Testimonials from Our Community

You have been able to produce such a meticulous and comprehensive online course.

Xueyuan & Wennan, Battery Park Montessori, parents of 2- and 4-year-olds

We visited Pine Street in 2018 and were impressed with the school, faculty and approach to education. We had decided to wait until our oldest was in 6th grade for the transition. However given COVID and our experience with the public school system in spring of 2020, decided in July to expedite that by a year. Of course, we were concerned by the quick timeline to make a decision, so we vetted carefully, asking questions about how they approach remote learning and in-person learning and what my children would learn here versus anywhere else. In the end, we joined a Town Hall that helped us make the decision. Pine Street had really done their homework and the strategy and execution was impressive, from revisiting their HVAC system to having a doctor as a consultant help guide their decisions about protocols, to the investments they made in training their teachers about the technology. There was one comment by Eileen, the head of school, who said that they were viewing this year as an exciting challenge to stretch their muscles in creativity and think about what they could uniquely teach the kids this year, like the importance of eye contact and how to respect other people's space. As a design thinking expert myself and a woman who's TEDx talk is literally, See Problems as Opportunities," that's exactly what I was hoping to hear. They don't see this year as a burden or challenge; they see it as an opportunity to teach differently and rise up to be better teachers. And because of that, both of my kids will be attending this fall.

-Mona, incoming Pine Street School parent, children in 2nd & 5th grade Spanish

Victoire’s lesson today was absolutely amazing. Loved that the children could see her mouthing the various words alongside the pictures she asked about as seeing how the words are formed in the mouth is important in language acquisition for children. Loved when she called on two of the students to count together during one of the earlier moments in class; I think it’s great that two friends were offered an opportunity to connect by doing something like that together. Loved the counting exercises in Mandarin reinforcing the English lesson.

You have put together such an amazing program and all bring a unique energy and style to this platform that makes it such a rich experience for our children. It’s even enjoyable for the grownups when I have a moment to sit down and observe!

Just wanted to say thank you for your and the entire team's continued efforts, thought, and thoroughness in keeping our children, us, PSS staff, and our community as safe as possible during this pandemic. It's a hard job to say the least and you guys are knocking it out of the park!

Roz, Pine Street School parent, children in 4th grade Spanish & Preschool Mandarin

Thank you for a wonderful first week. Both Andrew and I are new to all of this. Sandra is our first child and we did not know what to expect of this experience. To be honest we were both very nervous about it all. But everything you have done to not only prepare the school but also prepare us as parents has made us feel incredibly lucky to have joined Pine Street School.

Angelica & Andrew, Pine Street School parents, child in Nursery

This seems very thought out. We are very grateful for the work Leigh, Paola and all the teachers and administrators have done for us through their break. Who would have ever imagined we would be in this situation? This approach is more likely to engage the kids in a way they will need to be engaged for a protracted period. Many of us parents are working and have so little time to actually supervise. While I am on video conferences, Erik toggles between the girls who we keep in separate rooms on separate lap tops to make it work. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Daniel & Erik, Pine Street School parents, children in 1st grade Spanish

We wanted to thank you and your team for the speed of action. You were one of the first to decide to close the school, implement distance learning and now return after Spring Break with a new proposal. As you said, we are a community and it is in the most delicate moments that this common sense emerges. Our heartfelt thanks to all the teachers that have done such a wonderful job in these different and challenging times.

Adriana, Pine Street School parent, two children in 2nd grade, Spanish

I am so proud of what Pine Street School is doing and your leadership! Thank you so much for make it happen!!!

Cindy, Pine Street School teacher

I am always amazing by your commitment, energy and leadership. Everything that you and the team are doing for the students is truly exceptional. I have no doubt that Dilyn will be thoroughly engaged while learning from home.

Neelam, Pine Street School parent

We have been so impressed with the school and with our son's teachers. He seems to be getting on quite well and is learning a lot faster than we expected. We couldn't be any more pleased and we're very glad that Aiden is at your school.

Edgar & Rong, Battery Park Montessori inaugural parents

Just want to reach out to you to let you know that our children are really enjoying their time at school. It has been a joy to see them excited to go to school each day and we take comfort in knowing that they are in the care of warm and nurturing teachers. Your team is doing such a great job. We appreciate everyone's hard work at Battery Park Montessori.

Jackie & Doug, Battery Park Montessori inaugural parents

It is with our deepest gratitude to you and Green Ivy that I write this note about how Pine Street and BPM has helped our son in his education, personal development, and awareness of his community. We have seen him mature and grow so much with your support.

As you may know HKIS in Hong Kong is extremely competitive and one of the key acceptance criteria to HKIS is an assessment of our son with the admissions committee. While in HK this May, HKIS met with him and completed the assessment. He performed very well and I attribute his success to the training he received from Pine Street and BPM. He was extremely confident, felt at home in the school environment, was able to communicate with the committee with clear thoughts, answers to their questions, and expressed himself as himself. All of this was possible due to his training with you. And I am extremely thankful that we decided to send him to BPM and Pine Street.

We feel part of the family and community with Green Ivy and we can't thank you enough for the continued support and love you provide to our son. I wish we had more time to also send our younger son to your school.

Yuman & Justine, Green Ivy parents