We switched our eldest to Fayerweather at the start of 3rd grade seeking a school where the…read morelearning would be significantly challenging, values-rooted, and joyful. We wanted a place where our inquisitive kid could really stretch her edges and feel comfortable taking academic risks (and sometimes making mistakes). Now 12, she has a deep sense of who she is and what matters to her - and this strong sense of self has allowed her to take risks (academically and socially) and push herself as a learner and community member. She understands that justice and community are the essential foundations for learning and social impact. Our younger child (now 7) started at FSS in kindergarten and we have found that, while quite different from his older sibling, he is just as seen, valued, and supported. He has gotten incredible guidance navigating his intensity and high energy, and he is academically challenged in just the right ways - he works on meaningful problems and his sense of accomplishment is significant. Fayerweather has helped him have a voice and language for his feelings, his challenges, and his successes. The loving support and developmentally appropriate and thoughtful curriculum have allowed him to discover his best self and build the skills and agency to choose his actions wisely. FSS is all we hoped, for both kids.

We just started school at Fayerweather this fall, and my 1st grader and 6th grader cannot get over…read morehow friendly the school community is. My son came home from school after his second week of being a new kid (a middle schooler, no less -- in the 6th grade) and said "mom I give it 5 stars!!! Everyone is SO nice, teachers and kids, and I love it!!!." Now that we are four months in, happily his review remains. He also says that his homeroom and math teacher is "literally THE best math teacher" he's ever had. I'm continually impressed with how in touch with my son's learning style the teachers are, and he's growing leaps and bounds. My 6 year old daughter, who is usually shy, is coming out of her shell socially and is really starting to take to reading (which she has avoided prior to Fayerweather). Her teachers are incredible and so in tune with her and helping her to grow where she is ready to, and there is such insight into the social emotional ecosystem of the classroom. Fayerweather has the academics *and* the community we'd hoped for -- the school has a joyful, healthy, connected vibe and is inclusive and diverse to boot. We couldn't be happier.

I had a very negative experience with the Director that does not seem to align with the website…read moregoals. I was looking for tutor and thought Fusion might be a good fit. After meeting with her, explaining how shy and anxious my kid is, she wrote him off within 5 mins for not being enthusiastic enough about going to a tutor and said Fusion could not help. (He succeeded no problem at another place last year, I just wanted a shorter drive and thought Fusion's website looked good). During the 2 tours she gave, she loudly proclaimed the silent area was no talking, completely disrupting the students that were there at the time. She demonstrated her agenda was more important than the students. She seems completely disingenuous about the school's stated goals and exceptionally rigid about how kids should be. I am really glad we will not be interacting with her regularly.

I love Fusion. I have a daughter that is academically advanced but socially challenged. (High…read morefunctioning autism/ 2E) She started kinder early at 4 and then skipped 5th grade. She simply loves learning and while in traditional private schools was bored and increasingly anxious about social interaction and group work. She's been at Fusion for two years. She works 1:1 with various teachers depending on the subject and while officially in 7th again this year (we decided to have her repeat as we are worried about her being closer in age to her peers when she graduates) she was able to take HS college prep biology last year, HS zoology and psychology this year in addition to her more typical classes (English, algebra 1, French 2, and medieval history) The teachers are wonderful with her. They have a collaborative style and really keep her focused, engaged, and enthusiastic. I receive academic summaries from each teacher everyday letting me know what they covered and how she did. Looking forward to her taking science in person at the Newton campus next year so she can do the labs in person rather than virtually.

We are proud of our son and grateful for his admission to Bentley University. However, calling it…read more"a top university with a significant merit scholarship" is an obvious attempt to inflate the outcome. A $10,000 merit award is fairly common among Lexington High School seniors. Our son's dream school was Babson College, and that was the goal we worked toward for years. After several years of working with Livius, his final SAT score was 1350. That is not a terrible score, but it is not impressive in Lexington, especially among Asian students. We ultimately sought additional support elsewhere. It is inappropriate to now imply that the entire result is solely your achievement. The core issue remains the sales process. We were strongly persuaded to purchase a large prepaid package, and were told at the time that it might even be insufficient for what our son would need. Based on that representation, we signed the so-called "non-refundable" agreement. After years of services, we still have more than 10 unused hours left. That alone speaks for itself. When we recently inquired about the remaining balance, the response was dismissive and focused only on the contract clause, without any acknowledgment of the inaccurate projections used to sell the package. Repeating "you signed a contract" while ignoring the context is not customer care -- it is deflection. Using ambiguous language to magnify results and take credit, while dismissing legitimate concerns about unused prepaid services, reflects poorly on a company that charges premium prices. We stand by our review.

Not good. Unimpressive instructors, poor customer service when issues. Expensive…read more If we had to do it over again we'd have gone in a different direction.

i can't say enough good things about GNS. our son has thrived during his first year there and we're…read moreenthusiastically sending him back for a second. the curriculum is rooted in play and emotional growth, rather than "ABCs and 123s." the faculty is excellent and they make amazing use of their interior and exterior spaces. the co-op aspect also makes you feel like you're taking part in your kid's education. great community of people, too. here's another way to put it: my wife went there 30 years ago and loved it so much, we went out of our way to make sure our son got to go too.

