The school is beautiful. Open, whimsical, like a hidden oasis in the middle of Hollywood. That is what drew us in. We enrolled our son at 18 months, the youngest age the school accepts. We left three months later.
This is a hard review to write because the teachers, particularly in the Sage room, were genuinely exceptional. This is not about them. The disconnect between what the teachers communicated and what Mali Rand as the Director (Administrator) communicated was jarring. The teachers were honest, grounded, and doing their best with the resources they had.
A school that accepts children as young as 18 months should be prepared to support families through the developmental realities of that age. When our son went through a phase confirmed normal by his pediatrician and later by an independent clinical psychologist as environment-specific, we needed a partner. What we got instead was Mali, who bypassed the teachers, consistently escalated, communicated in extremes, and made definitive statements about our son's development that required clinical qualifications she doesn't have. She's also the owner and founder. Meaning the person making enrollment decisions had significant personal and financial stake in how the situation was managed, with no one above her to answer to.
There was no plan. No written approach, no clear steps, no defined goals. We attended every meeting requested -- all with hours notice during a workday or messages sent at 8-10pm -- contacted specialists, and responded to every request the same day. Mali's role was to identify and name the problem repeatedly without ever demonstrating what she herself was doing differently. Any adjustments came from the teachers. From Mali, no structural change, no proactive leadership. The escalation was always outward, toward us.
We were repeatedly told incidents were happening without triggers. The teachers told us something different. We later found out many incidents were intentionally kept from us - then used to justify escalating conditions on our family. Eventually Mali went back on her words and declared our son could not return unless we hired and paid for our own 1:1 support with less than 24 hours notice. Once we had someone in the classroom, it was clear what we were told during the tour and what was actually happening were two different things. More chaotic. More crowded. Costs more than doubled overnight. When we asked what success looked like, we never got an answer.
What became clear over time was that Mali's priority was managing how the situation looked to other families, not solving it. She told us this directly. Multiple times. If you're a parent whose child was affected by another child's behavior here, know that the situation wasn't unmanaged because the school didn't know. The triggers were preventable and documented. The response was just always to put more on us.
If you're considering this school, ask hard questions about what happens when something goes wrong. Ask what their plan looks like in writing. Ask what success looks like. We asked. We never got an answer.
We didn't leave because our son was struggling. We left because when things got hard, Mali's response made everything harder. That is not what you want from the person responsible for your child's care. read more
