Challenger Ardenwood has provided an incredible academic foundation for my daughter, putting her well ahead of grade level in both reading and math. The structured curriculum and dedicated teachers have helped her develop strong study habits and discipline from an early age. I have noticed significant improvements in my daughter's confidence through the school's emphasis on public speaking skills. Overall, it is a rigorous environment that delivers tangible results, and we are very happy with her progress. read more

Our older child is starting his 3rd year at Challenger and our younger one her 2nd, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. The kids have learned so much and, just as importantly, have grown in confidence. The teachers and staff are incredibly supportive and caring. Our older child has a medical condition, and the school has gone above and beyond to make sure he is safe and supported. We have never once felt like it was an inconvenience to call for help when needed. Thanks to the amazing teachers and staff for always being so supportive. The hours are great for working parents, and often when we pick up the kids early, they want to stay just to finish the activity they're doing. They truly love school, and we are so grateful for the caring environment Challenger provides. read more

Challenger Ardenwood is the best Challenger campus in the Bay Area! The school is very clean and organized. It has the largest campus and plenty of space for outdoor activities. The Head of School Mr. Paquin, the Program Director Mr. Saindon, room teachers, assistants, and other staff are very responsible, caring, and friendly. I have two kids studying in the 3rd and 5th grades. They really enjoy learning there and happily go to school every morning. Having explored several private schools in the East Bay, Challenger Ardendwood is the only one that meets my needs. It makes my life easy. It is the best choice for parents who want their kids to be disciplined and build good learning habits and solid academic foundations. read more

For context, I attended Challenger from kindergarten through 8th grade, graduating in 2019. Looking back, I really do not think you should bring your kid here. You will end up wasting an exorbitant amount of money on a subpar education that will do your kid no favors. Middle school: the math and science instruction is fine; in fact, I remember a few of my teachers being quite passionate about their subjects, even if their methods were often not very effective. But if your child is not naturally inclined towards math/science, be warned: they won't get much help, and unless you take time out of your day to teach them, they will fall behind. However, history is a whole other matter. It is not an understatement to say that they basically brainwash students here, and this happens at every Challenger campus. The school clearly has a very specific political agenda that they seek to advance by delivering it uncritically to students who don't know better. I suspect that it's hard to find an instructor who would go along with their unhinged right-wing curriculum, so our history teachers were often peculiar individuals whose teaching practices included methods like singling out kids who did poorly on exams in front of the class. If you are OK with your child being taught that the Civil War was fought over "states' rights" and not slavery, or that gay marriage is wrong because the Bible says that it is a sin, then Challenger may be a good fit for you. But if for some reason you don't want your kids to be fed fringe beliefs by unqualified reactionaries, then I would stay away. It's a bit ironic that a school which prides itself on raising independent thinkers won't tolerate any beliefs that falls out of line, and even more so that they will try to instill a xenophobic mindset amongst students whose parents are mostly immigrants and racial minorities. If you don't believe me, go look at the reviews for Challenger Sunnyvale and you will find other students and parents echoing these sentiments. Elementary: kids are overworked, and so are teachers. I remember my second grade teacher looking visibly unable to cope with our rowdy class; she left the next year. Challenger is known to mistreat their teachers, leading to a very high turnover rate. Teachers would quickly burn out and quit, often just 1-2 years after joining the school. Ask yourself: is this the level of quality that your kids deserve? Even as students, we knew about Challenger's seeming inability to hold onto talented teachers since they would inevitably leave for higher paying opportunities at schools such as Stratford, and we would joke about this regularly (WITH our teachers sometimes--everyone was aware of the grim nature of the situation). The school will also resort to silly tactics such as taking chairs out of classrooms before tours to try and create the illusion of smaller class sizes. Ancillary things: - The extracurricular options for your kids here are practically non-existent, and the music/speech/theater program is similarly a complete joke. Your kids will be deprived of valuable experiences that they could be having elsewhere. - I had graduated by the time COVID rolled around, but according to friends who were still attending at the time, some students were kicked out because their parents complained about Challenger's poor handling of the pandemic. - The uniform policy is a thinly veiled means of getting even more money from parents. - No diversity; student body is 90% Asian. This might seem great if you are Asian (as am I), but the real world is not like this and you are only harming your kid by putting them in this environment. The bottom line: to this school, you are nothing more than a customer. Anything good that happens at Challenger happens *in spite of* the administration's meddlings. The good teachers inevitably end up going somewhere else, and without them, there is nothing that justifies the exorbitant expense. I am now in the second year of my undergraduate education, studying electrical engineering at a top university after graduating from public high school. In the intervening years, it took a great deal of effort to unlearn what I had been taught at Challenger and become a more well-rounded student. I have discussed this with other friends who also went to Challenger (all of whom are thriving, thankfully), and we all agree that this school has the potential to basically stunt the social development of your child. Combine that with the fact that its purported academic benefits are basically all just marketing, and there is truly nothing to be had from sending your kids to this school. The elementary and middle school years are some of the most important and formative in your child's life; please give them the education they deserve and skip Challenger. read more

