As a parent, I have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of education and the nurturing…read moreenvironment at this school. The teachers are dedicated professionals who go above and beyond to ensure that each child is given the attention and guidance they need to excel academically. The curriculum is robust, challenging, and engaging, fostering a love of learning in students. The school also places a strong emphasis on holistic development, encouraging students to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. This has greatly helped my child in developing leadership skills and discovering new interests. The school's commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment is commendable. The administration is responsive and takes parents' concerns seriously, which is reassuring. Overall, I believe this school has played a pivotal role in shaping my child's knowledge, skills, and character. I highly recommend it to any parent seeking a well-rounded education for their child. By far the best decision my husband and I made.

My son attended LSM in Tarzana for three years and we had a great experience there. My son learned…read morea lot and was very ready for school or even more advanced in his learning when he went to regular charter school. We also got to be friends with many parents and made great memories. Overall, I'd say this is a great Montessori school, with great space for little ones to play and learn. our experience with staff and teachers was good. I'd just recommend a little more trainings on child development issues for the teachers and staff that could help them further with understanding children's behavior and emotional functioning but otherwise the teachers are professional and adequate with their teaching skills.

Our 3 year old daughter has loved her time at this school…read more Westside Waldorf has been an amazing experience for our family. The school's approach to learning through creativity and exploration is so refreshing. Our child looks forward to each day, and we've seen such positive changes in their confidence and social skills.

My son is finishing his first year in the nursery, and after considering many options and touring…read more13 excellent programs, I could not be happier about choosing Westside Waldorf for him. Beautiful Early Education Team! Beautiful Campus! We receive the most consistently sweet morning greeting by Diego or Yonni at the gates, (key pieces of the security team) and a warm farewell each day from them as well. Following that, a peaceful journey begins at the nursery. In the mornings, parents gather with the children to ease them into their day away from home. I often miss this 15 minutes of community fellowship, but I love the days that I do make it. My son sees everyone at campus and just goes right into playing. He is a very social, confident and friendly personality. I love the calm, peaceful energy that he is met with by his INCREDIBLE teacher, Archer. His teacher was also a Waldorf student and has dealt with every challenge faced from parents and students with grace and with intelligent responsiveness. He has been consistent in his temperament while meeting the varied demands of each child with flexibility. The daily snacks are apparently delicious according to my 3 year old's accounting. He wants me to make oatmeal and rice and beans the way they make it at school. He has also been known to request several servings of vegetable soup at snacktime! The thoughtfulness of the program and the creative arts is reflected in the best gifts that the children make for us parents for several occasions Not to mention the sweet festivals that feel like utopian moments carved out in time With my son at Westside Waldorf, I enjoy a peace of mind that is invaluable. I know that he is safe and happy, nurtured and building upon his natural gifts while maintaining his confidence and joyous nature. I am so happy that this is a place of peace where my son can thrive and his teacher and the team around him can focus on that work without the residue of drama and trauma that create hostile environments in so much of the world. This place is not ofcourse for everyone. Children must be mostly potty trained when they start at 2.5 years old. Parents must have a commitment to a sense of peace and calm, value a natural rhythm and nature and be commited to allowing this pedagogy to thrive by letting it flow rather than inserting some of our more mainstream worldly ways and ideas.

They say, "It takes a village to raise a child." This preschool truly is that village…read more When I first started looking for preschools, I had no idea what a co-op was--turns out, it's exactly what I'd been searching for. The environment here is warm, nurturing, and guided by a wonderful teacher. Parents are deeply involved, which means we're in the classroom working alongside our kids, supporting one another, and watching them grow every day. The best part? The community. The friendships we've built with other families are priceless. There's such peace of mind knowing that when you're not there, trusted parents who care just as much are by your child's side. It's not just a preschool--it's a whole community of families you didn't even know you needed.

EPNS is a true nursery school and an absolute hidden gem in the Valley. It's play-based, which I…read moregenuinely believe is the most meaningful and effective way for young children to learn. Yes, your child will leave EPNS knowing their ABCs, how to spell their name, and even their parents' phone number. But more importantly, they'll gain real-life skills--how to handle disappointment, ask for help in the right way, solve problems independently, and so much more--all through the power of play. If you're unsure about just how essential play is in early childhood, I highly recommend reading the work of Peter Gray or Teacher Tom--they've both written beautifully about it. EPNS is also a true community of families. As a co-op, it requires time and involvement from parents, but what you get in return is something incredibly special: a deeper connection to your child's early school experience and a tight-knit circle of families who all know and care for each other's kids. It's not just a school--it's a village.