Recently became a parent at GNS via the Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP)…read more I had many reasons to be nervous about my kiddo starting preschool - pretty big aversion to playing with other children, having essentially no daycare/nanny experience, loud "no school!" when the idea was brought up periodically in attempts to make it less foreign, being a picky eater, etc. True story - when we did a classroom visit, where families can come and see the school, be in the classrooms, and meet the teachers, my kiddo said "why do I like school?" 5 minutes into it and the rest is history (currently in the making). The thought "oh, I can leave my kiddo here" came to me pretty unexpectedly and clearly during that visit, and I legit got pretty emotional. The other reviews ring true. If GNS interests you even a little bit, I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself.

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

My sister and I have both recently graduated college. We are quite similar but have had very…read moredifferent academic experiences in both high school and college. I went to public school and she went to Shady Hill, and I attribute much of her success to how Shady Hill prepared her. She digs deep into topics, connects the dots, thinks holistically, and has an appreciation for the interplay of culture, history, and geography. These are all things she tells me are at the core of a Shady Hill education. She also says the confidence she feels to voice her opinions and advocate for herself were nurtured at Shady Hill. I love my sister and want to thank Shady Hill for giving her the opportunity to fully realize the person she is.

We visited SH and loved the campus and the teachers we met. We liked everything about the program…read more(our kids were K and 1) until we heard that the school does not teach foreign languages until grade 7 or 8 (I don't remember which) because the person showing us around said 'we think kids can learn just as well later when they can read and write'. My specialty is bilingualism/multilingualism (20+ years research and teaching) and my jaw hit the ground. I thought I'd heard wrong but I hadn't. This is complete nonsense. Kids learn a second language much better when they are very young, and certainly none of us knew how to read and write when we learned our mother tongue. Years of research by myself and others backs up my assertion and it's just not true what SHS says about languages. Kids who "learn" later are unlikely to have a native accent and unlikely to be as fluent. They may still be very good but there is NO valid reason (if you want to teach a language) to miss out on the first important years when kids learn so well. I assume the parents aren't that interested in their kids learning foreign languages and that's why the school made this decision, but for us it was a deal breaker. I am still baffled by this, and having met some older SH grads (now in high school elsewhere) I can confirm they are nowhere near the language learning level of kids who start in K or grade 1. SH is a wonderful school but they are in just plain wrong about this particular thing.

The Goddard School in Lexington is a well run and fully staffed location. They are focused on…read moretaking care of the children and are always open to talking about your child's progress and are always open to working with you on anything. As a parent of 2 children who have been enrolled over the past 2 years (our oldest is aging out and moving to Kindergarten in Sept), we have watch the children transition from the Toddler room and into the Pre-School and then Pre-Kindergarten rooms. All the teachers show that they care for the children and are open and approachable. The daily photos and summary e-mails allow you to see what is happening with the children and the teachers take the time to write a note if necessary so that you know if there was a particularly good thing or something that you might want to address. The owners are on-site and are actively involved in the running of the location and their child is a student so it is great to see their active involvement and also know that they want the best for the children. During the COVID-19 shutdown, they set up Zoom sessions for all the kids as well as posted the teachers reading stories and doing activities on Facebook to allow the kids to keep interacting and it was great for my children to see their classmates on Zoom and be able to talk with them, as opposed to just staying home.

Goddard Lexington is a very well-run organization from the top down and you will know it as soon as…read moreyou set foot in the beautiful and clean building. The teachers are very experienced and the administration is very friendly and great at communication. Take it from someone who's been here since the beginning (and since has a niece and nephew here as well), I would absolutely recommend this wonderful child care to anyone I meet.

My now six year old son attended Storyville while he was in Pre-Kindergarten. This was our first…read moreexperience with daycare and I could not have been more satisfied with the Storyville team. The staff was warm, professional, and well-prepared to share their experience with my son for the day when I arrived to pick him up. My son has several chronic medical conditions which requires a significant level of coordination between school, his medical team, and child care provider. Through it all, the entire Storyville team contributed significantly to: (1) his speech development; (2) ability to interact with the staff and fellow classmates; and (3) his ability to explore new and exciting activities through field trips, swimming lessons, or magicians and storytellers, which were all a part of the regular activities line up. Regarding administrative matters, I found the team to be wonderful. The director Pam would personally send me email updates regarding administrative matters and was quick to respond to any questions I asked. Joan is equally amazing, extremely helpful, responsive, and knew my son very well. The teachers were supportive, attentive, caring and aware of upcoming programming. I think they went out of their way on many occasions to invite my partner and I to join in on field trips and become a part of my sons experience. With my son's medical conditions, safety in an integrated environment was a top concern in selecting a daycare. The care that the entire team demonstrated in working with him reassured me that this was the right place for him. Because of this experience, my son has had a smooth transition into Kindergarten and I am forever grateful for all the support we received from the entire Storyville team. He enjoyed his experience so much that I had very mixed feelings about his transition to Kindergarten and that school's extended-day program verses keeping him at Storyville. But ultimately, the momentum he gained after this experience led me to keep him moving forward. Thank you.

Can't say enough good things about this school. My son transitioned here at age 3 due to a move and…read moreI was a little nervous about how the transition would go (he'd been at daycare since 3 months old and loved his previous school). He was welcomed with warmth and affection and it went smoothly! The teachers are great, they always tell me how his day went and are open to discussing ideas about how best to handle my energetic little guy. He's learned so much and has really developed the academic and social skills that I hoped when enrolling him. The administration is fantastic, always flexible and accommodating to my crazy work schedule. My son starts kindergarten in the fall and is well prepared thanks to the school and it's dedicated teachers and staff. I highly recommend sending your little ones to Storyville!