Heritage Oak Private School

We couldn't be happier with our experience at Heritage Oak. From the day we enrolled, we felt welcomed by a community that truly values students' growth and well-being. The teachers are very knowledgeable, approachable, and genuinely invested in each child's success. A big thank you to all Middle School Teachers- Miss Miller, Mrs. Bloomingdale, Mrs. Pradere, Mrs. Leimkuhler, Mrs. Burgos, Mrs. Quintana, Mrs. Cheung, Miss Kyte, Mrs. Yoon, Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Willig, Mr. Hubbard, Mr. Bloomingdale, Mr. Chavarria and Mr. Portocarrero. Also a big shout out to the MS Principal- Mrs. Tafolla for always being on top of everything. Lastly, thank you to Mrs. Jackson- Head of the School for letting us be a part of the amazing HOPE community. The curriculum is challenging yet balanced, with opportunities for creativity, critical thinking, and real-world learning. Communication with families is consistent and helpful, and we always feel informed and supported. We highly recommend this school to everyone.

Heritage Oak School has truly been a blessing for our family. From the moment we walked onto campus, we felt the warmth, structure, and genuine care that define this school. The environment is safe, nurturing, and beautifully organized to help children grow socially, emotionally, and academically. But the true highlight of our experience has been Mrs. Snyder, my daughter's Kindergarten teacher. She is everything you would hope for in an educator--kind, patient, incredibly dedicated, and gifted at understanding each child's unique needs. My daughter absolutely loves going to school every day because of her. Mrs. Snyder makes learning exciting, encourages curiosity, and creates a classroom atmosphere full of joy, confidence, and kindness

Peaceful school to go for my friend's kids. Nice folks & safe to come. Clean place all around. Spiritually in touch too.

Our family feels incredibly grateful to be part of the HOPE community. Both Ethan and Edwin truly enjoy their time at school -- every day they come home happy and excited to share what they've learned. What we appreciate most is that they're not only growing academically, but also developing important life skills such as responsibility, kindness, and good habits. The teachers and staff genuinely care about the students, creating a positive and supportive environment where children can thrive both in learning and in life.

Great school. My son was there from age 3-10, and we are only leaving to move out of state. The education is top notch.

They offer great classes here! I have a friend who had a great experience here! Just before we went to Japan everyone took classes here. When we visited Japan our classes really helped us understand a lot

My son is currently attending and my daughter will join him this September. We chose HOPE because it's very close to where we live but that's not the main reason. We love the size of the school. It's not too big so every staff and faculty knows each child. They also offer in school tutor and piano lessons. My son also joins the reading club and we've noticed his reading skill has improved significantly within one semester It is too bad that they don't have high school but we plan to have both of children attend all the way to 8th grade

Our daughter has attended Heritage Oak since 1st grade and we've always been so grateful for the teachers and staff! This year, we've had the pleasure to have Mrs. Bernard. Mrs. Bernard is kind, dedicated, well-balanced and strives for academic excellence! We appreciate all she does!

This is a great academic school. Great experience while we were there. The curriculum is 1 year ahead. This is good for some but creates pressure for others.

Summer Camp Review (only pertains to Summer Camp): Too expensive and too crowded. Much better off with City or other camps. We registered our 7-y old daughter at HO for "Specialty Summer Camp" a couple of months ago and we received an email stating that the classes are from 9:30 AM to 4:00 pm for one week, which made sense given the $$$ we had to pay for it. On the first day of camp (July 2021) after we dropped off our daughter, we got a call that the time on the confirmation email is an error and we should pick her up and bring her back at 12:45 PM as the class is only in the afternoons!!! This by itself was a big inconvenience as we both work and had planned for our daughter to be full-day at the camp for that week. We fully understand that errors happen, but the sad part is that the management did not step up to correct their own error which was a big disappointment. If it's your error, you fix it! The other big disappointment was that our daughter was not happy at all with the camp and was bored :( The specialty camp was for "pre-coding" and it seems like all day long they've been playing with a few Apps and not much of learning was involved. So we ended up paying a lot of money for one week of half-day camps with not much of excitement or educational value for our daughter. I should add that in addition to this camp, we have registered our daughter at other camps for the entire summer, most of them 1/2 or 1/3 of what they charge at HO. So far, she's enjoyed the ones by City of Anaheim the most :) In a nutshell, I believe Heritage Oak's summer camp was too expensive for what you get, specially given that there are so many better options available closby (including City of Yorba Linda, City of Brea and specially City of Anaheim).

Our kids (ages 3 and 6) started attending Heritage Oak in September 2020. There were a lot of uncertainties at that time due to the pandemic. Thankfully, Heritage Oak was able to obtain a waiver that allowed the school to open on campus full-time (there was also a distance learning option which we did not choose). Our family was impressed with how quickly the administration was able to smoothly adopt new drop-off/pick-up and social distancing processes. It has been almost a full school year and our kids love it there and learn so much every day. The teachers make learning fun, and they really get to know each child and help them to develop in all areas (academically, socially, and physically). Our 6-year-old is advanced in math and his teacher proactively gives him assignments that are at the appropriate level for him. Our 3-year-old's teachers are very nurturing and have sent us messages letting us know how much they enjoy spending time with him. The teachers also send us emails to keep us informed about what they are focusing on each week. As a mother, it gives me peace of mind knowing that my children are in great hands. Sending our kids to Heritage Oak was one of the best decisions we have made and we couldn't be happier. We highly recommend this school!

