My son transferred to this school for 1st Grade. It was not the smoothest of transitions, but during those critical first few months, it became apparent to us what the strengths of this school were: 1. Committed Staff -- Everybody, from the principal to the teachers and support (student services and after school), is committed to help out the students and their parents. We had a meeting within the first few months to discuss my son's progress and brainstormed how to help him out in certain situations that we had identified as "tricky". 2. Quality of the teachers -- I saw the reviews. Fortunately, my son was placed with teachers that understood him and motivated him to get excited and persevere with the lessons. Recently (after his first year), I discovered that they strongly encourage parents at the end of each schoolyear to fill out a form that details kids' strengths/weaknesses/learning styles, etc... all to help them identify which teacher is best for your kid(s). And this pandemic was a blessing in disguise for us -- in the few times we were able to listen to their Zoom classes, we saw and heard the joy and the positive energy his 2nd Grade teachers have. These came across strongly, and the kids are excited to participate and raise their hands to answer questions. My son can't even wait to wake up for in-person classes or log onto Zoom (on Zoom days). Now I understand why his homeroom teacher has to have a big tall Americano everyday :D 3. Sense of community -- all of these build that feeling in the students that school is a safe and happy place. We felt it in the first few minutes that we looked at the playground before my son's "interview". The students recognized that my son was not a student in the school, but they welcomed him and showed him the ropes around the playground. Nobody told them to play with my son, they did that all on their own. There were some spats with a kid on the playground during the 1st grade, but the situations were always handled with care by the staff, in a very fair manner. After a week or so it stopped, and the kid picking on my son actually became his friend. 4. Academics and extra-curricular -- I must admit that the extra-curricular program (esp the arts) was the first draw for us. Robust programs that build on all the way to high school. And the after-school programs are also well-chosen and well-run. The only nit I have, and it's very minor-- is the tuition fee. It's not cheap. But I recognize that in order to recruit and keep their valuable staff and provide their topnotch programs, they will need those resources. All in all, we are just so happy with the school, and we have been telling our friends about it. If you are thinking about placing your children here -- (1) Do it as early as Kindergarten, or (2) Do it early (for the upper grades); check their admissions calendar on the website. Re-enrollment levels for the current students is high so available slots for transferees are so few, think 2-3 slots. read more

Called this school a couple of times to sign up for an open house. Left messages and email. This school only caters to certain people and will not respond if you're a minority. Not the way of the Lord if you tell me. read more

We switched to Valley Christian Elementary after hearing from other friends that the support services for special needs kids were good. Our other christian school was just too small to offer anything, even if they wanted to. That was last year. I have a child who needed support services and one that didn't. For both of them, our transition to the school for 3rd and 5th grade was excellent. We were pleasantly surprised that kids that had been together since kindergarten were friendly and welcoming. The staff though were spectacular! I big shout out to Mrs Cheryl Sizemore, the support staff person who tracked with my son to help his progress at school and make sure he stayed on track with his learning plan. Beverly Hiatt is over the support services program and I found her empathetic and excellent at creating the learning plan. As is true for all private schools, they are not forced to give support services. It is optional. It is only mandatory at public schools. Knowing this, some do a little, some do a lot. This school does a lot. Mrs Ramsey was a great teacher as well who worked with my child to catch up after an illness. There is a hands-on science experiment room, where the kids can touch bugs and worms, see experiments and do them, and generally have fun. I went on all field trips and I saw a lot of great organization. They have school buses that take all the kids and then you meet them at the field trip. The academics were excellent. My sons were both getting bored at their old school, but not here. There were so many physical projects and fun ways to learn. Mrs Euerle in 5th grade has an art background, so her classroom has fun and color and projects that include a lot of art. The the office staff are so excellent as well. We have had experiences at 3 schools in total, and this staff exceeds them all. Mr Guven is the Principal and he leads in being caring and kind. The very first week, he walked past my boys and greeted them by name. He has a lunchtime gathering with new students where he has lunch with a group of 4 and gets to know them. Whenever I would come to school, there is Mr Guven out with the kids playing basketball, or soccer on the field. The Christian spirituality teaching is also excellent. I am a pastor, so I am sensitive to how they are teaching. Not only was the lesson spot-on in terms of theology, they live it out in other ways as well, through supporting a sister school in India with events and having people come to give their testimonies at chapel. My kids were suddenly liking worship at chapel best of all. Also they have a special time for the 5th graders before they go up to the main campus to affirm their direction in life, and they do it with a parent. The staff also organize a "Parents Night Out" where you can bring your child for fun with their friends from 6-10pm and they provide pizza and drinks, games with the PE teacher outside, and then a movie for a fee. It was priceless to be able to drop off my kiddos and have a nice evening out and know they had the best time of their lives and never wanted a babysitter again. I can affirm that we started for the 2017-2018 year and are still there. So the main things I would affirm are: 1) academics - learning is fun and they will excel here 2) support services - they understand the need for a learning plan and work with teachers for it 3) friendliness - staff are super friendly and helpful 4) spirituality - interesting ways to present the gospel and teachers live it out The one negative is that there is almost no spots for visitor parking - the small parking lot is for teachers with only a few spots, like maybe 8. This school is large with 3 classes per grade, so you can imagine how many parents are coming for pick up for K-5th. Currently a building nearby is vacant, so if parents are not picking up via the pickup driving line you can park in this vacant lot and walk the short distance. And they have retired police officers to direct the traffic flow into and out of the school. But that is a bit challenging to understand at first. I always parked and walked in until I understood how that worked. The driving pickup is very well managed, but you have to come in by turning left and will not be allowed to drive up to turn right into the lot. That was confusing to us when we came for a visit. Bottom line - This is a wonderful school, full of fun for the kids and great academics and Christian values. Highly recommend. read more

