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    The Peninsula School

    4.7 (22 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

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    The Three Piggy Opera (class play kindergarten/first grade)
    Ahna S.

    This is our daughter's fourth year at Peninsula School. She spent two wonderful years in the Nursery program and is now in first grade. Peninsula creates an environment that nurtures each child's creativity, voice, and sense of self in the world. We've watched our daughter flourish in the care of this community of wise, compassionate and gifted educators and staff. When we were searching for the right school, one of the things that stood out to us about Peninsula was the students we interacted with, who were self-possessed, confident young people who clearly felt passionately about their school. We also spoke with a current parent who is a teacher at a local high school. She mentioned that she made the decision to send her own children to Peninsula after noticing the unique characteristics that marked the Peninsula kids that came through her classroom. She observed that the kids who had graduated from Peninsula were avid learners, self confident and unafraid to interact with teachers and other adults or to advocate for themselves in the classroom. The other key factor for us in deciding to send our daughter to Peninsula was the natural environment of the campus, which feels like an oasis of calm in a very busy and often stressful area. When we first set foot on the campus, we had the sense that it is a place where kids can be kids---reveling in nature, exploring, climbing trees, searching for owls, swinging on rope swings. The fact that the school has an annual camping trip and encourages kids to have a sense of comfort in the outdoors was also a big plus for us. The community at the school is very special. Students (and parents!) build lifelong friendships here and often hang out on campus long after the end of the day in the classroom, letting the kids play and explore the campus. The Bay Area can be a pretty high-pressure, competitive place. At Peninsula, we see our daughter being supported to be herself and to find her place in a caring community that feels like an island of sanity. We have observed how the pedagogy at Peninsula fosters intrinsic motivation in the kids---teaching them to love to learn, not just to learn in order to ace the tests. If you are looking for a school that is all about academic advancement, you may wish to look elsewhere. But if you want a school that will give your child a firm academic foundation while also supporting them to become whole people who are grounded, socially engaged and creative thinkers, Peninsula is your place.

    This is our second year in the Peninsula nursery program. The nursery is essentially a preschool program. Children spend two years in the nursery program, starting at age 3 until they go into kindergarten. We started in nursery in the Fall of 2019, and my son could not be happier. Last year was his first time being away from us, and he held on pretty tight. The school was incredibly supportive during that huge transition for both of us. Now, he leaves for school with excitement and often wants to stay longer to play at the end of the day. He has asked on multiple occasions if he can always stay in the same class even when he gets older. He obviously feels safe, loved, and has a wonderful time. We came to Peninsula because we value many aspects of the school's approach to education. We love the support for independent, creative, and unstructured play; the children learn with the freedom to explore all kinds of art materials, sand, water, climbing, swinging, sensory play. My son will often start in the sandbox, then go to painting, then move onto the tire swing, then back to playdoh, etc. They have story time , snack/mealtimes, and some programming (music, science, school library trips, PE), but primarily the children are encouraged to explore what interests them at their own pace, and they provide a lot to explore. My son's independent play and creativity exploded at home after starting at Peninsula. Nursery also has a strong focus on the vital importance of social-emotional development at this age. They lovingly support the children to navigate new friendships and conflict, and help them communicate with each other. After looking at many preschools that were essentially built on concrete, I am also incredibly grateful for the beautiful, tree-filled (and somewhat wonderfully muddy) environment of the campus. Our nursery class has a garden, apple trees, and a giant sandbox. The entire school went into distance learning at the end of last school year (2020). It was rough and my son grieved for leaving school, but they did an good job keeping him connected through zoom and phone calls. This year, we are back in person and it feels safe. They've done an amazing job coordinating a thorough plan which seems to be going very smoothly. They take temperatures, the children all wear masks, spend most of their time outside, and are supported to wash hands regularly. My son is ecstatic about being back on campus and even said (unprompted) that he sometimes forgets he is wearing a mask, which I think is the best-case scenario given the circumstances with the ongoing pandemic. I love Peninsula school and I am looking forward to many happy years there for my children.

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    9 years ago

    Love this place. We come very often on the weekend to play with the Tarzan rope and climb in the tree house. The curriculum sounds amazing.

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    Review Highlights - The Peninsula School

    Peninsula School has since the early 1900's been recognized as the leader in progressive education, serving as a model school for other schools that have opened since.

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    Synapse School

    Synapse School

    4.5(20 reviews)
    2.0 mi

    The children are marvelously guided to follow their curiosity and do meaningful projects like study…read morechange makers in society. I have worked with many schools and never seen such attentive care for children and teens by teachers. It's a joy to see!

