Ventana School

We highly recommend St. Nicholas to any family looking for strong values, real community, great teachers, and an environment where kids grow into thoughtful, confident people.We felt so welcomed joining the school. Before the school year even started, they set up two new family playdates for incoming families so kids could start the year already knowing others.The teachers are fantastic and clearly care about each child, not just academically, but as a whole person. Between the after-school programs and fun traditions, there's so much opportunity to build character, friendships, and new skills.We also love that public speaking starts young, kids begin presenting during morning assembly as early as TK. It's not something every school prioritizes, and we're already seeing it build our daughter's confidence.Our oldest is now in her second year, and we're already planning to send our other two kids when they're old enough.

Los Altos Christian is an absolute hidden gem. It challenges students deeply in all subjects and creatively supports students who might have a learning difference if needed (our son has dyslexia). Our experience with the teachers and school leadership has been outstanding. It is such a gift to be a part of a smaller school community where families really support each other through parenthood, academic growth and athletics.

We spent five years at WSP Los Altos in the early childhood years. Their early childhood program (preschool and kindergarten) are the best if a family can afford the private school fee. The teachers and staff are exceptionally trained and dedicated to students in classroom. However, we had a very depressing experience in Grade 1 which was utterly chaotic from a management and learning standpoint. Not only were the educators lacking teaching experience (not meeting the criteria to teach as per the California public school guidelines), but the entire program philosophy is not backed by science of learning but is grounded in Rudolf Steiner's views on education. Their was minimal intervention or support for the neurodivergent students in the classroom.There is no rigour to provide documented written feedback on child performance till end of Grade 1 and parent perspective on educational outcomes is disregarded. The student's notebooks were sent for parent review at the end of school year, we noticed that our child had written less than 2 dozen pages in the entire school year. Their is no standardized child progress protocol and it boils down to a happy childhood environment without concrete deliverables on language arts / maths / science / social studies. The focus on outdoor learning and arts / music as integral to child development deserves an applaud. In our view the public schools are better equipped if you are looking for standardized school protocols and accountability on performance. If you are looking for a happy childhood, WSP is a great school to begin your school journey.