I have sent two of my children there Very caring and nurturing environment. read more

This school is ok. Compared to the main campus, it is better than good, but what I am reviewing is the friendly staff, the procession of picking the kids up after shook is very orderly-I love that here. I usually get here early and park and walk. Many different ethnicities here, if that is important to you, if I had a question about where to go and how things were done they tile me very nicely. This is just an ok school to me, there are still areas, where the kids I nanny for have told me their experience with their teachers, could be improved a lot more. So if you are looking for a private or non private elementary, I would recommend looking around a bit more. read more

While every school has its strengths and weakness. There are several great things that this school has to offer. My child attended this school for three years and we recently left the school for the better representation of the Christian core values, and for the relocation out of the area. There were instances where i felt the administrators could have handled student to student resolutions with a better approach to resolving the nature of the issue in moral like brotherly approach. this was not encouraged as much as it could have been. And, when this was not achieved there were opportunities to address this with the staff. Their responses were limited. However, i believe that this is something that can be improved. My child excelled in all areas of academics here at this school and, that is the one thing I did appreciate. read more

By far the best School in the Bay Area. They see the potential in each student and develop their unique gifts. Most private schools focus on academics, sports, or arts only. Valley finds what your student is passionate about and has all three emphasis done very well. They are also a very generous school that develops their greater community. They serve a number of public schools all over the Bay and across the country. Finally the faculty and teachers are professional, knowledgeable and more than anything passionate about developing students. Highly recommend. read more

Unfortunately there a few parents who take there children here and then criticize the school or teacher. These type of parents hover ,do the child's homework and hang around in cliques . This not only provides a false sense of protection for the child but sets their "precious one" on a path of delusional adulthood. Make no mistake about it, no school is prefect, it's what you make it. I only wish that the parking situation was better. read more

Unfortunately, VCES needs some improvement. Before you send your kids here look around at all other options. The biggest deficit in this school are the teachers. A few are fantastic and others are far below average. Our experience for both of our kids was the worst in 3rd grade. Mrs. Ramsey is unfortunately not cut out to deal with 3rd graders. We were very surprised at the amount of parents that expressed negative experiences with her. We are not sure why the school has a review for parents express concerns but doesn't seem to make changes or even address those concerns. read more

