My kid attend their robotic class during after school. She loved it. But the class mixed kids from…read moredifferent grades, she partnered with another kid who's older than her, and she often doesn't get her turn during the class, end up 'watching' during the whole class. I surface the problem to them, to ask why teacher doesn't make sure every kid get their turn. Look what they replied!

If I could, I would give a 0 star. David West / Gutierrez, the owner of Star Kids Academy did NOT…read moreissue the refund he owed me. After sending him the refund request, I waited for almost 4 weeks to get his response, saying that I have to wait another 3 months for him to decide if he'd like to issue the refund to me. He is definitely playing monkey business, not a professional educator at all. I am now trying to sue him / Star Kids Academy in the Small Claim Court, and will update the result of the Court trial later on.

I am not happy with my son's camp experience at this camp. While they offer an instruction into…read morevarious camp activities, the selection was so limited that my son tried everything the 1st week. We signed up for two weeks and by the start of the 2nd, little man did not want return an this is from a kid who loves playing with stuff. Another part of the problem was the lack of direction during the instructional periods. Outside play time can only last for so long when you are forced to play outside for hours because the alternative was not enjoyable. I wish there was more instruction or something .

My kids (6 and 10) had high hopes and were excited to go, but alas they didn't really enjoy it…read more Aftercare was mostly held outdoors, making the kids stay outside in the high summer heat rather than letting them do indoor activities. I suppose it's easier and more cost effective to just force them to sit or play outside than to do arts and crafts or learn something indoors.

I attended Pinewood a couple years ago. I am now at an elite university on the East Coast…read more I think that Pinewood is excellent because the teachers are able to provide you with one-on-one attention. Very good for college recs obviously. Public school ones might be very general... Anyways, teachers will help you during lunch and even after school, when they are not being paid. I think it's cool how they have math help hours after school with Mr. Green (if he even works there). My favorite math teacher was Ms. Walters (Genius lady :) ) Overall, the homework is not that excessive, and, more often than not, if we are ahead of the material, we can use the time to work on assignments for a portion of the class. The English department is good, however, I would appreciate it if they would have been stricter on us. Honestly, the longest paper I ever wrote was a 10 page paper for AP US Gov, and we allocated class time to write it. In English the longest paper was about 5 pages. I wish that the length and standards for papers would increase as one takes more advanced courses. The English department prepares you well for writing 25 minute essays for AP exams, but does not prepare you for 10-20 page papers you have to write as a college freshman at top colleges (Ivy leagues, top LAC, or top UC's). Please add a writing intensive course for seniors that IS NOT GRADED, that way students can learn to write college level papers without feeling so much pressure. Just make it a graduation requirement. The Spanish language department seemed to be more demanding than the French language department. I think because Ms. Schmidt was very very strict. I think she retired now. However, Mr. Tezlaff and Madame Daniel were/are very approachable and would always practice French with you whenever you need. They want you to succeed on the National French Contest and do well on AP French! Merci beaucoup mes professeurs. If your child does have a learning disability, the school will accommodate with longer test times, separate exam rooms, and sometimes extra hours of help with a teacher, so long as you can provide a paper verifying the disability. Also, of course disability is confidential information and students are not let known of classmates' disability. It is very common for children at PW to suffer from social anxiety, test anxiety, and depression though. Extracurriculars such as sports were really fun and the coaches (thanks Craig and Jackee) are really passionate! My main complaint is that the school lacks racial diversity. Of course this is because those who can afford the school are primarily White and Asian (South Asian as well as East Asian). When there were black and brown students (some of whom are on academic/athletic scholarship) many would feel ostracized and out of place and often leave after freshman year. Please provide counseling services/ extra funding for students of color. I specifically remember always having to pay tons of money for new uniforms (they would change each season) and new equipment. I would have appreciated it if there was fund that could help scholarship students with sports/extracurricular fees.

