I initially became interested in The Nueva School after subscribing to receive job postings. What…read moreimmediately stood out to me was how frequently new openings were being posted -- sometimes seemingly every week. As an educator, that naturally made me wonder about staff turnover. Eventually, I applied for a position and interviewed with someone who honestly seemed very kind and thoughtful. I left the interview feeling optimistic, especially because I was told I would hear back by the end of the week. In education hiring, timelines usually move quickly because schools want to secure teachers for the upcoming school year before candidates accept other opportunities. Weeks went by with complete silence. No follow-up, no rejection email, nothing. Wanting to close the loop professionally, I eventually emailed to thank the interviewer for her time and wish her and her team the best for the upcoming year. Oddly, the message bounced back, even though I had been communicating through that exact same email thread previously. At that point, I honestly began wondering whether the communication had somehow been compromised or whether I had fallen into some strange scam situation. I even called the school directly to verify that the interviewer actually worked there, and thankfully she did. The school then provided me with another email address associated with their official domain. I forwarded my message there as well, but once again received no response at all. Whether the message reached her or not, the overall experience felt surprisingly unprofessional and dismissive, especially after what had initially seemed like such a warm interaction. After later reading additional reviews and experiences from others, I ultimately realized this probably was not the right fit for me anyway. Still, basic communication and professional courtesy go a long way, particularly in education, where relationships and respect matter.

Interviewed here and saw some things that were surprising to me for a school that is as well funded…read moreas this one is. i would likely avoid this school if you want your children to have a fully rounded education experience.

We have had such an incredible experience sending our son to the Hillsborough North Preschool…read more Teachers Marcia, Claire, Caitlyn, and Lubna are exceptionally loving, compassionate, and dedicated. The daily programming is thoughtful and engaging. Our son loved sharing weekend photos in front of his peers, which built so much speaking confidence early on. From weekly soccer coaching to imaginative event days like their "Indy 500" box car races and field trips to the farm and theater, every week brought something exciting. Having access to the North Hillsborough School facilities including its library, playground, and soccer fields is also a fantastic bonus that really enriches the kids' day.

Our son just spent the last year at West preschool with Teacher Becca. It was a magical experience…read morefor him, and he looked forward to going to school each day. I had expected it to be fully play based but during parent teacher conferences was delighted to learn that my son was learning numbers, letters, shapes, early phonics skills! Teacher Becca runs an organized, tight ship while being warm, kind, and thoughtful. Also loved being a part of the parent community which was friendly and inclusive.

I love this school. Went here for elementary school. Am now 24 years old. After west, I went to…read moreCrocker middle school, Burlingame high school, and then UCLa (go bruins!) Now, I love to go to this park to play sports and sometimes late at night, get lit and decompress. I just played speedmitton here with my dad. I went a little easy on him because he hates it when I beat him by things by a lot and also we're sorta going through some family stuff night now. I'd rather not get into it.

This is a very good School for Kids. I would recommend kids to come here. My 6 years here were the…read moregreatest years of my life. The teachers are very nice, awesome playground, good sports and good education. Your Kid(s)would have the Greatest 6 years of there life.

This one-star rating is not for the school, but rather the Principal. Overall, McKinley is a great…read moreschool and is one of the school districts in the Bay Area that ranks high in child education and development. The teachers my child have had so far have been great and very attentive to each child's personal development. Only issue is the principal. From my experience, her focus seems misdirected. It appears that her students are the last of her priorities, as she she seems to be non-empathetic, impatient, and rude to students and parents. She talks down to parents, shows no empathy, and seems more focused on maintaining a good image for herself. First example, in the 2016, she was involved in a discrimination lawsuit, filed by a parent of an autistic child (see I.M. v. Santa Clara Unified School District). I'm not going into the whole details of the lawsuit, however a settlement to the parents of the special needs child was granted. What was appalling, is that she denied the request for an appropriate educational environment and support for the child, even going as far as trying to remove the child by reporting to CPS that the parent was abusing his son!? Seems unethical to me and poor example of values and leadership for person in her role. Second example, just happened recently (October 2022). A student was struck by a car while crossing in a crosswalk. This is a crosswalk that's two blocks away from the school, and has no crossing-guard, but still has heavy pedestrian traffic during school drop-off and pick-up. Many parents made her aware of the incident, as well as requesting additional safety by implementing crossing-guards at that intersection. She responded by saying, "I didn't hear this from my staff, so this child is not a student of my school". She then stated that "implementing safety is "not my job" it's a city thing, so go talk to them about the crossing-guard". Yet another appalling behavior for a leader of an educational institute. A person in this position holds a key value that can shape the school and students. Rather than saying "not my job", a good leader would have taken ownership of the issue by making any inquiries to the Burlingame district/county in implementing additional safety, and (regardless of whether the child attends her school, or goes to a different school) would have inquired about the status of the child, extended empathy to the parents, and fight for additional safety to children and the community everywhere and everyday. This person should uphold the highest value of ethics, empathy, inclusion, compassion, and trust as he/she is a beacon of light for the school and community. This role can make for a positive of negative experience for everyone involved at the school and also reflects on the values and principles upheld. She has shown none, as she doesn't listen to parents, and lacks empathy and compassion. It should be a given that traits be highly considered for a Principal role and if she lacks these traits, then compassion and empathy training should be required as well as inclusion and diversity training to ensure a safe and positive environment for everyone. If she can't uphold positive values, then her role needs to be re-evaluated on a bi-annual basis and be removed if not met.

