When we were considering Lesley Ellis for preschool, we asked around on the playground, and just…read moreabout every parent we talked to told us, "It's excellent! The only negative is the cost." That matched our experience perfectly. The tuition is steep - though financial aid is available! - but everything else was fantastic, and we were consistently impressed with the teachers, curriculum, field trips, awareness of kids as individuals, interaction with administration, and more. My mom worked for decades in early childhood education, and (as an interested and involved grandparent) was also very impressed. They welcomed/encouraged heavy parent involvement, from "come into the classroom to talk about something you're knowledgeable/passionate about" to occasional parent-meetups-over-coffee in the morning and more. But I was never, ever made to feel guilty about not being able to participate heavily, which was the norm once we had our second kid. (Who also went to LES for preschool, once old enough.) We can't speak to their K-8 experience, but for preschool/pre-K/TK they were fantastic.

Lesley Ellis is an independent school from pre-school to grade 6, but expanding soon to 8th. Our…read moredaughter is in her third year there and we have been delighted with the program. The teachers are an outstanding group and attuned to the needs of each individual student. The administration is truly exceptional as they create an environment where parents, children and the school come together to form a nurturing and vibrant community.

Arlington heights nursery school is an extremely clean and well thought out facility. Every…read moreclassroom has large windows that let in tons of light, the classrooms are clean and organized and the teachers and administration are super nice. My son loved his first year here. The program is play-based which is great for the littlest preschoolers. The only reason I wouldn't give it 5 stars is I don't think they were as proactive as I hoped in teaching compared to programs like bright horizons or creative corner. But my little one loved school, made lots of friends and played in a healthy and safe environment.

We love AHNS! My oldest did one year of preschool and one year of Pre-K and my middle child is…read morejust finishing up his first full year in preschool. These are two VERY different kids, but AHNS has been truly fantastic for both of them. The teachers are just absolutely amazing in terms of how they're willing to see the kids as true individuals and work with them exactly where they are -- it's so nice for us to know that our kids are truly cared for. I was really nervous because the school is so big, but the teachers and staff manage to make it seem like a tiny school in all the best ways. I'm looking forward to the next two years my middle son attends, and looking forward to my third child attending when the time comes!

We moved to our neighborhood for this school, and it's been a wonderful experience for our kids…read more The PTO is wonderful and so energized.

The waitlist to get into BASP is long (it took us two years), but it's worth it. Onsite for kids…read moreat Brackett. Divided into groups by grade: K/1 are together, then the 2nd graders have their own room, then 3rd-5th. The teachers are wonderful. Kind, energetic, enthusiastic. It's incredibly organized. The woman who runs it is always available. With 3 different classrooms and 2 different outdoor play areas, everyone always knows where everyone is. I've never seen or heard of any incidents of bullying or trouble -- all the kids seem to have a great time. Things I've seen my kids doing when I come to pick them up: 1. making apple crisp or other baking projects 2. making their own board games (with other kids and teachers) 3. playing board games they invented themselves 4. blocks, construction games 5. drawing, art activities 6. reading 7. doing homework (!) -- voluntarily 8. outdoor play, structured (kick ball, basketball) and unstructured. 9. talking and joking with other kids. If you have kids entering Brackett kindergarten, sign up right away!

I worked here for a year! Amazing staff and they are always trying to make sure the children are…read morehaving fun while learning and growing. We enjoyed doing many projects and adventures with the children! Very safe environment as the children are watched closely and the staff is very good at treating each child individually. Awesome place to work, I would even go back if I could!

Dear A-Town, You…read morewere my home for two years, in my late teens. I also used to travel to you for several classes when I was even younger. I am oh-so familiar with you bus schedules. You are the home of one of the few Brigham's left, you allow very little parking on residential streets, and commuting to, and through you can be a major pain- even if you know the back roads. I know that since I moved out we rarely see eachother, but I really think it's better this way. All my best, Julia F.

