Watching my daughter grow and thrive at St. Joseph School in Pinole has been an incredible joy for…read moreour family. Every year, I see her becoming a more confident, responsible, and motivated student. She continues to improve academically while also developing strong values, kindness, and compassion toward others. As a parent, I am proud to see her excited about learning and eager to participate in school life every day. One of the things I appreciate most about St. Joseph is the strong sense of community and faith-based education the school provides. The teachers and staff create an environment where students are encouraged not only to succeed academically, but also to grow spiritually and emotionally. The emphasis on service, respect, and caring for others truly stands out and helps shape students into thoughtful young people. I also appreciate how the school welcomes diversity and inclusion, creating an environment where students and families from different backgrounds feel respected, supported, and valued. My daughter has made many wonderful friendships through school and enjoys participating in a variety of activities and events throughout the year. From special traditions like Breakfast with Santa to her Spring Concert performances and exciting field trips, these experiences have created lasting memories and helped her become more engaged and social. It is heartwarming to see her surrounded by such a supportive community of classmates, teachers, and families. I am very grateful for the positive impact St. Joseph has had on my daughter's growth and development. Seeing her happy, involved, and continually striving to become a better student each day gives me great confidence in the education and values the school provides.

My daughter has been going here since kindergarten and now she's in 7th grade. The experience has…read morebeen amazing and the community is wonderful. We will miss it when we are gone

Amazing pre-k class and staff. I could go on about the progress my child has made since the first…read moreday of school to this day. This isn't our home school so we're sad to be leaving for TK soon. Will def miss everyone and they've forever left a mark on our hearts.

This place is amazing the teachers are kind and no rude kids and I have a lot of friends here the…read morebuilding is a little big and old I still like it it's like the best school ever

This review is for their online program. We were very optimistic about this program. We homeschool…read moreour 2e son to avoid inevitable teasing (our son is autistic and very earnest). We paid $1,400 for a two week trial (classes offered 4 days a week). On the second day, a classmate couldn't stop talking about how there were now "stupid people" at Big Minds. The teacher worked very hard to get this student to switch gears but he was locked into convincing the class how stupid our son is. I received an ostensively neutral email apology saying this was rare and they also explained why they never stopped the boy. They said they never publicly reprimand students for anything. While the other student continued to verbally attack my son after every comment he made, no one stopped him as is there policy. While this surely helped that student save face, my son wasn't similarly protected. They asked if we'd reconsider their school. We said no. We were interested in their school because it seemed like a safe space for 2e kids. For my son, it was not. They didn't offer to refund any of the money we paid for the trial and we didn't ask for it either. We just wanted it to be over. After all of this I was still willing to accept that sometimes these things happen: no hard feelings. We had also paid $800 (total is now $2200 for 2 weeks) for our 6 yr old daughter to trial part time. She did one day from her 2 week trial and it was obvious she was too young. Admissions kindly offered the following: "Since you have already paid for the shadow weeks, however, how about we switch over to the HSSP program and I get some 1:1 coaching lined up for her!" This was BEFORE (10/4) my son was bullied. The next day, AFTER my son was bullied, we made it clear we would not be enrolling. Three weeks have now passed, after giving them our final 'No Thank you', and we never heard from them again. The tutoring offered "since we had already paid fees" disappeared. They knew we weren't potential 30k/year tuition payers so we weren't worth the effort or resources. That's when I realized we were just potential revenue and nothing more

Having our son enroll at Big Minds 2 years ago was one of the best things that has ever happened in…read moreour family! The school's unique structure allows the students to embrace learning and unleash their creativity and growth. All of the teachers are trained in how to support and guide the students in this very caring environment. Our son looks forward to school everyday and we look forward to his continued growth and development at this positive and supportive school. It truly is impossible to say just how wonderful Big Minds is. I am forever thankful that we heard about it. Our initial tour and meeting at the school lead to successful shadow days and we knew this would be a wonderful place for our son.

We have had our children enrolled at Stewart School for two years now and have had a positive…read moreexperience. We appreciate that Stewart is a small school with an active PTA and parent community. Despite budget cuts that have impacted the entire WCCUSD district, Stewart's leadership has remained communicative and committed to building back and strengthening school culture. We made the decision to send our kids to Stewart because of the Dual Language Immersion program, and have not been disappointed- they both can read in Spanish and English and have been exposed to many cultural experiences that they would not otherwise have been.

We have loved our time at Stewart! My son started at Stewart as a kindergarten with an amazing…read moreSpanish dual language immersion teacher. He is now in 5th grade with another amazing teacher. He is excelling well above grade level and speaks, reads and write in both Spanish and English even though we are not a Spanish speaking household. My daughter also goes to Stewart and had the same teachers as he did. She is in 3rd grade with a truly great teacher, Maestra Reyes, and also excelling. The culture at the school is what drew us there. It's very inclusive and friendly. The PTA and admin staff hold events for the community to come together including academic nights, community potlucks and movie nights. Since this is a TK-8 school the students get to stay on the same campus making the transition to middle school a breeze. Stewart is a true gem in Pinole!

They have really improved on this school since the last time I was a student here. My daughter is…read moremeeting her educational needs and she seems very happy here.

I went to a nearby McDonald's for dinner and was told the restaurant closes to customers between…read more4-5 PM--no one allowed inside. When I asked why, an employee told me it's because students from this school come in after dismissal and cause so much disruption that staff can't keep the restaurant open. Their words: students come in and "destroy everything." I didn't witness it myself, but the outcome is undeniable--a local business is shutting down during peak hours because of student behavior. That doesn't just reflect on the school. It speaks to a deeper lack of accountability--from leadership, and from parents. Kids don't act like this in a vacuum. This isn't about blaming teachers. But when behavior spills off campus and disrupts the community to this degree, something upstream is clearly failing. Right now, the surrounding neighborhood is left dealing with the consequences. Vote accordingly.

