GISB is not only our three kids' school, but it is also our family's cultural home. All our…read morechildren started in GISB preschool, and by now, our oldest daughter is studying neuroscience at Boston University, our son is writing his "Abitur" right now and will decide if he wants to study in the US or in Europe, and our 8th grader can't stop talking about how excited she is to go for a school exchange with Oslo next school year. Over the 16 years at GISB, our kids have always been taken care of, both emotionally and academically. The teachers are young and committed, the principal is competent and visionary, the parent community is strong and supportive. The German International School Boston has that name for a reason. The curriculum is German based but also covers the American highschool curriculum, and our families are international. Last year we had 39 different nationalities at our school. The annual turnover is hard, many families come for a predefined amount of time to Boston and then leave (some also stay!). But that also means that you have friends all over the world since GISB by now has a worldwide network of families who help each other. Our graduates finish school with the International Abitur and the Massachusetts High School diploma, opening doors all over the US and Europe. If you want your child grow up in a warm, nurturing setting where he/she will be raised with excellent academics and a strong focus on character-building, then you should consider this truly wonderful school!

My children attended GISB for four years. Below is an honest review of our experience. I wish I…read morehad an honest review of the school before we had decided to enroll there. Hopefully this will help parents who are considering GISB make an informed decision. Location: The traffic in Allston is bad now and will only get worse as Harvard opens its new Engineering Campus in 2020. Facilities: Upper campus is an old Catholic school that is quite shabby in areas. There is no air conditioning in the summer. The heat fails in the winter. The paint is worn out in the stairwells. The parking lot has rusty twisted broken fences. Some specific spaces such as the library have been renovated recently and are OK. Lower Campus, where the pre-K and K grades are located, is a recently converted office building. The lower campus space turns out to be quite cramped when it is full of students. If you have a young active child that needs to move and get their wiggles out over the course of the day this will be a challenging environment for them. Tuition: The German International School of Boston (GISB) demands all the tuition upfront for the school year and there are no refunds for any reason. Buyers beware of any service that demands all the money up front and puts "no refunds for any reason" in the fine print. There are also a lot of various extra fees for the after school classes, ski week, vacation week camp, etc. School Calendar: The GISB academic calendar follows the German academic calendar rather than the American academic calendar. This means that there are two week breaks in February and April where parents must scramble for childcare. Teacher turn over: In the four years that my kids attended GISB they lost teachers every year (sometimes even mid-year) for a variety of reasons (disputes over pay with the administration, visa issues, pregnancy, health problems, etc.). There is no substitute teacher pool to draw on so when a teacher is sick it is a mad scramble to cover the classroom. Even when there is plenty of advance warning of a teacher's departure. (This teacher is pregnant. She will be going out on maternity leave in 4 months.) There was no planning on the part of the administration on how to cover the class room and it was an ad hoc assortment of people covering the class which was very detrimental to the students. Teacher's Credentials: Being a private school the teachers are not subject to the same credentialing criteria as public-school teachers. When I asked the administration if I could see the credentials of my kid's teachers, I was told no. What are they hiding? Why won't they share their teaching staff's credentials? Teaching style: Modern pedagogy acknowledges that students have a variety of learning styles and that teachers need to craft their lesson plans to cover different types of learners. GISB seems firmly stuck in the 19th century with one method of teaching and if your kid doesn't get it too bad. It obviously must be the kid's fault. My older child entered public school a full year behind in reading skills than his peers after we left GISB. Thankfully he was immediately identified as someone who needed some extra help with learning to read and after just one semester in public-school, he was up to grade level. Clearly there was no learning disability on my child's part. My child just hadn't been taught to read. I have talked to other parents who have left GISB for public-school and they have related similar experiences. If a school can't do something as basic as effectively teach kids to read... Social Environment: The small classes mean that the social environment is somewhat stifling. If you kid doesn't make a friend in the handful of other kids in their class, it will be a long lonely year. If your kid becomes the target of a bully, there is no avoiding the bully. The bully is right there all the time. The teachers seem at a complete loss of what to do when bullying is brought to their attention. The teachers and school administration at GISB clearly view the student's behavioral, emotional, and social development as not their responsibility. My experience so far in the public-school system is the complete opposite. The public-school system views its mandate as helping children grow as a whole person and this includes the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral development. Addressing of Concerns and Grievances: The GISB administration, parent council, and GISB board have no interest is addressing issues that are brought to their attention. There is a constant shirking of responsibility. The standard excuse they all give is "But you have to understand GISB is a young school." GISB has been around for 18 years and there are plenty of resources available on how to effectively run a school. The public-school principal of my children's current school has a clear "The buck stops here." attitude which is so refreshing after GISB.

