We are family that came from Isreal during the war. Since we had to leave our home due to the situation in Israel, we came to Seatle to stay with our family. SJCS welcomed our children and opened their doors and hearts. Yarden loved going to school and meeting with her new friends and teachers. Despite the difficult time our family went through, we were happy to discover such a warm and loving place, with brilliant teachers and supporting staff, who welcomed us right away. We would like to express our deep appreciation to the school and thank you again for all your great help and support. Regev Family read more

We chose to send our child to SJCS because we sought a pluralistic Jewish education with strong academics and a focus on social emotional learning and community. We couldn't be happier. The school has helped our son grow and addressed minor learning challenges competently and compassionately. We've noticed greater resilience and problem solving that we can attribute to the school's strong social-emotional curriculum. The teachers are caring and in tune with his and his classmates' needs, and the cohort model has suited him well where he strives in some areas academically but struggles in others. The cohort model allows him to extend in the areas that come easier to him, and he gets the support he needs in the areas that are more challenging. The community itself was incredibly welcoming (we joined in second-grade), and the kids are kind are welcoming too. We appreciate the pluralistic approach to Jewish education - although our family is on the more traditional side we feel welcome and included and we the same for kids from less-traditional families. Together the students are all developing strong Jewish identities and appreciation for our history and culture. And the Hebrew curriculum is set up so that both students with no Hebrew background (or Hebrew-speaking parents), and those with Hebrew fluency can all learn at their level. read more

Great school with amazing staff; we love it. Highly recommended for anyone seeking quality education within a warm community.

When we researched private school options, SJCS sold itself as academically rigorous, fostering a tight knit community, and able to meet all children where they are. We felt like the entire experience with our kids in the youngest cohort was a bait and switch. I honestly felt like we paid tuition to send our children to daycare or day camp, not an academic institution. First, our children were miserable within the first month because they weren't learning anything (in their own words). The academic standards were extremely low - our first grader told us about counting exercises she was given - independently, she was working on multiplication, and no attempt was made to differentiate her material. One evening after dinner, we even found her crying in her room because she missed learning things at school. Later, when we moved into a public district in Florida, our children were woefully behind on basic standards and had to work hard to catch up on fundamental skills, such as spelling, proper capitalization, punctuation, and phonics. In transitioning to public school, my kindergartener went from identifying numbers at SJCS to being expected to be able to complete a subtraction worksheet. My first grader went from those counting exercises to working on fractions and 3D geometry in public school. Second, the community feel dissipated within the first weeks. Playdates were minimal, and there was no sense of community as parent - this could be partially to COVID, but it was startling versus what SJCS sold us when we applied. Additionally, communication by the teachers and staff was close to nonexistent. No assignments or classwork came home, no homework was assigned, and no substantive messages were shared on any platform for weeks. We reached out after the first month or so to see what our kids were learning, how we could support the school at home, etc., and we were put off. We finally pushed for a meeting with the teaching staff, who were joined by the head of school, out of sheer frustration, and we were promised greater communication from the school, which never materialized. The classroom was a black box. Finally, while this was alluded to above, the school was wholly unable to meet my kids "where they were" - for children who fit into a certain mold, it could have been fine. My daughter is neurodivergent, and my son has a rare medical condition that, in part, affects his energy and endurance. The school was made aware of this condition as early as the application process, as well as the fact that we already knew he is a kinesthetic learner - a fairly typical thing in early elementary. Instead of engaging with his learning style and accommodating his specific needs due to his disability, they sidelined him and sent him out of class for extended periods of time to sit with a non-teaching staff member to color or draw. We found out after well over a month that he had barely been in the classroom for formal instruction, and only after I met the Hebrew teacher did I find out that he had decided that he was "unable to teach [my son] and [had] not really had him in the classroom." For reference, in pre-K the prior year and in his public school since leaving SJCS, his teachers have told us how well my son engages, what an enthusiastic student he is, and how he is warm and enthusiastic. His most recent report card from public school had universally high marks on behavior and social-emotional learning, and top marks in every academic subject, so it is clear that the issues at SJCS are isolated to the context there. While at SJCS, my son would have daily meltdowns about hating school, which has never been the case anywhere else. (He LOVES school again, but it took months to undo the damage from his time there. We have partnered with his new teacher, who has been incredible, to calm his panic about going to school.) The really awful thing was that, at a family event meant to celebrate specific students, my son was openly compared to his sister, who happens to fall into the mold of a stereotypically "good student" because she is a pleaser. Staff and faculty overtly favored her in front of us and our son, as well as all their peers, at the event by saying glowing things about her and barely acknowledging him in front of the entire student body. (The things they did say were really vague and generic, the ones about our daughter were specific and enthusiastic with teachers and staff jumping in to share.) When we asked how he liked the event, he told us his teachers "hated" him because he wasn't like his sister. (Keep in mind that he is 5 years old.) Unless you have a sedate, compliant student without extraordinary academic needs or any diagnosed or possible atypical needs whatsoever, I would not recommend SJCS. It was a difficult experience that has left us undoing quite a bit of damage with our children, both in catching up academically after only three months at SJCS, and emotionally. read more

We seriously considered public school, as well as other independent schools, but SJCS provides just what we want from an elementary school. The school really emphasizes social-emotional learning, and the teachers work hard to foster an environment where the students feel comfortable being themselves. This means that the students actually love being at school! Meanwhile, the curriculum has been carefully crafted to challenge the children and ensure that they will be well prepared for middle school. We also appreciate how Judaism is blended in with the general studies curriculum, and we love that the children begin learning Hebrew in kindergarten. Another perk is that SJCS offers hot lunches for a reasonable cost, which cuts down on the chore of packing lunches every day. Overall, we really love SJCS and it has been a great fit for our entire family! read more

Both of my children attend SJCS and love their school. The academic instruction is excellent- the students learn through hands-on projects, working with other children and independently. There is extra help available when it is needed. The best thing is that the teachers are attuned to the needs of each individual student, and understand their strengths as well. We appreciate the multi-age learning component of the school, where currently the 2nd & 3rd grade are combined, and the 4th & 5th grade classes are mixed for certain subjects. I understand that this will feature even more prominently starting next year. There is also opportunity for kids to take math with a higher age group if necessary. And I shouldn't forget to say that the parent community is welcoming and very supportive and helpful to each other- it's a great community. And kindergarten is simply magical at SJCS! Finally, while we will miss our beloved building in NE Seattle we look forward to the move to Green Lake next year, when SJCS will occupy what is currently the Billings Middle School building. It will be very exciting for the school to be right next to Green Lake Park, and take advantage of all that it and the neighborhood have to offer. Parking is probably going to be a drag, but it's a small price to pay. read more

Wonderful small private school. The teachers meet the kids where they are and help them soar. The community is caring and the school is dedicated to instilling values as well as knowledge. We chose this school for the egalitarian approach to Jewish education, the integrated second language (Hebrew), the music program, and the opportunity to learn with all ages. We have found the administration to be strong and decisive, the after-school program flexible, fun, and challenging, and the experience of having all the teachers and kids knowing our child and caring about her to be priceless. read more

We're so glad we chose SJCS for our son. He was well prepared for middle school academics, and prepared to navigate the social and emotional landscape (which is no small feat). Our entire family felt at home and found lifelong friends in the warmth of the school's community. read more