Challenger is a decent school, and in academic terms, is outstanding. However, some of the teachers are biased and have favorites. Also, some of the teachers don't answer questions or repeat notes if asked more than 2 or 3 times. However, I believe the tuition fee could have been lesser. read more

As a previous Challenger student who had attended this Challenger School for 11 years, I can firmly vouch for the quality of its education. It provided the perfect foundation for me to succeed in high school, setting me leagues above my high school peers in grammar, math, and science. Now, the reason for my review is that it has come to my attention that there is a rather scathing review of my middle school science teacher (we'll call her Mrs. S) under this page, which I believe to be blatantly false and uncalled for. He claims that Mrs. S is "abusive" and "mental," which my friends and I, who have all gone through 3 years of her teachings, think is extremely untrue. You may think that this is just because we got good grades in her class and were her pets in class. However, two of us, including me, were not exactly the best students: we routinely got B's and C's. Now, why do we like Mrs. S so much as to write a rebuttal review on a restaurant review site? Mrs. S is definitely not a nice teacher; she's far from it. She is strict for sure, and she gives respect when she is respected. She does firmly ask you to turn in work on time, but as long as you follow her instructions, put in effort, and do your work properly, you will do well in the class. Everything that she requires you to do, like taking notes and correcting tests, is so that you can succeed in high school. Even in high school, I used the notes I wrote in her classes to succeed. No one that I know dislikes her... EXCEPT for the slackers. And even the slackers, for the most part, like her. Slandering someone on the internet is not a great pastime. Find a better hobby, and leave people who help others to succeed alone. Thank you, and I hope you don't take this too harshly! The internet is a place where things stick, so posting reviews like those can seriously damage reputations. Respectfully, J.Y.K. (11 year Challenger Ardenwood student,) K.W. (8 year Challenger Ardenwood student,) M.T. (8 year Challenger Ardenwood student,) L.W. (6 year Challenger Ardenwood student,) C.W. (7 year Challenger Ardenwood student) read more

This review is only for their admission process and not the school itself. This review is not specific to Ardenwood campus, but for all Challenger schools. I wanted to consider Challenger Ardenwood for my 4th grader. I spoke to the school and I received the following email: "payment of $900 ($175 application fee + $25 application fee + $700 tuition deposit) and we can set up the testing date for your child." I called them again to clarify, and here's the deal: They will refund $700 if your child fails the test. If the child passes the test they will keep the $700 as credits towards your tuition. Basically, if you decide after a successful test that another school is better for your child you lost $700. Considering that the entrance test costs a hefty $200 (it used to be $25 just a few years ago), this is just opportunistic greed. Shame on you, Challenger! read more

This is a review for the Challenger Preschool. We have been associated with the preschool for a little more than a year now. Why and How did we decide on the Preschool: My kid was going to an accredited daycare around the Ardenwood area where she made great friends, had wonderful teachers that loved her and they made it fun. At about 3 years old she started to get bored as daycares are typically high on care and but not so high on structured learning. This was the starting point for me to start looking around for a school. We scheduled couple tours and saw the classrooms and playground. We liked that it was organized like a school, an office area, offices for management and classrooms, good playground and security. We liked that they are focussing on teaching phonics, math and science concepts with music as a tool. Our kid is musically inclined and this type of education seemed like a really good fit. What do I think now: I really like how the classrooms are huge, sunlit and airy. The bathrooms are clean. We like how everything (syllabus, schedule, rooms, playground, teacher rotation during the day, office personnel) are all well organized and structured. The teachers are all lovely, very caring and kind. Over time, they remember the kid's names, make sure they eat and develop relationships with them and so on. The learning curve has been steep from Day One. Sometimes, as working parents we do not have the time to teach and this place has ensured she learns something new every week. What does my kid say: My kid loves this school. I was worried initially about making this transition as she loved her teachers and friends in the daycare she was going to and wondered why should I change something that was going okay. But my motivation came from her boredom, she seemed underutilized and not challenged (for lack of a better word). She told me a week after we started here as we were driving that she loves going to this school (I did not ask her, she volunteered). She continues to enjoy going here, wearing that uniform for couple days a week, her playground time, showing off all her informational songs. Overall, I am happy we made this decision. I am paying more than I was paying for the daycare but I am also getting more (at least that is what I tell myself). Some of her friend's parents from previous daycare saw her progress over the year and moved their kid over as well. I hope this review answers some questions for parents who are looking for a new school or at least formulate questions when you go for a tour. Good Luck! read more

