Hickory Tree School

I love this school. Before we decided to have our kids here we toured many schools in the surrounding areas. They are a more academic style school and you can really see the progress that the kids make specially as you see them move towards pre-K and K due to the preparation they get in preschool. Really amazing to hear that K kids do work of 3rd graders and that shows that if you teach it, they will learn it. Great caring teachers and it is specially great for full time working parents and they provide hot lunch for the little ones. For busy parents little things like that help a ton to save time. We love the staff and they are like family. All of their children also attended and some still attend the school and they are very smart and polite. It is also not overpriced. Schools in these areas specially redondo beach and manhattan beach can get quite pricey way over a thousand a month. We moved due to location now but miss them now and will miss them a ton! The kids that go there are getting a great education and great care by a loving staff.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is one of the worst I have experienced. Poor or non professional leadership, they don't give love, respect to either children or parents. Real poor communication between the teacher and the directors - the teacher says one thing and the director the other. I don't think they care about the kids or the parents, they just go by their own military style teaching. The good thing though is the academics which make the kids learn the material but I believe will lack main skill of love and respect. We had our kid in the school and they kept complaining which is ok but we realized after a while that some of the complains are actually lies and over exaggerating the problem. And after all that, they won't even try to resolve the problem but keep complaining. So they are not problem solvers but problem creators and complainers. I wouldn't recommend any kid to go through these as part of school.
—Submitted by a parent

I don't have an option to rate this school here...as I wanted to give ZERO rating....This is the worst school I have been through..WORST I can say....the teacher and the Director are not at all co-operative...the teacher tells lot of lies and how they are going to teach the kids good manners...which is the most important and essential thing which a kid should learn....So, I don't recommend this school to any parent....
—Submitted by a parent

This school is behind in technology for a private school. No website for teachers or emails(?) and uses very poor means of communication! More punishment rather than reward for very young kids! Military style bootcamp style teaching. Large class size defeats the purpose of a private school. Yard is very small, kids do not get required age appropriate exrercise. Kids are not allowed to run at recess in the yard. Kids are not allowed to contact even during free play. Parking is a nightmare!! This school is very poor in emotional nurturing of kids. Taking pride in academics must go hand in hand with not using outdated text books and using computers for all elementary kids whose parents pay a lot to school for good education! Some teachers are outstanding but most look cranky, tired, overworked and unapproachable to kids.

My daughter attends Hickory Tree School and I can assure you that this school is excellent. It is a private school. They receive no funding from the state, therefore must charge tuition. They do not just "care about money."... however, in order for the school to continue to operate, they must make money. I am so thankful that I have an opportunity to send her to this wonderful school! Thank you SOOOO much HICKORY TREE! KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK!
—Submitted by a parent

The parking situation could be improved but after a while you get the hang of it and even manage to keep a routine that makes the parking thing a non-issue. The school itself is wonderful. The staff and teachers are all great. I couldn't be more satisfied with the choice we made in this school. My son just turned 4 and can write his full name and a few other words too.
—Submitted by a parent

Everything they care about is MONEY not the childrens!!! Just read the paper carefully before you sign.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter has been at this school since pre-school and she's happy there. We as parents love the school because they care about the students academics but also about their social development which you won't get at just any school.
—Submitted by a parent

It saddens me to hear such negativity toward this school. People must remember that teachers are human too. I agree the parking lot is a little tight and but when I drop off my child at Torrance High, you come across the same kind of congested traffic. My child attended Hickory Tree and we couldn t have been more pleased with his academic progress that began here at this ACADEMIC school. Sounds like these negative parents are the ones who do not want to take responsibility for their child s incapability to develop with the rest of their peers. My husband and I both agree that the staff and the director are what made us feel like we had an extended family and didn t have to worry about our kids.
—Submitted by a parent

Both My daughter is attending HICKORY TREE school. Excellent 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade teachers. Every parent should know, YOU must also get involve, DON'T put all weight on the school teacher. Good school for parents that work 8-10 hrs a day. Bring some snack when picking up your kids anytime after 5PM, they'll be hungry.
—Submitted by a parent

I have two kids attending this school since pre-preschool... From my experience through the years, this school over all is a very good school. It has one of best Kindergarten class teacher in city of Torrance. If you're sending your kids to this school, I recommend strongly to at least let him/her go through the Kindergarten class. Also in this school, one of the most challenging class is in the 2nd grade class, excellent teacher but the study-subjects are very challenging for kids who just finished 1st grade. The kids who got out of 2nd grade successfully seems to be a little more 'matured'...
—Submitted by a parent

irresponsive. IS THAT A WORD. IT SEEM LIKE ALL THE BAD REVIEWS ARE COMING FROM THE ONES THAT CANNOT EVEN WRITE A SIMPLE SENTANCE. THE SPELLING IS UNBELEIVEBLE. THESE BAD REVIEWS ARE COMING FROM DISGRUNTALED PARENTS WHO KNOW THAT THE CHILDREN ARE SMARTER THEY
—Submitted by a parent

Hickory Tree feels like family. The school is small and the same group of children move up from one grade to the next together, so kids and parents alike get to know each other well over the years. Some grades are combination classes which initially I was hesitant about, but it has worked well for my child and this means we get to keep our teacher for another year. Teachers and staff are friendly and always go the extra mile.
—Submitted by a parent

I feel the school needs work.. 'Director' is unprofessional, rude and unwelcoming to extended family members. The center is gear towards 'day care' but I would not recommend them for 'academics.' The school states they are one grade ahead of public schools, yet they are using outdated textbooks??? Not much accountability for teachers... they simply 'push' the material onto the students with no mastery of skills.
—Submitted by a parent

I could not be happier with this school. The environment is gear toward academic challenged atmosphere for your kids. They are normally 1 grade ahead of the public school. They are also stricter than Tutor Times (close by pre-school) but I think that it is good for the kid. I think that the best thing about the school is the teacher. I find my kid's teacher is always smiling & my kid loves her so much. She truly cares for the kids. He is very happy & always excited about going to school.
—Submitted by a parent

I agree that this school needs work... Principal only cares about the legal issues of school. Parking is bad and power lines are scary. Kids in preschool were taught like prisoners with strict discipline. More like bootcamp..
—Submitted by a parent

I have three children attending Hickory Tree and could not be happier with our experience there. My youngest is entering kindergarten reading chapter books and writing full sentences. My two older children, in third and fourth grade, have also received an outstanding education here. The students are well behaved without the discipline problems you see in public school, and the cost of tuition is not much higher than what I used to pay for after-school childcare through the Y. Teachers and administrative staff were happy to meet with me when needed. Most importantly--my children enjoy school and are happy here.
—Submitted by a parent

Exellent!!! the school is awesome in every way about it
—Submitted by a student

Enrolling my two children at Hickory Tree was the best choice I ever made. The teachers and administration staff are easy to approach and professional. If I ever had a problem or question the principal was readily available. The advanced level of education was great preparation for my eldest child who is now in 8th grade and on the honor roll. Overall i give Hickory Tree two big thumbs up!!
—Submitted by a parent

I hv never seen such a bad administration.the principal is very irresponsive..Teachers are good.They need to add some more parking lots..i can say in a three words'money making school'.
—Submitted by a parent