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May 2023 by Sid P.
Peninsula School has been an amazing experience for our kindergartener and for us as his parents. The school puts joy, love, and play at the center of the learning environment and process. Instead of orienting on test scores and grades, Peninsula School strives to instill and nurture the love of learning, the internal desire to explore and understand, and it shows - our child loves going to school everyday, and we witness the blossoming of his curiosity and confidence to engage in all kinds of pursuits, from reading to woodworking to physical play to arithmetic. Peninsula emphasizes the development of the whole child - self-confidence, emotional awareness, the ability to understand others and form deep friendships, the willingness to take risks and embrace challenges. Freedom and responsibility are part of the core values of Peninsula, which has helped our child on his journey towards independence - from learning how to walk around campus on his own to thinking about and choosing from a variety of daily activities.The teachers at Peninsula continue to impress us with their thoughtfulness, authenticity, and talent, as well as their passion for the pillars of progressive education. Our child regularly wants to stay a little longer when we come to pick him up from after care, which is heartwarming. And we love how intentional the families are about building community among the parents and the kids.We are so happy and grateful that our child is at Peninsula School.
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December 2016 by Nicholas Baggott
Awesome for some kids awful for others. Unfortunately, it attracts the kids that it's least equipped to serve.Pros:* I was literally brought to tears when I first visited, it was the only school I'd seen where the staff and parents so obviously respected the children as "equal human beings". That really appealed to me.* Campus is awesome unless you have a problem with dirt.* There's a picture of the Dead from the 60s performing on the front steps of the main building. If you lean hippie in any way, this place will seduce you. Brace yourself.* Some of the staff are just incredibley wonderful, caring, and wise people, small talk at drop off was a pleasure. These people made me feel lucky to be there.* Strong, hands on, arts program.Cons:* Bullying. Their secular humanist philosophy makes blinds them to the cruelty that all kids can sometimes have and some kids always have. This makes them completely and utterly ineffective at dealing with bullying. Their faith (belief without proof) in the goodness of all children and philosophy that children should learn to self advocate is a recipe for disaster.* Bullying. Deserves two bullet points. Every year a family leaves because of it.* Ineffective at dealing with any child that has special needs. The endearing chaos that is Peninsula is torture for an anxious child. Dyslexia goes unrecognized far too long. Speaking of dyslexia, I'm going to stop here. I could say more, but words...Overall: if education were an easy problem all schools would be the same. This school could be awesome for your child or set them back for years. You might fall in love with it. It might break your heart.Advice: if this is your plan A, I hope it works for your child. But you better have a plan B.
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December 2016 by Matthew Girard
You have to visit Peninsula School to understand the level of trees/dirt/kindness/beauty/aspirations/love that your children will carry for the rest of their lives.
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December 2016 by David Wang
Amazing campus, teachers, and philosophy. We're enrolling our child there this year, and we're so lucky she was accepted :)
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December 2013 by Kenneth Duda
Our whole family loves this school. If your top priority for your child is memorizing multiplication tables at the youngest possible age while avoiding any exposure to dirt, this may not be the school for you. But if want your child to learn about citizenship, being part of a community, taking responsibility and making good choices, all while developing a life-long love of learning, then you've come to the right place. Maybe the shortest convincing testimonial comes from a fellow parent, a teacher at a local high school, who observed that his most engaged, most dynamic, most with-it students came disproportionately from Peninsula School... so that's where he sends his daughter.