We ask our son from time to time: how he feels and how is this new school compared to his old one. He always says he likes Challenger more. We moved our son to Challenger Ardenwood from another daycare. Our son is among the younger boys in his class. We were worried about how he would join an entirely new class. His first week was a bit rough, and the teachers were very caring. We can see him learning alphabet, math, and music. He is delighted and enjoys being in school with his new friends and teachers. The teachers and director are fantastic and full of energy. I can feel that energy every time I drop my son off in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon. There are parent workshops that teachers show the parents how the learning is conducted at the school and give pointers on how to work with the 4-year-olds. read more

I went to Challenger for 10 years and I had a lot of pleasant memories where I made friends with people and got to know lots of great teachers. The fact that I've been there for so long says a lot. That being said, this school deserves a 0/5 rating, if it even exists. Don't go to this school, or any other campuses. The biggest issue about this school is how it kicked out lots of people because their parents complained that the school's spineless toads aren't doing anything about the COVID-19 pandemic. That is illegal, unethical, and plain stupid (that's how you lose customers). Spread the word about this for all to see! The next issue about this school is that it promotes a system of lies. Our school keeps saying that we score way more than public schools in everything. However, here's the thing - they just modify all the scores so it looks like we're better. We're not. The uniform I wore at that school was (and still is) trash. It's uncomfortable and no one can easily move in it. All the clothing is more expensive than the T-shirts and shorts I wear pretty much every day. We had to do PE in them (running the mile in those clothes is painful and should be illegal). Now, I heard it looks uglier. Next, this school fosters a huge system of lies. This school keeps saying that it wants us to be independent, strong critical thinkers, and good people. Well, they failed with independence. They encourage us to be independent, but at the same time, they hold us down with their narrowmindedness. They will not tolerate any complaints about the school (referring back to the point about the the school expelling people for no reason). They also force "Challenger values" down our throats (PR scheme right there); these values are nothing unique to this school. Now, the curriculum. The school's curriculum focuses heavily on academics. Not everyone can keep up with the intensity and the classes are either absolutely fun and fascinating (science was the best) or dull and boring (math). The music program is a puke-worthy joke. All we do is sing, dance, and act. Not everyone wants to do that. I myself don't really sing that often; I'm more of a percussionist, but we didn't have any options for instruments (apart from the occasional piano and hand percussion). A lot of the songs were lame and boring. We also didn't have any sports teams/extracurriculars. Talk about a joke. The last major point is how this school dealt with bullying. From kindergarten to mid 4th grade, I got bullied (in kindergarten and 1st grade it wasn't that bad, but from 2nd to 4th grade it was really bad). There were lots of people out there that care and I deeply thank them from the bottom of my heart, but there are some people who didn't and even contributed to the bullying. Some time during 4th grade, I nearly had to move schools due to our house being foreclosured. I thought I was going to move, so I told some teachers and faculty members about it. One of those faculty members apparently spread the word, and the next thing I knew, there were bathroom parties going on about the fact that I was leaving. However, I was a really innocent kid at that time so I didn't pay much attention (or I just accepted it as part of life). If you take your child here, parents, you might end up in my situation. There's no real system of discipline. There are some people who care; however, most of the faculty are parents that only care for the money and not for doing their job right. All in all, don't go to this school. It's a mess. The people don't care about you or your kids, as seen by the the fact that they casually kicked out a bunch of parents. You'll be wearing a stupid uniform that won't even feel that great. Throughout your time at the school, you'll be indoctrinated with all sorts of lies about how superior it is to everyone. The curriculum isn't even that great; you're slaving away at all sorts of academic garbage while being taught that you're "independent". Lastly, not all the faculty people aren't that good. Please, do yourself and your child a favor by leaving this school as soon as possible. It's a mess. read more