This is our third year at HOPE and while no school is perfect, Heritage Oak is pretty darn close. My older two children were enrolled in other schools prior to us learning about HOPE and unfortunately, I found that their social/emotional/educational needs were not being met at these other schools. When I heard about Heritage Oak, it sounded like it might be a good fit for our 4 children. Needless to say, after our initial tour, we were ready to enroll our kids despite it being a bit far from our house. We have found being at HOPE has been well worth the time commitment and financial investment. The academics are extremely strong, the staff is incredibly caring and communicative, and the facilities are great. While many schools also have strong academics, there are several things that set HOPE apart from these other high achieving private schools. First is their commitment to educating the whole child. Students learn not just a year ahead academically, but they also learn how to have good manners and how to be kind to each other. This is taught through cotillion classes and character cards. As the kids get older, they are encouraged to join the Husky Heroes and Kindness Crew, which are two wonderful programs that promote philanthropy and kindness. Second is through their incredible music program. Violins are put into kids hands in 1st grade! I can't tell you how amazing that is. Sure the kids don't know what they're doing at first, but as they get older, they become quite proficient. While learning to play is important, the school also understands how important the correlation between music and learning is, particularly when it comes to math. There have been numerous studies that have come to the conclusion that when your child learns a musical instrument that they tend to have better math outcomes. As your child gets older, they get to join orchestra or band in 4th grade. Again, I don't know any other schools that have full, practicing orchestras starting in 4th grade. This really teaches your child not only music theory, but also how to work cooperatively within a group environment. Finally, through their tailored personalized learning plans (or PLP). The school does a great job of assessing your child throughout the year (and no, this isn't to meet state standards), it is purely to see how your child is doing so that they can reach their highest potential. Their education needs are really tailored to meet your child where they're at. If your child needs a bit more help, they have on-site tutors available. If your child is even more accelerated than their peers, then they are willing to also make those accommodations to ensure your child is being properly challenged. The preschool program at HOPE is also excellent. Mrs Twomey is a wonderful director of the program and she knows each student by name. The program does a great job integrating learning through play or crafts for many subjects, which is perfect for that age group. They have a great program called Smart Start for Pre-Kindergarteners that teaches them all about different cultures and places around the world. My older daughter would come home raving about the things she learned, for example one day she gave me a whole lesson about the Egyptian Pyramids. Two of my children have gone through the preschool program there and they both grew so much during that time. My older daughter was more than ready academically, socially, and emotionally because of the preschool program to start elementary school this year. HOPE's summer camp is amazing as well. I think it provides a great mix of both educational, but also fun summer learning opportunities for its campers. I appreciate that it has something for everyone, particularly for our family of 4 kids that range from Pre-K to middle school. It makes it so easy to have one drop off and one pick up all while also knowing that your kids are doing something fun, educational, and age appropriate. I could go on and on. Like I mentioned prior, no school is perfect. Heritage Oak has terrible parking and I dislike that it is right off such a busy road, but for us it definitely checks the boxes that are most important to us, and it fits our family priorities very well. I highly recommend.

Found the picture of my daughter's face with the bite marks. I'm uploading it here. It's been years & we still haven't forgotten that experience. It's true what the other reviewer says about Heritage Oak pushing parents to get tutors for their children. I remember when we were there we were asked to get tutors all the time, even when my daughter was doing good in class. One low test result will be enough to get them to talk to you about getting a tutor. I'm sorry but I lost my respect for that school that year. They talk about teaching children etiquette, respect & developing sound character traits, but the leaders themselves don't seem to practice those traits. Spend your money somewhere, where you & your children will be treated well. Thank you for reading my post!

This review has been long over do! We are finally at the end of summer and we completed our 4th summer at the Heirtage oak summer camp! I cannot say enough amazing things. It's so hard to find such a well organized fun camp that spans the entire summer. There are so many camp options from main camp to speciality camp that can be customize for both AM/PM schedules and changes every week! They have fun camps like cooking, singing, acting, playing and also academically geared camps for reading, math, etc.. and the staff and teachers are so so sweet! I adore them - they answer all of my endless questions, make sure we have everything we need, great at communicating and letting us know the schedule, things to expect. I especially loved when I picked up my children one on the elementary side and one on the preschool side the staff always took those moments to tell me they were great and had a nice time. They are always smiling, willing to help, and I could not recommend the school enough!

