Challenger - Sunnyvale

1185 Hollenbeck Ave

Sunnyvale, CA 94087

9 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK, K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by other on October 18, 2024

The morning drop off lines are crazy and no order. It creates traffic and back up for 20+min in morning
Submitted by parent on April 21, 2023

I am a parent of a child who transferred to Challenger from public school. He had a great time in public school and the teachers were very dedicated, but we wanted a different curriculum and more challenging homework for him. He's absolutely thriving in Challenger, even though it does require more reminders and supervision on our part, just to make sure he completes the assignments. He's already fairly social, and he adapts easily to new environments, so we haven't had any issues with the transition (although kids with a different temperament may experience a new school in general, and Challenger in particular, differently). Overall, we're glad to have him attend the school. It does require a lot of work on his part compared to his previous school, but he's learning a lot and he loves attending. We both work full time and were interested in a school that we could trust to direct and support his education - Challenger works for us.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2023

This school teaches you absolutely nothing. All you get is depression and stress. Instead of torturing your child at Challenger send them to Harker or someplace else. This school assigns way too much homework and teachers yell and students. The admin and teachers here are incredibly disrespectful to parents and never respond to emails. I would not recommend sending your child to Challenger. They're better off at Basis or Harker.
Submitted by parent on July 26, 2021

Great school, caring teaching staff and principle. We transferred to Challenge from out of state in 2019. There is a disconnection in terms what was taught in the previous school vs what's been taught/required here. Ms. Murali was very kind and assured us that she and her staff will help us to close the gap, and they DID! English teacher Ms. Arura my daughter needs improvement in our grammar diagramming. She volunteered to spend 1 hour everyday after school, for 4 weeks, with my daughter to improve this area. Ms. Arura was doing similar things for another boy in a lower grade, and she asked my daughter if she mind doing the afterschool session with the boy. My daughter preferred to have 1:1 sessions. No problem at all. Ms. Arura did the session 1:1 with my daughter, in addition to the other session she was having with that boy(also 1:1).During the pandemic, the school offered both in person and online option. Even though there were only 6 person in her grade opted for in person, the school continued to provide great learning experience. Dedicated teach for most subjects, as well teaching assistant sitting through all classes.During the application season, Ms. Murali provide very tailored and detailed guidance on the application processes of various highs cool. She also followed with us almost monthly on the progress and provide suggestions on the next steps.The past 18 month has been challenging but we're so glad we chose Challenger Sunnyvale. We're successfully admitted to a great private school. We can't do this without Ms. Murali and all her extraordinary staff.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2019

Both my kids went to this school and came out with a great experience
Submitted by other on September 06, 2014

Teacher's yell at students and are unreasonably strict. I remember one of my classmates once used his hands to manually tear holes into a paper. The teacher got so mad she yelled at him and then showed the paper to another teacher to embarrass him. Another time, when I showed a story I had written to a teacher who happened to be in the class while the other teacher had some errands to run, the teacher got so mad that she made me stand in front of the class and yelled at me for 10 minutes, calling me "disgraceful." Apart from the irrational discipline, the classes were incredibly hard. Teachers were very stringent on how an assignment could be done (for example, after writing a heading on your paper, if you skipped two lines instead of one, you would get a zero). The school also only focuses on academics. No sports, no electives. For those parents who think that this terror-style education is the best way to ensure success in the future, think again. I only went here for two years (the rest was at a public school), hated it, and now study at UC Berkeley. Many of my Challenger classmates are either doing just as well as me (if not worse). Invest in a good public school.
Submitted by other on July 28, 2014

I'd give it 0 stars if I could. The teachers yell at students, thinking that's the only way to get students' respect. Instead of earning our respect, they try to force it out of us. Also, some teachers are bullies. For instance, they feel the need to embarrass the students they don't prefer, even insulting them. One teacher insulted me and made the whole class laugh at me just because I was different. The worst part is, she didn't even realize that what she did was wrong until somebody told her. Also, the principal is biased. When she wanted this student on student council, she MADE SURE she was on the council even though she got less votes, making up a new position for her! How ridiculous. There shouldn't even be a voting if she's going to do things like that. Also, the teachers and staff FORCE the students to buy the stuff the council is selling, otherwise we'd get some privileges taken away. I can't believe even after paying the expensive tuition, they're STILL trying to make more money since they spent all the tuition money on useless garbage. LITERALLY. They bought new trash cans and rocks. This place is a joke.
Submitted by other on October 01, 2013

I used to go here when I was in PRESCHOOL, 10 years ago, and the teachers that I had seriously needed to learn how to treat children. To start off, I used to have these hiker boots that had shoelaces and they kept on untying, so I would always ask the teachers to help me tie them. They got mad and told me to buy slip on shoes, but I didn't so they made me take off my shoes everyday until I got a new pair that they didn't need to "help me" with. Also, I used to play dinosaurs with my friends during playtime and I accidentally cut myself once with it and went to one of my teachers and asked for a ban-aid while crying. She was apparently too "busy" stapling stuff (what a lame excuse) on the wall, so she told me to go to the other teacher since there were two teachers in the class. I went to her and she told me that the cut was nothing, so I went back to the other teacher. I ended up running back and forth to the two teachers for a band-aid like a million times until I threw a fit and screamed & got a time-out. "Sunnyvale" Challenger needs to work on hiring the RIGHT teachers. (I hope that the teachers that I had are fired now)
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2013

I decided to write this review because I feel obligated to let other parents know what is happening in this school. This school will cripple your child physically, socially and emotionally. How? While Mrs. Obama is trying to fight child obesity in this county, if a child misbehaves, it is Challenger's policy to refuse the whole class PE and recess. We have laws requiring employers to provide breaks at work, but these children have no rights. There are no real PE class or PE teachers, or sports but they will give your child barely passing grade for PE based on some standards that only they know about. And if you think Challenger is strong academically - you are wrong. They are teaching memorization. All they do is use textbooks from higher grades and give more homework instead of making sure that children actually learn. But you know what you child will learn at this school for sure? The saying: "It is not what you know- it is who you know". No matter how good you child is, the awards and prizes in all competitions will go to children of Challenger teachers. The worst part is that the kids know what is happening. I am utterly disgusted by this institution.