Challenger is not offering summer school so we requested our deposit back and after receiving and email that it would not be a problem the head master emailed us saying they can't. This school has good academics but the front office has issues. If you can't offer the services provided then refund the deposit it's not worth getting parents upset. I'm currently still trying get my deposit returned read more

TL;DR: hire better teachers, respect students and parents, talk faster Education is important, and as a parent, we all try to do what is best. While Challenger might have been one of the top choices years ago, it no longer lived up to the money it commands. First, the headmaster speaks with the tempo of a snail on molasses. It takes her 10 minutes to belt out a simple sentence. Talking to her requires monk-level patience. I could over look that if she would actually take actions to resolve issues, but instead she offers excuses and hollow promises to "get back to you." This approach had been deeply ingrained into the Directors, who have ninja-like deflection skills, and fall back to the "we'll get back to you" lie when you bring up an issue for which requires actual effort to resolve. Challenger still has a few good teachers left, but my guess is that it won't take long for Stratford, Basis, Mission Hills, etc to hire them away. Ever wonder why parents are not asked to rate the teachers? There is one teacher who I would love to see hired away. I won't mention her by name, but if you'd had a child that had her in 4th grade, chances are, they had a bad year, and wondered why people are so angry for no reason. Finally, people skills. It seems Challenger goes out of its way to hire rude people. Most of them can't be bothered to provide a simple greeting, show common courtesy, or crack a smile--try to at least hide how much you hate your job, or people. I will offer Challenger a small amount of business advice: Parents are pulling kids out after a few years because they don't see the value of Challenger anymore. If you don't invest in your teachers, students and their education, you will find it difficult to fill the upper elementary grade levels. Look at your data, you will see the high attrition rates at these grade levels. While other competing schools are adding more classes to cover science, language, the arts, Challenger is just increasing the fees. Adopt technology to help reduce effort for parents and teachers--why not provide homework details, announcements, lessons, videos, etc online? You are still using paper and stamps? 1980 called, they want their fax machine back. read more

- only focus is on academics. - teachers have minimal experience (lot of stay at home moms turning into teachers to get a discount on fee). - there is no real support for kids who need the extra help. - scores are high only due to the extra effort put in by the parents. read more

I have a 5 yr old that attends Challenger Dumbarton Cir. When I first considered Challenger, like other parents, I was a bit apprehensive. I was worried about the program, the teachers and the environment. Looking back, enrolling my daughter at Challenger Dumbarton Circle was the best decision we make for our child. The program director, Ms. Minakshi, is very involved. Her care of her students makes a huge difference. She takes pride in her work; rarely do I see someone who enjoys their work as much as she does. I have often seen her sitting on the floor of her office surrounded with a bunch of kids. She makes the kids very comfortable and special. My daughter always wants a hug from her which she gladly provides. My daughter's teachers are Ms Preeti and Ms. Joya. Both the teachers are exceptional in their care for the students and the pride and joy they bring to them. The environment makes the kids want to learn. Both teachers take special care that all the students are involved and motivated. I was thrilled when my five year old daughter came home one day with a little booklet and started reading from it. It is just amazing to see my daughter learn so much and enjoy it. I would also like to mention the front office staff. Everyone is very helpful without being artificial. It just feels that they do care. Lastly, I want to mention the physical plant as well. The School campus is large and is well organized. Each classroom has large windows and get plenty of sunlight and fresh air. The bathrooms are always clean (my daughter will refuse to go to a bathroom that's dirty - so I really appreciate this) The children play area is large with a variety of equipment that keep the kids busy and entertained while getting fresh air and exercise. They also get to mingle and play with kids in other classes and make new friends. My daughter got to know a lot of kids form other classes feels that she has lots of friends. read more

This is not a review on the school's academic program. That is great. My issues are lack of care by the school authorities and complete disregard for basic humane things. My preschooler had an accident and wet his clothes and shoes. I was given a call but since I work far away I could not come pick him up immediately. He was sitting outside in cold in shorts and no shoes on- shoes were wet because they make kids take a nap with shoes on! This breaks my heart to make a compromise on such basic small things all in the name of quality program and lack of available options. I can't even process why the kid could not sit inside. Oh well! Guess they r not getting my kindergartner for next year. read more