This message is for ALL prospective parents!…read more I have heard about this school from my patients who's kids attended this school when the previous administration was in charge. This is a family run business and when Jackobson's were in charge, it was much different. They used to look and pick for truly bright kids to built a strong foundation. Now their daughter, Laurie Wolke, is in charge and it is all about money and connection. Upon applying, I truly believed in all fairness that this school is all about the "whole child" as they keep claiming it to be. But with all honesty, it is ALL about "connections": who you know, how much you donated PRIOR to your admission application. Let me explain to you how the admission process works: 1. You apply and you get interviewed by the ATHLETIC coach. He was a great enthusiastic man. I never had any school to have their athletic coach to interview the prospective parents. This was surprise to me. 2. They did kid's evaluation with group of kids. I thought this is a good practice to see how kids interact with each other. But apparently, this was a fake formality too. They (the owner and the administration) had no clue who your child is and what their potential or ability is. They did NOT care how bright and social your child is. They had already decided who to accept at that point. Unlike other top private schools, they do not do separate individual evaluation of your child. During kid's evaluation day, the owner, Laurie Wolke, approached a prospective parent and hugged him. Later, I found out that some prospective family members had been donating money and backscratching them for years prior to their application process. Some families knew exactly how many applicants they had and all the specifics that were not known to honest prospective parents. Then I found out, those connected family's kids got accepted. Talk about favoritism. 3. Then you get an email that your child is on "wait pool". Letting you know that they do not offer "wait pool" to everyone. Supposedly, you should feel excited that your bright child made it to the "wait pool". 4. What motivated me to apply to this school was their ability base group since my child had been reading and writing since he was 3 years old. My impression was that the administration does not care if your child is well-rounded, reads or writes, plays multiple musical instruments or speaks multiple languages. Obviously when applying you know the tuition is over $30K. So, money was not an issue for my family. We have only one child and invest all in him. I just never wanted to believe that you need connection and donation PRIOR to admission process. I always believed that good manners, hard work and intelligence is the way to fairness in this country. But these good qualities do not apply to this corrupt school. If you search, you will find other genuine ability based schools other than this one that claims to care for the "WHOLE CHILD". Bottom line, if you really truly want to be part of Laurence family, pull some connections and contribute money way ahead of time to get in. Don't be naive and believe in fairness when you are dealing with Ms. Wolke.

Although I found this school to be academically superior than others, the administration is…read moreinferior to all. My child attended kindergarten through second grade until I decided to take her out of the program to relocate to another state. Upon our arrival back to Los Angeles, we wanted to re-enroll her. Keep in mind this was the same academic year in which all dues had been paid. Mr. Jacobsen wanted to charge me again for what had already been paid. It was a very low thing to do and enrolled at a better school.

Our family had a disappointing experience with this preschool, and I want to share my personal…read moreexperience for other parents who may be considering it. During my son's time at the school, I often felt that he was not receiving the level of attention and inclusion that I had hoped for. For example, the school shared weekly photos with parents, and there were weeks when I could not find a single photo of my son, or there were very few photos of him compared with what I observed being shared of other children. More importantly, on many occasions when I picked up my son, I observed him playing by himself. I brought this concern directly to his teacher because one of my main reasons for enrolling him in preschool was to give him opportunities to interact and socialize with other children. I was told that they wanted to allow him to "explore." I explained that I was concerned because I was consistently seeing him alone and wanted to understand what was being done to help him engage with his classmates. When I raised these concerns, his teacher suggested that my son might benefit from seeing a play therapist and provided me with referrals. I was uncomfortable with how this was presented because, outside of this particular school environment, I had observed my son playing and interacting successfully with children his age, including friends he met at the park and his cousins. Based on my own observations, I wanted more discussion about what was happening specifically in the classroom and what support the school could provide to help him participate socially. Ultimately, I decided that this preschool was not the right environment for my son and withdrew him. When I communicated my decision, I personally did not feel that there was much effort from the director to discuss or address the concerns that had led to my decision. This review reflects only my family's personal experience and my own observations as a parent. Other families may have different experiences, but based on ours, I would not recommend this preschool.

We feel lucky to be part of the Canyon Crest Preschool community. The teachers and staff are truly…read morewonderful--so loving, attentive, and genuinely caring with every child. It means a lot to us that everyone at the school makes the kids feel seen and valued. We really appreciate how intentional everything is, from the thoughtfully designed classrooms to the beautiful playground, all created to encourage curiosity and exploration. The teachers do an amazing job giving the kids the freedom to discover things on their own while still providing guidance and support. What stands out most is how they recognize each child's uniqueness and tailor their attention accordingly, helping the children grow both individually and together as a group. We couldn't be happier with our experience and are so thankful for the love, dedication, and thoughtfulness that the entire team at Canyon Crest brings every single day.

