Yelena is a wonderful art teacher. She is full of energy, fun, creative, and absolutely great with…read morekids. She works with a variety of materials and introduces her students to different styles and techniques, always making the learning process enjoyable and easy to follow. Most importantly, Yelena truly understands children and loves working with them. She knows how to find an individual approach to every child. My daughter took both private and group classes with Yelena for several years. She made amazing progress, and her experience with Yelena was extremely positive. And you know what? After watching the way Yelena teaches children, I wanted to take classes with her myself! For the past two years, I have invited my friends to Yelena's home for a group art party, and we've had a wonderful time painting, learning, and being creative together. I highly recommend Yelena as an art teacher. She is talented, caring, creative, and has a wonderful ability to bring out the best in her students.

I signed up my son for art classes with Lena, he has been enjoying going to her and coming back…read morewith beautiful fun creations. She is a very fun and creative teacher and has a nice energy for kids and keeps them entertained with each class activities. I highly recommend both her kids and adults classes!!

Horrible the instructor just looks at his phone. He only…read morehelps with the next step. Don't bring your child here. Not fun and its waste of your money.

Was a great camp for my daughter last summer. As an 8 year old she spent a week learning how to…read moreuse tools like handsaws, drills, sanders, etc. Her planned project was a wooden key caddy to hang on the wall. She got done a little early so they let her start a flying elephant that you hang from the ceiling with a cord that will flap the wings. It's a bit of a daunting project, but she was so set on getting it done they let her stay later with another older class so she could finish it. It's was a great confidence building camp, as the kids do the work. Not like some of the camps where it's kind of glorified babysitting.

I do not recommend this camp for young children, especially 4-year-olds…read more My son attended BrainVyne LEGO Camp at Cubberley Community Center for two days, and our experience was very disappointing and concerning. The classroom is small, poorly ventilated, and uncomfortably hot. The children spend most of the time sitting at tables assembling LEGO independently, with very little guidance or group interaction. This does not feel like a camp environment, especially for younger kids. On the first day, my son (who does not speak English) had no real interaction with other children and spent most of the time sitting alone. He did not use the restroom at all during a full day (9:00 AM-2:30 PM), which already raised concerns about supervision. On the second day, I specifically asked staff to remind him to use the restroom and assist him if needed. I was told they would have another child take him instead of an adult, which is not appropriate for a 4-year-old, especially one who does not speak English. He ended up having a bathroom accident. Staff called me but refused to help him change, even though he had spare clothes in his backpack. When I arrived 30-40 minutes later, my son was sitting outside in wet clothes, crying, with no meaningful support provided. Staff made no real effort to comfort him or help resolve the situation. This was extremely distressing for my child and not an acceptable level of care. Overall concerns: - Lack of supervision for young children - No assistance in basic situations (bathroom, changing) - Inappropriate expectations for a 4-year-old - Minimal engagement or structured activities - Uncomfortable indoor conditions This experience did not meet basic expectations for safety, care, or age-appropriate programming.

The camp itself was fun, and kid had a good time. The director Rathna was responsive, prompt and…read morequick to fix issues. I appreciated this. The lower rating is for the operational issues. It's an expensive camp, so here are the things that could be better. 1. Camp changed locations from Mountain View to Palo Alto the Wednesday before camp started. This needed us to rearrange schedules last minute. However, we understand, some things are out of any business' control. 2. On the first day, it seemed like staffing was thinner than expected. For example, younger kids were going to the restroom in buddy pairs rather than with an adult. That made me uneasy since Cubberley is a public campus, but I appreciated that Rathna looked into it and the situation improved the next day, and staff were accompanying kids. 3. Drop-off felt a bit hectic at times, especially early in the morning before the second teacher arrived.

The best thing a parent wants is to hear their child giggle and be happy. My daughter's curiosity…read morewas spiked at one of the Giggly Art Studio workshops and had a blast. You truly know they loved it know when on the way back they tell you how much fun they had and ask if they are going to do it again. Teaching kids how to form dough to look realistic is what Fateme did during that workshop. She was so gentle, patient, loving and knowledgeable. Would definitely recommend.

My daughter has been working with Fateme on a picture project for quite a few months. Fateme is an…read moreachieved artist herself and such a wonderful teacher!