When looking for a school for our children six years ago, we found Kingsley Montessori and were…read morevery impressed by the staff and the educational program. We decided to our have our children attend the school and are very happy that we did. By utilizing the Montessori method in the younger classes and weaving it in to the older classrooms (which go through 6th grade), Kingsley offers a creative, fun, and effective way of learning. Not only are our children achieving academic success, but they both also love going into the classroom each day. As a family, we adore the caring and thoughtful staff and the overall school community. Highly recommend.

Kingsley has been the best learning experience for my child. In his first year of attendance, I saw…read morea marked change in my son's curiosity, adaptability, resilience, and thoughtfulness. His teachers care not only about his educational growth, but are invested in his personal growth-- taking time to learn about his interests and passions and finding ways to bring these (and the passions of all his classmates!) into the classroom. We can't wait to send our daughter to the school next year and watch her thrive, too.

I never write reviews, but I wanted to write one because YDN has been so amazing for our family…read more From the first day we dropped our child off in the infant room, we have never had any doubts that our child is in wonderful and capable hands. The teachers are so caring and have taught our son so much in the year he has been there. We get incredible photos everyday on the app that bring us so much joy. I've even been approached by other parents at the playground who have seen our son there with YDN and want to let us know how good the teachers are with the kids. Every week there are activities - Hebrew lessons, art projects, puppet shows, music class, and our son is happy and content when we pick him up. We are so grateful to have found the YDN community.

our daughter was at Yal Day New from 9 months old until Preschool. She got a great education in…read moreaddition to lasting friendships. Prices are reasonable. The teachers are OUTSTANDING! Especially Dita in the baby room, you get a full report on what your baby did while you were at work: poop, pee, feeding, sleeping, activity, everything! Every class gets a special YOGA teacher, even the babies! it is the cutest thing ever! Lots of Israeli families and American families too. It is a Jewish curriculum and kosher environment and they learn all the blessings for the foods. There is diversity and most of all, love and caring for your precious ones!!! Highly recommended. Go look at them early, spaces fill up fast, usually there is a waiting list especially for the baby room!

All three of my kids went to St Peter for 10 years, from pre k to grade 8. It was a great, safe…read moreplace for them. The school is small, one class per grade, but no one is lost in the shuffle. Because the classes take turns conducting the Thursday morning Mass, they get to practice public speaking from a young age. My kids are all confident speaking to large groups and look forward to the opportunity to do so. Can't say enough about what a positive thing St Peter has been for our family.

i got bullied here. i liked the place but the children where horrible. im now in middle school and…read moremoved away from this nonsense. mrs maza and mrs clark where my favorites. abby was my bully btw. i lwft in 3rd grade thankfully. im very disappointed that the school had done nothing even when my mom called everyone i. a meeting to address the situation. abby would kick and punch and yell and no one ever would expel or suspend her.

When my son turned 3 years in 2001 I didn't look to far mount alvernia academy was the only place…read morethat we felt comfortable to send him and to trust them with his education Long story shot we are so glad that we did he graduated 2 years ago and went to a very good high school and my daughter is graduating this year We will miss MAA Thank you for all the good memories

We are still so VERY happy with St Columbkille School. Our kids are thriving academically and…read moresocially and they are happy at school. We are so thankful for the amazing staff and the school leadership is exceptional.