While this review is about the first grade teacher, Mrs. Prince, it's also a review about the school from the top down. I wanted to take the time to express my appreciation to Mrs. Prince. Since day 1 my son has come home from school and goes through three phases. Phase 1 is he raves about his day. Phase 2 is complaining about how he was challenged and phase 3 is how he overcame the challenge. Like clockwork, it's wash, rinse and repeat every day. The thrill of these small victories would not be possible without the patience and constructive teaching of Mrs. Prince. Day in and day out, she is able to bring out the best of my son. There are many students in the class and many personalities and learning curves. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Mrs. Prince has been able to identify my sons in a short time and highlight his strengths to boost his confidence and work through his weaknesses. As parents, this is all we can ask for. We believe our son was big underdog going into this school year. (I'm sure every parent in 2020 feels this way about their child) He only received a half year of Kindergarten education and now he's been thrown to the wolves and learning second grade curriculum. Not being able to read fluently was a major concern if we would be able to continue this year. His confidence was shot and he was struggling with homework and independent work. Fast forward six weeks into the school year and he's trying to read EVERYTHING!!! Once again this would not be possible without the patience and constructive teaching of Mrs. Prince. Unfortunately, our household has been in quarantine. Therefore, during the past couple weeks, I was able to witness, firsthand, what I've assumed all along. Mrs. Prince's patience and teaching manner was able to maximize each student's ability to get the work done. There are obvious distance learning distractions, but the perseverance to continue to work through technology hurdles and other hurdles all while showing tolerance and encouragement from Mrs. Prince shined through. We look forward to the rest of the school year and can't wait to see how much more joy of learning Mrs. Prince brings to the table.

Our daughters completed their 1st year at HOPE. They grew so much academically and socially. Their teachers are amazing and the staff is always so kind and helpful. We have made wonderful friendships because of HOPE.

So I wrote my original review of Heritage Oak in 2012 and thought it was time or an update. Since the original review, our son has attended Heritage Oak for the last 6 years and I honestly couldn't be any happier! It really is everything they promised us. We have been blessed with amazing teachers who care about the individual child and give each of them the attention they need. They offer music, art, computer, and language classes, which I am sure he wouldn't be getting at the public school. We are able to communicate with the teachers and other faculty members and we usually receive messages back pretty quickly. It's awesome picking our son up from school and not just having other kids know his name but having all the staff know it too. It shows they care...at least it does to me. There are pros and cons to every school but in my opinion, the pros far outweigh the negatives with Heritage Oak. If you are looking for a school for your child I still believe that you owe it to yourself and your child to visit Heritage Oak and then decide for yourself. I'm looking forward to sending our son here for many more years. Special shout-out to Mrs. Nichols for being an AWESOME second-grade teacher! Thank you!!!!

My son still recalls being hit and bullied at Heritage Oak. It is so unfortunate that the school allows it. Reading the recent lawsuit, I feel bad that we did not stand up for our son. The school really needs to figure out how to deal with bullying.

The owners of this school are very shady, rude, and greedy. It's all a facade and fake. The only reason I keep sending my kids here and spending far too much is because of the teachers. They are the heart and soul of this school, but I can tell they were overwhelmed, overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated this past year. The principal is all about manners, but they are not honest. The school ran a fundraiser and raised an incredible amount of money that was supposed to go to teachers, water fountains, and equipment. We didn't see any o that - at least not me. Where did the money go? A lot of parents have questions about it but are afraid to ask because wen get shut down by the owners. They even asked parents to donate for teacher appreciation again! What about the money from the fundraiser? During lockdown we visited my daughters teachers home and i couldn't believe she lived there - it's Obvious they don't pay their teachers good enough for them to live in nice homes. So where is are tuition going? Again, the teachers are great but I'm disappointed in the leadership, especially when they taklkso much about character education

I went to summer camp here in 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation and how it impacted my mom's work. We did not know much about it in advance but I begged within a week to please go to regular school here also and my mom said OK. I said it was the best camp I had ever been to and my mom was impressed with the academics even at the summer camp level, where you don't expect a lot of reading or science stuff to be going on in general.

Our son Julien attends Heritage Oak. Since attending, he has grown exponentially in his academics, social skills and the arts. Julien is our only son so finding the right school with the right environment and the right teachers were crucial elements for us. With leaders like Mrs. Twomey and teachers like Miss Davis and Miss Liang, Julien has grown so much and built his confidence in every aspect of his education. As his parents we are forever thankful for Heritage Oak and would highly recommend this school to anyone that's looking the next step for their kids. Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Chen

I have only great things to say about HOPE since bringing our daughter here for Pre-School, just now graduating from Kindergarten to the first grade! So far we have been blessed with great teachers, including Mrs. Twomey for Pre-K and most recently Mrs. Snyder for K. Their whole student approach across academics, arts & character development is a perfect fit for our family, and we have found the faculty and staff both open and receptive to our questions, concerns and suggestions. We would definitely recommend that you tour the school if you are considering a private track for your child. Academics trends ahead of public curriculum and will give a wonderful foundation for your children's education.

