The Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany has been a cornerstone of the community since opening its doors in…read more1891. Serving some 2,000 youth every year, Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany provides a safe, structured and positive environment for young people after school, during holidays and summer vacation.

What a fantastic school! It is a joyful and nurturing place and such a gift for our family!…read more My son began as a PreK student and is now in Kindergarten. At the young age of 5, he has an independent spirit and it's been instilled in him that his opinion and voice matters. He is kind, considerate, and sensitive, and he is taught that those are values to celebrate. Each day, he is encouraged to be playful and creative, indoors and out, especially in the snow! He comes home exhausted from adventures in the fairy woods, or releasing tadpoles into the pond or sending butterflies he raised to Mexico, or building a plane and flying it to Africa. He is learning math and writing and reading, but it's so joyful and instills such pride, that it doesn't feel like work. One day, I was home sick and suggested he stay home and watch movies, but he said, "Mama, we are learning numbers 7 and 8 today, and a new poem, and I don't want to miss that!" Between the Spanish and French lessons, the intro to musical instruments and sign language and poetry and yoga and skiing and ceramics and book making and wood working and on and on, he is bursting with a love of learning. And not only does BCD know and value my son, but I feel as a family, we have been welcomed and engaged by a warm group of parents from all backgrounds. Berkshire Country Day School is one of the best decisions we ever made and if you are considering it, I say, YES, do it!

Berkshire Country Day School has been fundamentally transformative for our son. He started there…read moreat the end of 5th grade, and is now in 8th. I have such overwhelmingly positive things to say about his time there, that I barely know where to start. Many schools say they treat every student as an individual, and work to ensure each individual is known, understood and given what they specifically need to grow and fulfill their potential, but BCD actually truly does that. My son has grown in a way I hoped he would, that I knew he was capable of, because BCD allowed him to. His time there has been, and continues to be, utterly inspiring and fulfilling, and he is so, so happy. He loves school! The academics are really strong and challenging, but at the same time engaging and fun. The school is not at all preppy in the way I understand that word, and is definitely what I would call progressive. The relationship between teachers and students is one of mutual respect and teachers are part of their "team", on their side and always there for them. This relationship doesn't challenge the teachers position of authority, but interestingly seems to reinforce it in a meaningful way. Every teacher he has had there has been exceptional, approachable and welcoming, and he has loved, respected and relished learning from every one of them. He is now an amazing young man who LOVES learning. He is confident and kind and caring - everything that I knew was within him, and that has been nurtured and allowed to flourish at BCD. We were awarded financial aid, as many applicants are. Don't assume you can't afford it. We are by far what you might consider the private school profile, and without the financial aid we couldn't have given our son what I consider to be the best gift we could ever give. It has still been a struggle financially, but achievable and the struggle has already paid back in so many ways. Pay for this, and college will take care of itself!

We are so grateful we made the decision to transfer our daughter to Loudonville Christian School…read more She came from a large school district (Shenendehowa), and the difference has been incredible for our family. At Loudonville, she's receiving so much more individual attention due to the smaller class sizes, and the teachers are truly invested in both the students and their families. It's been amazing to see her grow--not just academically, but spiritually as well. She's smiling more, feels supported, and is genuinely happy. Without a doubt, it was the best decision we've made.

LCS is an exceptional, private Christian school! Our kids all attended and we have a recent…read moregraduate who is well equipped and excelling in college. The teachers are top notch and the school community is truly wonderful.

I debated quite a long time about whether I should write a review about our experience at Woodland…read moreHill (WH). After talking to so many other parents that experienced and are experiencing similar issues as we did. I would feel remiss to not help another family trying to make a difficult decision to either put in or remove their child from WH. WH has a beautiful property and facade, there are some good people that work there. However, that is where my praise for WH stops. There are a few main issues that I and others have had with WH that I feel should be shared. They do not give you a good idea where your child is academically. There are very few points of contact from the teachers. They send home 2 very vague progress reports a year with "WH language" by which I mean they tend to use words that are very neutral or ambiguous. The 2 parent teacher conferences throughout the year are very short, and there is little time to discuss. When I was able to meet with the teacher, they would revert to a thing my child said which seemed to divert any attention from the teacher. Every meeting we had they said the same thing, anything else they said was generic and neutral. Multiple parents that I have spoken with that left the school were astonished about how far their child was behind. They were embarrassed to not have noticed it and had to hire tutors. More importantly. There is a MAJOR BULLYING PROBLEM. The concerns that I had brought up to the teachers were actually about bullying and not academics. Again, these concerns were brushed off with generic language like talking to a politician. We were assured that a specialist was going through every class, and urged to wait for that to happen. It was months before that specialist got to our classroom, and nothing changed. Several parents have contacted us with the same issue, asking to get together so that our children can play so they can feel better after being bullied all day in school. For two years my child told me when he walked into the school that he felt "empty inside". They would come home and tell us that it was the worst year of their life. They saw a child from WH and literally ran and hid because of how they had been treated. You can see the school trying to bring in faculty to address this problem. Ironically from my experience, the faculty that were tasked with this were the same faculty that clearly had no experience in child education and were the very faculty that made my child afraid and uncomfortable to walk into the school daily. There is a yearly fundraiser for WH where they hire a professional auctioneer. There are people that pay $30,000 for a reserved parking spot, that you will never see a car in. Do you really think they would tell the parent of that child that they were bullying other children or do anything about it? What some other parents said to me rang so true. WH is more like a daycare than a school. Sure, some children will thrive in this environment, and WH will be sure to prop them up on a pedestal when contested. If for any reason you are trying to decide if you should make a financial sacrifice to give your children, then I urge you to not make this choice. WH will make you feel like you can't get an education anywhere else, and if your child leaves you are doing them a huge disservice. It is a multi-level marketing \ cult mentality. Once you see through it is nothing but BS. If this review sounds jaded. It is. The experiences I was promised from WH were all false. They claim that the older children will build the younger children up, bring up their confidence, and foster a love of learning. In reality, mine's confidence and spirit was crushed. My child was frozen with panic, forced to skip recess and lunch. These false promises go right down the extra curriculars. You sign up for a cooking class and make brownie mix from a box. Leaving the school was the best decision we ever made for our child, and they are finally healing from the years of turmoil by attending there.

I'm grateful every day that we found WHMS! Where do I start?…read more This school encompasses everything that is good about Montessori school---they teach kindness and self-sufficiency and self-directed learning. My daughter learns so much there every day. Her teacher, Nancy, is the embodiment of calm and awesomeness--she's like a Zen master! We visited another school and my three year old daughter cried through the entire visit. When we visited Woodland Hill, she was calm and happy and said, "Mom, I really want to go to school there." I love their values around sustainability, peace, and treating others with respect. The school itself is exceedingly well-run, organized, and structured (in a good way). I feel that it is the best of all worlds, and the tuition is beyond reasonable for what they offer. There's a great community of families; I haven't met one single person I don't like, and people really work together. It's fun getting to being a part of this.