Overall, Challenger is a decent school, especially in terms of academics. Challenger provides a very strong foundation for its students, and it covers a wide range of subjects and has an advanced curriculum that helps students prepare for high school and beyond. Challenger teaches students to think for themselves and a number of other values. On the negative side of this school, however, there are a number of points. First of all, Challenger's classes - history in particular - brainwash children to unbelievable extents. They force their ideas about limited government intervention and capitalism onto their students every year and restrict creative thinking. Secondly, Challenger's students are often very stressed. In middle school especially, teachers assign their students tons of homework in addition to at least three tests on an average week. The amount of stress and responsibility placed onto the shoulders of these children is incredible and unhealthy. Third, to add onto the amount of stress at Challenger, students have very little relaxation time. Again, in middle school especially, recess is very short and brief. Students have strictly 20 minutes to eat and 20 minutes to go out for recess. In fact, the 20 minutes for recess are often shortened to 10 because the lunch teachers spend FOREVER trying to get everyone into a PERFECTLY straight and quiet line, forcing the quiet kids to wait in a line just because of a few others giggling in the background. In kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, students do get multiple recesses, but above that and particularly in middle school, students just sit and study their brains off for 99% of the day. Fourth, the environment for the kids at Challenger isn't what I'd call great. The students are constantly yelling and picking fights with each other, and nobody there really seems to be happy. If you go to other schools like Mission Hills, the students and environment in general seem far happier than Challenger. Side note: Challenger is also 90% Asian, so there isn't a lot of diversity. To sum up, Challenger is a good school with outstanding academics. Its elementary grades are fantastic, but I wouldn't really recommend its highly stressful and possibly unhealthy middle school program. There are better options out there, but if you're looking for a school to get your child ahead in academics, Challenger is a fine choice. read more

This is the review for the pre-k summer program. I would like to give the overall 4.5 however this is no such option. Highly recommended yelp to upgrade their rating system. Our son has good experience in challenger pre k summer school program. He did not speak English so we think it may be a big challenge for him. After two weeks he became from an observer to a participant, then I know he felt comfortable for the school for the teacher and his classmates. For academic, I would like to give 5 star, very good curriculum especially their phonics class. During the summer school program I can see a big progress in his English and he keep high interested in studying phonics. I would like thanks to Miss Rae and miss Jeannie for their efforts. For facility, I would like to give 5 star as well. The classroom always clean. The play ground location is good. Unlike the other kindergarten they put the playground face to the Main Street as an alive advertisement which I totally cannot accept. The school they put playground at the end of the park lot which means no cars passed by. And also each classroom has observation window so parents can know their kids in class performance. For staff I would like to give 5 star, every staff and teacher are so nice, they know every student name even the new students. And every morning drop off process is very well organized. The only minus half point is for their snacks. I hope the school can provide more healthier snacks instead of juice. And also hope to have more outdoor activities. Overall, very satisfied with the summer school program will recommend to friends and will come back next summer. read more

My kids have been students here since the beginning- very academic and help develop public speaking and confidence. They are years ahead of other schools - but this is not a school for everyone read more

They need someone more capable at the front desk. In my last couple of phone calls the secretary doesn't have knowledge of basic questions about the school and its policies. Also, the schedule they offer for preK makes little sense. I was planning on registering my son, but he is probably better off somewhere else. read more

I expected small classes, individualized learning,and responsive administrators; instead I find 35 students in a classroom, teachers who seem overstressed probably of the class size and adminstrators that tell you to pull your children out if you have a problem. The funniest thing is they intentionally remove student desks during open houses to give the impression that they limit class size at 24. They've lost a number of good teachers over the last couple of years. I'll be pulling my last child out this year. The good news is they changed the headmaster, who was the reason for most of the teacher's leaving. However they still have over crowding to deal with. The school philosophy is tilted to the hard right, so that's something you'll need to discuss with your kids daily. read more

After much searching, interviewing and site visits we have enrolled our daughter in this preschool and are quite happy with our decision. Our daughter was previously at an all play based preschool where she would have very little structure. We wanted to find a school that not only promoted more learning but also promoted learning through play, dance and song. We found that Challenger offered that. We have always shared creative learning with our child and wanted to make sure that she had all options available to her. Also, Challenger is now offering a referral tuition discount program for 2016-17. If you are interested in program, please contact me so we can both have the two-way 15% referral tuition discount every month throughout the academic year! Message me for details. read more

