My daughter has been here since kindergarten and she has really enjoyed it. The Principal and…read moreTeachers are all very supportive and helpful. This school offers many opportunities and has a great music program, as well as amazing afterschool activities. My daughter loves being a part of this wonderful community!

What a great day! I was so impressed with OSD School's commitment to supporting its community. The…read moreschool provided food and daily house hold items (like shampoo, conditioner, toilet paper, blankets, and more) for the students and their families during the holidays, which is such a thoughtful and generous gesture. It truly shows that OSD is dedicated to taking care of its students and their families both inside and outside the classroom. We are so lucky to be part of such a caring and positive school environment!

A very disappointing elementary school with many many many bullies! Ever since my daughter was…read moremoved to this school from beginning to the end of the school year this year my daughter was bullied by a couple of students her age and the principal won't do anything about it.

We had a wonderful learning experience at the Stratford Preparatory Milpitas this year and we feel…read morefortunate to have had Ms. Khushboo as our daughter's math teacher this year. She has been incredibly patient and encouraging, and has guided her step by step in a way that really built her confidence and interest in math. She goes beyond academics and truly cares about the children's overall well being and growth. She takes time to understand each child, highlights their strengths, and creates a positive space for learning. Her support, kindness, and constant communication with parents have meant a lot to us. We also appreciate the supportive school environment, all teachers and well maintained campus, which together creates a great place for children to learn and grow.

Stratford Preparatory Milpitas just opened last year - and we have had a positive experience so…read morefar. The 6th-grade team is highly professional, capable, and deeply invested in mentoring their students. * Ms. Khushboo (Math): She puts incredible dedication into improving student math levels. She is always approachable and spends a significant amount of time providing constructive feedback to parents, which helps keep students motivated on their academic journey. * Ms. Trautner (ELA): Friendly and kind, Ms. Trautner provides invaluable guidance on creating effective study plans. She makes sure that students are well prepared for upcoming assignments and tests through her organized approach and her sample tests. * Ms. Gardner (History & Specialty Subjects): She is very encouraging and mindful of the unique needs of growing pre-teens. We especially appreciate how she tracks Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) through engaging and thoughtful questions. * Ms. Revankar (Science): An award-winning educator, Ms. Revankar brings a high level of expertise to the science department. The science curriculum has hands-on activities and projects. Science camp was a lot of fun for the students as well! * Coach Scott (PE): He puts a lot of effort into designing and implementing a robust PE curriculum that keeps the students active and engaged. * Ms. Robinos (Spanish): She makes Spanish class creative and fun, successfully encouraging non-native speakers to participate and gain confidence in their speaking skills. * Mr. Chu (Computer Science): Mr. Chu assigns challenging projects that push students to develop & apply their technical skills in new ways, ensuring they stay ahead. The curriculum at Stratford is undoubtedly rigorous, and we truly appreciate the hard work of the teachers and leadership. The newly maintained school space also provides a great environment for learning. One area that can be improved is the extracurricular clubs - I think that there can be certain goals set which students aim at achieving over the course of the school year, and the mentors need to help them track the goals as well as communicate updates to parents better. We are hopeful that the clubs grow and evolve further in the coming year.

Bellarmine College Preparatory is one of those schools that you prepare your son for years in…read moreadvance. The school's motto of "Men for Others" goes to the core of the school's mission and Jesuit Catholic identity. Principal Meyercord runs what is one of the best high schools in California. Located in San Jose's College Park the school took over University of the Pacific's old campus in 1925 after they split from nearby Santa Clara University. Tuition is $18k a year, but they give $4 million in financial aid a year. The school works hard to have a student body that reflects Silicon Valley's diversity, which includes students who's families wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford it. They accept around 400 students a year, with 300 coming from the 30+ Catholic schools in the area and the other 100 non-catholic students coming from Challenger, Harker, Stratford and public/charter schools in the area. It is the only school with it's own Cal-Train College Park train station (Jack London's Call of the Wild fame) bringing students to school as far away as San Francisco and Gilroy. The 2 leading candidates for the upcoming mayor of San Jose race are both Bellarmine graduates, and even agreed to host a debate on the campus of their alma matter run by the students. SF's Riordan, Concord's De La Salle and San Mateo's Junipero Serra are the only other all boys academic institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area that I'm aware of.

