Communication Academy

My son (11) attended two courses. He thought one was great (4.5 out of 5) and was very disappointed in the other (1 star). Drilling into his disappointment; was not having fun, was bored and found the work tedious. He eventually got quite angry about it and stopped attending. On the other hand, the course he enjoyed he went to willingly and without any need for encouragement. What was interesting is that he had the same instructor for both courses so it was not the personality but the course content that was not a fit.
Seems at no point was the class engaged in a conversation about what they wanted to achieve (pretty standard practice I would have thought) and, as such, he felt he was getting nothing out of being there (except an appreciation for how slow the clock moves when you are bored).
My recommendation would be to pick the course carefully and find out what the desired learning objectives are and ensure they match your (and your child’s) expectations.

My child 8^th grader took many one on one or small batch — classes for competitive math training. They are really good and have vast knowledge of all math competitions and was very helpful.
Jackson Chow is very knowledgeable and provides good suggestions to our individual needs. I drove all the way from North SJ to Cupertino just for these classes.
My son even got a Perfect Score in recent AMC8. So I’m very happy to recommend this place.

My kid attended the essay writing course, they had a good teacher initially and then suddenly after couple of class they replaced the teacher who does not looked experienced.
I discussed this with a friend who had similar experience with Communication Academy, to switch the trainer once the class begins.
It was expensive class and my kid did not learn much from the class.
I will not recommend this place for tutoring.

This class was a joke. It was the most expensive one week public speaking camp that did not teach anything!! The couple that was teaching it seemed very unfriendly. They made the kids play games instead of teaching. They tried to sell the binder for $ 50 and the end of the camp that was provided to the kids at the beginning. The folder contained poems that could be printed online. Very disappointing! My daughter absolutely dreaded going to this camp. This camp was in Shannon Community Center in Dublin in June for a week. This place should hire more people friendly staff, at least for a public speaking class!

My kids took several classes here. They love coming here. As a parent, I don’t want to push the children to learn. But I am very pleased with the progress they are making. I get to see their daily feedback on what they have been doing as the carry home bags always contain work that was completed during the class. They don’t have outdoor area, and the rooms are small. But this is fine for me.

My kids (in middle school now) have taken many public speaking, debate, and writing courses over the past three years, and I am more than pleased with their wonderful performance at school this year, especially in their English/​Writing classes.
Instructors were very experienced. knowledgeable, and patient. Both my daughter and son received detailed feedback after each class, and their advice really helped their performance at school. So happy to see they both got A’s in their English/​Language Arts and Writing classes in school this year.

My son who is in 6^th grade has been taking Math Olympia and AMC 8 classes at Communication Academy since he was in 4^th grade. He is good at math in a regular school. So, I did not think he would need additional math tutoring. Out of curiosity, I asked my son to look through the Math Olympia textbook and he was interested in taking the class. That was a good call. After 3 years in the program, he has been enjoying math even more especially when he feels challenged. He has more self confidence because he knows he can solve difficult problems. His logical and critical thinking skills are improving as he has been exposed to several tricky questions and learned how to analyze and solve them in different ways. My kid and I are very happy with the program, instructor and the curriculum. We are lucky that our son can learn from a highly experienced instructor in positive and encourage environment.

The classes sound impressive but they were a disappointment. My kid dreaded to go to the class after few weeks. She complained its boring and didn’t find it interesting. My daughter has gone to different classes for dance, drawing, swimmimg, summer camp but this one didn’t interest her at all.
The instructor seemed new and though was soft spoken didn’t sound confident herself.
I expected this to instill a confidence and good oratory skill but it just fell flat on my expectations.
The price they charge is high compared to the outcome I saw in my kid.

I send my 9 yo daughter there. She did not learn much. The place is old, small and tuition is expensive. She is better off writing at home with mommy and daddy doing the correction. She said she don’t like going there. Practice, practice and more practice at home will save $$$. She is doing better now, at school with more practice at home.

The idea seems really good of the kind of things they are trying to teach. I really wanted to send my child here and attended their open house recently. However, the place is really not very kid-​friendly.
Drab and dull white walls, really old dowdy looking furniture that looks like it is from the 60s. Really really boring for a child between 5 – 11 to be there. I was sitting there for an hour and a half thinking how sad it would be to be there as a kid everyday for hours during camp.
However, this is easily fixable. Some bright red or yellow paint, some fun wall decals, with kid friendly bright colored new plastic furniture (even IKEA for crying out loud!) would do wonders for this place.

My 13 year old spent 5 weeks at Communication Academy summer camp and made huge improvement. She has lots of chance to practice her speech and debate. She also wrote many articles as a journalist. We are very happy for her.

We have taken the first pre-​public speaking course and are almost done with a repeat course for reinforcement. The Communication Academy staff has been very helpful to our child in learning the steps to speaking confidently. The material for the course is designed effectively for the ten weeks by the director, staff and teachers.
The instructor Mr. Wood has provided a fun and educational environment in the class; additionally, parental encouragement outside the classroom was highly encouraged through weekly assignments for the students to practice the concepts which were taught during that week. The program helped my child with the knowledge base for better speaking in my opinion.
I appreciated one other aspect of the course. The class presented an enjoyable play on the last day that the students had to practice and rehearse throughout the length of the course. There were about eleven students in the class of 5 to 6-​year olds. Each of the children had just a few lines to remember, had to recall their cues when to speak, and were encouraged to practice key ideas about public speaking (such as the 5-​Bs of the speaker). The children did a wonderful job speaking in front of an audience of parents and siblings.

