Communication Academy

Rated 5.0 Effective communication is critically important to one's success in personal and professional lives. The ability to connect and build rapport with other people is a foundation life skill. It should ideally be actively developed from an early age because young children unlike adults have far less fear and discomfort speaking to groups. That's the philosophy of Jackson Chow, the founder of the Communication Academy and it works! My son has been an active student at the Communication Academy since the age of six. His learning enrichment at the academy includes public speaking, creative writing, debate, critical thinking, and academic reading to date. It has greatly enhanced his self-confidence, earned him awards and accolades, and opened exciting new opportunities including publication in magazines, web-sites, and public speaking at the student-to-student conferences at the University of California. The instructors at the Communication Academy which include college professors, professional authors, poets, and high school speech and debate coaches are welcoming, fun, and teach him skills that will last for lifetime. I highly recommend the Communication Academy which offers classes at various convenient locations in Silicon Valley.

Rated 5.0 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd 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.)

Rated 5.0 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.

Rated 5.0 We sent our 5 yr old daughter to the pre-public speaking class in Sep 2013, at Fremont site. Ms. Readye was the instructor. Although my daughter had no problem talking with family or friends in private, she was always hesitating to speak publicly, with very low voice, and almost no eye contact. We didn't hope much but just want to give my daughter some opportunities to practice, after all it's only ten times courses. But after a couple of course my daughter started to talk about 5-Bs and other key elements of public speaking. In the last class, we surprisingly saw my daughter looking at audience, speaking clearly and confidently, even with proper gestures! My husband and I told to each other: "It's a miracle!" We can hardly believe the big changes happened within just a couple of months! I also noticed that for kids that still hesitated to speak at the last class, Ms. Readye very patiently encouraged them first, then tried saying the first sentence and asking kiddo to say the left; if not work, then asking kiddo to take turn speaking with her; if still not work, then asking kiddo speaking with her altogether. All kids spoke more or less in public at the end. Thank you Ms. Readye for being such a talented, patient and helpful instructor! My daughter registered in the pre-public speaking class in Spring 2014 and we cannot wait seeing you again!

Rated 5.0 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.