Five Keys Charter (SF Sheriff'S) School

We have two children currently attending NDV, and we’ve had a wonderful experience from the start. The school has a warm, welcoming environment where students are excited to learn and grow.Academically, NDV shines. The curriculum is rigorous yet supportive, and we’ve seen our children challenged and inspired in the best ways. Students benefit from daily French instruction and a vibrant arts program. NDV’s commitment to academic excellence leads to excellent high school placements. We feel confident that our children are being well-prepared for the future.What really sets NDV apart is the strong sense of community—several of the teachers and staff are alumni themselves, which speaks volumes about how much they value and believe in the school. NDV recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, a testament to its lasting impact on generations of students and families.Our children especially love the after-school programs, with chess and cooking class being favorites. These activities have helped them explore new interests outside the classroom.We’re truly grateful to be part of such a caring and dedicated school community. We highly recommend NDV!

We have been at the school for several years since preschool and our kids are thriving. They genuinely look forward to going to school and learning. The school fosters an environment of curiosity and problem solving, growth mindset and social emotional awareness in the children which really shows. Preschool teachers especially are incredibly attuned to the children, warm and caring. You could not ask for better teachers. Elementary school teachers are solid, with some experienced teachers better than others. The curriculum is engaging. More recently, more efforts at differentiation in the classroom has been made, which has been welcome.The community is down to earth and unpretentious even though families are generally privileged. People are kind, non- competitive and easy to get along with.

This school is not academically challenging. They claim that they have their own custom curriculum - it’s a joke. There is no text book - instead, they get poorly photocopied worksheets from other text books that other schools use. They don’t teach history, they don’t give grades, there are no consequences for being late, disruptive, and not doing homework or doing poorly on an asssessment. If you want your child to be academically prepared for middle school or high school, don’t go here. We left a few years ago and have not looked back! I still stay in contact with some of the families and all I hear are complaints even though on social media, they post about how wonderful the parent community is (which it is) and how great that their kids get to go on an exchange program to Taipei. The parents never complain publicly about the school, but behind closed doors, they definitely do.