The people responsible for sending out report cards are not doing a good job. Student report…read morecards are sent via US Mail to the parents, but twice now we received someone else's report card and not our child's report card. It's a simple task to put the proper report card in an envelope and address it to the proper person/address. Seems to be too difficult for whomever is responsible for this task. How will the principal address this matter and correct it?

Excellent school and highly recommend if you want your children to be respectful, be disciplined,…read morelearn strong Catholic values and be far away from people and schools who will push woke and LGBTQ agenda on your kids. Special shoutout to Sister Corinna, 2nd grade teacher, who is absolutely amazing. She teaches from the heart and teaches the love of Jesus in all subjects. Students are prepared and excel after graduating from this school and attend top high schools. Other things: I find this school to be the only Catholic school in the area with an actual indoor atrium (cafeteria) where students eat their lunch. Classrooms are also roomier (other schools we saw, students' desks were crammed-in and stuck together to fit more students.

My kids go here and it is such a good school and perish! Excellent teachers and staff!read more

I am absolutely delighted to share my experiences with this wonderful school. From the seamless…read moredrop-off and pick-up procedures to the fantastic and caring staff, everything has exceeded my expectations. The principal goes above and beyond, making a point to remember each child's name, which truly adds a personal touch. The teachers are approachable, friendly, and genuinely invested in the children's education and well-being. In addition, the school offers a plethora of engaging activities and fun events that truly enrich the students' learning experience. I couldn't be happier with our choice of school and wholeheartedly recommend it to other parents. I love the school to end a bit later. I have two kids that attend school here one is in K, and the other is in 2nd grade and it is there first year at the school,ool coming from San Mateo School District.

We feel so lucky that both of our children were able to attend Carey for elementary school over the…read morelast 9 years. The administration, teachers, staff, and community are top notch. The teachers really know and understand each child. What drives them, their strengths, their weaknesses, and how they learn the best. The parent community is fun, supportive, and close knit. We highly recommend Carey to our family and friends.

We were Carey Parents for 13 years across 3 kids. Our time at The Carey School was magical for our…read morekids and for our family. The faculty really knew our kids well and celebrated their unique gifts; they were positive, encouraging and smart. They taught the kids a growth mindset, cultivated kindness and prepared our kids well both social emotionally and academically for middle school. The parent community is engaged, friendly and the people we've met and come to know and love will long be our community after our kids are in middle school and beyond.

Our child had a nosebleed at school, and the school director Colleen immediately called us to pick…read morehim up. Since we work 40 minutes away, I asked if this was part of the school's sick policy. It wasn't--the reason given was simply that a teacher couldn't manage 12 kids at once. On top of that, the preschool principal Laurie required us to provide a doctor's note confirming that nosebleeds were "okay" to let kid back to school. Even our pediatrician found this request ridiculous, but kindly wrote the note word-for-word as they asked. Despite the school's popularity due to its affiliation with a local private elementary, this has been our worst preschool experience compared to others. The teacher-student ratio is inadequate, tuition is extremely high, and communication with parents is minimal. Although it's promoted as a play-based program, most of the time children just play independently while teachers supervise rather than engage. Also they introduce screen time (TV, iPads) as early as age two. I initially chose Serendipity Preschool for my child because of its strong reputation. However, I eventually realized it operates more like a business and not care much about the kids as they claimed. After moving and enrolling my kids in other schools, the differences became very clear, in all aspects--and much greater than I could imaged. In response to Laurie's reply below: When a school director exaggerates facts by claiming "daily nosebleeds" and deliberately misleads the public while carefully managing reviews to maintain a 5-star image, it really makes me question their priorities. When I answered the call, I clearly heard the words: "One teacher cannot take care of 12 kids. Please pick him up as soon as possible." That completely shocked me.