I had 3 children attend VCES, with my oldest daughter moving on to the junor high. My 2 younger children still attend VCES and we have had an amazing experience. The teachers are the best part of VCES, but i must say the principal has been truly wonderful. His leadership has set the tone for the campus, and i have seen such a dramatic improvement in campus unity through his efforts. There is a genuine joy and love that covers that campus, and I would say that from the office staff to the teacher's aides, this joy is pretty well evident. My kids love their teachers and love going to school. The academics they're receiving are very good, but at this age, their social development is also important as it will set some life-long patterns. At this point, i am thrilled that they seem to be socially adept and in part, i have the school to thank for that. I have witnessed teachers focused on creating an environment that promotes building positive social interactions amongst students, and building self-esteem. Conflicts are not just resolved by the teacher, but students are taught how to resolve their own conflicts, something many adults have yet to learn. Parents too are respected and encouraged to be part of the educational life of their children. My wife has been a part of my kids' classes throughout. I have gotten to know many of the teachers personally and I find them extremely bright, caring, and excellent in the classroom. I wrote this review in part, after reading a 2 star review from Diane G. I was saddened to read of her experience, and all i can say is mine has been the exact opposite experience- I won't hypothesize about her child, but I have seen lots of parents blame the school for their failed parenting. Not saying that's what happened in Diane's case. But questioning the school on issues of race is just plain silly. Much of what she said is absolutely not true. Just looking at the VCES staff directory on the website shows that she misspoke. There is a strong emphasis on diversity at VCES, too many to list. Frankly, it's too bad that she felt her child was not respected, but i'm sure we're not hearing the whole story. The faculty and administration would be pained to know how she felt and would certainly respond. The personal attacks against the faculty and admin are unwarranted and out of line. I have brought some of my closest friends to VCES, and they too are having the same wonderful experience that we are. This is the kind of school that people take out second mortgages to afford. Yes, it's that great. I wish the tuition could be less, so more families can attend, but at the same time, VCES is full and families are having to be put on a waiting list. If you're thinking about applying, i would recommend you not wait. The earlier the better. I would also encourage you to start working with your Pre-K aged child teaching them colors, numbers, and working on verbal and social skills. Kids that have gone through preschool programs seem to have an edge unless moms and dads take time to work with their 3-4 year olds in the above noted areas. This will help the interview process. Kindness is key. read more

This is our first year with Valley Christian Schools. Our family moved from out of state just so that we could be a part of this amazing school. I have one child at the high school, one at the junior high, an two at the elementary campus. I have never experienced such care from teachers as we have received at Valley. The teachers have gone to great lengths to make sure that my children are successful with their academics and have also been an emotional support during our time of transition. I can not say enough about the varity of programs that Valley has to offer students and we are looking forward to the comming years. read more

The school has great academics. However, if you find social interactions and peer support for a community based program important then, unfortunately this school fails in that area. The schools administrators do not see the importance of listening to the students and acting on important peer related concerns with other student. Instead the administrators try to look at the student's entire academic picture rather than focus on the main issue that arose. My child has several incidents with a peer that resulted in that peer given the advantage simply because the child was more well known at the school, and of other ethnic background. The lack of support from the teachers and office staff provided confusion, frustration and a give up kind of attitude to the student with the concern. Overall i was very displeased and disappointed in the principal's actions towards concerns and when he did address the issue he never took the time to take a look outside the box and try to correct the racial barriers that these students face daily. Many parents see the underlying racism that exists at this campus combined with socioeconomic racism and it is blanketed by the fact that "Christian" lifestyle accepts those of all creeds and unfortunately this is not the standard practice it is a myth at this campus and it needs to be addressed with all students. They host a bullying chapel's session however, it proved to be ineffective, when it comes to the students antagonizing one another. Each child should have a voice to be heard and a voice to be respect within the community, and at this campus , the elementary campus, there is problem and it begins with the lack of true sincere support. Many of the staff go along with the nature of the schools creed however the true genuine level of Christian care is only evident when you don't address the schools faults. The staff there teaching wise in each classroom are not diverse and consist of mainly Caucasian decent. There are no Hispanic Teachers ( not including aides), No African American teachers ( not including aides and p.e. teachers) No Indian, no Asian, only Caucasian decent. There are serious racial barriers and respect levels that need to be addressed as these students are raised to be in a community and will someday live outside the walls of this school and become involved peers and, i frankly to not want my child raised to believe that she/he is inferior to any other race. There should be equality and an offering of community support. The school fails to bring a Caucasian student to be held accountable, especially when it related to a minority student. The minority students issues are deemed as a secondary issue and non irrelevant and the fact is racism is present and it exists until diminished. The administrators refuse to acknowledge that the students (Caucasian ) treat the others students badly, and when the other students respond , the other minority students are addressed with why they did respond this way , rather than what different things lead up to the final response out of the non-white child. Racial issues are present in this community of students and not addressed severely enough through the administrators that the levels of disrespect and racism are growing and it is not acceptable. There is currently a teacher that confuses students with others because of the racial background and not actually knowing the child and that is sad in itself. I have seen this teacher in action with another student and he never apologized to that student. Is this the worse thing to have in day in age yes, can it be fixed yes? And, should it be made a priority in the years to come, definitely yes? My child attended for five years and, I left because of the problem. I have no problem paying and i donated several thousands to the campus, I just found is distasteful the nature of this problem and the lack of concern especially from the current principal and staff. There needs to be more administrators and teachers -main educators of a variety of cultural backgrounds so that the students have someone to relate to and look up to. I would not recommend this school it the current racial issues persist; otherwise the school is outstanding in academics read more