Our family believes that education is the best investment parents can make towards their children's lives. We have visited two other private schools in the area and HOPE is the best choice by far. We are impressed with the "educating the whole child" philosophy. We have been at HOPE for two years and have seen our son excel in both academics and social skills. At age 3, our son came home said "We thank the food in front of us today. We thank the hands that made it this way." The school is doing everything to teach young children to be kind and thankful. Values become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Before any academic skills, one should first learn how to be a person who is kind to others and therefore useful to the society and country. HOPE has started this approach at 2.5 years old. Another thing which is the most important thing our family decided to come to HOPE is the extremely knowledgeable staffs. Mrs Rhebergen gave us a detailed tour and answered all my questions patiently. For the two years in EL and PS, we have had the most amazing teachers. Miss B. Davis, Mrs Lee, Mrs Kuchel, Mrs Mayo and Miss Palmer have gone above and beyond to help our son grow in every way. When your 3.5 year old comes home not only able to recognize his own name, but also able to read all students' names in the class, you know your teachers have done a fantastic job and really take time to prepare all the lessons. Our director, Mrs Twomey, who is able to call out both students and parents' names. You know that she treats us like families. She knows how your child is doing in school. Small things like this means the director really cares about the children individually. Last but not least, the school has monthly assemblies from EL to PK starting at 2.5 years old. It is so adorable to watch your little ones on stage performing in front of over 100 parents at such young ages. It is amazing to watch them grow year after year and see their progresses on stage. This is not just teaching kids how to sing and dance, the school once again is building future courageous leaders. HOPE is the stepping stone of those future leaders. There are so many more good things to say about HOPE. We are proud to be a HUSKY and hope you and your family will be as well!

We have been a part of the HOPE family for 8 years and could not be happier with the eduction received for our three children. The teachers are friendly but push the children to strive for excellence. The campus is clean and safe. You can feel school spirit from the administration, the teachers and the support staff. Everyone is working towards the common goal of helping the children learn in a fun and safe environment. Heritage Oak develops the whole student and I would highly recommend you strongly consider this school for your children.

Sent my 4 year old here for their summer school program. From the very start things went wrong. I went to drop off paperwork for enrollment and the person at the front desk was extremely smirky towards me whilst wearing 2 face masks making it impossible to even communicate with her. She came off as a very unfriendly person, she even told me oh I don't have a tshirt for your son so oh well...but I brushed that off. Next being, I didn't get much instructions on things my son needed to bring with him nor drop off and pick up process which were all my questions to the front desk lady. So Monday morning comes around and of course we had a few things missing or done wrong but all was good, I had back ups for everything. If I hadn't had back ups, the received staff person told me that my son couldn't attend. Second day. Their pizza lunch for Wednesday sign up sheet was out and you had to leave $5 for your child. I only had a $10 bill with me and the lady who was also very unfriendly scolded me and said I could only leave a $5 and they have no change, she said if I didn't give them and exact $5 bill, my son would not receive pizza, so I ran down to gas station to get change. I payed $475 a week for him to attend and they can't help me out with my $10 bill? She wouldn't let me put that $10 in the envelope. Third day, I pick my son up and he sits in his car seat and screams ouch. I ask him what happened and he grabbed his head, as I examined him, he had a huge bump on the back of his head. The size of a golf ball bump. So I immediately call the school and I am assured that he was with teachers the entirety of his day and all of them said nothing happened to him. Massive bump on the back of my sons head is a total mystery. If I looked closely, skin almost broke. I take him to his pediatrician and she told me that he most definitely fell backwards and hit hard and it probably happened a couple hours ago. My son said he fell off of his chair. Thankfully, he was fine. Fourth day, I get a call from the front office one hour after dropping him off in the AM saying this is not an emergency, my son tripped on his backpack and mildly bumped his head against cubby, did not cry and to come and immediately pick him up. Well, people work and can't drop everything in one second if it's not an emergency. Next morning, my son has anxiety walking into school begging me not to drop him off because the make him take a 2 hour nap. I kindly asked a teacher at drop off if there was any other options for him to opt out of a nap and she very rudely said no, he's 4 he has to take a nap and lay still for 2 hrs and if you don't like that, then pull him out but you won't get your money back. Staff I encountered was just so cold and rude. It's not a great feeling to leave your precious kids with people like that. It's not a good feeling to be nickeled and dined for every instance when you are already paying a pretty penny. Nothing about the summer camp was educational or outstanding for that pricing. It was such a terrible 2 weeks for us.

