Our daughter used Compass (Bay Area) for three exams during her junior year of high school: the…read morePSAT, the ACT, and one AP (calculus). Her results speak for themselves: National Merit eligibility on the PSAT, a 36 on the ACT (single-sitting), and a 5 on the calc AP. As caveats, she is extremely bright and is an inherently good test-taker, and we were proactive about selecting her tutors to match her personality and scheduling needs. That said, I had no significant complaints. Jill and Alex were responsive and worked to conform to our requests, and our daughter found her assigned tutors engaging. And she, in turn, did the assigned work. We originally found Compass via recommendation by parents of an older student who had already used them. We, in turn, have now recommended them to parents of younger students whom we know. We told them the same thing I'll now tell you: Compass isn't the cheapest option, but I suggest you use them anyway. To us, the results were well worth the expense.

I highly recommend Compass Education Group. They helped my son with the Reading and Writing…read moresections of the SAT, and his score improved drastically from 620 to 760 (99th percentile).

There's no other daycare we would trust with our daughter. They're always happy to help with any…read moreflexibility we need, our daughter loves Karina and the rest of the staff and she comes home happy. We notice that she's learning new things everyday which she then comes home and shows us. It's hard having kids go off to daycare for most of the day but it's made a little bit easier knowing she's having fun and well taken care of by everyone at Discovery Time.

There aren't enough words to describe how happy we've been sending our child to Discovery Time…read moreDaycare. Karina and her team take such genuine care and interest in all of the children enrolled. She has created a happy, clean, and peaceful space for them to spend their time, and she is responsive and communicative to the parents. It's been a joy to watch our child thrive here, and there's nothing more valuable as a working parent than having that peace of mind that your baby is safe and well loved. We also appreciate the care and thought that goes into the daycare activities during the day - from nutritious meals, to sensory play and time spent outdoors. We appreciate that Karina and her team are so dedicated to their roles, and love and care for the children as if they were their own.

Esporterz is amazing! The team goes above and beyond in helping younger children learn the basics…read moreand they also encourage more experienced players to reach new goals. Nadia takes special care in where she places children around the room: friends next to each other, kids playing similar games next to each other, coding kids next to each other, etc.. Both of my children started summer camps there at age 7, and they always request to go back! My kids love the mix of gaming time with outdoor team activities- egg drop, capture the flag, etc... My younger son loves the coding program and is learning so much and he's very proud of what he can create with JavaScript. My older son is neurodivergent and feels totally supported, even when he changes his mind or needs different levels of involvement- the entire Esporterz team is Neuro-affirming and does a great job listening to each of their camper's needs. I always appreciate Nadia's clear communication and quick response time, she's very involved in all the best ways! We are extremely appreciative of the skills they are teaching our kids: it's not just sitting on a gaming screen all day, it's interacting with peers and gaining new skills. My kids can't wait to go back!

If my son Harrison could move into this place, he would. He's chosen to have two birthday parties…read morehere and he always leaves saying it was "the best day evarrrrrr." The staff is awesome. They somehow manage to wrangle a pack of hyped-up kids, keep everyone happy and make it look effortless. They even put up personalized birthday signs with Harrison's name, which was such a sweet surprise. The parties run smoothly, all the kids have an absolute blast playing the games of their choosing, and parents get a stress-free two hours. Harrison is already campaigning to attend their holiday and summer camps, which tells you everything you need to know. Highly recommend Esporterz!!!

