The principal, Ms. Hall-Johnson is no-nonsense and is well balanced in her approach. My son enjoyed…read moreher a lot and so did we. There were a handful of great teachers who presented as what anyone would want in a teacher for their kid. The parent center is incredible and the woman who runs this program is awesome along with the families who are very relatable, kind and welcoming- made leaving this school mid year a devastating but necessary choice. We left because of my son's Kindergarten teacher, Ms. King. How this woman is a teacher is still a perplexing issue for me. Her tone with children is beyond intolerable. My kid was so happy to go to school, excited for learning, being dropped off by the Garden, his friends, then things started to change very quickly. There are several examples I can give that let us know he was not doing well. But this one sums it up pretty well, one day on our walk home from school he asked "Mom, do you think my teacher is mean to me because I'm not smart?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but also not surprised he picked that undertone up from her. After his pre-school years, going into her classroom was hugely difficult for our family. Witnessing her consistently rude, patronizing and sarcastic personality towards kids- I had no choice but to unenroll him from the school. It was barely 6 months into the school year. In addition, on the field trip, I sat behind her in the bus and heard her gossiping to a parent about another child's parent. The kid of the parent being gossiped about happened to be sitting right next to me and I wondered, did he know who she was talking about? Well, the kid said "you're talking about my Mom". He knew!! Ms. King then gaslights this 5 year old, telling him she wasn't, that he should "mind his own business". This is when I also figured out why my kid asked me that question about being smart. Her tone with certain children, who happened to know how to read, was clearly much kinder and softer, in her way of being those things. Children can read a room pretty well, they in fact are incredibly perceptive which I suppose could be called "smart". I literally walked to the office and un-enrolled him from this absolutely toxic learning environment after that field trip. My issue with the school is I know everyone knew what was going on with her. You'd have to be completely checked out not to notice. Everyone can hear Ms. King's voice, her tone and rudeness throughout the hall with her door shut, at the fence during drop off... and for this, I felt there was no need to discuss her behavior, which is obviously negligent and inappropriate for a classroom of ANY grade. In addition to this, she never took the kids to the Garden (at least during our 6 months there) for learning. Which I was told would be an extensive part of their sciences and environmental learning. After unenrolling my kid, I saw a parent, who was not from the same classroom but saw every morning at drop off- I was visibly sad. I let her know we were leaving. I said "it's just not the right fit" and she said "does not the right fit really mean Ms. King is unhinged?" So. Yeah, people know... My kid is finishing 1st grade now at another school. We are on still recovering from those 6 months.

This school is horrible first of all the teachers are rude to my kid they made her cry.read more

Elisha Rose, Assistant Principal.. I am a parent of a child with autism and I've chosen to share my…read moreexperience that I had with you on Yelp! In a meeting with you about my child, in your own exact words... told me that my child would be with "normal kids". To say that you were insensitive doesn't even come close and the fact that you somehow thought this was acceptable to say to a parent..?? Sadly, another parent had this similar experience with you in which you were also incentive by a remark of yours! I'm very certain that in time your unprofessionalism as assistant principal, your incentive comments to parents and definite ignorance will catch up with you! It may not happen in days or weeks but you will pay for what you're doing to parents. We all have to answer to someone and your day is coming...

As the family of a special education student of color, we are always cautious about whether or not…read moreschool district employees will treat our family with respect and provide the services our child needs. Past experiences have led us to go into IEP meetings expecting the worst. When we learned that Castle Heights had a new assistant principal, we didn't know what to expect. We are happy to say that Mrs. Rose and her team treated us with the utmost respect and professionalism. At our IEP meeting, she gave full attention to our concerns and allowed us to speak our minds. The team listened to us and took our concerns into account and fully explained the services. We are very pleased with how we were treated at Castle Heights.

My husband and I attended Hamilton High school back in the 80's and both graduated from UC…read moreBerkeley. Our eldest daughter attended Hamilton and graduated from UC Davis in 2020, and is now graduating from her master's program at Stanford class of 2022. We currently have our youngest daughter graduating this year 2022 in the Hamilton music academy and deciding between Cal Poly San Louis Obispo or UCLA. MY POINT IS: This school has a lot of educational opportunities. You can be successful at Hamilton High school. It is ultimately what you make of it. I agree with some of the other reviews. Hamilton is not without problems (discipline, communication). All schools have problems. The key is navigating around those issues and still finding success. I think being able to thrive in an environment that can be challenging just makes you more resilient and prepared for the real world. Students need to find good peers, a learning community that they feel they belong to at Hamilton and in our experience they will succeed.

My daughter loves Hami. She is in AMPA, the music school. And plays sports. The kids she has met…read moreare nice and fun. Teachers are experienced and involved. School is challenging but not too much homework. Administration cares about the kids and takes safety seriously. Lots of staff on campus. My kid likes the Block class schedule: you take 7 classes rather than standard 6. And it makes the week more interesting/always changing. It's just feels like a fun place ...w lots of student-run clubs and music / bands in the quad at lunch etc. Hami is not close, but the drive is worth it.

