Stratford School - Altadena

My daughter has been attending Stratford Altadena Allen since summer of 2022 and I am in love with this school. I am a former elementary school teacher (taught kindergarten and 2nd grade in the past) and this school checks all of my boxes in the best ways possible.

(1) Office Administration - Ms. Angela, the office administrator, is phenomenal. She is warm, personable, patient, competent, and knowledgeable. She is always happy to answer any questions that I have, no matter how many times I may have asked them in the past. I always feel heard when speaking with her, and she made the application process for my daughter as well as my son seamless. While applying for my son (he is scheduled to start in January 2023), Angela took initiative to keep in touch with me and even made sure to tell me in-person when he was accepted, as she knew that I would appreciate the news face-to-face rather than by way of email. I've also talked to her casually while waiting around the office, and she is really a pleasure to speak to.

(2) Administrators - The administrators all remember the kids' names and take care to make sure each child feels seen. Ms. Lisa, the director of ECE, knows my child's name and says hello to her whenever she walks by, greeting her by name. She, as well as the other school administrators, are super accessible. Unlike other schools, it is not difficult to reach the administrators directly to schedule a meeting and discuss questions/concerns. My son has a late birthday (late December 2021) and both Ms. Lisa and Ms. Angela were able to help me determine what his timeline would be at Stratford, and how we would go about ensuring his needs are met.

(3) Teachers and curriculum - I love the teachers here, and I think the educational rigor is unparalleled by anything else I have seen. All of the classroom teachers and push-in teachers are phenomenal and, as a former teacher, I can appreciate their skill + dedication to the children and their craft. They are so, so good at their jobs. They are attentive, warm, caring, and loving. They create thoughtful, engaging, and directed activities that provide the children an opportunity to learn in a fun way. Thanks to the teachers and the wonderful curriculum employed at Stratford, my daughter is in the preschool program, and, just to name a few things: (1) knows ALL of her letters and the sounds they make; (2) knows which letters are vowels, and knows they make both long AND short sounds; (3) can recognize the numbers 1-10, and even some of the numbers 11-20; (4) can ask questions when she is curious about something and seek help when performing tasks; (5) can complete age-appropriate worksheets with assistance; and (6) knows books have both an author and illustrator. My mind is absolutely blown. I know that my family members are so impressed by how much she has learned in just under 1.5 years. I'm so excited for my son to start here within the next few months as well.

(4) Facility - The facility is clean and very spacious. The playgrounds are high-quality, and even in the 1.5 years I've been there, I've continued to see improvements to the play spaces both indoors and outdoors. The hallways are decorated for the holidays, and the decorations inside and outside the classroom year-round are phenomenal.

I couldn't be happier with Stratford and its staff!

An exclusive private school. The school provides high quality education for Pre and Elementary level up through middle school.
They offer bilingual Mandarin preschool. Impressive.
You may set up an appointment with the school head to tour the facility.
They have their own parking lot.

We've been in the Stratford family since 2018 and I can't believe it has taken me until my second child started here to write a review!

This is absolutely the best foundational experience that you could offer your child. Hands down, no contest. I found the school pretty much by accident online after we moved to South Pasadena and did a tour, and it it just seemed so markedly superior to everywhere else I couldn't quite believe it. What was the catch?

There is no catch. My daughter went here from her preschool year through 1st Grade (during Covid) and we certainly would have kept her at Stratford for the long term had we not moved to South Pasadena specifically for the schools when she was born.

On a practical level, Stratford is ultra clean, organized, full of high level games, STEM toys, crafts, musical instruments and equipment, has a fantastic parent-teacher chat app (where photos pop up all day), has a great lunch service, an affordable extended day program, a beautiful campus, and scheduling wise, the ability to be at school much of the year and during summer too, as needed. For working parents it's a blessing not to be exhorted to volunteer all the time, and neither are you ever harassed for monetary donations.

Having said that, the community is warm, friendly, balanced and very positive. The atmosphere is lovely and the teachers and administration know everyone by name.

My daughter absolutely flourished here. They weave high level academics effortlessly into all the fun, and she was already way above grade level when joining our local elementary. She is currently 8 years old and reading at a 15 year old level per CA state tests, and I attribute this to her strong foundation at Stratford. She has also found common core math very easy to pick up having learnt division and multiplication in 1st grade at Stratford.