My son is in Challenger Ardenwood preschool and just completed summer school there. The teachers are great at connecting with the students and know how to keep a 3 year old's attention. My son has learned the songs that teach phonics concepts and would talk about all the fun things he learned during themed weeks - like space week. The staff is friendly. I'm a Challenger alum myself and I'm very happy to be able to send my son to Challenger now. read more

There are so many things wrong with this school. Their sheer lack of care for their students is so blatant and they try to make money at every turn. During the lockdown, Challenger made no effort to introduce interactive online classes and did not allow students to ask questions through their Teams platform. Furthermore, Challenger says they teach us values and ideals such as free speech, but whenever a parent or kid tries to speak out about any issues with the curriculum, they get expelled. Almost every public and private school are advancing while Challenger is left behind and don't do anything to catch up. They are hurting the students. They also don't update their curriculum as much as other schools. The computed lab has PCs older than me. The state of the technologies is just sad and frustrating. Challenger talks about having a great education, but how do they expect students to learn from teachers that are not even certified. Sure, some of the teachers are great but you still have those teachers that are not real teachers and not trained to teach. Apart from all these other faults, Challenger loads its students with homework and in some cases causes the student to stay up late just to finish assignments and homework. The school is too heavily focused on academics and there are no sports teams and clubs and any extracurricular activities. Concluding, parents, I would enroll my kid somewhere else like a good public school or a much better private school. For the money that it costs, it is nowhere near as good as it should be and should be better equipped with modern times. Save yourselves. read more

Both of my kids go to Challenger, preschool and kindergarten. They both like the school and met a lot of friends. Parents are also very happy and I specially like the phoenix that Challenger teach. read more

We send our 2 kids to Challenger - Ardenwood. For our 7th year here, we have consistently seen a very high quality of education offered by ALL the staff: 1) the teachers make the subjects fun; they teach a well thought-out curriculum to always make the children think; 2) a team of very helpful, courteous & understanding office staff / headmaster / directors to answer your question and concerns; 3) the environment is always well maintained and clean. I know it takes a lot of behind-the-scene hard work day-in and day-out to run this school so well. I truly appreciate all the staff for providing such a high educational value to my children. read more

My son is attending his preschool here and can't imagine him going to other school. This school is education driven and yet he enjoys and always excited going to school. All the teachers and staff are very caring, friendly and professional. My husband and I work everyday so safety is very important for us and theres no other Day Care we could trust. We are very thankful for challenger School. Definitely worth every penny. read more

We LOVE the school! Our kids have gone to like 5 different pre-schools (since we were moving between states a lot) before we moved them to Challenger, Ardenwood last summer. Started my older kid in KG and my younger one in the pre-school 3 year program. Their program is very structured, the teachers and directors are very warm and kids learn and get super talkative. You can clearly see the progress of kids in 3-6 months. They are not only academic focused and do have times assigned for music, arts, sports etc. I was so impressed seeing their Spring and Christmas performances, looking at very young kids sing and perform for like 30 mins non stop in front of all parents is pretty cool. I have checked out other Challenger campuses including the ones in Austin, TX and Newark, CA. However this is by far our favorite campus. It is very huge and lots of space for kids to play and explore. They also have several after school programs like chess, mad science, basketball etc. that your kid could be signed up. Also, the teachers are very accessible. You could talk to them everyday or on a need basis. They will give you a fair update on your child and areas you could help them at home. read more

I moved my daughter from a good Montessori preschool to Challenger at the age of three years and I am pretty satisfied and happy with my decision. She is now four and loves her school. I always wanted my kid to have a strong foundation and since I was not able to give her time, few of my friends suggested me Challenger. And I am glad they did. It's just not the academic thing and the structure which I like or which I was expecting, or the thing that they teach everything here through singing The "WoW" factor came when I saw the caring side of her teachers and even the director. They take care of every need of an individual child. Three four year kids are so tender like delicate flowers and it's not easy to handle them, however here each kid is groomed with such care and love as to help them blossom in their own way. So kudos to them. In nutshell teachers are strict and structured like fathers on one hand and loving and caring like mothers on the other. And I love it and my daughter loves it more. read more

After checking so many schools around our area, we decided to enroll my daughter here. Its been 4 months and I saw a big difference. My daughter learned a lot. The staff are very helpful from the start, open house--- enrollment--- orientation--- 1st day of school. They are very organized, the school is so clean and has big rooms. The teachers are so great and very friendly. You get what you paid for, so worth it and I feel so secure to leave my daughter here. read more