We have one kid in his third year, a second kid starting out in the 2s ("Monkeys") class, and a…read morethird enrolled starting in 2025! If we had three more kids we would probably send them to Serendipity, too! Excellent preschool with teachers that clearly care about the kids and the school. Even coming out of the pandemic we have witnessed virtually no teacher turnover which has led to seamless continuity as the kids cycle through classes. Each class has a bit of its own feel to it depending on the focus of the teacher(s), however what is consistent is that there is a clear curriculum and excellent parent-teacher communication. As the older one has hit his stride, it is apparent that he feels a part of the community as we do as parents. It will be sad once graduation finally comes, but luckily we have two more kids to go!

My daughter spent 3 years at Stanbridge Academy, the education is definitely a little behind, but…read moremy biggest concern with this school is safety. My daughter was assaulted by male student on campus repeatedly and my daughter informed the principal and several staff members and zero of them reported this to us as her parents or police. In fact when I brought it up to the school they blamed my daughter for the assault, this floored me given this is no where near the truth. If you have a daughter especially please be very careful, no child should have to experience what mine went through and is still going to therapy for 9 months later. The head of the school Julie is the one who blamed my daughter for being assaulted and claimed her word was less credible due to her being autistic, these people are supposed to be keeping our children safe and us as parents informed. Please be careful sending your children here

This school was very helpful for my disabilities. As I first came here in 2012, it was a difficult…read moretime getting to know everyone there at first, but as the years passed by, it got better.

We feel incredibly lucky to have Ms. Chakraverty as our son's (4th grade teacher). She creates such…read morea warm and welcoming classroom where every child feels seen, understood, and encouraged. What stands out most is how attentive she is to the little details , she truly takes the time to understand each student and bring out their strengths. Since being in her class, my son has improved tremendously, not only academically but also socially and emotionally. His confidence, participation, and love for learning have all grown so much. Ms. Chakraverty has a special ability to motivate her students and get the very best out of them while making learning enjoyable and meaningful. Thank you for your dedication, patience, and care Ms Chakraverty!

We started in the pre-K program last year, and our experience has been extremely satisfying. We…read morewill be continuing to Kindergarten this fall and highly recommend this campus. We always felt this campus wasn't very well-known, but once you get to know it, you'll discover it's a real hidden gem. The school's curriculum is very well-balanced. In addition to solid academic programs, it offers rich courses like Art, Music, Science, and Spanish. Children not only learn knowledge but also have the opportunity to develop their interests and creativity. This year, my child's academic progress has been remarkable. What surprised us even more was his personal growth. I used to think he was quite introverted and hesitant to perform in front of others, but with the encouragement of his teachers, he was fantastic at the Winter Performance. He confidently performed on stage, which was incredibly moving. His progress in social skills has also been a wonderful surprise. Many parents think Stratford is only about academics and lacks SEL (Social-Emotional Learning). In fact, the school integrates values like respect, responsibility, integrity, and care into daily teaching through the Character Counts! program, helping children learn to communicate, collaborate, and solve problems. Additionally, I really love the communication between the school leadership and parents. The principal, director and teachers are very willing to listen to parent feedback and respond proactively to issues, making us feel that the school and family are working together to support the child's growth. The school also offers abundant after-school resources. We've participated in Music Together, Chess, and Science, and my child loved them. For Kindergarten, there are also options like basketball, soccer, tennis, Cooking, and Gardening. Starting in K, you can sign up for the after-school Chinese program, which we did. We feel it's an incredible value for the price. Overall, this is a school that gives parents great peace of mind. The integrated schedule from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm means children can complete their studies and extracurricular activities at school without needing to rush to different places every day. It's very friendly for dual-income families. This year, we've seen our child grow in academics, self-confidence, and expressive skills, and we are excited for him to continue his journey at Stratford Crestmoor.