I went to Pinewood during the 80's, from kindergarten through sixth grade. I am still good friends…read morewith several people from my class, none of who stayed at Pinewood through high school. I say this because we feel like the best education we got, and the hardest we ever worked in K-12, was during our Pinewood years. What stands out to me is the fact that Pinewood did a wonderful job of enabling us to develop academically as well as artistically. They found a balance between the phonics-based Carden method, daily reading groups, math, science, and social studies classes, and the singing, drama, P.E., and art classes. Whenever I see Beatrix Potter books I flash back to 1st grade, and what would I do without my vast collection of oil paintings and clay sculptures of horses made during seven years of art, or my memories of being in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "The Velveteen Rabbit" on the Pinewood stage. Pinewood was also strict in the sense that we feared the "demerit" and worse, "getting ten" which meant you had earned ten demerits that week and would have to see the principal. I think from that we learned responsibility and how to respect others, from our peers to our teachers. From following others in my class through Facebook updates and periodic announcements in the Los Altos Town Crier, I know many of us have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and earn PhDs in subjects like bioengineering, computer science (or English- me- maybe that's liability to the Pinewood reputation, hah). However, most of us also came from the kind of high achieving, upper middle class, occasionally dysfunctional families that make those kind of achievements seem average, and admittedly, I was a little bit of a snob coming out of Pinewood, thinking only bad students would "have" to go to a UC instead of an Ivy. In those ways, Pinewood isolated us from the realities that not every kid could have their own pony or live in their own estate, and that could certainly be held against the school, our parents, and us. Knowing what the tuition is now, I don't know how people can afford to send one, let alone multiple, kid(s) there, and I wonder if the class-based elitism is still pervasive. Weighing those two sides of the coin- the fantastic academic and artistic education against the narrow exposure to others from any other socio-economic or religious backgrounds (most of the kids in my class were from the dominant Pinewood Mormon families)- a Pinewood education might not be the right choice for everyone. However, I am still grateful for the academic foundation I received there, and the real world came anyway, after I left Pinewood.

I can't write enough good things about this camp. My two youngest children have attended the two…read moreweek program for the last two years. Both my children have "emerging" reading and writing skills and both have benefited greatly from this program. I have followed the curriculum closely at home and helped support them as well. It is fun, engaging and camp-like - so the kids think they are having fun learning. The end result has been that my kids are writing more fluidly in school. They feel more comfortable writing and have more confidence in their abilities. The middle school schedule is definitely more school-like than the elementary day to day, but they keep it fun with a diverse curriculum (from podcast to animatronics - other things too but I do not know them). I was also impressed with the owners (who are not local but obviously care about the students). Also, the site administrator was right on top of our (small) issues this year with line cutting and some emotional outbursts the first day or something. I had her check in on my middle schooler and get back to me to make sure he was okay. It was just great. Everything about this camp is awesome!

Absolutely amazing program filled with great nature activities for the children I hear a lot about…read morethis one teacher called big dog he seems great he taught my kids how to use knives safely for carving and fire by friction this camp is so cool great staff professionalism and fun! Highly recommend to other parents in the Bay Area

I love this camp so much!!! There are so many fun activities to do while being here. And I am…read moredefinitely considering becoming an LIT next summer! there are so many curious and excited kids that makes camp more fun! I am SO coming back next summer

Truly a gem of a resource here in Mountain View. My son got to participate in this budding camp…read moreprogram last week and was excited and engaged in the various creative platforms and activities the program provided. As a professional creative myself the Freestyle campus offers opportunities and resources that would make some college programs envious. Plus, it's taught by a quality and passionate team of teachers who do this full time. What the campers were able to learn and accomplish in a weeks time was absolutely astounding! If you've got a kid with a creative curiosity or a bent towards storytelling and real-world media creation the Freestyle camp is second to none at giving them access to the professional tools and skills they need to succeed.