Very bad school, the teachers are not responsible and they punish kids without reason. If you send your kids there in the same time kill your kid's confidence

I had a reasonably good experience at this school, which would merit a higher rating than 2 stars. However, I recently read about the lawsuit by the family of a transgender girl in August 2017, and I realized that I was not at all surprised by this turn of events. Still, I'm extraordinarily disappointed. I attended Heritage Oak from preK to 8th grade. Throughout my experience, the school culture encouraged conformity over diversity, (in many areas, not just that of gender expression/sexuality), and did not do nearly enough to support people of marginalized identities. While there are amazing individual teachers and a good academic program, that's simply not good enough if those resources are only available to those that fit their cookie-cutter idea of what it means to be a well-behaved child. If the administrators of Heritage Oak read this, I hope you realize this: your students will be gay. They will be trans. We will be the way that we have to be, and if you treat us poorly we will only suffer and resent you for it. You have the capacity to change change us for the worse if you make us go through trauma to express our true natures. We may not realize it until they've left your hostile environment, but we will eventually. And I hope you realize that you are treating CHILDREN badly because of your conservative, outdated values. I genuinely hope you change your behavior as a school & as administrators. There's so much potential in your program, but it is squandered if it is not welcome to everyone. (Also, I had teachers tell me when I was 7-10 years old that I was going to hell for not being a Christian!!! Seriously?!?)

I wanted to take a moment to share our positive experience at Heritage Oak. My child has attended now for 3 years on both the preschool as well as kindergarten level and I cannot be more happy with our experience. I have been very impressed with the teachers, the personal level of attention, the academics and the overall atmosphere of the school. My son looks forward to school and the school has fostered this interest both in challenging him in academics as well as taking an interest in his own passions outside of the school. Every one of the teachers he has had has been truly amazing. Particularly this past year going through the pandemic, I was exceedingly impressed with the organization of the school, the communication, and the interest the school has taken in keeping the children in the classroom safely. In such uncertain times the school managed to navigate the extraordinary circumstances while keeping parents informed, the children safe, and maintaining a constant for the children in such a crazy time. I cannot say enough positive things about Heritage Oak. We are so grateful for the opportunity to attend Heritage Oak and look forward to many more years as a Husky!

This place had an event with a guest speaker last night 3/7/13 @ 6:30 p.m., and due to traffice we arrived at 6:40. No one was attending to the gate leading to where we think they were having the event, there were no signs saying in which building it was being held, no phone number for someone to call so they'd come open the gate. A guy came down to open the gate for some other people that were wandering around in the parking lot and as we tried running over there, we yelled for him and they all turned around and just kept walking. Really unprofessional and unorganized event, not impressed at all.

We spent three years here(2015,2016,2017).I'm very sad about the time and money spent here.Here are the reasons. We moved on to a different school. 1.Too crowded classes.We had 24 kids in kindergarten and pre-k that was too crowded.My public school has 25 kids and they have two teachers. 2.Inexperienced teachers:We had 4 different teachers in pre-k(teachers turn around is very high in this school) and we had 2 different teachers in Kindergarten....The worst part of this teacher change was that they were all very inexperienced teachers.Ms Phygan (the principal)likes to hire teachers with little to no experience..Therefore these inexperience teachers dont know how to handle crowded classes with advanced curriculum., 3.They push for tutoring too much...In kindergarten we had 24 kids and 20 of them were going to tutoring..The teacher said to me that my child needs tutoring for handwriting...This is ridiculous...why do I need tutoring in kindergarten for handwriting and NO my child's handwriting is not that bad...she is in K and learning to write..All other kids were sent to reading ,math etc.. tutoring...crazy considering I'm already paying 15,000k for the school.No-one should go to tutoring when u pay this much money. 4.They have advanced curriculum and this was the reason why I chose this school three years ago because I have a high achiever .BUT inexperienced teachers do not know how to handle advanced curriculum...They do not spend enough time to teach the subject thoroughly..They teach 1 week and if u dont' learn ,u go to tutoring or u fail...Most parents thing that "Well maybe it's my kid" NOO it's not your kid!! It's the inexperience teachers who don't know how to teach... 5.They use a math program called First in Math .Most public schools use it too and it's not as good as Accelerated math..It's mostly a game program. 6.They do discriminate against children which was my breaking point..I can't stand racism in any form....If u are white and blond,the greedy principal do listen to your need .if not , you are in trouble..unfortuanelly they didn't listen to our concerns/requests..Greedy principal :( 7.The principal keep selling the same thing :."I have seven kids.I know how parents feel" blah blah blah..Bull shit! Consider other options..Even public school would be better as long as you study with your child..I transfered my child to another private school. You can email me if you have any question..

We are new to Heritage Oak this year after attending another private school for 8 years, so we are used to high standards of academics, teacher quality, use of technology and educational vision. What we were overwhelmingly amazed with is that at Heritage Oak, they are not just raising academics, they are raising couragous leaders, interesting and well rounded people and civic minded citizens. Every adult there from leadership, teachers, counselors and operations all exude positive character and expect and prompt good manners from the students. Kindness is encouraged and demonstrated rather than just talked about. For us, we were amazed that our sports focused son developed an interest in Concert Orchestra due to being inspiried by the music teachers at HOPE. Music, Foreign Language, Art aren't just classes on a check list to show they have them, the kids really learn. After just a few months of lessons at HOPE my son participated in jaw dropping performances of "Little Drummer Boy" and "A Whole New World" from the Little Mermaid on the violin. He had never touched any instrument before that. They also recognized that my son was interested in math, so they provided extra enrichment and math activities and he's performing well beyond his grade level just from being inspried. We were really nervous about swithcing schools, but we couldn't have been happier. Every person at HOPE has bent over backwards, going well above and beyond to make sure our experience here is the best as it can. Questions and issues are dealt with thoughtfully. Not every request is granted, but it's considered and they do their best to create win/win situations. The difference HOPE has made in both my kids has made our family so happy.

