Children's Community School

14702 Sylvan Street

Van Nuys, CA 91411

43 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-6
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on December 05, 2024

The community is inclusive and supportive. The children are actively engaged and love learning. I highly recommend CCS.
Submitted by parent on November 24, 2024

Where to start...I know: Tony Wagner's book Creating Innovators is spot on. The Progressive pedagogy of CCS is ideal in terms of what kids need today, in a world that is quite a bit different than what we had in the US during the industrial revolution. At CCS kids will become life long learners, they graduate with a sense of curiosity and imagination, while at the same time being rock solid in STEM.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2024

The school's curriculum meets every child where they are and challenges them to grow, it is highly experiential and all subjects are integrated into studies that provide context and allow children to pursue their curiosity in a meaningful way. The teachers and specialists are unbelievable, they constantly reflect on their practice with rigor and always strive to get better at their craft. All decisions at the school are based on what is best for the children. Socioeconomic diversity is really important with the school providing financial assistance to a very high percentage of families. The new Head of School has brought amazing new energy to the community. If you are considering a progressive education for your child, you should definitely check CCS out.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2024

Children’s Community School (CCS) is a nurturing, inclusive environment where social-emotional growth and community come first. CCS places each child’s unique needs and strengths at the center of their approach, treating every student as a valuable individual and an integral part of a larger, supportive community.One of the things I love most about CCS is its project-based learning approach, which makes learning an engaging and collaborative experience. My son thrives in this setting—he’s encouraged to ask questions, explore deeply, and work on real-world projects that require critical thinking and creativity. This approach isn’t just about academics; it’s about fostering curiosity, resilience, and empathy, values that CCS believes are as crucial as any traditional skill.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2024

Children’s Community School is like no other and in my opinion is the best whole child learning environment for primary age kids. Children are actively engaged in their learning both academically and social-emotionally. They are learning the value of being involved citizens in democracy, caring and supportive friends, and advocates for their needs. Both of my children have thrived enormously at this school thanks to the progressive ideology and the stellar teachers and administrators who know and care about every single child there. CCS meets every child where they are at, ensuring each kid is successful. I’m so grateful to CCS. Thank you!
Submitted by parent on November 17, 2023

Attending CCS is a wonderful journey filled with inspiration, diversity and freedom for your child to express and be themselves. They have wonderful programs and the teachers and staff are amazing. You feel embraced and inspired at CCS. This place is really a gem. We travel a great distance to come to CCS and it’s so worth it. Our child loves CCS. He’s eager to be involved and to learn. We our so grateful to be part of the CCS community.
Submitted by parent on September 27, 2023

I have 2 children affiliated with CCS. My son who graduated CCS after completing K-6 and my daughter who currently attends. My children have thrived extraordinarily well at CCS, academically, socially, emotionally and developmentally as a whole child. The faculty, staff and HOS all know both of my children, not just by name, but deeply - their interests, who they are as people, as learners, what makes them tick, their strengths and stretches. The teachers and staff have truly been phenomenal partners in this stage of my children’s lives, positively supporting their development. To put it simply, my children have only ever been happy going to school at CCS. They have such a love for learning, they have agency in their education, they learn to think critically, to problem solve and to be kind humans. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Lastly, I have no doubt, that my CCS graduate is thriving at Oakwood School thanks in large part to his primary school years at CCS. It is an amazing school!
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2023

My wife and I toured several schools before narrowing it down to CCS. We wanted an extension of what our daughter learned at her preschool, and CCS offered this and so much more. They teach the kids to advocate for themselves, to explore and be excited about learning, and they celebrate diversity on all levels! There is energy and excitement when you walk on campus, coming from the teachers, staff, and most importantly, the students. Our daughter has already grown immensely in her short time here so far and my wife and I are beyond excited to see her continued growth.Lastly, the community. This is the community that my wife and I were looking to join. The parents support each other. We have never felt like an outsider. Everybody makes an effort to build each other up and be present for all of the kids.Wish I had this experience when I was in grade school.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2023

Parents looking at independent K-6 schools in the valley, I cannot say enough good things about Children's Community School. If you're interested in progressive education, this is the school for you - they truly walk the walk. I didn’t know what this type of education was like before my daughter went here. It’s a dream! Her & her friends come home everyday from school saying “It was great” and “I love school.” I often get told my daughter is the most intelligent kid they know. It’s because CCS trusts kids to be self-directed learners through hands on education (no textbooks or worksheets) and they learn to love learning. I can’t go back to looking at public schools anymore :)
Submitted by parent on December 11, 2021

This school does not practice the values it teaches. The leadership has poor communication. Pedagogy is no more than adequate, certainly not at the level that would elevate this school over most charters. Don't waste your money.
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2020

