Emerson Montessori School - Palo Alto

I have two kids at this school. My older has been with this school since kindergarten. He is now in lower elementary at Emerson Montessori. My younger one joined the baby program when he was a year old. So far they both have had a safe, excellent and well rounded experience at this school. This school has a very established Baby,Kindergarten and Elementary school setup and some really good teachers and staff. My kids get a balanced experience both academically and with their social development. This school does give exposure to Spanish, Mandrain, Art to kids since kindergarten. Which my son really enjoys.My older enjoys learning the piano and being a part of the yearly musical at their school. They also have a historical Halloween for all kids in elementary that focuses on public speaking. During summer they have 3 weeks of writing camp that helps them develop great writing and comprehension skills early on. This school is an all year (only 10 days off) all day 8am to 6pm school and that helps us as we are working parents and need that support. We also enjoy one pick up and drop. That saves us a lot of hassle with traffic and commuting which would have been the case otherwise. I am really happy with this school and so are my kids. I would highly recommend you come take a tour and know more if this school is a fit for your family. We also have a fantastic parents support group where we always up for play dates and time at the park post school or on the weekends.

Emerson School is a unicorn in my book. The year-round program addresses many pain points for Bay Area parents, and includes solid academics (ahead of public school), without being hyper-competitive. Things we like:- Year Round schedule (closes on 10-11 Federal Holidays). - Take your kid out of school any day (great for off-peak or far-away travel).- Full-day schedule (typically 8:30 am-5:30 pm (9 hrs), but you can pay to drop off earlier and/or pick up later). They have school activities till 5 pm, then the kids have free time to play educational games or work on projects. You can still pick them up before 5 pm for classes/extracurricular activities and it won't disrupt their education.- No half days.- No homework (they do their work at school, except for occasional projects)- Spanish Class (2x a week)- Mandarin Class (2x a week)- Art Class (2x a week)- Music Class (2x a week. Starting 4th grade, they learn the violin).Other notes:- Rolling admissions. You don't have to wait to apply at a certain time of year or go through an extensive application process. Just reach out to see if they have space.- The building is shared by the daycare/preschool (HeadsUp!) program. Convenient for single location drop off/pick up if you have multiple children.- Small class size with multiple grades mixed together.- Lower Elementary: Grades 1-3- Upper Elementary: Grades 4-5- Middle: Grades 6-8- They have 1 other campus (Pleasanton)- They don't do fundraisers or ask for donations.

We love this school and our kids don't want to leave at the end of the day. The teachers are passionate, the class sizes are small and the teaching is of a high standard. The best part is my kids (9 and 7) are empowered to take responsibility for their learning, something very unique that will help them in the future. Finally, worth mentioning the varied curriculum which includes a daily hour of sport, 3 hours of music, 3 hours of languages and 2 hours of art a week.