We are so glad to have found the Nurtury, where our son has been absolutely thriving for the past…read more1.5 years. The teaching staff is amazing and many have been there for decades. This is remarkable in an industry known for high turnover and speaks to the Nurtury's warm, supportive culture. Ms. Norma, the director, is approachable and communicative and all-around lovely. There's a really strong sense of community within the 40(ish)-family school. The school organizes lots of optional out-of-school social events (picnics, beach days, restaurant nights, etc). Our son has made great friends, and so have we with other parents. It feels cliche to say but the Nurtury really does feel like extended family. We can't wait to send our youngest child there as soon as she's old enough. Very highly recommended!

My daughter attended The Nurtury from fall of 2020 until she was ready for kindergarten in 2023…read more First, from the moment we joined - in the midst of the pandemic - the school made us feel welcome and part of the village from the beginning. The community of other families quickly became our bubble and our daughter made very special connections with the teachers there. She still asks to call them all the time! One of the reasons we sought out and love The Nurtury was for the play based approach. I believe deeply that young kids need to move their bodies and learn & process best through play, not behind a desk. The Nurtury lives this out so well, giving kids freedom and movement and teaching through play - yet they come away with so much age-appropriate knowledge about all the core preschool subjects but also the world around them, including different cultures and traditions. I love that they take into consideration what holidays each family practices so they can honor it in the classrooms, and the diverse heritage of the staff (another plus itself!) is celebrated as they share their own holidays and traditions with the kids - it's so important to have that exposure ingrained from so young. Both with learning and with behavioral challenges, the teachers and staff at The Nurtury find a way to give kids structure while adapting to the needs of each kid, and they truly take a partnership approach to workshopping concerns together. When our child was going through a challenging time they brought us in to have an open discussion of ways we could all rally around her and work together. That meant so much to me as it was such a human and compassionate approach, rather than punitive. The education and nurturing environment at The Nurtury set our child up for an extremely strong start in kindergarten. We moved out of state and are in a top-rated public school system where there is no shortage of testing - readiness assessments, MAPS, COGAT testing, etc. Our child has done well on these from day 1, getting a 100% readiness score early on in the year, scoring above average on recognizing upper & lowercase letters and counting. She's been more than ready academically, but also socially and emotionally, because of the environment and education she received at The Nurtury. We would have loved to have sent our second had we not moved!

My daughter is 4 and a student at Greenleaf and I'm consistently blown away by the love,…read morethoughtfulness, quality of teaching, individual attention, beautiful art that comes home, and the way my daughter now communicates and carries herself. My daughter is proud of the "jobs" she does, excited about learning, and she has made quality friendships with other kind children. The curriculum is interesting, dynamic, and also so fun! She is learning about cultures, languages, yoga, dance, and art, plus math and reading! I'm blown away. I truly can not recommend Greenleaf Mindful Montessori enough. The casual environment only adds to the comforting mindset that allows my daughter's brain and heart to be wide open. This is not a daycare. This is a pre-- School where children learn and thrive and learn to learn and thrive even more when they sadly will have to move on to the next level of life and education. I'm grateful that I have one more year there because my daughter seems to be easily and enjoyably learning even more than my son is in kindergarten.

Greenleaf is a gem of a school and I feel so lucky to have found it! I am constantly blown away by…read morethe attention to detail and the thought and care that goes into everything they do. Ms Vanessa and the entire team of teachers are so lovely and caring and are always coming up with the most creative activities. I will never forget attending the Thanksgiving Potluck and was amazed at how the children made the table cloths, did the flower arranging, and decorated centerpieces for the tables. It truly was a work of art! For their end of year show, the teachers had written and composed all the music and songs that the children learnt! No other school would do that, and I think it instills such creative values in the children. Since attending, my child's creativity has just blossomed and it's been so amazing to see. The teachers also focus on numbers, the alphabet, and learning about other countries and cultures. Plus, they learn french, yoga, and music. It really is a well-rounded Montessori curriculum. I also love that the school has a clean eating policy and serves healthy snacks. If you are a parent looking for a nurturing school that is going to inspire your child, Greenleaf is it! I couldn't be happier with my decision to send my child here.

We just joined, love everything about this lovely little school! Run by warm, caring, knowledgeable…read morepeople, we're very grateful to have found it.

A wonderful little preschool with a great play area and fun community. We were very happy with our…read moretime at COV.