Sport L.'s experience doesn't reflect the Redwood Day School that I send my kids to. Redwood Day is…read moregreat in so many ways, from the teachers, administration, the beautiful campus, and a true sense of community. I have two kids at the school, and I am grateful that I made the decision to send them here for these very important years of their education. For math, the school uses a hybrid form of Singapore Math, which for most parents seems very different from what we learned, but it works (and has success metrics - students in Singapore have one of the highest math mastery in the world). They use a different model in the Middle School for the 6-8th span that equally prepares students for higher level math in High School. Redwood Day has ways for kids who need or seek more in math - my kids are always challenged. They also have a Math Olympiad program and programs/staff to help students who may need additional support. I have never found Redwood Day to be lacking in helping my kids learn, grow, and master math. Culture and celebrations are also very integrated at the school - which celebrates everything from Latin, African American, Asian American, and Jewish Heritage months to Women's History. The school is having something for Ramadan, and I know they have also hosted a Shabbat dinner in addition to other cultural celebrations. All to say, Redwood Day is super inclusive, and my kids come home learning a lot about their friends' cultural traditions - just a couple weeks ago, they did a Holi event. No school is perfect, but I believe that Redwood Day is always evolving, changing, and listening to the parent community. For discipline, I'm thankful for the social and emotional learning that starts in K and goes through 8th. Even as 5 year olds, kids learn about choices, options for dealing with conflict, and what and how to make different (and better) choices when there is conflict. I don't know what the prior post means about authoritative discipline, but long gone are the days of that type of discipline model. My kids (and these next generations) need to learn self-awareness, self-regulation, critical thinking, and agency in working out their own differences - with the guidance and oversight of teachers, coaches, mentors, and role models. Personally, I much prefer that my children talk through issues with their friends, take accountability, practice humility, and have the support of trusted adults to help them navigate challenges. Not everyone is the right fit for any school - and as a parent, it is absolutely on us to ensure that we find mutual synergy with the school, teachers, faculty, and community. For me, Redwood Day was the absolute right choice for my kids - and I know they are more because of it.

Sometimes I get parents who reach out and ask me more about redwood day school to them I say we…read moreleft here and went to Berkwood Hedge School in Berkeley where my daughter thrived. We made it though covid with an amazing pivot to outdoor classrooms and my child didn't miss a beat. She's now in a public middle school: wise, self assured, kind. confident and getting straight A's. I believe her courage and strong sense of self come from the education she received at Berkwood Hedge School. If you're looking for a truly inspiring progressive independent education check them out. Not as many Bells and whistles but what matters is there the heart and the academics.

Our child was a late talker, so we did our research and found East Bay Child Development Center…read more(formerly PLTA). From intake to our final class, the staff made sure that the scheduling process was a breeze, and that visits did not fall short of expectations. They have an excellent staff dedicated to your child's development, and the office is pristine. Not just clean; very well kept. I noticed that there wasn't one tear on a book or broken toys. They put lots of effort into upkeep, knowing well that toys and books can take a beating with younger kids. East Bay Child Development Center has terrific speech therapists and therapists specialized in helping in all other types of child development, including but not limited to physical therapy, etc. We went through 2 different speech therapists and 1 or 2 therapy students which was a little harder for our son to grow accustomed to because it would take him awhile to warm up (which I've learned isn't unusual for any development therapy center), but each therapist tried their absolute best to ensure they were giving him the utmost care and attention.

They failed my son after 3 session. Excuses that he doesn't listen, he runs fast that worried about…read moreyounger children there. That speech is not a good fit for him, that his sister runs around the hallways exploring toys and opened doors of offices, about me get a phone call so they discharged him from services. This is racism and discrimination by the way ladies I want to give you suggestions, your office needs a new administration, organisation and functionality. Everybody there seems to go everywhere, I don't know if these people work here are they clients. The back door to the outside was open, this is called dysfunctional. The office receptionist was like his first day to work, confused and looked around like a lost boy. There four people by office were speaking loud and chatting. They failed my son years ago when he was younger because they said he was not ready for speech when I just changed my insurance to get accepted to come here. Now he's 12 years old saying he's not a good fit. Shame on you to say that to me. You can't discharge him that's illegal. My son is trying with his speech and he has rights in California to receive speech therapy any age. Discrimination by the ability, then age, what's next because his sister running around the office and also I was on the phone? For that lady who spoke with me today over the phone couldn't wait on me. And making me feel like I was being fired from the job, she sounded rude and said my daughter was running around the room and I was speaking loud on the phone so the excuse to fail my son. Then changed her words saying he's not a good fit and he runs fast and wants to push the kids. She needs to find more excuses for her to dismiss him. You don't know how hard and challenging to be a mother of autistic kid. I finally thought I have him his speech going and then you locked me up like shutting my mouth. Go see if your speech therapist is the one who has the problem. She too lazy to give speech therapy or has a lack of skills. This is Shameless and discrimination.