This school is great! I personally go there, All you need to succeed there is the hard work put in. Teachers are warm to student and often start conversations not related to school with them. The teachers also sneak playtime outside after they recieve extra time. While still keeping excellent grades for the students. Very Good school! read more

Our daughter has been in Challenger for 7 years. We're leaving now because the school seems increasingly focused on revenue and does a rotten job of acting like parents are customers. This only becomes obvious over time. One area we've seen problems in is that they are unable to retain good teachers. There is high turnover in the teachers and your child can, by luck of the draw, end up with a horrible teacher. We'd been lucky for many years but when our daughter hit 4th grade we had a teacher that was incapable of teaching. She could present lessons, but teaching is far different. Overall we've had good teachers but I expect consistency for the price they charge. Another example is that this year the math teacher goes on tirades about poor scores at times. The kids expect them. One day a week ago she spent 24 minutes of their class time complaining about their poor scores. I know because my daughter tuned her out and did something interesting, like watching how much time she wasted. I also find the school incredibly petty when it comes to asking to be paid. For seven years we paid in full in one payment before the school year started. This year my daughter signed up for an after school Spanish class - something I would have thought the school would try to encourage. Well, they do encourage it, but as far as I can tell, only for financial reasons. The cost of the Spanish class was $400. It starts 10 minutes after our daughter gets out of her regular classes. Challenger requires an extended care charge for the 10 minutes of $20/day, making the cost of the 15 classes $700. The $20 charge is the same as for a child that stays in extended care for 2+ hours. I expect more from a school that charges $13000/year. Whether it's about flexibility or it's about a rational, moderate approach, they fail here. On top of the charge they then have sent a dunning letter telling us our account was past due. The letter has no information in it other than that; it was quite a surprise to a parent that has paid in full every year. This is how I found out we were being charged for the 10 minutes between regular classes and the Spanish class. Yesterday I received an email from Challenger again informing me our account was past due. No additional information was included. Well, it turns out that they don't bother to tell us that we owe money before they send out a dunning email threatening a late fee for charges that are not even 30 days old. We were going to quietly leave the school at the end of this year and chalk things up to experience. It wasn't all bad, but we've discovered enough negatives over the year that we've decided to go public in the coming year. Comparing math work and history work, it's not different. And we can get math teachers that burn up 24 minutes complaining at any school. An issue we've had for a while is that they focus on academics but not creativity or social skills - things that are critical to success in life. But you can't tout test scores with those so they don't count at Challenger. This gets increasingly problematic as the grade level increases and the number of students decreases. My recent experiences with Challenger have driven me to write this review. No, I'm not happy with them. It's primarily about their petty behavior with regards to the charges and how they handle them. But that caused me to reflect on their overall approach in a different light. It's about the money. They don't charge enough to do it really right. But they charge too much to do it the way they do. read more

Zero star for headmaster and elementary director 2009-2010-2011. I wish yelp can take 0*. They hv no respect /empathy/feelings/compassion etc for kids/teachers/staff/parents. Not deserve the title and job duties performance is extremely poop!!!! 5***** for all teachers and staff who is working hard and parents equally to help maintain higher expectations in grades! If kids and parents can handle the stress and academic expectations daily HW lot of tests then go for it! Else for elementary kids this is torture and harrasement! Take challenge as needed donot PUSH the kids to hard! They will get ample opportunity middle school and up! Take it easy on kids and yourself too! read more

This review is for pre- school 3 year program: As a parent I am very pleased with the school environment. All the staff members are very friendly and helpful and that not only include all the teachers but also admission/ office/ security personnel. All the teachers greet each and every student and parent with great respect. The culture of the school is very pleasant. I would recommend this school to all. All the teachers have been very nice and have worked above and beyond to help my son not only academically but also building social skills. Miss Minakshi is a great motivator and has the best ideas to help the students. All the teacher take care of each and every student, they provide additional attention to the areas where more work is needed. Special thanks to Miss Roma, Miss Ritu to give my son an amazing kick start when he joined the school in the middle of the school session. Miss Amina's skills to get the best out of students is commendable. Also would love to recognize Miss Aggie for not failing to High Five all the students in the morning even if they are in a grumpy mode. Over all it's a fun place for kids to learn and grow. 5 stars to the school and its positivity. read more