Part of the reason we moved to Brea was for the reputation of its public schools. We intended to have our daughter attend Fanning. Driving by Heritage Oak one day, we decided to pop in. Immediately we were smitten by how professional the facilities and staff were. As we were taken through a guided tour, our admiration grew. Finally we decided to bite the bullet and pay tuition for Heritage Oak rather than send her to public school. Two years later, I can say without a doubt that I don't regret our decision. As a private school, they of course have a strong academic focus. Their curriculum is set at one year ahead of public schools. It is challenging and may not be for all kids. Beyond academics, they stress building character. Classes like strings and art help kids grow to be well rounded. All of their staff and teachers go above and beyond the call of duty to take care of students and parents. Yet they do this without spoiling the kids. On the contrary, kids are taught to be independent while having manners. As with any school, you get out of it what you put into it. I highly recommend parents take a tour and give HOPE a chance. We look forward to the next six years!

First time Yelp review. I feel compelled to write this review. My review will reminisce with many families who went to Heritage Oak. This school kills the spirit of children. The teachers and staff discipline children by unacceptable methods. For example, in Kindergarten, first and second grade, they make children stand on their feet until their feet hurt and can no longer stand. The children of the staff and teachers who get discounted tuitions are ALWAYS placed in the lead teacher's class. The children of the staff are NEVER disciplined like other children. They all get special treatments. Your child will always be at fault when dealing with them. The lead teacher always cherry picks the preferred students and parents for her class. If you complain against any of the teachers, the whole school will retaliate against your child and make life hell for him/her. There are so many examples of unprofessional behavior by the teachers and staff that exceeds this review. The curriculum is a year ahead but the teachers are not equipped to teach and implement it well. They will make it seem as your child's fault and recommend tutoring which comes with an additional cost. For those of you who are considering HOPE, please be aware of the disingenuous act of the teachers and staff and talk to parents who are considering leaving or have left the school.

My daughter attended first through eighth grade at Heritage Oak. She's 21 now but I thought it might be helpful to share from a longer term perspective. She thrived at Heritage Oak for a variety of reasons and I believe their solid academic program set her up for her future successes. She sailed through high school and was accepted at NYU including a healthy scholarship based on academic excellence--far more than enough to pay for her eight years at Heritage Oak. She received her bachelor's degree from NYU in May of this year, in three years instead of four, or five, or more. Investment in education pays off.

After seeing the reviews posted here, some with no merit on the actual quality of the education but rather based on the "tour" and "no greeter at the gate", I had to write about my experience. My daughter has been going to preschool Heritage Oak preschool this past year and she absolutely loves it. I had placed her at a different daycare earlier and everyday, it was a struggle to get her to the daycare. I decided to try Heritage Oak and she looks forward to going back each day. She had learned and progressed academically in a matter of weeks. One major difference I found between the previous daycare (I spent a lot of time observing), the kids were not very well mannered because the "teachers" did not have any control over them. It was quite different at Heritage Oak, all the preschoolers were engaged, well-behaved and followed schedules. Overall, I am very pleased with my daughter's progress, the teacher's attention to each child, teacher and parent communicate on a daily basis. I had tried a different school that seemed like a good fit but once she was there, it did not work out. Each child and each family's needs and expectations are different so you'll have to find the right fit.

I have two children who attend heritage oak. My son, a 4th grader, who has been there over 4 years and my daughter, who just started pre-k. I have to say I have had extremely positive experiences with the school, especially with my son. He has grown so much academically and socially in the time he has been there. I LOVE the fact that the school stresses good manners and high morale standards with their character rewards program. Everything the school teaches seems to be on some type of point system be it the AR reading program, first in math, or character cards and this reward system speaks directly to my competitive, goal oriented child. I also love being able to be involved at the school through their parent assistant program and feel this adds to the experience for my child. I am very excited to see the things my daughter will learn this year. Her teachers are experienced and a perfect balance of firm and caring! For our family the cost is a sacrifice but one that we feel has been well worth it! Thanks to all the teachers and staff at HOPE...keep doing what you do!

We have been a part of the Heritage Oak family since 2013, and we have been very pleased with our experience. The faculty and staff are dedicated, knowledgeable, kind and inspiring. They truly care about our children, and they are able to do their best work with the ample resources the school provides to facilitate the learning process. Most recently, our family has felt particularly lucky to be a part of this community as Heritage Oak responded quickly to the health crisis in the spring by providing an excellent online learning platform for the students in a very short time. After speaking with many friends of our in other schools around southern California, we felt our program was the strongest and most effective. With the additional time to prepare over the summer, the school has organized an effective online learning platform for the student body this fall, while also providing the option for those who feel comfortable to return to campus when restrictions are lifted. We are pleased to be given the choice to do what feels right for our family. We highly recommend Heritage Oak to any family looking to be a part of a strong, well-organized, experiences and reliable school community.