I recently began painting under the warm and inspiring guidance of Shubhada. Shubhada is an…read moreincredibly calm, patient, and creative teacher. She guides you step-by-step, gently helping you discover the artist within. Her art room is filled with the soothing sounds of melodious music, surrounded by her stunning paintings, and energized by a wonderful fellow learners. It's not just a class; it's a retreat. Every session is a perfect blend of creativity, relaxation, fun, and laughter. I've cherished every moment learning with her. If you're looking to explore your artistic side while unwinding in a positive, joyful space--Art n Fun with Shubhs is the place to be! Written by Trupti Nangare

We had a wonderful experience at ANFS with Shubhs. She set up an amazingly relaxing environment for…read moreus to paint together, and even went the extra mile to decorate for Valentine's Day. We did the private session, so it was just us and Shubhs, and she made sure we were both comfortable to be ourselves and to maintain a positive attitude. We started off with writing positive affirmations for the painting session, and then we got to choose what we wanted to paint from the many examples she had on the wall. She was super flexible in what we wanted to paint, and even let us paint something that was not one of the examples. During the painting process, she sat with us and taught us step by step what to do to create a beautiful, and well blended painting. Throughout the whole process she was very patient and encouraging, which was so lovely as a beginner painter. She offered snacks and music changes, which made the experience even more personal.

Melissa and her team have created a really special place here. It's beyond your typical childcare -…read moreit feels like a magical learning community and is rich with culture. Loved how multi-dimensional the experience is - lots of outdoor structured and unstructured play, child-centered, emergent curriculum, gardening, animal care, music, singing, making and sharing meals, field trip experiences, exposure to other cultures (in addition to Spanish immersion! What a gift!). To top it off, I found it operationally really smooth, and communications were always consistent and thorough. The teachers really felt like a team, and the parent community was very involved. We appreciate and miss JDM!

My daughter started at JDM when she was almost three years old. She already understood Spanish from…read moreher nanny so we doubled down on Spanish immersion. At first I was worried that she would not be prepared for Kindergarten in English if all of preschool was going to be in Spanish. Lola absolutely flourished at JDM thanks to the extremely nurturing environment and the scaffolding provided by the teachers. She especially loved all the arts, crafts, animals, la Huerta and Friday trips. And of course all her spanish speaking amigos. Like most children she had some ups and downs at school. After she dropped the nap she had some behavior issues in the afternoons. Melissa and team handled all of it extremely well. One day I was in communication with Melissa about her behavior and she said "let's try something" and suggested animal therapy and let her go and play with the bunnies and rabbits. Turns out that was exactly what she needed in that moment! She is currently in Kindergarten and could not have been more prepared from both a social and emotional and academic perspective. She entered Menlo Park public school way ahead of expectations which made the Kindergarten transition a fantastic one. We actually love JDM so much that she now goes there in the afternoons after Kindergarten. She gets to play outside after school and practice her Spanish. Win Win! Melissa is an extremely experienced child educator and she has built an All-Star team of teachers that create an extremely nurturing environment. We feel honored to be part of the JDM community!

Mrs. Maggie is a great art teacher. My son is really doing an awesome artworks. She is blessed with…read moreimmense talent and having lot of patience to handle kids. My son likes her a lot. She also knows the pulse of each student and teach them accordingly. Mrs. Maggie is an inspiring person for my son. She is very kind and encouraging. I would strongly recommend her if anyone looking for an art teacher.

Our daughter has been going to Gundolina Art School from 2018. During covid the virtual class has…read morebeen god send gift to us and helped our daughter with continued support for her art and creativity skills. We are so happy and feel lucky that our daughter has a teacher like Ms. Maggie. Ms.Maggie has great approach towards teaching students, apart from concentrating on student's art and creativity skills, she also guides them on how to handle the problems they face. We often see our daughter apply the same principles and skills she learned during her art class in her academics which has helped her tremendously. Ms.Maggie also encourages students with scholarships and we are thankful to her for providing scholarship to our daughter, it has been proud and happy moment for us. We hope our daughter grows with continued support from Ms Maggie. We also recommend Ms Maggi to all our friends and family.

My younger brother and I went to this school for four years, when he was in kindergarten to fourth…read moregrade, and I was in fourth to seventh. Looking back on it, outside of the progress you'd expect from four years of practice, I don't think I improved that much. They teach you to copy from a reference pretty well, which would be alright if you're going for hyperrealism, but that wasn't exactly what I was aiming for, back then or now. When I look at my drawings now, I realize that I was able to get details right, but the proportions were always slightly off. Also, everyone's drawings look similar, even the little kids', which are usually more creative. Certain teachers are nice and helpful, but some of the teachers are very cold, almost scary, including Meiying herself. I'd suggest going to a different school instead.

Many years ago, I knew Mei Ying Zhang and I was completely impressed by her abilities as an art…read moreteacher and how she was able to bring out the artistic talents of her students, whose ages from perhaps 10 to teens. were second to none. In addition, the art work that Ms. Zhang has done shows the western artist the fine talent of a Chinese artist. If anyone should visit her studio, ask to see the painting of a tiger that she and her husband finished. It is astounding.