    This is a review for Synapse's TK program. My son has been in Teacher Mickey & Teacher Natasha's…read moreclass for a year this year. My son's TK experience has been truly above and beyond what we wanted for early childhood education. All the great activities that foster joyful learning, all the field trips, events that bring the community together have been so beautifully thought out and planned, we had no idea this kind of education was even possible for little kids. We were grateful each day when we sent my son to school, because we trusted that he would be well taken care of and have a good time. It meant a lot to us as parents. The teachers cared so much about students' happiness, well-being, and materials they were learning. They truly, genuinely cared, and all the parents of TK students could feel it. Throughout the year, we were constantly impressed by the teachers' willingness to go above and beyond. These teachers are not ordinary teachers who rely on easier field trips or simpler projects. They take kids to the most interesting and enriching places on their field trips, places such as ice skating rinks, beaches, ponds where you can catch tadpoles, senior centers, pumpkin patches, cactus garden, etc. Their creativity and willingness to get messy were also truly inspiring. The TK class built an awe-inspiring life-size whale shark together and had so much fun celebrating Holi. The TK class cooked great lunches and sold them to parents as well. The teachers went an extra mile, even though it meant so much more work for themselves, because they have a genuine passion for sprinkling curiosity and exploration in their students. We also deeply appreciated how they created so many opportunities to recognize diverse cultures and bring families together for events like Diwali and Lunar New Year. They were extra careful to include all of the countries' traditions, which gave my son a sense of belonging and harbored a pride in his heritage. We are immensely grateful and feel incredibly honored that my son had such thoughtful, dedicated, and innovative teachers like them. Knowing he was in their care gave us immense peace of mind. And this review is not just about TK teachers at Synapse. Everyone we met at Synapse has been genuinely nice and down to earth. All the teachers, staff, students and parents formed such a warm, wonderful community.

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    Synapse School
    Synapse School

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    Laurel School - View from the play structure facing the field

    Laurel School

    5.0(5 reviews)
    0.3 mi

    Do you want to find the best school? Do you want your kids to learn about new things? Do you want…read moreyour kids to get a good education? Would like your child to feel special? Then Laurel School is the best place to go!!! Laurel School is the best because it makes kids feel special. For example, we celebrate birthdays and also 1/2 birthdays. Kids bring in parents and get to share their most favorite book. We also share treats. Another reason that Laurel is great is because we have a lot of celebrations. One of the many celebrations is pajama day. Pajama day is a special day where you get to wear pajamas all day because of good choices the kids made in class. A third reason why Laurel School is so AWESOME is because there are lots of wonderful teachers your child can learn from. For example, there are separate librarian, music, art, P.E., and Spanish Immersion teachers. And all of the kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are AMAZING!!! These teachers work very hard to give the students a great education. We know you will love Laurel School if you come here! Adults and students agree that this is an outstanding school. Even the experts agree, we earned the California Distinguished School Award in 2014!!! We hope you are lucky enough to join us one day. Reviewed by Mrs. Yee's and Mrs. Bassett's First Grade Class C-5!!!! Go Laurel!!!

    Laurel has changed a lot since I entered kindergarten there, but it still elicits a smile when I…read moredrive by. I had great teachers and many fun memories of the place still live in my mind. It always seemed so big when I was there, now it seems so mini. Guess that comes with growing up!

    Silicon Valley International School

    Silicon Valley International School

    3.7(31 reviews)
    2.5 mi

    First of all the German is bad, second a Chinese teacher in 4th grade was too strict but taught 1st…read moregrade math, because the Chinese teacher taught math in Chinese. Last The food service is really bad.

    Never pressed submit so my review is dated but still accurate. - I just have to give a shout out to…read morethe staff at my children's school during such an insane time in the world. I feel incredibly fortunate that we are part of this community during such trying times. Many people have been so negative and I believe that is primarily due to the fact that this is obviously a terrible time for so many people. INTL is doing everything in their power to provide the best education possible during a world wide pandemic. We have to keep this in mind. My children's teachers have been exceptional considering the challenges of the world right now. We are lucky they even get to go to school. They are excited everyday, I feel like they are safe onsite and that the school is doing everything to the best of their ability. Teachers have found unique ways to share what happens at school with parents online. Pandemic aside- my children are only exposed to Chinese at school and come home singing to themselves in the mirror in Chinese. The program is IB which focuses on creativity and questions. They learn through discovery. The school is as international as you can get in the Silicon Valley which was really important to me having grown up internationally myself. Thank you INTL for working so hard to make such an unreal time in our lives as good as humanly possible.

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    Silicon Valley International School
    Silicon Valley International School
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    The Peninsula School - elementaryschools - Updated May 2026

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