I've two kids - one Pre-K and the other being in 1st grade. The school builds on five principles:…read morecommunity, stewardship, integrity, simplicity, and equality - but it doesn't just talk about it. It _embraces_ them. It instills the value of community teaching the kids to be good people - to care about other folks, to think of other folk feelings. At the same time it balances the individual spark each kid has - recognizing our differences and building on the strengths. With the class sizes being on the small size it means that the kids who are excelling can get more individual attention to get more challenging problems (so that they don't get lazy), and for those who are having a harder time they can get the attention to improve. The older kids are buddies with the younger ones - sending inter-school mail, to foster reading and writing skills. Stewardship is manifested via its focus on the tangible things - recycling, carrying for the butterflies (yup, every day in the spring they learn about metamorphosis seeing caterpillars turning into butterflies), and taking care of the garden. Integrity - the kids learn to take ownership of their actions, of being truthful by setting plans out ahead and understanding ones strengths and weakness. This is a hard -try asking a kid "what were you thinking?" and the answer is never straightforward. But the teachers have a knack of asking and listening and getting to the bottom of the issue and un-jamming the emotions the little ones have. Simplicity and equality is embraced by their social justice program. The kids learn about very touchy subjects such as class injustice and racial injustice at Pre-K level! They did a play where each kid would take a different role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott - bus driver, Rosa, etc. And then swap to have other roles to try to understand each person viewpoint. Academically they are able to focus on high performers to challenge them and on the low-performers to help them. This is math, writing and reading, gym, etc. They also are able to deal with the more "energetic" kids by having ways in the class for those kids to get their energy out (swing, or climbing structures, chairs with balloon), and for the Pre-K kids having _two_ recess time. This was especially important for me as our kids are very high energy. We are very happy with our kids at CFS.

A sad excuse for a school. Back when I went here I was bullied and even spanked by teachers, in…read moreaddition I got locked in a closet for forgetting to put a block away. Not to mention the relentless bullying which included attempted strangling, isolation, physical assault, harassment, etc, and later led to death threats so bad that I had to switch towns and schools, and of course the teachers didn't do anything about it. The sheer lack of supervision also meant that kids (under the age of 10 even) would be making out in the bathrooms, in addition to vaping. And don't even get me started on the faculty, that's a whole other story. In short, I'm for the schools ultimate downfall.

We chose GMS-Belmont as our son's first school at 16 months old (over a year ago) & have had such a…read morepositive experience. The teachers are so patient and loving as they help incoming children settle into a new routine. They work so hard to cultivate a deep love for learning/exploration, and a sense of confidence and independence in children. The Montessori method is put into effective practice each day through work-cycle & thoughtful, creative activities. The teachers have a lot of experience implementing healthy practices to help children with emotional regulation and social aspects of learning. During the academic year, the school has a rich curriculum spanning language, math, science, practical life, sensorial, and gross/fine motor - the teachers create this and share via monthly newsletters. Two major highlights of the year are the holiday & summer concerts where all children in the school perform together - this is a tremendous undertaking and months of preparation by the teachers for a most delightful family-oriented tradition! Director Ms. Sahar and co-director Ms. Jenn are fully present and so dedicated - they know each child by name, each family, and are always on the ground to ensure smooth daily functioning. There is little-to-no staff turnover and the teachers have a wealth of experience. Our family is super grateful for the strong foundation and core values that the teachers have given our son, and again, highly recommend GMS-Belmont!

We had a very positive experience at this school! Our son spent his first primary year of…read moreMontessori education at GMS and he so clearly thrived in the environment nurtured by his teachers and Miss Sahar/Tara. He joined at the age of 3.5 and within a few weeks made significant strides in terms of his learning & development, independence (such as dressing himself, cleaning up after play time, and helping out around the house), and overall curiosity on reading / writing / coloring. GMS still has that small community feel even as the classes continue to grow and the system becomes more mature over time. We are sad to have only learned of this school late in our time in the greater Boston area and wish we could've stayed for the full 3-year cycle.

CNS has been our home for the past three years, since my son started just before turning three. It…read moreis truly a magical place for early childhood, one that honors childhood for what it is and never rushes our kiddos to grow up. Today, we had the opportunity to experience CNS through a different lens, attending Heather Hauser's toddler group with my youngest daughter, who is almost two. I was absolutely blown away by the thoughtful provocations, the intentionality behind every experience, and how beautifully everything was aligned with the developmental needs of young children. What stood out to me most was Heather's modeling for us as caregivers. She so naturally demonstrated flexibility, respect for children's autonomy, and the importance of allowing little ones to lead their own play and exploration. There was such a beautiful balance of intention and freedom, something that can be difficult to capture but is so meaningful in early childhood. CNS is the kind of place I wish every child had the opportunity to experience. I cannot recommend the school enough, and if you're looking for a special way to spend your Thursday mornings with your toddler, Heather's group is truly something wonderful. We are so lucky to have this community!

