It is unacceptable for school staff entrusted to care for children to harm them. My heart broke…read morewhen my child reported to me she had been struck by an aide at the school. And even more disturbing is a principal who is a mandated reporter yet failed to inform the child's parent that the child had been harmed at the hands of one her aides and went to great lengths to cover it up. The principal simply did not care about my child's safety and emotional well-being. The staff left my child crying and provided no care by the school nurse or other staff. I was NEVER notified by the school. That is until after officers with LAPD showed up at the school unannounced the next day and school staff was caught off guard. Only then did the principal acknowledge there was an incident in which my child was harmed at the hands of the aide and they failed to contact me. She had to acknowledge the incident after officers interviewed the aide. Thankfully, now there is report on file with LAPD about this aide and the district is investigating this matter as well as other incidents of discriminatory retaliation at Richard Riordan's Dual French Program. No child deserves to be harmed at the hands of those entrusted to care for them at school. I'm so grateful to LAPD.

Our child is enrolled in the French Immersion program at Riordan. We came from LILA (the…read moreInternational School of Los Angeles), and could not be happier with the switch. Everyone at Riordan is fantastic -- truly everyone. The staff know the students by name, engage with parents, and consistently bring positivity and warmth to the school community. Because the school is new, the classrooms are spotless and thoughtfully designed, complete with smart boards and student centric layouts. While I would like to talk about multiple wonderful people at the school, I want to specifically highlight the principal, Ms. Elias. She radiates positive energy, takes the time to learn every student's name, communicates openly with parents, and--most importantly--answers questions with care and depth. The parents at Riordan also deserve recognition. Families are involved, supportive, and committed to creating the best possible environment for their children. From PTA participation to volunteering at events, there's a genuine sense of collaboration and community that makes the school special. Another great aspect is the before- and after-school care through LA's Best. It's a huge help for working parents, and the fact that they provide breakfast and supper is a thoughtful touch for those early mornings or late workdays. If there's one area for improvement, it would be adding more greenery to the outdoor space. There's a bit too much concrete at the moment, but the school is aware and already working to add more shade and plant life to make the campus feel softer and more inviting. Overall, Riordan has exceeded our expectations in every way--academically, socially, and as a community. We're so glad we made the switch.

This school has been amazing for my kids. We stumbled upon it post pandemic, my son starting TK…read morehardly able to hold a pencil, and I was so blown away by how much he learned in such a short amount of time. The arts programs instantly brought out his passion for all things drawing. Most importantly, he has always been happy there. Five years later and neither of my kids have ever said "I don't want to go to school today". Besides the arts programs, which include music, dance and physical arts, they also have a garden program ran by California Climate action fellows. The social emotional education has been invaluable to both of my children as well. Absolutely love the diversity the school offers and the strong parent community. Volunteers are welcomed and encouraged and I always feel at home there. While we absolutely love it here, individual experiences will always vary, even in the absolute best schools. The school as a whole has wonderful teachers and a great philosophy. It works so well for so many kids, especially if you're invested in your kids education and supporting them from home. Definitely worth a tour if you're just starting off with schooling or in search of a new fit for your kid!

Our family has been part of this school since 2020. Over the years, we watched many families leave…read moreand often thought, "It's not that bad." For our children, it wasn't--until this year. The school year began in complete disarray, with inadequate supervision, students without assigned teachers or classrooms, and widespread confusion. Unfortunately, conditions only deteriorated from there. Throughout the year, students experienced repeated injuries, classroom evacuations, student elopements, frequent fire alarm disruptions, and recurring lice outbreaks that were not consistently communicated to families. One particularly troubling incident involved a substitute teacher who told a student with autism that autism "isn't real" and threatened to "call the cops" on a group of elementary students. Despite repeated efforts to raise concerns with school leadership, the board, and LAUSD, there was no accountability or communication with the affected families. LAUSD has already voted to close the middle school, and the elementary school's renewal will be reviewed during the 2026-2027 school year. I regret not taking other parents' concerns more seriously. We have decided to enroll our three children elsewhere next year. Our focus now is helping them recover academically and emotionally from a school environment where chaos often felt normalized and leadership seemed unresponsive. Parents should understand that this independent charter school operates under highly centralized leadership, with limited transparency or accountability. Many families, including ours, ultimately leave only after feeling they have exhausted every other option. I am genuinely glad for families whose children had positive experiences. However, those experiences do not erase the injuries, trauma, learning loss, and challenges many other students faced. Please consider a school with proven curriculum, healthy leadership and above all - safety.

