This school is has an extremely welcoming community of students, teachers and parents and provided…read morean exceptional foundation for our two children.

From the owner: Founded in 1910, Tenacre enrolls approximately 195 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 6…read more Located on 10 acres of land in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the Tenacre grounds include five buildings, athletics fields, swimming pools, and the Phyllis Scoboria Orchard. Tenacre is accredited by the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE). Students come from 26 towns. Twenty-seven percent of students self-identify as students of color. The school employs 53 faculty and staff with a faculty/student ratio of 1:13.

Pine Village is a Spanish immersion daycare and preschool, with classes from infant to…read morekindergarten. There are a number of locations (10 by now?) and my son went to two: Brighton (for a transition summer before the new school opened) and Newton Highlands, and we toured West Newton. We LOVE PINE VILLAGE! It's clean, organized, professional, and so warm (emotionally, but also on cold winter days, literally). Spanish immersion. The teachers are native Spanish speakers but there are teachers who speak English (for kids who don't speak Spanish yet, and to talk to the parents who don't speak Spanish). The Directors are fluently bilingual and are around at dropoff and pickup if there is any linguistic confusion. (So no Spanish? No problem. Kids are supported in learning but are understood in English and parents can communicate.) My kid came in as a toddler knowing no Spanish and within a couple months he understood everything but responded in English, and now in preschool is expected to speak Spanish (with gentle prompting) given his abilities. There are Spanish books everywhere to read, or for teachers to read out loud. The price is on the lower side of area daycare/preschool, based on about 13 other schools I looked at. Still not cheap exactly, but maybe licensed trained and educational child care shouldn't be cheap, right? The 3 facilities I looked at are in different spaces, but all seem pretty nice and have access to play areas. The West Newton one is in a UU church basement near Mass Pike, and has a HUGE indoor space for winter running around. The Brighton one is in the bottom of a city block, with big windows, and a small playground/big field across the street, and a short walk away over a sky bridge is a huge glorious public water park with 2 big playgrounds, and Charles River walkways. (Pretty awesome especially in summer.) The Newton Highlands one is also in the basement of a church, in two large rooms, with a permanent smaller indoor play area and (depending on church uses eg play) access to the large empty room next door. There are two small fenced playgrounds and a short walk away is a big field. I'm told there are sprinklers for hot summer outdoor play. In addition they have group exercise classes, such as yoga or Zumba, which kids do according to interest & ability. Pine Village has a dedicated curriculum quality rep, who goes between all the locations to ensure that quality of education stays high across the sites and that best practices are shared. They're ok with different locations having their own 'flavor' or feel, so long as the quality stays consistent. They also really focus on emotional self regulation. Deep breathing like blowing up a balloon, and taking a time out to gather one's reserves when too emotional.

Needham location needs severe improvement. My son did not…read morelearn Spanish and his naps were way too long. He would arrived at 8:00am and at noon they went to nap until 3:00. I would then pick him up at 3:30. Terrible if you ask me. My son is 5 (late birthday) and he only needed an hour of rest. He never wanted to nap honestly. The teachers at times would put them to nap at 11:50 which made me a bit furious....I would pick my son up for lunch and sure enough when I would drop him off at 11:50 the teachers would place the kids down for a nap 10 min early. They need to move this location into a bigger suite/building. It doesn't look like they invest much because it's obvious inside they need new toys/everything really just an upgrade. For the amount I spent to have my son attend, I expected better. Lastly, Jenn Doyle from enrollment needs to be fired. She's rude and takes forever to get back to you. She typically has the same lame excuse stating that she is in a meeting which an attitude. I pulled my son out of Pine Village because I felt that he was not learning at all. He is now in another Preschool where he's been learning really quick academically in order to be ready for kindergarten. Look elsewhere or stay away from the Needham location. Lastly, my son learned horrible habits of hitting and biting from other children. That stopped at his new school because the teachers would not tolerate this. But, at Pine Village the teachers my guess is that they did not pay attention to the kids or no consequences happened for example. pulling the child aside. And this is why it persisted. The teachers are nice here but they have a high turnover...My guess is that the higher up's do not value them and simply do not pay them well. The higher up's only cares about profit and they are rude. They should try treating the staff every Friday to maybe lunch as a thank you. Lastly, in order for teachers to receive a bonus they ask us parents to donate money. We pay a lot for our kids to attend school. They should maybe give them a bonus on their end...

You will never find a more fruitful and valued experience than what Fessenden has to offer to young…read moreboys looking to become respectful men. The tuition is high, but the return of investment is priceless. I would recommend Fessenden to anyone looking to send their son to the best junior boarding school in the country.

I attended Fessenden class of '98. It was a different place then and my hope is that the rampant…read morephysical and sexual abuse that I encountered has come to an end. After 19 years of silence I finally reported the abuse to authorities. Based on my forensic interview the DA determined my statements were "highly credible." Unfortunately the case didn't go to trial. The school offered me 100k to shut up. Fessenden then released statements to the Boston Globe in favor of the sitting administrator having been "cleared" of my allegations. How can an administrator be cleared and reinstated following a SETTLEMENT?