I was expecting a state of the art education institution. Instead, as soon as I got in the lobby I noticed a dusty tree with Christmas decorations still (last week of January). The front desk was a hot mess and one of the receptionist was opening a banana to eat while she was asking me to fill out a form. While waiting for a tour, I took a look at the sample students' work. The papers had the students' names and grades on them which is a violaton of FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) from what I know. Anyways, in the preschool room where the teachers were working with 1-2 students at the time while the other ones were playing, I saw an Asian teacher who talked on a not so friendly tone with one of the kids. I was there visiting and she did not seem to care which told me she probably doesn't think it is wrong. There were many other things I did not appreciate. In fact, I think I only appreciated the admission rep who gave me the tour and the science lab ... and, oh, the library too. Everything is outdated and the rooms don't have windows for the most part. If a school official reads this, please, pay attention to your staff and remodel the school. For the money you charge you should look better. I didn't even get to education as I cannot pass the dust and the environment which is eyesore.

Summer Camp: Summer Camp this year was great. My kids loved being able to swim every day and go on the water slides. I like that they had new camp activities each day and that they never came home saying they were bored. The field trips were not just to arcades and the movies--they actually learned how to kayak, tried a ropes course and did many other things that I feel are great learning experiences. While camp does cost a little more than other camps in the area, I feel that the cost is well worth it.

My son went to Heritage Oak from pre-school through first grade, and we had a wonderful experience with the school and teachers. We moved out of state, and I actually was hesitant to take a job out of state because I was sad to pull my son from this school. The academics are top notch (a major priority for me). The teachers are caring and send parents frequent email communication to keep them abreast of activities, lessons and any behavioral issues (I did get quite a few of those for my hyper little one). The school has a lot of fun activities and events. It offers music, arts, french and more (including a violin program, I believe). As with any place, there are a few cons (what can be perfect - seriously people). Parking is a nightmare, as there really isn't much at all. Some events weren't as organized as I would like. "Organized" may not be the spot on word for it, but the teachers and school management rarely, in my experience, regulated rude or unruly parents. At a few musical shows put on by the young kids, for example, parents would save like ten seats for family members who showed up at the eleventh hour or run up to get pictures during the performance of their kids and block those actually seated in the front. Teachers don't seem to do anything about this type of behavior. But, at the end of the day, a handful of nuisances does not negate an amazing school filled with caring teachers who strive to educate children and provide a well rounded learning experience. In response to a few negative posts, a couple thoughts: 1) how can you review a school your child has never attended, 2) the summer camps were fun and my son always had a blast and 3) the whole kids must be potty trained and no pull up thing was well published and shared with us from day one, so no idea how anyone can be shocked by this - take it up with the state.

This is a review of my experience touring the school and getting to know the program better as a potential parent. I was very skeptical at first that this school would not be a good fit for our family as I wasn't too warm to the idea of a private school with uniforms, however I had some coworkers who really liked the school for their kids. In our tour to my surprise I was really blown away by the program for PreK and JK/K classes. The exposure the kids get to a variety of subjects and experiences at a young age was a real plus for us. However we felt our little one would not be able to fully benefit from the educational opportunities yet as there are still areas where her independence is borderline. We are very grateful to Shauna and Mr Nelson who we found to be very down to earth, friendly, and patient with my millions of questions. I was left with the impression that this school and its staff top down would be an engaged partner in my child's education.

Don't send your kids to HOPE, it is a school destroying personal characters and uniqueness of your children. We live in a world of varieties. Each child is different. Different family raises different kids. Each kid has his or her own course of development. An educator should respect the individualty of each child and provide a caring and loving environment to children. HOPE is not such an educator. If your children have strong individual personalities, which most children would possess, please do not bother to waste money, time and your emotion by sending them to HOPE. First, they do not educate children to maximize their potentials based on their individual personalities, but train them to become universally good listeners and well behavorers. At HOPE, only obedient kids are well treated or be left unbothered by teachers. A kid with any reasonable behavior issues will be disliked and closely monitored by teachers. Secondly, the way they deal with so called "problem" is arbitrary and without patience. HOPE has created a reward/punishment system called dojos, which serves no purpose but humiliating the kids with strong personalities and their parents. All kids have various behavior or attitude issues while growing up at different stages. A good educator should first fully understand the cultural background and living surroundings each child facing before rushing to the conclusion about the child's issues. An educator should be judged by whether a child's anticipated issues have been resolved by such educator. The remainning or intensification of the issues after the educator's efforts would obviously suggest the failure of the educator. Parents send their children to such highly expensive school as HOPE with expectation of receiving high quality education the high tuition pays for. Unfortunately, instead of guiding and educating children with love, respect and skills, HOPE just uses this dojo system they created to simplifiy and substitue the education process. Children awarded with +dojos feel good about themselves; whereas chikdren punished with -dojos feel miserable on themselves. Children who have been constantly punished quickly lose the interest of learning things and gradually at beginning and readil, after repeated honest efforts, view themselves inferior to those awarded. In long term, a sense and notion of discrimination has developed among kids. This is not the way of education children living in the mordern world need and deserve. . This is not the education parents would have expected from a school demanding hundreds of dollars of tuition per week. Please think twice before enrolling your kids.

