Simply an outstanding educational experience in every way. Manzanita is an entirely new model for…read morelearning, one that doesn't neatly fit into any established category. Students learn on the land and from the land, supported by teachers trained as mentors for a truly personal, close-knit experience. Your child will be seen, known, and understood here. They will be taught how to think, not what to think. They will be prepared to show up as their most authentic selves. They will be exposed to a curriculum that is much more nuanced and engaging than most people can imagine. Your child will be in community with people who are committed to making the world a better place and often live lives far outside the mainstream. The lunch program is incredible. Tour the school to experience firsthand. Truly amazing.

The setting is beautiful, peaceful, and safe, and the food is AMAZING! (go Hillary!) The teachers…read moreare talented and caring. What makes this a one-star school is the principal's anger issues and sense of power over others. He treats the boys unfairly and is over-protective of the girls. The toxic environment that he creates completely over-shadows the location and good staff and is most evident in grades 9-12, but he also loses his temper with the boys in grades 6-8. His discipline is guilt and power-driven and students don't feel comfortable sharing this with their parents because he is seen as a wise sage. He puts on a good act for the parents but can be very manipulative behind the shiny veneer. In addition, his belief in pseudo-scientific principles chips away at the integrity of the school's academic component. The school supports the notion that plants are sentient beings. He minimized the dangers of Covid during the pandemic in order to keep the school open so he wouldn't lose clients (families and students.) He cherry-picked outlier studies from questionable scientists to support the false notion that Covid wasn't as easily transmittable as it actually was. You have to drink the proverbial Kool Aid here or you'll be cast out. At times, staff and even students were asked to leave the school because their believe system didn't align with his. He once fired a secretary right after an initiation ceremony on a staff retreat because he didn't think she "fit in." Shouldn't that have been decided during the interview process? As a parent, I simply can't recommend this school. Maybe after he retires and turns the school over to new leadership... It has so much potential.

Graduated a long time ago but know that the level of education is top notch…read more Expensive but most private schools are!

Seeing that Viewpoint has 4 stars and not 5 is proof that noting is perfect for everyone...not even…read morea school like Viewpoint. I will say, however, that Viewpoint is as close to "perfect" as a school could be. It is 6 stars in my book. I can't say enough about how the school is run, the individualized care, the facilities, the programs, curriculum. My son started in 7th grade and he is now is 11th and I literally have a smile on my face when I picture him being at Viewpoint. Easily, what stands out the most is the fact everyone in the faculty and administration seem to know my kid, personally...they are invested in all the kids..they aren't anonymous...my son feels like he is in a family type environment where people truly care about his welfare inside and outside of the classroom. That is a very rare characteristic for a school. I can't think on one single aspect of my son's education, from academics to administration, to sports, etc., that have not been handled with the highest level of care and professionalism. And, he has built a tremendous friend base at Viewpoint...definitely his second family. If Atticus Finch were to teach at a school...he just might pick Viewpoint. I will look back on Viewpoint and say it was perhaps the best money I have ever spent...and easily one of the proudest contributions that I have made to my son's young life. His mom and I got this one right!

The teachers are wonderful. Class sizes are smaller following the Palisades fire, which has…read moreresulted in even more individualized education. There is a lot of parental engagement and a real community feel at this school.

Marquez has been an incredible experience for our family. The teachers are warm, attentive, and…read moretruly invested in each child's growth. The community is welcoming, communication is strong, theres a perfect balance between academics, creativity, and social-emotional development. Our kids feel supported and excited to go to school.

As a parent of Calabash Elementary for the past 8 years I can tell you that I have been beyond…read moreimpressed by this school and this is why; * a principal that is fair, that shows no favoritism, and is a true child advocate. * a front office staff that are warm, knowledgeable and show respect for the parents and children. * teachers that care, are passionate about teaching and educated on our children Academic needs. * a librarian that has developed a generation of children with a love for books. * a PTA that has made a community, that has worked non stop to raise money for the programs and enrichments that our tax dollars no longer cover.

Update... as we near graduation…read more The Great -- The teachers. Almost without exception, every teacher we've had at Calabash (approx 12) has been top notch, committed and inspirational. The Good -- The PTA. It's improved. A lot. It's now run by a responsible group that is really committed to raising funds and implementing quality programs for the kids. The Mediocre -- The parents. With the exception of a few, the parent involvement is pretty lame. Same group of parents that volunteer at every event. The BAD -- The Principal. One of the worst I've ever seen. She attempts to run the school like a military base. She has her sights set on climbing the LAUSD ladder and, clearly, every decision she makes is geared toward furthering her personal goals as opposed to creating a nurturing, fun, inspiring environment for the kids. And this isn't just my opinion. Every teacher, parent and student hates her.

We love our preschool! The teachers are highly qualified and bring a strong background of music…read moreand arts to the classroom. More importantly, they are warm and caring and great partners in educating the children. It is truly a magical place for learning and growing. They are not just learning, they are developing as whole, well-rounded people. Bread dough is made every day by the kids so they have freshly baked bread each morning as part of their snack. There is lots of outdoors time on the beautiful wooded playground and there is even a little garden that the children help tend and harvest. Always art projects and group projects going on. It is a great, welcoming and friendly community that I feel so lucky to be able to be a part of!