My son is now a different person thanks to Lina!…read more Before we met Lina: We found out my younger son, Yi, had speech & fine motor delay when he was 15 months old. Early intervention started when he was 18 months old, followed by OT, ST and PT. Then he got the ASD diagnosis at 2-year old and ABA started two months later. However, with all the helps from all the therapists, no one was able to help Yi establish eye contact or help him learn to point. I got perhaps half a second eye contact with Yi in an entire month. Even when we had it, I was not sure because it was so brief - I thought it could be just me imagining things. Yi had many tantrums a day, very intense. He's in pain, we were in pain, every single day. When we met Lina: Day 1: within half an hour, Lina helped Yi establish SOLID eye contact with me!! I almost cried! He saw me! Day 2: Yi started to point, thanks to Lina! Before meeting Lina, I felt so overwhelmed and didn't know what I should focus on. Lina helped me prioritize and establish a plan for the next steps. - Thanks for Lina's push, I started the GCCF diet right after the training. Yi used to vomit when he had tantrum and cried a lot, which happened on a daily basis. A week after cutting out milk, Yi's vomiting stopped. - I signed up and took Hanen program "More Than Words" parents training, thanks to Lina's recommendation. It was another really helpful program that helped us a lot. Soon after meeting Lina, Yi's eye contact dramatically increased (we adopted the same method from Lina and taught all other therapists to do the same). He learned to point to communicate his needs. His vomiting stopped. With all these changes, Yi's tantrum greatly reduced. Yi has transformed from a suffering child living in his own iron bubble to a cheerful little boy who opens up to the outside world. I can't say enough thank you to Lina! She took time to understand my son, and gave us individualized trainings based on Yi's unique needs. You can tell this is not just a job for her. It's something that she cares deeply and passionate about and she's highly competent. We lived in the South Bay and I work full time. I'm so glad I made the decision to take time off from work and brought Yi with me to see Lina. It was the best decision I made and time really well spent.

We have been seeing Lina for a few years and she has been both an instrumental "boots on the…read moreground" and "eye in the sky" when it comes to our autistic son. I cannot think of any higher praise that I could provide other than she is the model of what I think an excellent consultant is; knowledgeable, experienced, practical, compassionate, passionate, and responsive. Her services are truly valuable, both for my son, and our family as a whole. Having someone in your corner with the above skillset is hard to find in any profession, let alone the autistic one, and I recommend you not lose her number.

"A radical change is going to be needed to get a learning system fit for a democracy. It needs to…read moreget away from domination and its endless stream of uninvited teaching. It needs to recognize that, in a democracy, learning by compulsion means indoctrination, and that ONLY learning by invitation and choice is education." - Roland Meighan Full Circle Family is in process of opening full-time sites for your family's educational enrichment. In each site during a typical day you will find the following in full swing. Sites are comprised of adult staff and children ages 4-19 in ratios of about 1:10. Members freely intermix between age groups. The children choose the topics they explore via 100% self directed learning with choices being governed within a 100% pure democracy (each member: adults & children, carrying one vote). Adult staff entrusted with the safety and nurture of the children both emotionally and educationally are on a first name basis and children are able to truly experience being fully responsible for themselves. Young members learn through life experiences, practice learning as they go. They initiate their own academic learning, choosing their method of learning as well as taking their own initiative as to the timing of their learning. Welcome to education from the inside out! We can't wait to meet you.

Caroline's summer college essay group was a great way to get our student started early on college…read moreapplications. I would definitely recommend this to other parents to avoid the stress of last-minute essay writing. Especially for those early action college apps due Nov. 1.

College Prep: Caroline is AWESOME! She worked with our M.C. daughter on her college essays. She…read morewas adamant that the wording needed to be done in our daughter's voice, they had to be her experiences, and she worked and was able to bring the best examples and writing out of her. It was surprising how well our daughter's essays were, and the wording matched her grades. There were 3 colleges where our daughter had lower GPA and test scores, yet was accepted as others were not. Perhaps colleges are looking for the "entire" student, but with Caroline's guidance our daughter got there. My only regret, we should have used her for SAT/ACT prep.

We went to The Shack to grab some late-night ice cream, and it was such a cute experience! It's a…read morefamily-owned kind of spot, and you can really feel that cozy, welcoming vibe the moment you walk in. The inside is adorable -- calligraphy, paintings, and drawings all over the walls make it feel creative and homey. The whole place just has a really nice, chill energy. The ice cream itself was fresh and flavorful -- we tried the Horchata and Ube flavors, and both were amazing! You can tell they use good, fresh ingredients. The flavors tasted real, not artificial, which I loved. The staff were super friendly, too. I don't remember the name of the girl who helped us, but she was great -- when we asked how many samples we could try, she said "as many as you want", which was honestly the sweetest thing ever. We got the kids' size, and it was the perfect portion for a late-night treat. I'd definitely recommend The Shack -- great vibes, great service, and even better ice cream! Overall Rating: 5/5 Must Try: Ube & Horchata Ice Cream Vibe: Artsy, cozy, and welcoming

Our kids love it here. It's a nice neighborhood spot to enjoy the redwoods and let the kids have a…read morelittle ice cream. The new owners set out activities for kids which I think is a really thoughtful, nice touch. I also love the little waffle cone cookies they sell.