If I could put negative stars for this school, I would…read more I attended Arlington Catholic a few years ago. My honest analysis of this establishment is that it is a complete and utter waste of money. This is a college prep. school, yet all this school prepared a multitude of its students for is the anxiety that you are never going to be good enough unless you get into Harvard University immediately after high school. Not Georgetown, not Yale, not Boston University nor Boston College. Harvard. Only. This school will teach you that novelty trumps practicality, in any and all aspects of life. They do not inform you that over paying for undergraduate school results in unnecessary student debt. They do not teach you anything about preparing for college at all. They care about title, reputation, appearance, and nothing more. They have 3 tiers of courses a student can choose to take: regular, honors, and advanced. The latter option is not always available for every subject, however. So for all intents and purposes, I will say that regular and honors are the two main class types. If a student opts for regular, they will be considered to be inadequate. The teachers will disengage the students, will painfully, clearly hate coming to work every morning, explain the material poorly, and assign copious amounts of useless homework. Students will therefore almost always perform at a subpar level, furthering the inclination that regular students are "not smart." They should just call them "remedial" courses. I have heard teachers say to honors students that they should not ever choose to be in the "stupid" class. Did I mention this is a college prep school? So all the courses should be college prep courses, right? Wrong. Honors students get an extra percentage added on to their GPA, and their grades will be rounded up, always, at the end of the quarter. Teachers treat these students well, engage them, and work with them more closely. That is of course, a good thing, but this should also apply to regular courses. I used to take all standard courses. My senior year, I took honors classes and was astounded by how simple they were compared to the regular courses. My GPA sky rocketed as my grades soared. I had to fight to get into Honors Spanish even though I had a solid A in the regular course. The head of the language department said that students like me can only hope to get a C at best in an honors course. She let me in, only, and I mean, ONLY, because she wanted to smirk when I "inevitably" fail the course. She did not like that someone like me would dare to try to get into an honors course. I've seen students in the hallways bawling, because they were told they were too inept to even attempt an honors course. Well, just for the record, I am fluent in Spanish. I earned one of the highest grades in the entire class. Solid A. This is the environment Arlington Catholic encourages: telling students they can't. Well, they are wrong, once again. If you are still intent on sending your child to this high school, I implore you to have him or her take ALL honors courses, from Freshman year and onwards. The elitism and competition will still be a factor, but at least they will be treated respectfully by the faculty. If not, have them play football. The jocks are treated like gold, even if they take regular courses. I iterate: this school cares only about its reputation. They will bolster and inflate the grades of the "top" honors students to keep the school looking good and competitive. They do not care about your child's wellbeing or future. I also, as an aside, I would suggest not having your child attend an extremely expensive college right out of high school, unless you can pay out of pocket or your child gets multiple scholarships, or a free ride. I am currently debt free because of the college I attended. I was actually accepted into Lesley University because of my essay on Arlington Catholic, and how the school treats their students. But I still opted for the inexpensive alternative for my bachelor's. I am now on my way to attending an elite college for my masters degree without any loans to pay back. This suggestion will run counter to what Arlington Catholic will most likely tell your child. I hope you take to heart what I wrote, as I had the perspective of a student who could see the establishment for what it really is, and I also got to see the greener side of the fence.

Alright school, the building is pretty run down and tired. Most students participate in sports or…read moresome type of club.

We are so in love with A Place to Grow - we had such a positive experience with our daughter going…read moreto their after-school program at our elementary school, that we had to then enroll our youngest at their full daycare. APTG has amazingly low turnover - the teachers there aren't a revolving door, and instead are there for years and years. Every day we get a customized email all about our son's day, and they do a terrific job on mixing education and fun. There can be a long wait to get in, but we feel very fortunate to have both of our kids be part of APTG.

This is a truly EXCELLENT group of people. The director Carol is a caring and compassionate…read moreeducator who is constantly trying to make things better. The staff is well trained and seems to truly enjoy being there. Also, turnover seems to be very low for this kind of place. By "this kind of place, I mean a place that many young people use as a stepping stone to work in public schools. So why not 5 stars? Because of space constraints, kids in the pre-school room are grouped in a pretty broad age range. 3 through 5 can be in the same room. This is very very good for the younger kids. Its also good in some ways for the older kids, as they can mentor the younger ones. Where it falls short is that it doesn't allow as much flexibility for more of an academic curriculum. I consider this to be a relatively minor item because frankly, once they enter Kindergarten it all seems to even out anyway. APTG is a great group of people who have created a warm, loving, safe and caring environment for the kids in their care. Its hard to ask for more.

**TL;DR:** This place is not a safe environment for children of color and is filled with…read moremicroaggressions. **Full:** Enrolling my daughter in Mandarin camp turned out to be a major mistake. On the very first day, her teacher, Qiaoling, snapped at me, saying, "I sent you 2 text messages and an email yesterday! You didn't respond!" I replied, "What number did you text? I haven't received anything, and I don't check email on Sundays." It was clear she didn't speak to other parents in this manner, and after observing I was the only Black parent in the class it became apparent what was going on. Despite a conversation with the director after my daughter reported being yelled at by Qaioling (after we exchanged contentious emails), things seemed to improve for a day or two, but I should have expected more issues. Qiaoling refused to update me about out of the ordinary classroom changes that affected how I needed to dress my daughter for activities like water play or nature walks, which caused my daughter distress because she was unable to participate and felt I was dropping the ball. Additionally, she didn't inform me about an assembly performance on the last day. During the drive after pick up, my daughter was in tears after feeling isolated because the other children had their parents present at the assembly and she didn't. It's heartbreaking to think of an adult intentionally causing a child to feel neglected/alone and that their parent isn't doing their job. This was flat out cruel. She's an all around spiteful/wicked woman. Lesson learned.

We went to French camp here and within three weeks my son was trying out new French vocabulary and…read morein love with the place. Joel and Hafsa were stupendous devoted teachers.