Trunk or treat was a great success ! A huge thank you to Mr Gomez ! The ESCS staff and families !read more

First off I would like the thank the Pastor and staff of this school. They truly care about the…read morekids and instill the word of God and high family morals into them. This is an excellent christian school which our kids need and their education is amazing. Its a safe, loving and God fearing environment who put God, the kids and education as a top priority. To those who read Laurie M. review she is a complusive liar with major anger issues. She reviewed them negatively because the school wouldnt force me to leave a parking spot so she can have it. Which sounds crazy but it is the truth. She lied about the pastor and the staff whom she only met once to ask him to make me move and calls everyone ignorant when she doesnt get her way. Clearly she has serious anger issues and needs Jesus. Today she blocked me in forcing me to contact the school to talk to her. I am glad her son is in 8th grade graduating so I dont have to deal with her next year. If she would have asked me like a normal person to please move and explained why, I would have, instead she flipped me off and blocked me with her car. Again please do not let her post steer you in the wrong direction if you are looking for a Christian school to put your young kids in. I believe this is one of the best schools that the bay area has to offer. Thanks goodness for them.

everything here is great they have fun activities for the kids every good teachers lots of…read moreopportunities and instead of them jut telling you the answers they deeply explain it multiple playtime.

My daughter began going there in 5th grade. Brand new student. Moved to Pinole. The kids are…read morehorrible to her, bunch of bullies. The school does nothing. The parents of those kids can care less as well since nothing has changed. I've complained, I've talk to principal and nothing changes. Do not bring your kids here. The school is also old and dirty. My daughter deserves better and I would not recommend this school to a good kid.

Started here with my kids in TK - teachers are extremely dedicated to having child learn & grow…read more PTA is very committed to creating a community. Parents enthusiastically volunteer for events. Principal genuinely wants all students to thrive. And love the diversity!

There are some really great teachers at this school, no doubts. I have two children attending this…read moreschool 2021/2022. Kindergarten teacher goes above and beyond for her students! First grade teacher doesn't report safety incidents to parents. The staff intentionally avoids conflict resolution and doesn't respond to parents to resolve issues. Principal says bullying is acceptable and doesn't need to be reported to parents. She ignores all further requests for mediation or resolution even when a child is physically hurt. She will hide in her office to avoid parent conversations. Reported incident to school board.

Wildcat Canyon community school is an amazing and healthy environment for children and families…read morelooking for a like-minded community! Waldorf education is a world class education serving the children with a wide variety of subjects and languages, math and science all given through the arts. "Education from the inside out" the children are thought to freely think and with empathy and compassion for each other and the world. This is our fourth year at the school and our two children are loving it! Every year we fall deeper in love with the curriculum, teachers, and community members! Truly, a futuristic school that gives a Renaissance style of education with top-notch educators and holistic minded families. It would be in your best interest to take a tour of the school and then you will be able to see and feel the uniqueness for yourself! Don't be surprised if you see healthy children running and skipping and singing and climbing trees and gardening and playing games together just like schools should be producing healthy, open minded free thinking, individuals!

My partner and I had our child in East Bay Waldorf school for three years. EBWS shut down during…read morethe pandemic and some families, like ours, participated in "pods" with the EBWS teachers who were laid off. We contemplated participating in this "restart" but fortunately made the decision to send our child to another school. We made the decision to send our child elsewhere because this "restart" of EBWS under a different name is , unfortunately, plagued by the same cultish, administratively dysfunctional, and subtly racist practices that characterized the original EBWS. Without going into detail here, our child experienced a consistent pattern of discrimination and exclusion by both teachers and other Waldorf parents. The only regret my partner and I have now is that we didn't take our child out of this school sooner and go elsewhere.

Hi my name is Carolina, I have 2 children at this school, my 10 y/o in 5th grade and my 6 y/o in…read more2nd. I'm so sorry the way you feel Lisa but this principal is the best thing that happened to Olinda in a long long time. Not only she wants to be number 1 but we parents do too. Before you blurt into this review you should get your facts straight before making this ridiculous accusations. The "good teachers'" retired because they've been teaching for more than 30 years, and one of them (which both of my kids were in her classroom) lost her voice. Sadly, she could not continue teaching. We are very grateful to both of them and we will love them and appreciate them Forever! In fact, one of them at least still wants to be involved with the school not as a regular teachers but still wants to be around. About Mr. Ajayi, how could you possible talk about someone you don't even know? He has been nothing but wonderful to our kids. PTA hired him to run an after school program and he did wonderfully! I invite you to see what my son created in his class Last year. http://m.youtube.com/#/user/RenaissanceSean?&desktop_uri=%2Fuser%2FRenaissanceSean If you had a bad experience with the school doesn't mean you can blame the principal for everything. She "inherited" the teachers, the good ones and the "bad" ones. You should blame "tenure" for those "bad" teachers, not the principal. By the way, "that" teacher is gone. About not being able to talk to Ms. Ajayi couldn't be farther from the truth. She is ALWAYS available to talk to parents. She makes a huge effort to accommodate you even after school hours because she knows parents like me have to work too. I invite you to visit our beautiful school, it has changed a lot since you left, FOR THE BETTER. Always remember Olinda will continue to be the little school that could! Sincerely Carolina.

A lot has changes since these reviews were written in 2013.I have no prior knowledge of the…read moreprevious principal, but the current one who has been at the school since the 2015-2016 school year has been wonderful. Ms. Randhawa is approachable, kind and truly cares about the Olinda community and those looking to contribute to it with a collaborative effort. The teachers have been attentive and supportive and I look forward to the beginning of each new school year.