Stratford Middle School

1718 Andover Lane

San Jose, CA 95124

12 Reviews

School District
Grade

6-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by student on March 02, 2024

I have gone to this school for three years and it has been pretty terrible.
Submitted by student on December 13, 2023

I am a current student at this school and I believe there are better options. My first reason for this is because you will get made fun of if you are any different from the other children. And when you tell a trusted adult who works at the school about it, they won’t put in much effort to do anything. Another reason is the staff. Some of the staff are completely fine, but some of them are mean and don’t even know what they’re doing. For example, some of the staff complain about having to do their job when they applied for it. Some of the staff are just not suitable for teaching, and some of them are kind of like bullies to the other teachers. Some staff have even made kids cry before! Another reason is that there is only one security guard. This reason isn’t as important, but I feel like there should be at least 2 security guards outside the school at all times. They should also be wearing vests so the parents pulling out of parking lot can see them. Now, this isn’t for the school to blame, but the parents really don’t know how to drive! I’ve seen at least 4 car accidents almost take place. Overall, I feel like this school isn’t the best pick and there are many other better options.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2023

this school is good for safety for your kids; however, the promise of understanding and nurturing your kid’s growth is stretching the truth. I only email the teacher sporadically but was put on the ignore list. The smaller student/teacher ratio is supposed to help the child but it seems like it only caters to those whose kids are sharp or those parents who can afford extra resources for their children.
Submitted by student on November 27, 2022

I am a student writing a review from this school and I give the school a 4 star review because while I like the teachers and kids at the school, Whenever it rains or it gets too hot, it is always a pain to walk from period to period because it is an outdoor campus meaning when we walk to the school periods, we always have to walk outdoors.
Submitted by parent on July 09, 2022

My son has been with Stratford since pre-school. He likes the teachers and made lots of friends there. He will be a rising 8th grader in SJMS this coming fall. There are few private schools in the bay area, what we love about Stratford middle school is their STEAM program, culture, and caring teachers. Their afterschool program is great too. Kids can join many different clubs per their interests, such as Speech and debate, Drama, Computer programing, Math, basketball, just name a few, best of all they are all free. The teachers are very responsive, they will email me and let me know when my kid did something brilliant in the class or if he needs some help in certain area. Last but not least, they have an amazing Principle, Mr. Caliva is very much involved in students life, he knows the students by their names, every morning you can see him greeting the kids and taking temperature with other faculty members when dropping off the kids at school during covid.
Submitted by student on May 12, 2021

I am not saying this school is the worst. The main reason i'm rating this school a 2 (maybe possibly a one) is the location. Location location location as some people say, this school is in a terrible area. You want to know how bad the area is right. Let me just tell you it is TERRIBLE. There is a lot of crime there, and you can see that there are 1. Smoking people 2. Drug dealers (and/or drug shops) 3. Homeless people on the streets right next to the school 4. Shops that have been broken into multiple times and 5. Graffiti walls almost everywhere. This ABSOLUTELY does not make a student, or their parent/s feel comfortable of going into that environment. But every day your child goes to this school they will see the horrid area this school is in. This is not a safe environment for kids. Period. I have been in Stratford for about 8 years *and almost 9 years*. I remember being nervous on going to middle school because it would be a large change for me. I also remember going there on a field trip, I got to see how middle school works but I did not pay attention to the area. The second time I went their with my parents we got worried and we started looking around the school. It was utterly messy and full of graffiti, broken glass, and other people and things included in earlier sentences. This was very disappointing for my parents and I, so we chose to go to another school.Teachers are pretty good depending on which teachers you are assigned to. Their are some really great teachers, and there are bad ones. It really which teachers you get. As I have been in online academy in Stratford Middle School for 1 (school year) I have seen how disappointing Stratford Middle school is. I was hoping for a nice time in Stratford School (as I have had pretty good experiences in elementary school) but Middle School was not like it. At first, the school didn't really try to create social activities for students, now they have stopped, and I have made 0 friends in my class for the past 9 months, it has been very very lonely except for friends from elementary school. And even in the in person school there are not really many social activities at all.Does this sound like a good experience or a nice place to be in? Can you make more friends in online academy in this school? No.Some of the teachers that have taught me many lessons and I have learned a LOT from them, thank you to these teachers. And also the good teachers provide a great learning environment for students.
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2019

Overall, the middle school on Andover does not live up to the Stratford standard of excellence.
Submitted by parent on June 28, 2018

My child was intellectually challenged and hungry to learn during the 6th and 7th grade. Some of the good teachers have left since then and the gap in the quality of teaching and the positive environmennt instilled by those teachers remain to be filled.
Submitted by other on August 19, 2014

I am going to be an 8th grader at Stratford Middle School in a week. 2 years flew by quite fast! Let me just say that attending this middle school has been an amazing part of my life and I have definitely learned so much. I have many teachers that care about me; of course there will be some that won't like you, but for the most part I am well liked. Stratford has definitely prepared me in math, history, English, literature, Spanish, and performing arts. I am amazed that I have learned so much while attending. But I do see students getting teased often. But luckily, this is a no-bullying zone. Mrs. Schwartz, our principal, handles it quite well. I suffered social-wise this year, mostly because the pressure to fit in is quite intense. You are teased if you get the answer wrong in class; I never wanted to raise my hand mostly because I was scared that guys would laugh at me if I got the answer wrong. Girls gossip...a lot. It's hard to have many friends. But you will find someone to hang out with, and that is all you really need, a true friend. But other than that, Stratford is definitely a great school academically. Our teachers prepare us for HS admissions.
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2014

My son has gone to Stratford for middle school. He has blossomed and gained confidence, and built great friendship. The teachers have been very caring and inspiring. He found it challenging in the first semester due to coming from a public school, but picked up quickly. I would highly recommend this school. It is very well balanced academically and with extra curricular activities.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2014

Stratford Middle School includes after school activities in the cost of tuition, but my child does not have the time to participate in any of them. He is too busy studying all of the time. Many parents say this, but the teachers and administration deny it. The education is not well-rounded at all. The teachers are caring, but their solution to any problem seems to be to pile more after school work onto the students. The kids are overworked and stressed. On the bright side, the students seem very kind to each other. They seem to have great attitudes towards each other.
Submitted by parent on May 29, 2013

My child has been at Stratford since Pre-k and now attends the middle school. One thing I notice at the middle school is there is not a school/life balance. There's alot of homework plus studying for tests that is involved on a weekly basis. Unless your child is one that all they like to do is study, then this is the school for you. My child likes to play and be social, but cannot because all they do is study. I'm for working hard, but as a kid you need the weekends to have fun and that is not happening for my child. I've talk to several parents and the consensus is the same. Stratford is a very good school, but there is more to life than studying all the time.