Amazing camp! We were part of the first group to attend, we very much liked the content advertised…read morebut didn't know what to expect. Well, the kid says it was the best summer camp experience ever... The kids had a start in animation, photography, movies editing and music recording. They learned a lot in a super-fun environment. The studios (sitting on the Mountain View High School campus) are very well-accessorized. And the staff... well - I wish all teachers were like them. Most of the tech camps we attended before were staffed mostly with college students. But at Freestyle the kids are taught by real, experienced and talented teachers. Honestly, this camp is one of the best you can find, hands down.

I registered my both kids to summer camp here. Their friends recommended to do the camp together…read morethough we usually go to other coding school. At first, my kids were really excited and came home talked about what they learned and created. It seemed like they had fun. Then problem started as my child told me that her file was deleted couple times and she couldn't find it. I told her to ask the instructor since they supposedly are good at computer. She told me that she couldn't log on because she forgot her password. Apparently this issue has been going on during the week long summer camp. I was not aware until Thursday evening from my child. Then I asked her what was she doing if she couldn't log on and no one could help her. She said she just sat there and listened. 1) we don't learn by sitting, we learn from doing and following step by step (so she wasted her learning time and my money) 2) no instructor aware that she was sitting there and not doing anything? Didn't raise their attention? 3) she claimed she forgot her password and instructor couldn't help her. Coder instructor should be able to trace back her password or reset password for her, correct??? 4) I emailed my concerns and I got back the response from manager that my child was joking with instructor. Yes, if she wasn't engaged and couldn't log on, I know my child would be bored and fooling around. Any child would. All the kids were laughing and having fun in class. I don't see any problem with my child enjoying the class and laughing. 5) couple kids said they had WiFi issues during class. Why would it be WiFi issues when this is a coding school. 6) when I emailed to the manager, his response was trying to point finger at my child that she was joking with the instructor instead of solving the issue and take responsibility about his instructors in class. No customer service. For sure, I won't recommend anyone to this place. Very disorganized and no customer service.

My children attended a summer camp at the coder school. This what I experienced:…read more Pros: the kids had fun there. When we entered or whenever we picked up or dropped off, you can see that children were having fun. You could see children laughing and smiling. They did complete some coding activities. Cons: 1. Limited staff- No one answered the phone. There was no front help person to answer phones during camp. I was running late, and called the office no one picked up the phone. When I picked up the children, the teacher gave his personal phone number to contact them. He said there is no one to answer phones during camp. Considering the amount of money as parents we pay for this activity and they should have someone in the front office answering the phone or have the teachers in the camp pick up the phone while the camp is in session. I know they are trying to cut cost, but the business phone should work during camp hours. 2. Each child are placed on their individual computers. If they have problems with the computer, instead of putting them on another one, they waited to repair it. So one of my children missed time during the day completing a project until they could the computer to work. We were not told about this until my children told us. We inquired about it and did not get a response why they were not put on another computer or that my child's project would be delayed. 3. Passwords- I have a younger child who forgot her password on the computer. The teacher didn't have the password that day, so she couldn't use the computer to complete her project. The following day, we contacted the manager to find out why the teacher didn't have it so our child could complete her work. The manager gave us the password. Then stated that our children were smiling and laughing in class. Prior to that comment, the teachers were giving my children compliments on how well behaved they were. That's an odd response from the manager-- deflect and blame tactic being used. My wife asked again why and we didn't get a response. We never found out from the manager nor the teacher why they didn't have the password prior day so my child could finish the project. Today, after our complaint, staff did have myu child's password. And again they avoided the question why they didn't have the password the day before. Overall, my children had fun. Other kids had fun. They looked like they learned something. However, the management and teachers could not answer simple questions and for the money we pay, there should not be downtime if computer is down or someone can't remember their password. However management avoided the question and was ready to deflect questions by blaming my children. We've gone to Code Ninja in the past and had a better experience there. They have better communication, kids have fun too, learn, and are more organized. If they have technical difficulties they move the child to another computer.

There are plenty of math tutors I would choose over this one. Skip it…read more Service isn't great.

Better me has been great for my son. The staff is excellent…read moreand they take make it fun and engaging for my son. I would highly recommend it.