This is the second summer DD1 has attended. Last year she was at the Cedar campus which was also great (she loved the playground). I can't say enough about the academics-- she learns an amazing amount when she's at Challenger. But honestly, a big part of why I put her in summer school here is that they get MUSIC in the classroom EVERY DAY. It's important to me that she gets well-rounded curricula in a diverse setting and this school does that pretty well. Unfortunately, it's very pricey. read more

1 star because I can't give negative...! Not worth to send your child here. The teachers aren't honest and always put pressure on your child. Very bad experience. read more

I went to this exact school in the year 2009. I am currently a freshman in high school and still reminisce on the time I have spent here in Challenger for the 3 and a half years I have spent there with friends before moving to Texas. Overall, I rate this a great school with vast opportunities not offers at other private schools.(2009 I was in preschool and I left challenger during 2nd grade to go to a different challenger in Texas. After Second grade finished in Texas I went to public school.) read more

I find this school to be one of the best in terms of curriculum, structure, and discipline that a child needs to be a good student. I would rather have my child go to school with a higher standard of learning rather than her falling behind since everything is very competitive out there, both in College and finding a job there after. Yes, there's plenty of HW and tests that a student will take, but that's part of learning. The tuition fee is high, but at least it does not require a parent to volunteer or sell anything for fund raising! Uniform is not the best and most comfortable for my child to wear, but that saves me money to keep buying new clothes or worry what she has to wear to school everyday. I just wish that their after school programs are included in their tuition fee along with after school extended care or lunch. One other negative thing about Challenger is that some PEs are held during peak hours of sunlight! I don't like that, and not sure if they are encouraging the students to wear sunscreen to protect the children's delicate skin! My child wears them everyday before going to school! My child loves the school, and very happy that she's part of the Challenger School. The teachers are great and they have been very proud to have my child in their classroom! "Knowledge is power, and education is the key to success." read more

This school is business driven. Even so, I was hoping for the cost they would give my daughter a decent education. Prior to attending Preschool here, my daughter took a self evaluation test and before she ended her year in 2018 before summer her self evaluation did not changed. I know that it is bias to think your daughter is smart but my daughter is. She can remember things from books, songs, plays piano etc at her 3 years of age. I spent the whole summer teaching her to write 1 to 10 properly because a few numbers she did not get correct. Yes, after a year of this Challenger, she could not recite 1 to 10 on paper correctly. I spent all that money without much proper outcome. A month of my teachings got her more than a year's worth of overpriced challenger. This key down to the teachers. They are selective of who they want to teach. I observed this through the window a few times. Some they care enough ton pulled aside and gove those students more attention. On one particular occasion, I unexpectedly worked into the classroom where one of the teacher was dragging a crying student by the arm to force him to a particular spot in the room. She saw me and stopped immediately. Afyer that i believe I know why my daughter was afraid of the teachers. This is a fair update to future parents on what you paying and getting your kids into at this location read more

Three years later, I have to say, warning signs have emerged about this campus. Quality of education this year past has been very disappointing and unexplained turnover both in teachers and management. We met with a child pyschologist and shared some teacher comments to one of our kids (both written and verbal) - and the psychologist was stunned. She suggested this environment might actually be damaging to the kid (we have been suspecting this since last fall, so this was healing to hear). We are looking to move both our kids elsewhere. Still grateful to the school for the memories past, but time to move on. read more

1. Over crowded classes with higher 20s or even 30 odd students each class. 2. Just simply give one higher grade books to the students and call yourself best in the curriculum. No effort is taken to confirm if students learnt any from the class. 3. Four or even five tests everyday. It's simply a show off, to call themselves better. Test results are not reviewed with the students. They don't evaluate the tests and help the students if they get it right. Tests are just tests. No learning from it. 4. They will make sure to start the classes for the academic year early (last week of August) and get full month fees for August. Also they will simply go on till first week of June, before closing the school for the year, to get the full month fees for June. Money, money and more money! Fees are high! 5. Simply unacceptable attitude from some of the teachers and management. They are not running Harvard or Stanford. This is just a school for kids. There is no need for an attitude here. Most of the parents are better qualified than the management, so better stop the arrogance! 6. They give lot of home work to the students, but again, not enough emphasis given to check the home work and help the students, where they are getting it wrong. 7. Parents take all the pressure. Parents need to coach their children than teachers do to their students. Why do the parents pay the teachers/ school then? Do yourself a favor and help your children learn in a much better environment in other private schools (if they are good, which I am not sure, as I haven't tried) or better public schools in Mission area. read more