My daughter started transitional Kindergarten (TK) at Highlands Elementary last year. Prior to…read morestarting, I had hoped to get her into Baywood Elementary given its reputation. When I went to Baywood's parents' meeting for incoming students, I asked the school principal how teachers accommodated students who were more advanced. Her response was that Baywood was a public school. If I wanted to make sure my advanced TK child (who could already read and do addition) was challenged, I should take her to a private school. Though that is always an option and though finances is not an issue for us, we preferred the public school system for its diversity of students (which we think is an equally important academic factor). Furthermore, public schools are compared based on national tests which private schools are not. We do not want to pay for an education that does not have tangible comparisons. We decided go to Highlands for TK last year which was a wonderful experience. This year, we have been fortunate enough to have Ms. Krueger for our kindergarten teacher. We have been so impressed with her. She has gone above and beyond our expectation to keep my daughter academically challenged and engaged. In addition to getting her involved with her peers in fun class activities, she has also prepared a separate teaching plan for my daughter given she reads at the 2nd grade level and does math in the 1st grade level, well above her peers (instead of forcing her to learn the alphabets which she already knows). Additionally, she is also trying to get her into HIghland's school paid program for accelerated readers which is meant for 2nd graders in order to keep her engaged. We are so glad we decided to go to Highlands Elementary!

Both my siblings, one year apart, have been mentioning that a specific teacher has been going out…read moreof his way to treat them and most boys in their classes badly for the past two years. Both my siblings had this teacher for 4th grade and the youngest one has informed me that, to add the cherry on top of two years of constant unprofessionalism and disrespect, he tossed her report card to the floor and told her to pick it up in front of the rest of the class. This is after constantly leaving her out of things, going out of his way to ignore her, and this was similar behavior given to my younger brother last year when he was in this man's class. I don't want to fully point fingers, but the fact that he is an older white male picking on latinx children and other students of similar and very different backgrounds, while heavily favoring female students from what not only my siblings told me but their friends as well, is severely concerning.

Our child had a nosebleed at school, and the school director Colleen immediately called us to pick…read morehim up. Since we work 40 minutes away, I asked if this was part of the school's sick policy. It wasn't--the reason given was simply that a teacher couldn't manage 12 kids at once. On top of that, the preschool principal Laurie required us to provide a doctor's note confirming that nosebleeds were "okay" to let kid back to school. Even our pediatrician found this request ridiculous, but kindly wrote the note word-for-word as they asked. Despite the school's popularity due to its affiliation with a local private elementary, this has been our worst preschool experience compared to others. The teacher-student ratio is inadequate, tuition is extremely high, and communication with parents is minimal. Although it's promoted as a play-based program, most of the time children just play independently while teachers supervise rather than engage. Also they introduce screen time (TV, iPads) as early as age two. I initially chose Serendipity Preschool for my child because of its strong reputation. However, I eventually realized it operates more like a business and not care much about the kids as they claimed. After moving and enrolling my kids in other schools, the differences became very clear, in all aspects--and much greater than I could imaged. In response to Laurie's reply below: When a school director exaggerates facts by claiming "daily nosebleeds" and deliberately misleads the public while carefully managing reviews to maintain a 5-star image, it really makes me question their priorities. When I answered the call, I clearly heard the words: "One teacher cannot take care of 12 kids. Please pick him up as soon as possible." That completely shocked me.

We have one kid in his third year, a second kid starting out in the 2s ("Monkeys") class, and a…read morethird enrolled starting in 2025! If we had three more kids we would probably send them to Serendipity, too! Excellent preschool with teachers that clearly care about the kids and the school. Even coming out of the pandemic we have witnessed virtually no teacher turnover which has led to seamless continuity as the kids cycle through classes. Each class has a bit of its own feel to it depending on the focus of the teacher(s), however what is consistent is that there is a clear curriculum and excellent parent-teacher communication. As the older one has hit his stride, it is apparent that he feels a part of the community as we do as parents. It will be sad once graduation finally comes, but luckily we have two more kids to go!