I have mixed feelings about St. Columbkille Partnership School. On the surface, the school presents…read moreas warm, community-oriented, and supportive, and many of the teachers and families are wonderful. I personally gave a great deal of time and energy to the school community this year, volunteering more than 140 hours in various capacities. However, I was deeply disappointed by my experience with school leadership when an issue arose regarding a school trip. What concerned me most was not simply the financial issue itself, but the lack of transparency and flexibility in how it was handled. A significant cancellation policy affecting families financially was never disclosed in the enrollment materials we signed, and school leadership did not appear familiar with the applicable policy when questions first arose. Despite repeated requests, we were only provided with the policy after the trip had already concluded. At no point were families provided with clear information regarding illness-related cancellations, reimbursement timelines, or whether trip insurance was recommended or available. In hindsight, that information was critically important. In my experience, leadership was pleasant and collaborative when things were going smoothly, but far less flexible or solution-oriented when a genuine concern arose. Despite our family's significant involvement and goodwill toward the school, there was no willingness to consider even a partial compromise. Parents should make sure they carefully ask questions about financial policies, trip terms, cancellation rules, and how disputes are handled before committing to programs or payments.

I signed my children up for classes via the website. We paid for the class. The classes listed a…read moreBrookline/Newton location, but no address/specific details. I called and emailed multiple times asking for the location, but never received a response or refund. Edit: We received a refund, but only after initiating a formal dispute through PayPal.

I called about 3 weeks ago to gather information for the children summer camp. The owner on the…read morephone sounded uncertain and often unsure about what to say. I left all my info with the intention of enrolling my kids. Never heard from them, when I called back she told me that her assistant is very good at keeping track of clients, the same assistant who was supposed to contacted me 3 weeks ago and that never did? She laughed , never apologize and stumble on each word as she did not know what to say. It sounds like a scam.

This school it great but not always great there some nice teachers but there some bad teacherread more

its is such a good school for children to learn about god and staff are also the best!read more

Cambridge Montessori School embraced both of my children and placed them at the center of the…read morelearning experience. They love going to this school and their CMS experience has taught them to love learning. My second grader interacts with adults gracefully and articulately because of the skills and confidence this schooling experience has given her. CMS has an excellent arts, music, and drama offering and the teachers encourage academic excellence. I would recommend CMS to any parent looking for a school that supports a curriculum that encourages independence and confidence in addition to accelerated learning.

The school culture is rigid and judgmental, with a culture of pathologizing normal toddler…read morebehavior. Some of the things that made us withdraw our 3yo mid-year: Despite a stated open-door policy, parents were actively discouraged from involvement in or visiting the classroom. In March, a formal school memo forbade parents from speaking to each other at drop-off/pickup, asked parents to drop their children off at the front door instead of at the classroom door, and instructed parents not to carry their children or their children's belongings. The memo specifically suggested that any discipline problems at home were caused by not following the same rigid "expectations" as the school. When our son was afraid to use the toilet at school, the teacher forced him to sit on the toilet for 45 min while he cried in frustration. He was criticized for not doing work exactly the way the teachers wanted (e.g. sorting puzzle in the "right" order). In a parent conference, we were told our son was "too literal" because asked where rain came from, he said "From the sky," not "From clouds." He was already reading and adding at 3, but we were told this, along with his shyness, were signs of a possible psychological problem. We were bullied to take him for autism screening, even after a specialist and our pediatrician said he was likely fine. Administration, up to the head of school, either ignored problems or blamed us. When we sent a formal letter detailing our complaints, the school offered us a partial tuition refund if we signed a nondisparagement agreement. We refused. We've since learned other families had similar experiences. If you click on Yelp's "non-recommended reviews"--which are weeded out by algorithm--you'll see that other families have made similar complaints.