Where do I even begin? I truly wanted to love this school, but it didn't take long for my instincts…read moreto tell me it wasn't the right fit for my child or our family. The academic approach is heavily based on authoritarian teaching, rote memorization, and repetitive worksheets. There is very little emphasis on critical thinking, observation-based learning, or a true classical education. Instead, students spend their days completing worksheets and then bringing home the same material to review again. The workload is repetitive, overwhelming, and leaves little room for children to simply be children. Students also receive very limited outdoor time. I've witnessed children being punished for minor behaviors, such as talking out of turn, by being required to eat lunch in the director's office or by losing physical activity as a consequence. I have also personally observed instances where both the director and head teachers spoke to children in a disrespectful, intimidating, and demeaning manner. That was extremely concerning to me. Another major issue is the constant fundraising and donation requests. Families are regularly encouraged to donate, yet I saw very few tangible improvements to the school. There is no library, the playground has not been meaningfully updated, and it's difficult to see where those funds are being invested. Even more disappointing is the culture surrounding donations, where families who don't contribute can feel judged or excluded, creating unnecessary cliques within the school community. For nearly $2,000 a month in tuition, I expected a nurturing environment that fostered curiosity, independent thinking, and a love of learning. Instead, I found a school focused on compliance, excessive repetition, and fundraising. This experience simply did not align with the educational values that were promised, and unfortunately, I cannot recommend it.

Dear Committee Members and Treasurer,…read more I hope this message reaches the owner of the school as well, as it addresses an important concern regarding the treatment of community vendors by representatives of the committee, Ani and Angie. In March, I was approached by Ani about providing floral arrangements for a Mother's Day lunch at Castaways. After a consultation to discuss details and budget, I provided a proposal, including a sample centerpiece, which the committee and parents enjoyed. We were thrilled to be selected for the event on May 3 and accepted a $1,000 deposit, as outlined in our invoice. Our proposal clearly states that deposits are nonrefundable and nontransferable, with the remaining balance due 15 days before the event. However, as the date approached, my assistant and I made several attempts to finalize details and settle the remaining balance. Ani informed us that we would need to coordinate payment through Angie. Unfortunately, our attempts to communicate with Angie were met with resistance. She questioned our request for payment ahead of the event, despite our clear policy requiring full payment prior to ordering flowers. After negotiations, Angie decided to reduce the order value from $3,800 to $2,700, leaving a balance of $1,700. We continued to reach out for the final payment, but communication was inconsistent and often unproductive. On April 17, I informed Angie that without payment, we could not proceed with the floral arrangements. After weeks of silence, I received a last-minute text from her on May 1, confirming the centerpieces, which left me frustrated. I reached out to Ani for clarification, but was met with vague responses, including claims of a check being mailed, which we never received. Ultimately, on the morning of May 2, I was informed that they were canceling their event due to our inability to order flowers--an outcome that was entirely outside our control given the lack of payment and communication from their side. This situation reflects a troubling disregard for the policies that protect our business and the community relationships we strive to maintain. I urge all vendors to be cautious when engaging with this committee. The management of this event has not only wasted our time but has also impacted our business financially. It is disheartening to see representatives of the school behave in this manner, ultimately tarnishing its reputation. I have been in business for 20 years and have worked with numerous schools, but I have never encountered such disrespect and lack of professionalism. I hope this message prompts a reconsideration of how community vendors are treated and the individuals representing the school. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please understand that as much as your concern is to remove our review, my complaint. I will rewrite and repost my review. instead of getting my complaint and feedback deleted your concern should be addressed and apologize for the inconvenience and behavior you have caused toward our company.