I initially became interested in The Nueva School after subscribing to receive job postings. What…read moreimmediately stood out to me was how frequently new openings were being posted -- sometimes seemingly every week. As an educator, that naturally made me wonder about staff turnover. Eventually, I applied for a position and interviewed with someone who honestly seemed very kind and thoughtful. I left the interview feeling optimistic, especially because I was told I would hear back by the end of the week. In education hiring, timelines usually move quickly because schools want to secure teachers for the upcoming school year before candidates accept other opportunities. Weeks went by with complete silence. No follow-up, no rejection email, nothing. Wanting to close the loop professionally, I eventually emailed to thank the interviewer for her time and wish her and her team the best for the upcoming year. Oddly, the message bounced back, even though I had been communicating through that exact same email thread previously. At that point, I honestly began wondering whether the communication had somehow been compromised or whether I had fallen into some strange scam situation. I even called the school directly to verify that the interviewer actually worked there, and thankfully she did. The school then provided me with another email address associated with their official domain. I forwarded my message there as well, but once again received no response at all. Whether the message reached her or not, the overall experience felt surprisingly unprofessional and dismissive, especially after what had initially seemed like such a warm interaction. After later reading additional reviews and experiences from others, I ultimately realized this probably was not the right fit for me anyway. Still, basic communication and professional courtesy go a long way, particularly in education, where relationships and respect matter.

Interviewed here and saw some things that were surprising to me for a school that is as well funded…read moreas this one is. i would likely avoid this school if you want your children to have a fully rounded education experience.

Update... My last review of Laurel Elementary School was in January 2013. My youngest child…read morefinished up at Laurel Elementary with Mrs. Samantha Stepp in 3rd Grade (she has now moved to Texas), in 4th grade he had Miss Tisha Whitely (now at another school) and at the end of the 4th grade year, Principal Glines retired (sad to see her go). In 5th grade my child had Mr. Kevin Agius for homeroom, Math and more, Mrs. Chappell for Earth Science and History and Mrs. Nancy Zapparelli for Life Science. Laurel's 5th grade teaching team made assignments challenging, fun and relevant to what is needed to do well in middle school and beyond. A new Principal, Mrs. Friel arrived for our final year at Laurel. She lasted for that year only and left to take a position at the office of education. Many teachers resigned from Laurel after her one year reign (Hmmm). One gripe... Giving assignments, which take a week to complete during scheduled school breaks is bad form (keep in mind I am a teacher). Parents are expected to take family vacations during the scheduled breaks (otherwise the schools lose money every day a child is not in school and the district wastes money sending out unnecessary postcards with your child's tallied absences), but it is difficult to vacation if our children are given massive assignments during said breaks. Do these huge assignments during "family vacation time" help children to be better prepared for what is to come? I think not (in elementary school). My son is now in 6th grade at Abbott Middle School in San Mateo (I am not reviewing Abbott) and has received his first report card (with letter grades). I credit all of his teachers at Laurel Elementary School for properly preparing him to succeed in middle school. He was given The Principal's Award for distinguished honors. We now refer to him as Mr. 4.0. He continues trying his best at all subjects and hopes to maintain his grades throughout middle school and beyond. His favorite class continues to be P.E. (Thanks to Liz Wiegand at Laurel Elementary). He is an active team member in regular season and traveling baseball, soccer, and flag football. He may try out for the golf, basketball and track teams next year as well. Again, it takes the efforts of the parents, teachers and children to have successful school experiences. Parenting/Teaching/Learning. Tag Team. Respectfully submitted by, Teresa Campbell, M.Ed.

Although i am now an alum from this school, My 5th grade year at this school was extremely…read moredisappointing. Bullying was a frequent issue, and despite teachers and staff being aware of what was happening, little to no action was taken to address it. Student safety and mental well-being did not seem to be a priority, and many concerns were ignored rather than handled appropriately. What was most concerning was the lack of communication with parents. Serious issues affecting students were not adequately reported to families, leaving parents unaware of situations that impacted their children's safety and well-being. A school has a responsibility to protect students and keep parents informed, and in my experience, it failed to do either effectively. would not recommend this school.

We initially chose Odyssey because it promised a strong sense of community, solid education, and…read moresafe educational trips. Unfortunately, our experience was far from what was advertised. My son was bullied by a group of girls for half of his crucial final school year, and when he failed Algebra 2 (with a D grade), the principal--who also taught the class--blamed my son entirely. What was left out was that the principal had to frequently cover for other teachers, making his own teaching inconsistent, and the school even went without a science teacher for half a year. Worse yet, he failed to inform me when my son came forward about the bullying. The teachers at the 8th-grade level didn't step in to stop the bullying until I personally got involved, and that's unacceptable. While the trips were enjoyable, they were not as safe as we were led to believe. There were several issues that my son told me about only after the fact, and I wish I had known earlier. Overall, I can no longer recommend this school based on our experience.