First, understand that your son will not get into the best college he possibly can if he goes to…read moreBellarmine. This is lost in the fine print and is conveniently elided in the promo materials. The school will tout the few grads that end up at MIT or Harvard and act like they pulled those strings, but the truth is those kids are geniuses and would have gotten into those colleges with or without Bellarmine's name. In order to understand this effect, we have to look at the average performers at Bellarmine --- the average kids who work up until 3 AM every night only to get rejected by UC Davis or Cal Poly. A good portion of Bell grads even end up at SJ State. I personally know a grad who ended up at community college. Allow me to ask a very simple question: if you're paying money for an institution, should you not harvest an advantage from that institution? These types of outcomes are simply unacceptable for the tuition fees that Bellarmine demands (100k). The problem is every student at Bellarmine is ultimately remarkable and intelligent. However, colleges can only accept a certain amount of students per school. Thus, only the geniuses (who are fine on their own) get top acceptances while your reasonably bright son ends up with a disappointing result. This is the dirty secret at Bellarmine. There is a lot of coping built into the culture where people say "Well, at least I'm prepared for college" --- not understanding that their college result would have been much better had they just gone to a public school for FREE. Their grades would be better and their workload would be slashed in half. This outcome is absolutely unacceptable for the dollars spent. Second, the workload at Bellarmine is huge. Even nearly 12 years later, I am shocked at the inhuman level of work assigned if a student opted for a competitive curriculum (APs, Honors, etc.). It was commonly accepted that the average bedtime was 2 AM. Students walked around with heavy backpacks filled to the brim with books. The library was always crammed with students studying and finishing up presentations. Stress was rampant. During junior year, a classmate ran away from home after scoring a B on an exam. For this level of work, one would expect great rewards upon graduating. This never materialized. Tons of students who worked themselves to the bone found themselves matriculating at unremarkable colleges surrounded by students from public schools who didn't work nearly as hard. Unacceptable. Third, the academic difficulty at Bellarmine was ridiculous. English classes expected students to write at a college-level and graded as if it was college-level. Presentations were expected to last the entire class period (30-50 minutes). Afterwards, you were picked apart by an open forum like a thesis defense. Exams were incredibly difficult. I distinctly remember a random pop quiz dropped everyone's grades by 10 percent. A's to B's in 10 minutes. This is absolutely UNTHINKABLE in public school. When I finally had gone to college, I was mortified to learn that presentations were 10 minutes max at even upper division level courses. Now, you might think that academic difficulty is fine for a "college-preparatory" high school, but your son bears that price when his war-torn "B" is weighed disadvantageously against an "A" from a kid who didn't nearly work as hard. Colleges do not make that distinction. Bellarmine is only locally recognized, but it likes to think of itself as Philips Exeter. This is a horrific deal. Fourth, there is a problematic culture of teacher worship at Bellarmine. Now, there are always good & bad apples. But the bad ones had a profound effect on the students. Teachers are very aware of the hyper-academic culture enforced at Bellarmine and understand the power they wield over their students. What results is extremely unprofessional behavior: yelling, berating, inappropriate jokes with underage boys, and deeply personal attacks. I recall a teacher once mocked a student's garage rock band as the reason why he scored a C on a quiz. Such comments upon reflection are incredibly unprofessional and are not befitting of an institution with its hands in your pockets. This culture of teacher worship was perpetuated by students who were afraid of being vindictively graded, and was what allowed controversies like a former English teacher's sexual grooming of female students (visitors from another campus) to be even possible and go unquestioned for years. In summary --- Bellarmine delivers partly on its promises. Does it have a great facility? Yes. Are the teachers good? Most of them. However, it is also a steward of some deeply problematic issues: it is academically punishing and unforgiving, and it screws over your son when it comes to college admissions. A parent who wants to pay 100k tuition for their son to go to this school should understand two things: he will likely give a great talk on food production rights, and he will also attend USF.

I've only been on this campus twice for track meets. this rating is based off visuals and campus…read moreenvironment, which i got to see during warmup jogs. overall very spacious, plentiful parking, the track is like a greek stadium. there are night lights, two exits, home + away bleachers, a commentary stand, an inner field, a lil walkway behind the bleachers to warmup jog around. i can see how it used to be a college campus.

Overall, independence highschool has terrible math teachers. There are multiple math teachers here…read morewho don't teach and blame the kids for their terrible teaching.

We attendee a parent student event. My brother in law was encountered by one of the school staff…read moreand was verbally threatened that he would be tackled by one of them if he did not verbally identify themself. Where is the cordial and respect we hold to a high standard for educators? Apparently none. I had to calm the staff member down and redirected the situation.

This school provides ample opportunities for every student to get involved and be a part of the…read moreschool community. TKA is a solid, love-centered community and we feel at peace leaving our kids there from 8-3 and beyond. Super thankful for the teachers, staff and coaches that are helping build up responsible, respectful little people. They practice what they preach and do their utmost everyday. Any hiccups along the way are because we're all human and thankfully the school leadership helps us deal with any situation with grace. Deeply thankful for TKA; my children love their school.