Manzano Day School

1801 Central Avenue Northwest

Albuquerque, NM 87104

15 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-5
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on August 12, 2019

This is an amazing school, with amazing teachers! The curriculum is wonderful and we're thrilled there is both an art and music program here. Manzano takes the time to work on each child's unique learning styles and obstacles.
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2019

At Manzano, everyone from the head of school on down will tell you they want to help your child to succeed. What this means is that they are being trained to fit in to the corporate/professional world. Everyone must stay on task at all times, there's a lot of unnecessary competition, and you should be a "team player". There is a lot of use of media and every moment is scheduled. For our second grade daughter, every day started with the whole class being read to by a robot voice from a web page, which was projected on the huge screen that covers one wall. Creativity, individuality, and self-esteem are not important values, and art classes mostly consist in all of the kids being given identical expensive art materials and told what to do step by step to make identical "projects." If your child doesn't "produce" at the expected rate or in the expected way you will be urged/required to schedule weekly sessions with their in-house occupational therapist, who will charge you a lot of money for no discernible result. Overall, it's OK if you like this kind of thing, but if you believe that education is for life rather than just for livelihood, you might want to look elsewhere.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2018

It was a horrible experience. Save your money and invest in one of the great local or charter schools her in ABQ or go to another private school. Your money will be so much better spent.
Submitted by parent on November 09, 2017

Our family has been at MDS for 5 years now. Our children have flourished in the warm, caring and challenging environment. We have toured many schools in town and none compare. It’s very important in many ways that a school is non profit. The money goes back into the school and the board of trustees oversees the functions of the school as well as the head of school. Checks and balances! For profit schools do not have children’s interests as most important. Check out Manzano for yourself. It’s beyond words.
Submitted by other on August 01, 2016

I think I will save my money for a private middle school for my child instead. Some of the APS public schools are wonderful as well as a few charter schools, and that would provide a more inclusive and real experience of the peoples in the world as compared to the rarefied elitism of MDS.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2016

Marzano Day School is the best school I have had the privilege to have my child attend. I wish I had would have known about the school with my other two children.My son attended a public school until the 2nd grade I didn't see that my son was progressing at the rate that we expected when we decided to move him to Manzano. Within the first 6 months the wonderful teachers at the Peterson Learning Center (Ms. Foreman) helped us determine my son had a learning disability (dyslexia). With the support of the school and teachers my son who is now in the 4th grade is now a confident reader who loves school.We are unfortunately leaving the state and will not be able to send our son to 5th grade but will always appreciate the education he received. We had nothing but great teachers and the administration was very hands on with the kids. They are out every morning to greet the kids coming into school.We feel that every penny we have spent and given to the school was worth it.
Submitted by parent on November 14, 2013

My son attended from k through 3rd grade. We are filling out applications for middle. These apps are asking for current Math/ English teachers names and email addresses so that they can be contacted them for recommendations. My reason for leaving, kids are grouped math ability starting at 2nd my son tested into the "highest" group, in third grade I he "tested" into the one of the middle groups, and the kids go through trimester testing to determine placement.At the 2nd trimester his teacher informed me my son should move down a group All this time he was achieving nearly 100% on tests and class work.Just after the last trimester test at I told the teacher that I hope my son would be able to enter Academy she replied that his math ability was not up to their standards I was shocked based on his in class math scores and demanded he be moved to the more competitive math classes, he was begrudgingly moved up two classes and earned an A . The teacher disconnect between his placement test and course work and how could I trust her valuation of my son to the middle school.
Submitted by parent on December 17, 2012

Paying for 2 children in this school is not easy, but I pay every month knowing that I am sending them to a place where not only are learning, they are being truly cared for. I have been a Manzano parent for 4years, and it has definitely exceeded expectations academically. The teachers we have had are like family to us. I have an over achiever as well as a standard student, and I feel like they have both been pushed beyond their comfort level. They both adore going to this school, and thank me often for sending them there. Manzano Day school sets the educational foundation that will set my kids up for a lifetime of success.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2012