My 3 year old son started Preschool a few months ago when a spot came up. I have seen a total transformation in him. Unlike his previous PS program, where he seemed 'fine' he is now full of joy, he talks about his activities and friends, and he is excited to go to school. I can't wait to see how he progresses academically over the next couple of years.

I'm so happy we found Stratford and we will always remember these years with gratitude.

Great school with an amazing campus, curriculum, and experience for its students.

First iff, I love how it's located within such a cozy neighborhood. I know its simple and tacky, but those things go a long way for me. I attended an open house and I truly appreciate their curriculum offerings to its students. It truly prepares them not only for higher education, but provides the foundations for their future success. They even go up to middle school, which is a definitely plus.

Shoutout to Angela Andikyan for her exceptional knowledge and support throughout the open house process. She made me feel at ease and had no trouble answering all of my questions. It is evident that their staff is knowledgeable and truly love what they do.

I cant say enough about this school, and encourage any prospecting parents to give Stratford Schools Altadena a look!

We have been part of the Stratford family for the last 4 years and are very happy our child attends this school. They have a well-designed curriculum focusing on math, english and science. The staff is very welcoming with an open door policy allowing parents to discuss any issue that concerns them. We did a lot of research and toured many schools prior to choosing Stratford. What you see is what you get. A strong academic education with plenty of support. The families of Stratford are just as impressive. The students attending the school are well behaved and grounded children. Even regarding something as simple as drop off and pickup, the school has a smooth and efficient system compared to the stories we hear at other schools.

Overall it is an amazing school and we highly recommend it!

I cannot say enough about how amazing Stratford Altadena is. My daughter attended Stratford in Hollywood for preschool and preK and we were devastated when it closed. We trialed public school for kindergarten as Altadena was too far from us at the time. We quickly realized realized we needed to make a major change and get my daughter back into Stratford, even though that meant moving.
Every single staff member at Stratford is a gem. The front office staff are so incredibly pleasant and helpful. Ms. Burbank and Ms. Ribaya are amazing leaders. I love that everyone knows not only my daughter by name, but make a point to refer to all parents by name and get to know us (something we were lacking in our last school).
All of the teachers are incredible and go above and beyond to ensure the children are succeeding. I had no idea how advanced the preschool and preK curriculum was until we went to a different school for kindergarten and my daughter was starting over with information from preschool. I have been impressed with how advanced the 1st grade curriculum is and how quickly my daughter's teacher, Celeste Yanez, was able to make up for her lost ground in kindergarten. Ms. Yanez is so incredibly kind, makes learning fun, and is very responsive to any questions or concerns we bring up.
The afterschool program staff are also lovely and fun.
We are thrilled to be back at Stratford and would recommend it 100%.

Stratford School is a very great school. All my three are here and they all love Stratford. Our school has very strong academics which is I am looking for. I don't need put extra time to tutor.

We are so happy with Stratford, we enrolled our child in preschool and feel lucky he was accepted. From the moment we met Ms. Judy, Ms. Lisa & Ms. Angela we had a great feeling we were making the right choice. We couldn't be happier with the care they show my son and everything he is learning. I would 100% recommended this school.

My daughter has been doing online here during covid, so we don't have experience with on campus, but online here has been great. I keep it short because there are already so many great reviews here I agree with. This is probably one of the best schools in LA

The saying " the days are long but the years are short" is true when raising kids. Time flies by too quickly and I am long overdue for writing a review of the best decision we have made for our kids.

Our kids spend more (waking) hours a day at school than they do at home and we wanted to make the right decision on where they would spend these precious hours.

We transferred over from a different school because we were not happy with the way our school handled the distance learning in 2020 when the pandemic hit.

The Head of School, Ms. Burbank is beyond amazing. There was not a glitch in education during this unprecedented time thanks to her quick action, care for her students, teachers, and parents. She made sure her campus not only got through Online schooling but exceled even with the remote learning.

The curriculum is without rival. I have compared notes with former classmates at different schools and my children are learning at a higher level. I even find myself stumped checking the homework they complete with ease.

The teachers truly care about the children and it is such a relief to us that we made the right choice in Stratford Altadena.

What more could we ask for as parents- a safe, amazing learning environment where the curriculum is superior, the children are cared for like family, and the teachers - each and every one of them is unique, motivated, and motivating.

Our kids look forward to going to school every day and we are so thankful to everyone at Stratford Altadena.

Make this decision! You won't regret it!