My husband, Charles, and I have been happily married for 24 years. My 2 sons attended school here…read morefor 2 years. The teachers harassed my sons by playing the cool kid rap music and my kids came home and using curse words such as, "poop", "butt" and "stupid". (My kids are in 5th grade they shouldn't be using this kind of language.) Not only that the female children that do go to this school have frequently asked for playdates with my eldest son, Trevor. I don't know what kind of radical, leftist ideals this school is promoting, but they sure aren't encouraging our children to act in an appropriate manner. My youngest son, Hunter, recently came home crying as his teacher, Mrs. Arisen, had asked for a hug after yelling at him for not completing his civil war reenactment script. Another terrible atrocity that occurred on school grounds left my son, Trevor, traumatized. He unfortunately has a peanut allergy, do he must sit at the peanut allegory table, alone. One day he told me that one kid had aggressively thrown a bag of peanut m&m's directly at him and yelled "BOMB!". And the staff did nothing to help. This is a terrible school and I would never send my worst enemy to this school.

My daughter attended Serrania for K-5. For all grades except 4th grade we had a great experience!…read more However, her experience with her fourth grade teacher, Ms. Tenzer, was beyond unacceptable and our multiple requests for meetings and inquiries into issues my daughter was having with her went unresolved. After much consideration we decided to pull her out of LAUSD for Middle School and High School.

An outstanding place of learning, and a true home for your elementary school, joyful days! Teachers…read morehere really care, and the families that come here support their kiddos! Wonderful programs, including music, science and sports. This is what you thought elementary school should be!

I love this school my sister and I came to this school for elementary. When I was a kid I had the…read moretime of my life. I learned lot environmentally wise, they do fun activities, events are always going on and exciting field trips. Teachers always talk to the parents and let them know what's going in in class. Very nice school I am happy I came here.

After a handful of years here, we finally decided to cut out of the Seven Arrows cult and, yes,…read moreforfeit several years of "investment" in our kids' futures. Community is their #1 priority and it comes at the cost of what ought be their first priority: a competitive academic education. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost to dressing up the campus for events but not a dime is spent on Faculty professional development. Also their version of "community" is only as good as the amount of money you give and the parental cliques you can endear yourself to. If you are parents in a dual-income family, who can't always volunteer at 11am or give up entire days to help out, you are excommunicated by both the school and other parents. We found these overt acts of judgement against the value and ethics of modeling business-building with our kids through our careers to be abhorrent. The school regularly weaves in a denial-based approach toward any concerns you might voice, all while purporting to possess a growth mindset. Margarita, the Head, runs the school with an iron fist - God forbid you ever question anything. For a school that waves the flag of "community and openness", what they really want is everyone to nod in agreement, roll up their sleeves and volunteer all their time, donate generously to support private street closures of non-inclusive events, and tiny-campus makeovers. From a student perspective, it's now well-researched and broadly understood that if a child is bored in class, socializes with peers, or is otherwise not engaged in the curriculum, this is an indication that the program offered is not meeting the intellectual or creative needs of the student. And a well funded school has many options to better flex to the student's needs, offer material through alternative learning modalities, or even revise of the approach/methods altogether. When our kids were bored, the school admin pointed their fingers at our kids (accusing them of having ADHD), or at us (for poor parenting skills) and they heavily implied that our kids be medicated. BEWARE: The school uses a cunning strategy of building their case by recommending that the parents have the child fully evaluated, with a request that the pychologist share their findings with school. In truth, they are building fodder against you, in case they want to "council families out" if you disagree with them on other things. Your physician's account becomes a "menu of opportunity" for the school to manipulate you into seeing things their way, or else have you relinquish your entire investment. Because everybody knows that unless you demonstrate your liking for the Kool-Aid they serve up, your child's future (by way of recommendation letters, support, and referrals at the time of graduation) is at their mercy. Today, the "campuses" are all over the place and disjointed. While the Masquerade event is still a great student experience, our older child was repeatedly bullied by the offspring of entitled, Instagram Mommy wannabe's but the school did little to upset parents with deep pockets. After all, Margarita's gotta bankroll her sprawling Riviera estate somehow. Also BEWARE: When it comes time to give their recommendations of your child to the next school, they don't hold back any details. From how you, as parents, participated in fundraising and underwriting opportunities, to whether or not you have the Rolodex to connect the school to famous thought-leaders, to how much you volunteered time at event preparations, and how much you can publicly advocate on behalf of the school, they tell ALL. And regarding your children, they share everything, too, including medical information (illegal) and details that might actually make your children look bad. Do you really want to place this power into someone else's hands? There's an unbelievably high rate of teacher turnover; many are fresh out of college. And the ones who had "ins" at Harvard Westlake, Brentwood, and Marlborough are now gone. As are many wonderful families who decided they had had enough. We also decided to cut the chord. Though our first child graduated, we didn't want to repeat our mistakes with our second one.

Our 5 children attended Seven Arrows and it was the best thing we have ever done for them. The…read moreamazing teachers, rigorous academics coupled with amazing science program, art, music and performance prepared my kids for the top high schools in LA and on to great colleges. Each of my kids participated in theatre and team sports while at Seven Arrows and made lifelong friendships. We also made amazing friendships with the parents that continue today. We will forever be grateful to everyone at Seven Arrows for those amazing years.

I was a former student here and now my five year old son is in TK here! Bay Laurel gave me a…read moregreat education and I'm excited to see my son grow here at Bay Laurel. We have Ms. Amico for TK this year and she is a good teacher. I know that we're going to have a good experience here and my son will have all good teachers!

Not worth the hype, after almost 4 years we left highly disappointed at the way the teachers and…read moreadministration handled our child, who is a gifted student. We are now in a better district and the way they handle social-emotional issues and behavior is far superior. It is now plain to see that Bay Laurel teachers were not properly trained to handle Student Success Team meetings: they simply disregarded the "success" part of them. To add insult to injury Principal Duncan did not mind destroying a 3rd grader's self esteem by kicking him out of his class and school a week before Spring Break, without a goodbye or an explanation.