Odyssey School in San Mateo has been a gem for our family. Over the years, both our sons went to…read moreschool and graduated from Odyssey (not at the same time). The impact on them? Huge. As products of public K-12 education followed by college, my wife and I always put academics as a priority. We were a bit wary of Odyssey's smaller size at the start. But, a close friend's endorsement and our interactions with the faculty convinced us to take the plunge. The outcome? Our boys got more than just book smarts; they received tailored education thanks to the smaller classrooms. Importantly, each of the boys didn't just pass through Odyssey; they flourished there. Both boys enrolled in their preferred local private high schools post-Odyssey. While we always emphasized academics, the expeditionary feats at the school--like scaling Mt. Whitney, exploring Japan, or sailing the Channel Islands-- helped make them who they are today. Big kudos to Odyssey for this experience.

I have 2 kids attending UP Academy and they love the school!…read more My older son used to struggle in a public school with math and writing. 3 years ago, at 2nd grade, we transferred him to UP Academy, and, within a few months, he has become a lil writer. He fell in love with writing. He wrote one full-page of very a fun story. I can't thank you enough to all the educators there. Since then until now, he always happy every morning that he gets to go to school. He loves the community there and the small-sized class makes him feel like a part of the community. My younger one started last year as a kindergartner. He loves his teachers and his friends. He learned a lot academically and socially. We love how UP academy teaches kids by their own paces. Thus, our kids get challenged throughout the year. If you are looking for a project-based learning, a place where you child can build confidence and empathy, small class sized, great community, and personalized learning, UP Academy is the place for your kids.

We love UP Academy!…read more My older one went to the school since 2nd grade (now 3rd grader), and my younger one since TK (K now). The school is relatively new (2.5 years old) but our kids attended since 2 years ago. We are happy with the school in the full two years. ***Strength** We love the super low teacher-student ratio, the differentiation of learning. We also love the mixed-age classes, that allow kids to grow and thrive not limited by grade but by the their own levels. The school focused on growth mindset and recognize the efforts and progress. We also love the focus on project-based learning and social-emotion learning. The school also offers foreign languages classes, Chinese/Mandarin and Spanish. This might be a good plus for some families. We love that. We also appreciate the schools offer afterschool extension to 6pm as well. This is very helpful for parents who are both working. The school builds a great community. Teachers that we experienced - which means all teachers since we have two kids there for two years - are all very caring. Kids love each of them. The founder has an amazing vision inspired by a strong why. We love the philosophy, the vision & mission of the school. ***Potential concerns some families may have*** - Small school space: As a micro school, the school space is small - basically an office building only. But with various field trips and outdoor learning opportunities, especially during the pre-pandemic era, we don't have any concern at all. There's indoor facility for exercise, and kids love it. - Small class size For some parents, the small class size might be another concern for social issues. However, I appreciate this a lot since it also means great individual attention from teachers. Every kid can develop his/her own learning plan, academically and socially. We particularly appreciate the small size of the school during the pandemic time. A small class makes us feel safe to send kids to school in person during pandemic, knowing that the school is small and our kids could still learn and socialize safely in person with the COVID precautions that bigger schools may not be able to offer. The school remains open in 2020-2021 school year with the waiver. I believe it's heathier for kids to interact in person than virtually on Zoom anyways. - New school This is a progressive lab elementary school, and yes it's pretty new. We've seen the school evolving in the past two years, and overall towards a even better direction. I do encourage families to experience the school themselves during the trial-out days. We did so before we transferred our kids from a good public school in the following school year. Kids loved Up Academy so much that we made the decision right after they experienced the school. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made. Overall, we love the school and highly recommend the school to other families.