Our daughter started at Raskob in 3rd grade, after trying two different schools (public and…read moreprivate) that did not provide her the support that she needed for her learning differences. It has been an absolute game-changer for her (and our whole family!). She went from hating school and feeling bullied by peers to loving school, forming sweet social bonds and making strong academic progress. Her teachers have all been extremely caring and attentive with great home-school communication. Each child has an individualized learning plan specifically tailored to their needs and core subjects are grouped by skill level, not by grade level. So a 3rd grader with stronger math skills might spend math class with a 5th grader who is more challenged in this area. We haven't experienced middle school yet but I know that kids graduate from 8th grade at Raskob and receive great high school counseling to help them choose the just-right school for them (I've seen some kids graduate on to O'Dowd, or public high schools and others stay in private schools for learning differences like Sterne or Orinda Academy). It really depends on what the kids need at that point. Huge Raskob fans in our household!

They kicked my son out a few months before he was to graduate for reasons that, I'll say were…read morehighly suspect. In a meeting with the school they said some things about middle schoolers in general were pretty terrible in my opinion. That meeting was recorded by lawyers present. Can't imagine what they would say off the record. Inner monologue must be be pretty bad. Stay away.

The therapists and front office staff deserve five stars. Leadership's approach to families does…read morenot. As a parent of twins with developmental disabilities, I understand the importance of attendance. I also understand the reality of managing multiple therapies, medical appointments, school meetings, and life. Over time, repeated conversations about missed appointments, attendance reminders, and signing attendance acknowledgments left me feeling judged instead of supported. The final straw was accidentally leaving one week off a summer scheduling form, which led to another conversation about attendance. It wasn't about that one incident--it was the realization that this philosophy simply doesn't align with how I believe families of children with additional needs should be treated. The clinicians were wonderful, and the front desk staff were always professional and kind. My disappointment lies with leadership and the culture created by these policies. Families seeking pediatric therapy need partnership, empathy, and flexibility. Unfortunately, that wasn't our experience, and we chose to take our children elsewhere.

I have to update my review as things have gone downhill. We had a rough start with Childs Play with…read morefrequent turnover with their SLPs made it difficult to find a good match for my daughter. We finally got a good match and they "switched departments". Then they started saying I had to move my time due to scheduling conflicts even though we had waited 2 years to get the time slot we had. We got moved with a new SLP and I complained that they kept canceling and rescheduling. I can only assume they were double booking so instead of taking accountability for their poor planning, they decided to discontinue services simply because i advocated for my daughter. They dont seem to care about the children, they just want their paycheck

This organization is amazing. They are looking for need in their local area and internationally in…read moreways that are holistic and neurodiversity affirming. No human is considered less than nor are they left out. On a side note, if folks see reviews from Brian C. on here, it is a smear campaign run by a sour ex. He used to be a big supporter. We all know how that goes.

I have been working with the special needs population for decades. The caregivers and the entire…read morefamilies are affected when the needs of one family member deplete energy, time and funds. Kiera Rain's idea for California Brainwaves provides a short and long-term solution for this growing problem. She is setting up a family facility so that the person with a brain disability can get care and the family can have respite time, all in one place. She is thinking out of the box and into the future!

My daughter has attended Little Butterflies for 2 years now. She absolutely LOVES it here. The…read moreteachers are great and very attentive to the kiddos. I also really appreciate the way they speak to the children. They speak to them like a friend and respect the children in this way. In return, the kids really respect the teachers! The owner Sadiya is also amazing. We love her! She's very accommodating. You can tell that she loves children and loves working with them. Some people are born into this world and meant to do this work with children.

Our family has been exceedingly happy with the care and education they have provided our son…read more Like many others, the COVID-19 pandemic forced our family to stay at home for more than 2 years. When we finally felt comfortable sending our son to a preschool, one of our primary goals was to find a preschool that prioritized cleanliness, hygiene, and had strict COVID prevention policies. Little Butterflies was, and continues to be, the only preschool that met our high standards. Our 3-year-old feels safe, both physically and emotionally, at Little Butterflies. He loves the teachers, and asks to go every day, even on weekends. He, and most children his age, have lost out on years of socializing because of the pandemic, and we are so happy he is making up for lost time in such a nurturing environment.