Our favorite school!!! Great teachers and what a strong community. So glad we became part of it!read more

Our 15 year old is a rising junior at Pali High. Everyone in our family loves this school. It's…read morepretty big, but that's a good thing, because it allows for competitive sports teams and school clubs and an AMAZING drama department. Every year Pali High has kids get accepted at every kind of university including the most elite. The school offers great electives and also many AP classes (which are high caliber but also entail a large quantity of work and so should be taken in moderation). Go Pali!

Huge waste of taxpayer money:…read more The idiots in charge removed approx 5 massive 40+ year old ficus trees that shaded the entire neighborhood and replaced them with smaller baby trees. Really? When the trees were first being torn out we assumed they were doing it to make way for new instructional buildings. Nope. This boondoggle "spend our cash down" project just put in tinier trees. Can't justify that waste of public funds any way you look at it. Neighborhood is no cleaner and now, a lot less shady without those ficus trees. And students are no better off than before the project.

I called this school if they were going to do rapid covid testing and this lady said yes we are 9…read moreto 4 and I came to the school and there was no one, it was closed. I came for no reason if they weren't gonna do covid test they might as well not lie and say they are. Total complete bullsh*t

A lot has changed from this school. My brother had his daughter attend city school 5 years ago and…read moreit was academically focused in kids performance. Sadly to say now it's turned in to a disturbing challenge for kids to stay focused on their studies and make it very hard for teachers or staff to control the kids. The school is not as prepared and the staff is always on their phone when I drop off and pick up my child. There is no discipline with the staff or teachers assuring the safety of the kids. It's scary and I wouldn't recommend City School to anyone.

I go to the school and I must tell you this is very overhyped. All teachers are inexperienced and…read moreterrible. I loved going to school before I went to the school I loved learning I loved meeting new friends with this school we don't learn at all we just watch movies all day. advisories fake it's just a way for their teachers to advertise . The school has many terrible teachers that don't know what there doing in fact I left new west which I loved for this stuff. It's way overhyped and this is a million dollar ticket(sorry)

I went to Beverly Vista and loved it. I learned how to speak French and I loved all of my…read moreteachers. I had one teacher that was so good she was my French teacher and she was so kind to me I loved her so much I believe her name was Ms. Levine but I really have a terrible memory when it comes to names. And she was about to be married, the other thing I remember is that she had very very long hair. I was new to the school in 5th grade so I didn't know anyone and that is hard for kids. This is another reason I loved that teacher, besides being an excellent teacher she took extra time with me knowing how I was feeling. I loved Beverly Vista and I think it's a great school I believe I was very lucky to have gone there.

Has to be one of the worst schools in BH district. Teachers unprofessional & unethical, entitled…read moreparents who run the school, students out of control. Their only concern is to beautify the school. Raise money & collect funds for construction. Pick up & drop off is a nightmare. Not a place for any child who is interested in education.

I could not have imagined what a special school GALA would be…read more Our daughter is, simply put, thriving at GALA because of the engaging teaching staff, the tireless dedication of the leadership to the GALA mission and the culture. GALA is a place where young womens education, talents and future are respected, nurtured and encouraged... so each one, no matter what their educational or social background can each their potential. My daughter loves GALA and has truly found her home.

Girls Academic Leadership Academy easily the worst school I have ever attended. I attended GALA…read moreduring 6th and 7th grade, and while I hoped it would be an empowering, supportive place for girls, it turned out to be anything but that for me. I was indirectly bullied often by people in my own friend group. They made fun of my skirt length, my shoes, my hair, and even my social media posts. Even those I considered close friends ended up talking behind my back. GALA loves to preach about "leadership," but where's the leadership when it comes to protecting students? They have a real problem holding people accountable. Even when someone causes repeated issues, they refuse to expel or discipline them properly. It's like they're more worried about keeping their record clean than actually creating a safe environment. People like me end up leaving while the problem students stay. And don't be fooled by the word "leadership" in the school's name. If you're not accepted into the very limited leadership elective, you basically get no real leadership opportunities at all. So unless you're handpicked, you're left out of what they claim to be all about. Oh, and this is supposed to be a STEM school? Then explain to me why for half the school year, we didn't even have a science teacher. That's not just ironic--it's unacceptable. Advisories are another joke. They try to brand them as "your family," but I felt completely out of place in mine. I asked to be moved and was told I couldn't because it was a community. I being forced to stay in an uncomfortable environment every morning for 7 years. Yea, no. The only teacher I had any respect for was Mr. Hale, Mr.Mulka, and Ms. Roque, the computer science teacher, my math teacher and my PE teacher. They were the only adults in the school who made me feel seen, safe, and supported. I'll always be grateful for them. GALA is great at hiding all of this for sure. And I was fooled and I was excited to go here. But the reality? It gave me anxiety so bad that even the color purple reminds me of how terrible it was. Sure, there are a few nice people at GALA, but not enough to outweigh the toxic environment. This is just my story. I know some students love GALA and have had positive experiences but that simply wasn't the case for me. If you're considering this school, I strongly encourage you to take everything I've said into consideration and go in with open eyes and mental preparation.