This place is just ridiculous. The idea behind it is great, but they put some older girls in my daughters 5yr old class who were bullying her. The teacher says she didn’t really notice it, and at some point she thought my daughter was having a hard time, and she just brushed it off!
I confronted the office about it and they basically said that its probably because the other kids are high functioning kids and that all they could do is apologize and I’m supposed to move on!
I really thought they lady there was crazy, if she thought I’d bring my child back to a place like that. That let’s bullying occur and then says «sorry, now get over it!» These girls are 5!!!
I asked to speak to the director and never heard back from them, and the won’t refund my money back either.
Don’t send your kids here, especially if they need confidence building

My son attended two weeks of summer camp there. I have to say we are very disappointed. The classes are expensive. And my son has not learned much at all. In the end the teacher’s assessments are about advertising the regular classes they have during school year. It is as if the summer camp sessions are just teasers, very very expensive teasers.

I am writing this to share with you and parents who are thinking to send their kids to Communication Academy about my experience with Communication Academy and Mr. Lam.
Alex is my 6 year-​old son. He was always hesitating to speak in front of people he is not familiar with. Sometime this is too much so I put him into this public speaking class. Originally I thought to just give him some opportunities to speak and let himself realize there is really nothing to be afraid of to mitigate his fear. Of course I didn’t expect changes happen all of the sudden. Interestingly after second class we noticed that he started to be consious about the elements of public speaking when he talks to people. Signs come and go but we were still very happy about it. Finally in the last class he made a better than ever in his life talk with loud and clear voice, confidence and audience awareness. All my family were there and all felt so surprised about his improvements.
Mr. Lam is Alex’s teacher and a great teacher. Sometime I peek from outside. I can see Mr. Lam is always well prepared for the class from logistics to contents and very well skilled. He keeps kids’ interest and focused in the class. For different kids he tailores his teaching methodology to adapt every child’s learning curve. He also spends a lot of time talking to parents about their kids’ progress and places that need attention. By this parents know how to help kids in everyday life to enhance the influence of what has been learned.
I can also see that Communication Academy has a proven successful program in public speaking subject. I was going over homeworks with Alex. Apperantly their material is very easy for kids to understand and follow. It covers most important aspects of this subject and summerizes them clearly in simple language for kids to remember.
I really appreciate Mr. Lam and CA since this is really invaluable for us.
By Jin He, PhD from Fremont, CA

My daughters have attended Communication Academy for the past year and a half. As such, I believe my comments reflect the experience of many parents there. That is, the types of classes they offer, the quality of what they teach, and the experience of the kids are all excellent!
I first learned of this place through the DeAnza brochure. I was particularly interested in the Academic Grammar and Writing class for my 3^rd grader. Having seen my oldest do a lot of writing in elementary school and even more so in high school, I know it just gets tougher, so I wanted to ensure my youngest had a solid foundation. Also, I work for a large company, and I’ve seen people demonstrate good communication and writing skills, and I’ve seen those who have not. The latter generally have unsatisfying careers. The good communicators excel and move forward.
My 3^rd grader took four grammar and writing classes in her first year: Narrative, Expository, Response to Literature, and Journalism. Class sizes are small and limited to 12 students. My daughter made new friends each time, which she enjoys. Teacher interaction with the kids is also excellent. The teachers are knowledgeable and engaging. By the second writing class several months later, I noticed my daughter’s writing skills had developed at least two grades further… maybe more.
My 3^rd grader learned grammar basics and was writing paragraphs, essays, etc. She was learning to organize her ideas and communicate them. Her essays had extensive feedback from her Communication Academy teachers. The teachers were encouraging, and the classes were fun.
My daughter’s elementary school teacher also noticed. It appears my daughter did an in-​class assignment where she wrote an essay. The teacher’s comment was «Incredible!» My husband and I read the essay, and our jaws dropped. It was at the same level as my oldest daughter when she was a sixth grader. The 3^rd grade teacher would not have believed my daughter did it herself if it weren’t for the fact that it was all done in class. And that teacher went on to use that essay as a demo in her class assignment at Santa Clara University.
As for a favorite class at Communication Academy, my daughter would say Journalism. She was able to apply all that she had learned that past year to something real — creating a newsletter where she interviewed people, wrote stories, etc.
In short, my daughter enjoyed all the classes. She is not a genius. She enjoys learning new things, and the extensive feedback and encouragement from the teachers really helped guide her. Others we know have also sent their kids to Communication Academy. The kids that get the most out of it are those kids that want or are willing to learn more. And that would appear to be the makeup of the kids that go there. It is worth the cost for the solid foundation and confidence it has given both my daughters.
(By the way, my oldest daughter took 3 SAT prep classes there. She says it is helpful and a great learning experience.)