Unbelievably positive. Our son has a May birthday so we had considered "redshirting" him but the school suggested he was ready to go to kindergarten and, boy, were they right. It hasn't even been 6 months and we have seen and explosion in development: reading, writing, numbers, patterns, music, gross motor and fine motor skills, but most importantly, his social skills, understanding of problem solving in an organizational framework and emotional intelligence. It's not common core or trying to reach a "milestone" so we as parents can have the (false) emotional security that our child is "above average" or whatever. CCS is teaching our kids the real life skills they will need to survive and thrive in a world where most of the jobs we have today will have been replaced by robot and artificial intelligence.
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2018

My daughter enjoys school and learning. All the kids are treated as individuals that matter. This is the best opportunity for her, attending this progressive school. Her confidence is growing, her ability to express herself, problem solve, communicate and she really enjoys the project based learning!
Submitted by parent on May 12, 2018

It is an extremely thoughtful, unselfish, unpretentious community of families and educators.
Submitted by parent on May 12, 2018

We have been at children's community school for 8 years. My older daughter graduated last year and is currently in middle school at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks. My younger daughter has 2 years to go. We have loved being a part of children's community and I believe that I am a better parent for it! We will have a very hard time leaving our little community, but we have made lifelong friends there and will always be connected to the school.
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2018

My children are self-possessed and strong girls. They ask questions. They have opinions. All the stuff that matters they learned at CCS.
Submitted by parent on February 27, 2017

There are so many reasons we love Children's Community School! The school promotes the kinds of values and principles that we want to instill in our child: emotional intelligence, inclusiveness, social justice, and kindness. It encourages creativity, teamwork, problem-solving and self-empowerment. And it is helping to produce a generation of people that will care about each other. We love that it is committed to having a diverse school population. We also love that it is smaller by design. These things allow every teacher to know and understand every child, and to honor different personalities and learning styles. CCS teachers (and all of the staff) work so hard and are so thoughtful about creating a rich, dynamic and multi-layered learning and social experience for every single child. We have learned a lot about our child from her teachers. Having their insightful perspective has been a huge gift to us.CCS is a truly rare and unique environment, and we feel so grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy this experience. Our child loves going to school every day. She seems to have learned to read overnight. She loves math. She loves music and dance. She loves her field trips. She loves her teachers. It just doesn't get any better than CCS.
Submitted by parent on December 31, 2016

I couldn't ask for more in a school. I have two very different children enrolled here and they serve the needs of both equally. The teach how to learn, not just memorization of information- so my children are eager to dive into new projects and know how to tackle them. Being a small school, teachers (happy teachers, by the way) are able to help children when in need, but also how to teach them to help themselves. The graduating classes have children who are ready, excited, and hungry for the next steps in their education. You have to take a tour to get a feel- fantastic school.
Submitted by parent on November 15, 2016

On this Tuesday after the 2016 Presidential election, I am happy that my children attend CCS. CCS values diversity in students, families, and staff and ecourages students to speak their mind and to respectfully hear their peers' points of view, especially when they are different from their own.
Submitted by other on October 21, 2016

We have been at Children's Community School since my son was in kindergarten. He is now in the 6th Grade. We chose this school because of its focus on social emotional growth, its intimacy, its community spirit, the progressive style of teaching and their approach to developing of the whole person. We have been delighted with our experience. Our son has grown to love school and learning. I was able to join the school on a trip to Sacramento to go to Sutter's Mill and walk through the mining caves as they studied the gold rush. I remember learning that from a text book, wow how the learning came alive!. Their hands on approach of learning, the project based learning, the 1:1 approach, the style of making learning come to life has been excellent for our son and our family. He has loved playing sports in after school where he can play soccer or basketball or toss the football. He and we have loved the integrative grade format. We have loved being able to be involved as parents. Whether it was reading with young kids in the library, or serving hot lunch, or engaged in helping to plan the community fair we have enjoyed getting to know the other parents and the staff/faculty. Everyone who is a part of this community is wonderful and accessible. The administrators are all easily accessible and the parent/teacher conferences and the access to the head of school and everyone else is available. The written reports are wonderful and their approach to learning couldn't be better. We so love this school and will be sad to leave in the spring, but know that my son is ready to move on and is a more empowered person for having been a part of this excellent community.
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2016

CCS is a gem. The class sizes are small (around 15), 2 teachers per 7 students. The education is individualized and highly structured, yet, from the kids' perspectives, they feel they are making all the choices-best of both worlds. The teachers are constructing the curriculum from the ground up every year, responding to current events and kids interests, and highly scaffolding the experience. What is exceptional is that 10 to 15% of the student body lives at poverty level or below-- so the school has TRUE diversity, but still provides a highly elite private school education. Math is a focus, and is integrated into everything. Homework is manageable and makes sense (comes out of the classroom, usually skills based). ALL primary source material-- like the real world. Creates entrepreneurs/thinkers. Kids are articulate and self possessed. And confident-- even 6th grade boys will choreograph and dance. Beyond special.