Hickory Tree School

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 Taking pride in academics must go hand in hand with not using outdated text books and using computers for all elementary kids whose parents pay a lot to school for good education!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