Soooo I was a student for them a in school program were it's a bunch of young people who are…read moreinterns and we called them counselor an it was like 4 in our classrooms and when I tell you they made my life for 4 years straight a living hell I'm not even being dramatic about it they always say they support when in fact they just nosy and wont do anything and I had a therapist who I told was homeless and she didn't do nothing about it she didnt even help me get into a shelter and they gave her information that the office gave her didn't even mind telling me the counselors just judge you and hate everything you do when you just sit down and do your work and they also get there pay check by writing about you and send it to medical also my therapist would gossip about my issues to the teachers and counselors and try to gang up on me with the 21 on year old counselor who wreak of weed and only pick favorites

These services are a scam. Since Seneca has been in my home things are worse than before. The…read moreamount of time these people take vacations blows my mind. I believe part of the reason these services are the way they are is because the connects are in between lapse and "time off".. having parent support services didn't happen for me. Never a stable person. My husband and I got no help. If you want an effective team to help meet the family and child I would look elsewhere.

My teacher is awesome and their chicken nuggets are so yummy they have movie nights and more…read moreawesome school 5 star.

The school had barely any security!!! I drove by the school one day and see teenagers climbing the…read morefence I and out just to play!!! They only had fences and they are so short that I'm almost as tall as it and I'm a pretty short person! I can almost say that there are no real gates around the school and most of them were "climbable" and the other ones I wouldn't consider it as a gate.the lunch lady are nice when they feel like it and if not...

St Philip Neri School, Thursday, 8/29/24, 3:20pm, @Encinal Market Please teach your students in…read moreuniform to flush the toilet. I'm sure many of your students don't flush and are so courteous to pee all over the seat. Open the door, and not even hold it open for a lady but as parents and faculty, it's important to teach etiquette especially in a world that's full of wars, slavery, and disrespect for one another. They're kids. They need their parents around, not on IG, or Tik Tok, but to teach them manners. Description: 5 foot, 12 years old looking, blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, tennis shoes, St. Philip Neri uniform, Caucasian male: I did not appreciate pee all over the seat, floor and in the toilet. Please be thoughtful and caring to others who use the baño after you. Good luck in school and your endeavors and please be kind and courteous.

We are so thrilled and feel fortunate to have joined the SPN community! Our little in TK is…read morethriving. Seeing her social emotional, academic, developmental skills and creativity grow is so visible and know that we've made the right choice for our child's future. The staff is extremely helpful and overall communication from school is a 100%. Not only is SPN intentional on the student's school experience but they do a great job with the parent community in feeling involved and empowered to support their children. Cannot recommend SPN enough. - SPN family since 2024

My son has been going to PEL for over a year now and it's definitely positively supplemented his…read moreregular school learning. We felt like he was starting to fall a bit behind and school work/assignments alone weren't giving him enough practice/rigor. He's been doing both English/language arts and math programs. The extra attention and practice/repetition caught him up and then some. PEL also has some fun incentives for kids to help support their motivation: they earn "money" for work completed successfully and can "buy" prizes. This also helps teach value and rewards/incentivizes saving for bigger prizes. If your kid could benefit from some extra practice/structure, it's worth at least doing the free consultation to see if PEL would be a good fit for their learning style.

PEL stands for "Pre-Eminent Learning" and is the new Kumon with the Singaporean math trend focus on…read morecommon core math that us millennial parents didn't grow up with. There aren't any Russian math options around Alameda yet so we decided to sign up for the free consult/testing for PEL for our then five year old at the end of TK to see where he was at and he's been enjoying it ever since. We go twice a week for one hour and with the daily homework, our kindergartner is enjoying math drills and writing practice/phonics/reading. It takes a second to make it a habit but now he enjoys it and timing himself on the homework (cue childhood trauma from Kumon where my mom had a stopwatch!). I stopped correcting the homework for my sanity (more trauma - my mom corrected all our Kumon with the borrowed answer books and yelled if we got too many wrong). At this young age, they have Junior PEL which is with a teacher in a small group (versus the older kids who independently work and then raise hands for help). Our son's favorite teacher is Teacher Anna. For the waiting parents, this place has better parking, location and amenities than Mathnasium or Kumon with the Southshore shopping center. You can go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Safeway, pickup dinner, get a foot massage at W Spa, go for a run/walk by Crown Beach, return Amazon purchases at Kohl's, go to the bank, charge your car, etc. It's a carve-out time for errands that makes PEL seamless into our hectic family life with two young children. You can also just veg on the phone or work while waiting in the lobby (they have a super clean bathroom and it's quiet). The couple that owns this location also has a sister location in San Leandro and they run it efficiently and smoothly bc Alameda is their second location. Director Lawrence and Ms Kiwi are caring and kind and they also conduct regular parent teacher conferences, which is helpful at projecting and quantifying the hours invested into PEL. The icing on the cake is the annual honor roll ceremony in October. They did a great in putting the event together with the kids and parents in mind and our son is so proud of his honor roll trophy and shows everyone that comes over. Highly recommend PEL (especially those in public school in alameda bc K doesn't have homework!)