Harold William Kolb

My son attended Kolb from K through middle of second grade. First the pros: Very kind and warm staff, great character building curriculum, true caring for the kids. Now the cons: For whatever reason (and I think it isn't Kolb or the teacher's fault - I think it's the obsession in CA with teaching to the annual tests, which are so heavily weighted in how schools and teachers are evaluated), my very, very bright son was not identified or supported at Kolb. After 2.5 years at the school, he was falling behind in every topic, unmotivated, hated learning, hated "drill sheets," and believed himself to not be as smart as his fellow students. His 2nd grade teacher told me he was testing one year behind in reading (aka 1st grade level) when at home he was reading 5th and 6th grade novels out loud to me every night. I decided to take him home and teach him myself (I am a full-time executive, but work remotely). It was a lot of work to balance both jobs, but after 3 months at home, his Iowa Assessment standardized scores (this is one of the few official standardized tests you can administer as a homeschool) went from 62nd percentile in math and 70th percentile in verbal to 95th percentile in both. 6 months later he is testing a full year ahead of his age group and I'm now placing him into John's Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. It makes me sad that no one at Kolb recognized my son's abilities. If I weren't able to notice and advocate for him myself, he might have been treated as a behind-the-curve kid his whole schooling, and worse would have continued to see himself that way, impacting his whole life. I know that class sizes are large and it's hard to know every kid, but it's also a classic pattern of the highly gifted to actually appear to be behind the class, due to extreme boredom with the material. I am surprised that no one at Kolb noticed this, even when I repeatedly explained to his teachers that his performance didn't relate to what I was seeing at home. The moral of the story is that in any school system - and I'm not saying that Kolb is not among the best of these - you have to advocate for your own kid. You can't expect even the best school to actually pay attention and realize what your kid needs, and you outsource that job to them at the peril of your kid's entire future.

Excellent. They not only focus on academics but on character traits as well which is awesome! They are dead against bullying which is what all parents need. Teachers are very dedicated and friendly.

A great learning experience for my kid at the school. He is really happy and looks forward to going to school every day.

Very rude staff some staff. Anyone on the office dealing with parents should watch out. Teachers always want more money. We are al underpaid. They will not meet with you so they hold signs to get more money. It takes away from classroom instruction. Many saltine is are $90,000+. Parent involvement is low because staff person in charge is rude; I’ve seen her bully parents and teachers. Instruction is great, as long as your child can keep up and perform. My first and third grader do well because of this instruction. I feel very intimidated interacting with some of the teachers and many staff. There are some great teachers (Mrs Seto!)