I'm sad to report that College Park hit the wall this past year. In terms of it being a school…read morewith qualities our family supports, it's no longer a fit for us. Be aware: API results blend gifted (self contained) classes with the general school population. To analyze test scores for non-GATE Mandarin-track kids, you'll have to dig hard. It's a mixed picture. Sadly, most parents don't know how tough it is to staff Mandarin schools well (I've been involved with Mandarin immersion schooling for 25 years). CP is now bleeding experienced staff who feel the program under-serves kids who can't deal with immersion. They're 100% right btw. To evaluate this school accurately, ask tough questions about budget, and visit more than one Mandarin program. This one's budget is threadbare and nearly entirely reliant on volunteers to supplement teaching. If your child is a VERY adept speaker of English (i.e. will not require any help ever supplementing his reading or writing in English) an un-funded Mandarin public school education probably won't do much damage. Our story... In 2011-12, a bullying problem flared up. A core of tough boys were leading teachers around by the nose, disrupting class,and taunting kids. Ours got it often, others had it worse. There was a lot of boy-on-girl bullying. We and my daughter asked for help, but teachers were intimidated by the boys and ineffectual in handling them. We asked about a bullying policy and were told there wasn't one. Some teachers were turning a blind eye out of misplaced empathy for boys who needed to be removed from class, educated separately, or punished. I was told - after witnessing a very public humiliation of my daughter by 5 boys - that "these kids have trouble at home." It was my 9 year old's job to suck it up and tolerate it apparently. The air at College Park is thick with racial politics, and it has repeatedly affected the daily lives of some children (granted some kids feel none of this and to them I say: mazel tov, you've been lucky). The principal rejects the concept that there are discipline problems, or indeed ANY serious problems with the program. Her own staff roll their eyeballs when the subject of Mrs. H "listening" is mentioned. Nothing derails her constant, tedious boosterism. Imposing Mandarin immersion on a student body whose parents are perhaps 10% functionally illiterate or 40% poor English speakers is just bad policy. It's true that a few English-learners excel, but they are a tiny minority. Most struggle. Many fail. These kids need a strong traditional English program. Teaching quality is all across the board. Many long-time teachers of English at CP have been wonderful. Some of them are leaving. And frankly, their efforts are being undermined by this now unfunded, experimental Mandarin program. Given the extreme needs among the local kids for outstanding English teaching, I'm truly confused about why the district would continue Mandarin at College Park. You're lifting API at the expense of kids who need the 3 Rs. Budget decimation. In December 2011, the federal government pulled the grant program that funded the $300,000/year Mandarin immersion program at College Park. To be clear: THE FEDERAL MONEY IS GONE. We all knew it was coming. I asked if they wanted help raising serious foundation money but was told they didn't understand the questions I was asking ("What is your budget and where is it written down?). The level of naivete around how to manage the loss of funds by raising other funds was startling - really startling. You do NOT find $100k+ at a bake sale or a single Chinese meal for PTA members. Heavy fundraising requires professional expertise and a budget. They have no expertise and demonstrated confusion when asked for a budget. A nice, totally inexperienced group of parents was assembled to raise money to replace some of the funds. They had raised, by June 2012, about $20,000. So, from $300,000 to, less than 1% of that. The principal doesn't dig outside expertise. Big mistake. She needs heavy help fund raising and she's not asking for it. The lady shows all the signs of having a thin skin and refusing help she can't control. 3rd and 4th grades were combined. There is no more differentiated instruction in Mandarin. New parents rarely understand how badly CP's immersion compares to those in other districts. Their kids may end up doing ok, but only if they have plenty of outside tutors in Mandarin. We were sad to leave that community of friendly people. PTA folks are super. But we felt that under present leadership, CP would never fix its troubles. There are some super smart parents trying to make it work at CP. I earnestly wish them luck. But it's unlikely the program will thrive without leadership change.

My daughter is now in second grade. She was a kinder when a brand new principle came to the…read moreschool. I had a lot of respect for the previous principle and I also feel really good about the current one. I think Steven Chuang probably speaks more Mandarin than English so his delivery might be misunderstood by folks that are native. Over the course of the last 3 years I do see a lot of compassion and effort on his part, and the teachers too. It seems to me like this is a great school where u have parents teachers and principle working together. I will say I am not a fan of the district people for taking away the magic from the bilingual after school program. Kuai Le. I was not impressed by the people sitting in the district offices.

Worst school ever! School owner feels so entitled and kept asking parents to park properly while…read moreshow no intention to improve the parking situation such as buying more slots. You can circle forever and cannot find a parking and be late for 2 min and get fine of $50! The job for teachers cannot be easier - they don't tell story and let kids listen to radio - they don't do white boarding and let kids watch screens lol We stayed for one year and due to poor planning we let kid attend summer school - there is no schedule or whatsoever - kid complained so bored it was $2600 (2 years ago summer tuition) per month for absolutely nothing. We could not escape faster and this is worst school we ever attended in Bay Area across private and public schools!

We've been so happy with Merry Moppet/ Belmont Oaks Academy! Our kids have been attending since…read morepreschool, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. The teachers are exceptional--dedicated, nurturing, and truly passionate about education. They have low turnover in teachers. It's actually pretty impressive. The leadership, including the owners and principal, demonstrates a remarkable commitment to creating a supportive and enriching environment. You can feel the support and care that permeates the school. In elementary, the curriculum is academically rigorous and continues to progress. So that maybe an important consideration for your kid. We appreciate the close-knit community; it feels like family. Our kids genuinely love going to school every day, and that says it all.