There is no school in Houston like The Post Oak School. It is a rare and special gem, and we are…read moreso grateful to have found this amazing place of learning, community, and kindness. We have been part of the school for 10 years and have experienced multiple classrooms and grade levels across 3 children who each started in the Young Children's Community (as toddlers). Our eldest is on the verge of entering the Middle School, and it is clear that her experiences at the school thus far, along with the experiences of our other children, have established a deep love of learning, curiosity, self motivation, and innovation. It is such a special place. If you are looking for a place where your kids can both excel academically and also understand the importance of kindness, gratitude, and service, this is the school, and it is without equal.

This is a great school for pre-K through Middle School. When I first learned about this school, I…read morecould not believe I hadn't heard about the amazing Montessori method before. As a member of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), this school is one of the top. The children learn thorough academics, develop a true love of learning and exploration, and become very independent and responsible. "The Post Oak School is an educational leader both among Houston's top private schools and among the more than 5,000 Montessori schools across the country. Post Oak serves students from age 14 months through 8th grade, and is one of the U.S.' oldest Montessori schools (the oldest in the Southwest and one of only three Houston AMI schools). It has attracted an accomplished team of faculty and staff and built a campus dedicated to learning. The Post Oak School helps shape consistently high achievers."

Our 11 year old daughter attended preschool at PLS several years ago and we loved the traditional…read moreschool setting, wonderful staff/teachers and heartfelt ministry so much that we decided to enroll our toddler twins in the same program even though we no longer live "close by" and this adds extra driving fir the "mom taxi" ;) nonetheless. I can honestly say that Not a day goes by without me thinking how lucky we (and our children) are to be part of the PLS community!

This is our 3rd year at Pilgrim Lutheran school and loving it! All the early childhood teachers…read moreand the director are amazing.

The best elementary school. I went to Mark Twain elementary school when I was a kid. The teachers…read moreand students are great and diverse.

This review is a little long because I have a lot to say about this school. TL;DR -- lots of…read moreschools have great academics but not so great social environments. Saint Nicholas has top-ranking academics, sure, but, what my children learned about themselves and their peers, and how deeply their teachers cared about and fostered that, is what really made this school the very place for my 5 preschool through elementary children. To put this review in perspective: when I was a child, my family moved to Houston and surveyed top local private elementary schools to enroll me in. I attended one, then another top local private school. Both were academically quite excellent, completely in keeping with their reputations. Unfortunately they were also very cliquish, and because I was the new kid, it took quite a lot of time and effort to fit in, despite having experienced a very loving, inclusive, and thoroughly enjoyable social life at my previous schools. Looking back now, I can understand that the social environment was simply unhealthy at both these Houston private schools. In fact, though I loved learning, my ability to learn and thrive academically was severely compromised by the social situations at these schools. So here's my review of Saint Nicholas: when it came time for my own children to find a private preschool, kindergarten and elementary school to attend, I wasn't going to assume the social environment at a private school would be healthy, inclusive, loving, or provide a positive social foundation. And, though of course I wanted my children to have the very best educational foundation possible, to provide them with the greatest optionality for later educational and career choices, I also knew that the social and emotional environment at a school is equally important -- possibly even more important, because of the foundational nature of what a young child comes to learn about their own innate value as a human being by how others relate to them. I, and more importantly my children, found Saint Nicholas to be the same kind of positive, inclusive, encouraging environment that I had experienced myself at the private schools where I had thrived as a child. Classmates were friends. Positive and respectful interactions with classmates were expected, encouraged, and fostered. It's all about the teachers! The teachers at Saint Nicholas are actually aware of how the students interact, they actually care about this just as much as excellent teaching and excellent curriculum, and, they are very gifted at not only helping the students learn greater social skills, but inspiring them to want to. And these teachers have been at Saint Nicholas school for a long time. Saint Nicholas will probably show you their top-ranking academic test scores and student accomplishments, or maybe you'll hear anecdotal stories from other parents about how their child went from being behind academically, to being ahead academically in just one year. But that's not what mattered to me, and I don't think it happens just because of academic excellence. I certainly don't think high national test scores tell the whole or even the most important part of the story. I think what matters most about a school is what the child learns about themselves, and the value of every human being. At Saint Nicholas, my children learned that they were smart, capable, and valuable. They learned that they could thrive in both inter-dependent and independent endeavors. They learned that they were worthy of both respect for who they were, and being called into the greater self they were growing into. Again - it's all about the teachers. The school administration is capable enough, but I don't believe a school can administrate this. Saint Nicholas has somehow gathered and kept some truly phenomenal and caring teachers.

I just wanted to share that my daughter, thanks to the excellent instruction and personalized…read moreattention that she received at SNS, had absolutely no problem acing HISD's G&T testing this year in Kindergarten. She consistently gets top grades in her class, and we thank SNS for preparing her so well, academically and socially, in their pre-K programs. SNS transformed my shy little girl - who had spent the first years of her life at home during the pandemic - into a confident, smart little social butterfly. My son, attending SNS for summer camps, has also benefitted from SNS academically and socially. Being with slightly older classmates over the summers pushed him ahead of the curve, and he was popular among the younger kid crowd, as the older brother to my daughter. P.S. I believe first responders and BCM employees receive a discount on registration, and the school offers a sibling discount on tuition, as well. Cannot recommend this school enough!