I spent the first couple months my daughter went here looking for some reason to yank her out and NOT pay for her education. I couldn't find even one tiny reason not to send her here. It is a wonderful place. She thrives. We pay, but really what investment is more important?
Submitted by parent on August 24, 2011

Our son was at Manzano Day School last year for kindergarten and we had a wonderful experience there. We had to move this summer out of state. When we were searching for a new school in the spring, we truly realized how special MDS is. The program is not for all children but our son thrived in the structured environment and traditional education model. He absorbed so much from the enriched learning activities. We felt like the curriculum was well thought out, not only for his year but year to year. Our son loved sharing his new knowledge from school and we loved seeing the joy he had teaching us new facts. He was excited about learning and that was really important to us. His teachers were kind, smart and professional and our family had a wonderful working relationship with them. There seemed to be the right balance of traditional academics, electives and recess. MDS is expensive and that limits the families that can go there. We were pleasantly surprised at how fun and down to earth most of the families were.
Submitted by teacher on August 23, 2011

First of all, let me say that if your child doesn't or hasn't attended Manzano Day School, you cannot accurately and honestly rate the school. There is no such thing as a perfect school, and MDS may not the right school for every child, but it is the right fit for our family. When my kids were little, I heard great things about the school, but I took it upon myself to look into public, private and Christian schools that were within 10 miles of our house. I didn't want to like Manzano, but I was blown away at the open house. Fourth graders were showing us around the school, and were so respectful and articulate. I didn't want to have to pay for private school tuition for my kids, but when you see the beautiful campus and all the resources the school has to offer (including the teachers of course), you have no doubt where the money goes. Yes, there are some "wealthy" families that go to this school, but there are also 2 parents working families that rely on financial aid to help them pay for school. It's the diversity among the families of this school that help make it so great. We value a well-rounded education while providing a nurturing, safe environment for our kids.
Submitted by parent on August 23, 2011

Just to clarify, my review today listed me as a teacher, but I am a PARENT of children attending MDS.
Submitted by parent on December 24, 2010

There are no perfect schools, not even close to perfect schools in Albq, and Manzano is just another (more expensive) one. They do integrate the arts better than most schools, which is nice. Having required chorus is a real bonus for singers. However, the top students are competitive (rather, their families are, which trickles down to the children); many kids get outside tutoring in math to try to stay in the top; and the writing program doesn't emphasize enough grammar, punctuation or spelling. But, it's a good school for a certain type of social community. The campus is also beautiful.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2010

My child just finished preKindergarten year and we are impressed beyond our expectations. Our daughter loved every day. By the end of the year she had acquired skilled in reading, Spanish, and computer. I had tried previously to get her interested in Spanish to no avail. But somehow at Manzano she was inspired to learn Spanish better than I did in high school. She now corrects my pronunciation! Also my child tends to be shy and not expressive. Her class had "Show and Tell" every week. When her day arrived each week she was too shy to "present" something to her class, yet her teacher never pressured her. Finally after a few fun poster projects, she actually got up in front of the class and talked about her topic. She progressed further than I imagined, and in a fun, nurturing environment. She loves manzano and so do we!!
Submitted by parent on March 30, 2010

i have essentially nothing positive to say about my child's experiences at manzano day school except that he made some good friends. my son was there for three years; he left to attend a public school and was truly unprepared for his grade level. it has taken him months to catch up, but he has caught up (finally) and is even excelling. manzano is well below average for teaching the writing skills; their math program is terrible. the kicker is that we paid an outrageous amount of money to manzano, assuming that they were at least teaching him something, but apparently not. in my opinion pretty much every other private school in albuquerque is a better place to send your kids. by the way, i read through the other reviews and suspect that people affiliated with the school or the board are padding them--blocks of reviews left on the same day?