Bullis Charter School, North Campus

Our neighbor was 120 on waiting list to get their 7th grader admitted. That means that there are more than 120 parents wanting their 6th graders to enroll. This shows that there's great demand for this school which is rated one of the top K-8 schools in USA. My daughter and her classmates got a chance to create and present the apps they developed for review by 3 venture capitalists - that's pretty awesome!

The "whole child" development model and K-8 programs integrated across subjects and focused learning goals with invigorated teachers who love what they do makes for the best school ever. The programs are always developing, incorporating the interests of the students, the teachers and a nationally recognized model of education. There are always areas for improvement, but I am so grateful for the excellence that persists and the overall programs and interesting choices kids have are superb. Steel pans music, fab lab, design thinking, intersessions for middle schoolers and mentorship with advisories are just a few.

I used Google map a lot and every time I saw the 3.9 rating, it bothered me. I never posted a review publicly but I decided to do so for BCS for the following reasons:

1. I like their education philosophy: I cannot agree more about giving kids a more balanced perspective toward the world and the academics. BCS has the exemplary curriculum that promotes both STEM and humanities/arts/music/PE. They focus on problem solving skills by giving kids some real world challenges to research and write proposals. In the process, the kids acquired the means of thinking in addition to the hard core knowledge.

2. I like the supportive, commutative and caring environment: the staff and the teachers are all responsive both by email and phone call. They all look genuinely happy about what they do. BCS is good at keeping the parents posted at what's going on. That really makes me feel that they all care about my child as much as I do. My daughter's new teacher even sent out long emails 10pm at night. No wonder my daughter falls in love with her class from day one.

3. I like the intimate community-oriented feeling: the parents are awesome. Playdates, events, activities are all arranged by parents. I am a firm believer that parents are an integral part of the kids education. I can see it's what happening here.

I do think BCS deserves a 5-star rating based on my experience so far.

I have had two girls who have gone thru the BCS program. The flexible personalized learning programs to work on weaknesses & strengths, wide array of arts & and languages and overall positive attitude to learning as a lifelong goal has served the girls well.

The crazies who weirded out having an education innovation incubator charter school in an already good school district have largely skivved off & the general public schools (in which my older daughter was enrolled before we moved to Charter w our little one) are flourishing. We see similar programs and attitudes popping up all over the district. Similarly, the BCS religious I'm better than you goofiness is no longer apparent in the parent culture.

We just get down to learning & that is paramount to me.

My daughter attended 2 private schools before we switched her to Bullis. We heard from other parents how difficult it was to enroll there with the random lottery system and high demand of so many parents wanting their children to attend. We thought we try our luck. Sure enough, we were initially 16th on waiting list. We got in when someone dropped out at the last minute just before school started.

Why did we decide to try Bullis? We were impressed by the fine manners of one of their students. We were not disappointed - some of her new classmates are exceptionally well mannered! I believe it is due to their great parents and the school's stressing the six pillars of good character development.

We also wanted to give our girl the most innovative curriculum and learning tools. We attended their open house and were "razzle dazzled" by their S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) curriculum, Project Based Learning and Design Thinking units, which utilize both the FabLab and MakerSpace programs.

I think the nay sayers are mostly parents whose children did not get lucky in the lottery.
They were recently awarded 2014 California Distinguished School, a huge honor by itself. It also received Exemplary Visual and Performing Arts School (only 14 schools received such a distinction).

I experienced both an LASD elementary school and BCS, and without question BCS is an exceptional school. Three things sets BCS apart: (i) its teaching methods, (ii) its subject matter options and offerings, and (iii) its staff.

BCS truly educates the whole child and the project based learning prepares children with approaching and dealing with real world experiences. The individualized program addresses the needs of every child irrespective of where on the IQ bell curve they may fall. The FabLab is one of a kind and I think it'll be years before LASD would have the staff to do something similar; not to mention getting through the bureaucracy. The early introduction to (STEM) science, technology, engineering, and math, through the FabLab, in particular is beneficial to girl who generally shy away from such subjects.

Also, BCS' staff is not only competent but also dedicated to their profession and on top of their game in a way that I didn't see at LASD. Maybe it's because they see themselves as building something new vs being part of an old institution inflexible of change and adaption to today's needs in education.

Great program for a public school

Challenging academics absolutely awful social environment. Where do i start, if your child has any social life whatsoever then this is the wrong school. If you decide to go, i would recommend starting before middle school. The students are completely unwilling to be nice to new students who aren’t exactly like them, and they will ostracize your child at any given moment. The environment is incredibly unwelcoming to anyone who isn’t very wealthy or very smart. This classist environment is incredibly toxic and if you don’t live in Los Altos, you will be ridiculed for it. The students are entirely unwelcoming, and they are untrustworthy. As for the teachers, many are unqualified and rather rude to the students. There is a consistent theme of taking sides throughout the entire staff. The teachers and higher administrators are the furthest from objective, and when my child saught help, they offered none and my child was highly ridiculed for extremely minor offenses. The campus is ugly and only portables. The restrooms are absolutely disgusting and they reek. There is a massive wealth divide between the students, and it’s very degrading. Academics are abysmal as well, yielding an entirely unorganized system, and very little slack from the teachers. The academics are unfairly challenging, and the classroom is a terrible place for anyone with learning disabilities. Extracurriculars are completely unorganized and unprofessional. Project Based Learning(PBL) is entirely absent from any classes, despite it being one of the core focuses of the school. Physical Education is disappointing, with teachers slacking off and being rude to the students, and the “workouts” being mostly in a cramped portable, watching 8:00 long dance videos. Overall, this school is filled to the brim with unqualified and rude staff, classist, immature, and unwelcoming students, and a sloppy educational system.

I went to kindergarten here and my experience was absolutely horrible. The kids in my class were ruthlessly mean, and turned a socially average child into a shy, awkward kid. The teacher, Mrs armstrong also yelled a LOT, which made the classroom a very unpleasant environment

An overall net negative to our community.

this school is an absolute joke