We've been at Village for seven years and truly couldn't be happier with our experience. Village strikes a wonderful balance between strong academics and meaningful social-emotional growth. It's a school that not only educates children, but genuinely nurtures them -- and we feel incredibly grateful to be part of this community. We see this play out in our family with excellent standardized test scores and excellent emotional intelligence. Village's placement into top middle schools speaks for itself. Through both COVID and the fires, the school demonstrated remarkable resilience, leadership, and care. The way they supported students and families during those unprecedented challenges was thoughtful, steady, and above and beyond. read more

A few years ago, I attended a Village School Zoom meeting that addressed critical race topics. Concerned, I later wrote to the school board to question their dedication to equity. They responded, saying that equity has been a core classroom value of theirs for almost ten years. Historically, the purpose of education was to help students excel. Recognizing that people have different interests, talents, and motivations, different levels of classes--such as GATE, honors, and AP classes--were created to ensure everyone could excel at their own rate. This merit-based system rewarded excellence with the opportunity to take more challenging classes and achieve even greater success. However, equity, as used by critical race theorists and DEI promoters, means equal outcomes. Equity is antagonistic to excellence because excellence naturally leads to inequities due to differences between individuals. Since educators can only do so much to help students achieve excellence, those who have integrity to values have chosen to handicap those with greater interests, talents, or motivations as a way to achieve equity. For example, San Francisco removed algebra from the 8th-grade curriculum in the name of equity. Typically, students could progress from Algebra in 8th grade to Calculus by 12th grade. Proponents of equity realized that not everyone could reach Calculus by 12th grade, so they handicapped excellent students by not teaching Algebra in 8th grade, ensuring the highest math level attainable by the end of high school was Pre-Calculus unless students doubled up on math courses in 9th grade. Similarly, Seattle shut down its honors program to achieve equal outcomes. Given Village's response and my purpose for sending my son there, I told my ex that I wanted him removed from that school. She countered by arguing that the teachers aren't actually practicing equity; it's more of an interest for the administrators, and Village admins give teachers a lot of leeway. As an example, she mentioned that our son is currently learning algebra in 6th grade. If an Asian boy is being taught more advanced math than his peers, it suggests that his teachers are not practicing equity. This indicates that Village is only virtue signaling equity without actually implementing it--or so I hoped. However, I am not blind to the effects of ideas. Even if Village's admins give teachers leeway, they are still responsible for setting the organization's culture, hiring, promotion, and firing decisions, and extracurricular activities. When I see DEI book clubs or events for non-whites, I see the writing on the wall. Organizational change may take time, but it happens. If I were a teacher focused on educational excellence, I would find these activities either a distraction or antagonistic to my values and would seek employment elsewhere. So, while my ex may have found examples indicating that Village currently lacks the integrity to fully implement equity principles, I have two remaining questions: 1. How much better would my son's education have been if they had rejected equity outright and fully embraced the merit system? 2. Given how much I pay each year, should I be satisfied with an organization that lacks integrity? Fortunately, my son has graduated from this school, so I don't have to deal with these questions anymore. Here are my reasons for the score. I give them 3 stars for the quality of education he received. The school recently raised tuition, but I don't see these funds being used to help teachers and students focus on educational excellence. Instead, I see them being used for DEI activities, such as dinners for families where one or more members "identify as a person of color." I give them 0 star for their lack of integrity. I completely reject equity as a value, but I have more respect for educators in San Francisco for taking their ideas seriously and trying to implement them, even to the detriment of their students, than I do for virtue signalers. Virtue signalers don't take ideas seriously. For an organization whose purpose is to convey ideas to their customers, the refusal to take ideas seriously is a betrayal of that mission. These scores average out to 1.5 stars. In conclusion, because I disagree with equity, I would not send my child to Village School again as they proclaim it to be a core value. However, even if I supported equity, I would still not send my child to Village School due to their lack of integrity. A business without integrity does not deserve my money or, more importantly, the right to guide my child. read more

This is our second year at Village School and we could not be happier. The the teachers and faculty truly care about the students, their needs, meet each individual where they are at and foster such an incredible supportive community. The academic curriculum and emotional/social support that is offered for the students is very unique as it's a rigorous academic program that supports the emotional and social growth as equals. The teachers' remarkable commitment to the joy of learning enable the students to thrive and develop as exceptional human beings who showcase respect, extreme curiosity, responsibility, and trust. The community is inclusive, welcoming and warm. We are so grateful to be part of this community and can't recommend this school more. read more

Village School is a gem! Our kids are so excited to go to school every day, and that says it all. Teachers are phenomenal, innovative, and care about each student. The facilities are fantastic and are updated regularly. The presence of specialist classrooms and teachers, such as Music, Spanish, Math, Library, Science, and more offers children a wide array of subjects they can to stimulate curiosity and learning. Village School prioritizes the whole child, social emotional learning and academic excellence. read more

This is our third year attending Village school and we LOVE it! Every single teacher and faculty member knows every single child, it is extraordinary. What initially drew me to the school was their promise to address the whole child, academically and socially/emotionally, and they deliver on that promise. The care that they pour into each child and the individual attention every kid receives is evident to me in how my own child has flourished. The material they teach can be scholastically challenging, but the instruction is so supportive and thorough that my kid consistently gains both academically skill and self-assurance in their own abilities and achievements. I always notice how confident and joyful the kids at Village are and I'm very happy to say my kid is one of them. read more

I have two children that attend Village School and quite honestly I couldn't envision them anywhere else for elementary school. One of my children started in Kindergarten and seeing the exceptional work the teachers showed led me to transfer my older child to the school. Immediately I saw the difference in both my child's school experience and learning. The impact of the curriculum was visibly different, she was challenged and my child excelled. The school strives to make sure that every child is fully prepared to move forward, they are completely committed to helping to shape our young citizens emotionally and academically. Rewind to my first visit to Village, it felt like family and it still does. From teachers to parents, everyone dives in to make sure that the needs of the students are met on every level. The community is warm, welcoming, and dedicated and the Village School community is a community that we are so happy to be a part of. read more