This school is great ! Both my children attend here and I see amazing growth with both children academically and socially . I highly rec . This school !

I heard great things about this school but this place is HORRIBLE! I considered switching schools for my daughter bc of the high "academic" scores this place has. Went on a tour and it was ok ... the area for the 2 year olds is so so. Classrooms have wayyy too many kids in them. Price was comprable to the area ... not as expensive as I had expected. So I decided to give it a shot during the summer since you can sign up for one week at a time. Brought my daughter in on the first day and one of the teachers in the class was starting us up and down and rolling her eyes while I was talking to another teacher (wish I had her name)! I told the teacher I had everything for my daughter in her bag and said I had pull ups in the bag incase for nap time and the other teacher rushed over and said we do not do pull ups then rushed out of the room. The other teacher I was speaking to said it should be fine. Moments later the other tacher came back with the Principal who said the kids had to be potty tranined to attend. I explained to her my daughter is potty trained I just brought the pull ups for nap time incase to prevent accidents. She said she would have to sleep without it. I told her you would rather my daughter pee in her cot? She said yes! DISGUSTING and RUDE! I told her we would not attend the school and demanded a refund! I took my daughter back to her school ikids in YL! My daughter is and always has been happy at her school. The academic program there I would rate better than the one at Heritage Oak.

Our boys have attended Heritage Oak since 1st grade and Kindergarten and we LOVE it! The teachers are really attentive and provide additional guidance and review if your child is struggling in a subject. There is also regular communication from teachers about progress, what was covered during the week in class and what is coming up next week!! The academics are challenging and offer the the students the opportunity to excel! In addition to a great academic program, Heritage Oak offers amazing elective courses. In Kindergarten children take French class (because it is the 2nd international language) and violin! Starting in 4th grade children choose Spanish or French and have a choice between band or orchestra! The 5th grade orchestra competed against middle school student in an annual festival and took home a gold!!! Amazing!! In middle school they add options like Debate, theater, computer coding and even ceramics! In elementary school science class (with labs) is attended by students several times a week and in middle school science is taught each day. It is a rigorous course that teaches children in 6th grade how to write a paper in APA format...this is not taught in public school until High School. To round it out Heritage Oak offers a full cotillion class (with dancing and dinner service instruction) and a full and competitive sports program throughout the year with volleyball, football, basketball and soccer! The administration is warm, open and they truly care about my child's experience and daily life at school. The best part about the school is when I pick up my boys every day after school and ask them how was school? Their answer is always...AWESOME!!!

My daughter has attended this school since Preschool she is now in the 5th grade. We had originally enrolled her for one year at Fairmont Private, Anaheim Hills for 1 year of preschool due to the fact that at the time they did not offer a program for her age. Very glad we switched and have been very happy ever since. They have a pretty low turnover in staff and my daughter now has friends in school she has known since Preschool which is really nice. My one and only complaint is that I wish they had a better company handling the cafeteria, we are in Southern California and there is No reason why that the company they hire to provide the food should not be providing fresh, local, organic & NonGMO ingredients for our kids. One of the many benefits of having her in a Private school is that we have more of a say as opposed to a Public school -so we do have a choice as a school as to who provides the "catering" for the school. Hopefully this changes before she graduates, but until then I will just continue to provide her with her meals. Peace

My daughter is currently in a Pre-K class here. After reading the other reviews, I found it appropriate to voice my opinion as I am quite rude and picky myself. Ms. Seidman and Ms. Thomas have been a true blessing (I am not heavily religious; just the best word to use). My daughter has struggled with a very trying family situation the entire year. Although they can't help me much with the situation, absolutely everyone has been so supportive of HER and have done their best to make sure she is treated equally despite circumstances. That has been so important to me. The staff remembers most parents by name and is always cheerful. I love that Heritage Oak has so many "performances" because I strongly encourage confidence and pride. The school is definitely helping my daughter express herself through her words and in those performances. No other school provides such a long "school day" (not daycare, actual school day) for my 4 year old. With SmartStart (program for non-nappers), my daughter is LEARNING from 8:15am-3pm. Public kinder programs are usually only 3.5-4 hours. I feel that my daughter is getting a much bigger jump ahead because of Heritage Oak. I am very pleased and, as my husband can tell you, that's a huge deal in our home.

We have two children who attend Heritage Oak. They are both in the Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten programs. We have been so pleased with every aspect of the school. All staff members are friendly and enthusiastic, the school is extremely academically challenging, they focus on teaching the whole child by incorporating art, music, physical education, and drama into the curriculum. Heritage Oak also has small class sizes and offers foreign languages beginning in Pre-K. Most importantly, our kids are always happy and love going to school!