As a stay at home mom, I was apprehensive about sending my first kiddo to preschool. MCMS has been…read morean incredibly nurturing place. My preschool aged son has been attending MCMS for 1.5 years and the school has been nothing but a dream! Love that they are a faith-based school and adhere to Christian values. The teachers are so incredibly attentive, warm, and genuinely kind. My son is thriving in his class and literally asks me on weekends to go to school. I could not think of a better environment for little ones to flourish and lay the foundation for their educational growth and personal & social development!

Sent three kids here from 2-5. Absolutely adore ROOM A and our kids are happy, healthy, and have…read moreall thrived in Kinder after moving from here to their public school. Mrs. Hufanga, and Ms. Ana and Annie are like extensions of family. Please dont hesitate about sending your kids here, they will be cared for as if they are their own. So grateful for MCMS

Great school. As a parent I regularly attend coffee with the principal and all other events. The…read moreprincipal makes me feel heard and the staff has been very helpful as well.

Don't recommend staff don't care about parents nor students success. This school is in the same…read morearea as 3-4 other schools.

A truly special school that we feel so fortunate to have found. There are many reasons we…read moreappreciate El Rio, but one that grows daily is our appreciation for a no-tech/low-tech learning environment. As data mounts about the harms of pervasive tech in schools, it is simply not something we have to worry about.

It's hard to write a review of a school that had its inaugural year smack dab in the middle of a…read morepandemic, which is why I'm giving it three stars instead of the two that I would be inclined to give it under less extraordinary circumstances. I'll start with some positives, the staff, teachers, and parent community at the school are lovely and kind, and the student body makeup seems to have a good mix of race and socioeconomic backgrounds. The school is lottery-based, so their student body's diversity depends on who they target via marketing efforts. The first red flag I had with the school was attending a parent education night, and the person leading the meeting mentioned that the 3rd-grade class spends the year studying stories from the Old Testament, starting with the "myth" of Cain and Able. Another mother and I did a triple take, we asked, "How is this possible in a public school?" The reply was that they teach these stories a "myths" and not as biblical stories. Around the same time, there was a rumble amongst the parents because some of the children in the older grades were told not to use black and brown crayons because they "weren't as pretty" as the other colors of crayons. In the midst of all that was happening in the world, this felt extremely inappropriate and off-base. That was my second red flag. This prompted me to do some deeper research into the origins of Waldorf because I had come into this school thinking this was a play-based, child-centered approach that didn't stress hard academics in Kindergarten and taught reading when it was developmentally appropriate, etc. The origins of Waldorf are laden with "spiritual", religious and racist undertones and the founder of Waldorf Rudolf Steiner was simply put a religious kook and a racist. This article sums up Waldorf nicely https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/waldorf-schools-are-inherently-racist-cults-91193d1fbef6 There is no science in the curriculum, which they may change later, and if your child turns out to be more academically inclined you will either need to get a tutor to expose them to more complex materials or find them another school. I recently had my child assessed by an independent tutor for first-grade readiness as we are transferring to another school and he had only been exposed to 15-20% of the materials he needed to learn to be ready for 1st grade. Obviously, this was an upsetting revelation. At the end of the day, Waldorf was not for us and I would encourage everyone to research it deeply before committing to having their child attend any Waldorf-based school.

Allesandro elementary school is an amazing school! All staff from principal Mr. Simpson to all the…read morestaff in the office to all the teachers and TAs are the best always helpful. I had both my son's come here and they loved it! Thank you Allesandro for all you guys do for the students and parents!

Allesandro is such a amazing school all the teachers are so kind especially Mrs Romero she is so…read morenice kind and Amazing she is terrific

Good school, nice area, good teachers, small number of students, and current principal Armineh is…read morevery involve in activities and with students. I like what she does last month especially, she gave a medal for the student who did proficient and advanced score on last year California State test (CST), when my daughter got an award, she was so happy and proud because this is her first medal ever. And i know it leaves a good impact to inspire other students to do good. Also they got a blue ribbon award in this school. All my 3 kids went here and i am very satisfied. Currently one of my daughter is 3rd grader. Thank you all to the principal, teachers, staff, parents and students for making Clifford a nice and memorable elementary experience for my kids.