaustive, and it took a long time to complete it (I've never been asked what charities we donate to??). Every pay cycle, I would reach out by email and ask if they had reviewed our application. I would wait to pay our monthly bill, there would be no response, then bam -- they'd slam us with a late fee every time for not paying by the due date, even though they never got back to us about whether or not we received a scholarship and what the amount should be. They would also immediately shut down our account if we payed late, so that the kids couldn't access their homework. After the last day of class and final exam, we tried to check their scores online, but lo and behold, they had already closed our account. The teacher was surprised that the administration had done that; they knew we were not going to register for another term as we couldn't afford it (after many weeks, they finally denied our application), so it was vindictive and just unprofessional. I've heard from teachers at private schools that Art of Problem Solving is a much better program, and one is supposed to open in Newton soon. If you just need a simple math class and you can afford it, RSM is probably not bad; it was just terrible for us.

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!