We love this co-op school, its beautiful classrooms and playground, the staff and a deep sense of…read morecommunity. It follows a Reggio Emilia based curriculum which is tailored to follow the interests of kids enrolled. They also offer special developmentally appropriate classes such as yoga, cooking, music and art. We have been very happy at this school and highly recommend it to parents looking for a high quality thoughtful preschool experience for their kids.

Our experience has been a positive one. My daughter began tutoring sessions about 5 months ago to…read morework on memory processing, executive function skills including time management and organization, as well as SSAT prep. She enjoys both of her tutors, who are patient, smart, and nurturing. They clearly understand her underlying issues and are incredibly supportive. They have offered my daughter many helpful insights. The services are pricey, but they are a worthwhile investment. We have been seeing progress in our daughter's development and her grades for the last couple of marking periods have been some of her best yet. It probably deserves 5 stars but my daughter still resists going on many occasions (kids!), so I'm dropping down a star on her behalf.

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.

I was pretty disappointed in this place. After waaaay too…read moremuch effort trying to sign him up online, I called and was told this wasn't surprising since the website is problematic, so someone there had to do it over the phone for me (which took forever). I signed my son up for a science class for homeschooled kindergarteners. First of all, it's *incredibly* expensive. It was several months ago (I should have written this review sooner!) but I think it came to almost $800 for what was probably 10 classes (Sept. thru Nov.). WOW. Even as I'm typing that it seems insane. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting but whatever they did, I guess it wasn't it. They studied the workings of the inner ear for the first few classes and then water quality for the last few. I guess I was expecting something a little bit more 'kindergartenish' - and I don't really mean dumbed down because my son is pretty bright and loves to learn new things, but I just thought this was a bit - beyond? Over the top? Maybe not fun enough? for 5 year olds. I guess I assumed it would be how a baby chick grows or dinosaurs or something 'cool' like outer space that would get them excited about science. Not the workings of the inner ear and water quality. Which leads me to the teacher. Nice enough woman and probably more than qualified (she was a dr. of something) but not what you'd expect for a kindergartner teacher. She was a dr./scientist - and maybe a teacher comfortable with older kids, but I didn't see her as a good fit with small children and making the classroom a fun experience for 5 year olds. As well, I never had any idea what was happening in the classroom as I asked on THREE separate occasions - the teacher and the woman who runs the program - to send me *something / anything* resembling a syllabus for the semester / even just a simple list of what they'd be going over in class, and although I was told it existed and was promised one, I never received one. With this being said, most people probably bring their older children and I can't speak to that experience, but I'd never pay that amount of money again for this course.

Our daughter loves Innovation Institute. She started the summer after kindergarten, when she said…read morethat she didn't want to get "brain drain" (!), We also felt that it was important for her to get extra exposure to science and math at an earlier age. Not only has Innovation Institute been a pretty unique supplement to her education, it's something she looks forward to every week, so we've continued for the last three school years. The timing on Tuesday afternoons has also been very convenient for "Early Release" in Newton.

Stephanie is an outstanding teacher and tutor with many years of experience…read more She is able to differentiate instruction based on the students needs! She is patient, kind and caring and knows how to challenge her students where they become excited about learning! I would highly recommend her as a superior tutor and educator! We need more teachers like her

A great experience for kids! As we arrived from France in…read morethe middle of the year, we were quite worried about finding a pre-school that would welcome our 2 boys even if they were speaking only french. All the team at Parkside welcomed them so warmly. They enjoyed so much their time there, doing a lot of fun and various activities in a peaceful and smiling environment. I highly recommand!

Incredibly happy we made the decision to send our 3 year old twins to Parkside! The staff is…read morewonderful - owners and classroom teachers really care and go above and beyond to give the kids a fun-filled experience with so much variety in what they do. Lots of creative art projects. I expected the transition from their old daycare to this new preschool to be tough, but our boys loved Parkside from basically day one. Also, quite affordable ( compared to some other local options) for the quality of the school. I also really appreciate the flexibility of hours with before school and after school hours for working parents. So glad we found them!