Our son attended Irene's family daycare from around 20months old til 4.5 years old. We are so…read moregrateful that we had found Irene and her team after having a horrible experience with another daycare in SSF. Irene and her team are so loving and caring and our son just thrived. He was and still is a picky eater, but Irene still accommodated him. We are very thankful for Irene and are so appreciative of her work. Also, Irene is also involved with San Mateo county and is always updated with any changes with regulations and participates in county events. Thank you, Irene!

I was interested in a daycare where I could continue my children's exposure to Spanish as well as…read moreEnglish. I am so glad I chose Irene's! What makes her daycare stand out is her capacity to lead children in a calm, nurturing, yet clear way. She often uses redirection to calm them down. Weather permitting, she lets children play in her beautiful garden, which is almost a little playground. Burning energy outdoors helps so much with children's behavior! Irene also prepares meals for the kids, and I think she's part of the reason why my children love legumes and veggies so much! Lastly, Irene is very open and understanding with parents. I highly recommend her daycare!

My little girl has been here since 8 months old and has now been attending for about a year…read more Overall, we've had a very positive experience. The teachers are patient and caring, and our baby is happy here. The children get plenty of outdoor playtime as well as indoor activities and interactions every day, which keeps them engaged and active. They provide brunch, lunch, and snacks, which is very convenient for parents. We also appreciate the daily photo and video updates on Brightwheel -- it's nice to see what the kids are doing during the day. The staff is helpful with everyday care, including changing dirty clothes when needed. We feel comfortable leaving our child here. When the children get upset or have conflicts over toys, the teachers are patient and guide them gently through the situation, which we really appreciate. We appreciate the care and attention the teachers give the children.

Our family loves You and Me Children Center. My daughter's been here since 15 month old and she's…read morebeen loving coming here everyday. They send us many photos and updates per day via their Brightwheel app and in every photo, she and all the other kids are always smiling and having fun. She eats so well here with breakfast warm lunches and snacks. The teachers are so attentive and caring and notify us of any minor things like start of a diaper rash or even a minor scratch. I love how there's a weekly curriculum so I know what my daughter has been learning and every week is a new theme. The kids learn to do some cooking classes, science experiments, books and music. My daughter came home learning to count 1-10 in mandarin! We are so happy to see the kids thriving here and would highly recommend.

Exceptional - We are so grateful to have found Rachel's daycare for our daughter, Connelly. She's…read morealmost 2 and has already grown so much--she's more verbal every week and comes home excited about the new things she's learned. Rachel and her team provide such a loving, safe, and enriching environment. Connelly has made friends, eats well, naps well, and is always happy to go in the mornings (a huge relief for us as parents!). We especially appreciate how Rachel blends play, early education, music, and even bilingual learning into the day--it's more than just childcare, it's a real foundation for growth. This place feels like family, and we wholeheartedly recommend Rachel's daycare to any parent looking for both nurturing care and meaningful learning.

Geared more towards toddlers. She says will accept infants but does not really have particular…read moreactivities for them. Seems like she will accept anybody but wont prepare other activities for younger infants.

Both of my kids attended Parkside Day School, one being there for 1 year and the other being there…read morefor 2.5 years. We recently decided to make a switch in schools as this place was no longer the right fit for our needs, but overall, had a generally positive experience with the school during our tenure here. Positives: * Ms. Tina from the toddler class is amazing. There is no better Head Teacher to work with kids that are entering preschool for the first time, dealing with separation anxiety and lots of big emotions, and also having to learn how to potty train at the same time. Both of my kids loved her and you can tell that she genuinely cares about the children. * The classrooms here are big and well maintained. * The playground is big with lots of equipment for the kids to interact with. * There are plenty of organized parent volunteer events or offsite field trips. * All meals/snacks are included as part of tuition. * You get tons of pictures throughout the day of your little ones. Cons: * The teachers speak little to no English. If you don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese, you have to rely solely on the Assistant Director to translate for you. And things get lost in translation when you are not communicating directly with the teachers that are the ones watching your kids ever day. * As the staff are all Chinese, the cultural philosophies of how kids are cared for lean very much toward an Eastern approach. Many of the kids that attend the school are also from a Chinese background so in general, this can be a good match, but if you identify more with a Western philosophy, as we do, then the values and philosophies don't always align. * There were many teacher changes during our time there, especially in the Rainbow Class, with new teachers and new faces showing up with no communication from the school in who these people were. * Price - you are paying an arm and a leg to send your kid(s) here, especially when you consider the amount of holidays/school closure days there are and having to drop off later than 8:30 and pick up before 4 (unless you pay extra for extended care hours). * Class size - they advertise the class ratios as 1:8, which is reasonable and normal. However, there are actually 4 teachers assigned to each class, meaning you can have up to 32 kids in a class. Having 32 3-5 year olds together at once can be very overwhelming. The reason we pulled our kids out is a mixture of the cons above, but primarily, there was a severe drop in the ball from the staff in communicating some important information about our son to us in a timely manner. This was already unacceptable on its own, but in addition, by the time we were notified of what had been going on, changes in our son's school plan were already being actioned without our input or consent. This led to us losing faith that this school was the best fit for our child's needs. While this was our unfortunate experience, others may very well have a positive experience here, so take my review with a grain of salt. But I do think that the ability to speak the language and/or have an alignment with the Eastern philosophy of how to raise kids will be a major determining factor in the type of experience you have here. We were fortunate to find another academic institution that is much better aligned with our values and philosophies and have a more nurturing environment that meets both of our kids' needs. Our kids are currently thriving in their new school and while I wish our experience at Parkside could have ended differently, I'm grateful for the time that we spent there and for the good times that we did have.

My daughter Nora attended the toddler class here in 2025, and it has been a truly wonderful…read moreexperience. She absolutely loved her classmates and teachers -- especially Miss Tina, who is incredibly thoughtful and treats every child with so much care and love. The teacher-to-student ratio is excellent, which gave us great peace of mind. We received tons of photos showing the kids enjoying circle time, making crafts, and learning letters. They host fun events like pajama night, and the facilities are among the best we've seen in South San Francisco. The classrooms are bright, spacious, and even larger than some entire daycares we toured -- both Chinese immersion and English-speaking ones. As we say goodbye, I just want to share our experience and give this school the review it deserves.

Little Stars is the BEST! I spent a ton of time researching and touring other daycares before we…read morefound this gem. The infant years are such a critical time that requires a lot of attention and care and I trust Little Stars completely. The amazing adult to child ratio is very rare, allowing each child to get tons of TLC. Saira and Albert are an amazing team that work so well together. Not only are they nurturing and establish a solid routine for the kids, they really care for each one as if they are their own. Our son has been with Little Stars for just over a year-and-a-half and LOVES it there. He often doesn't want to leave! During pick up Saira tells me all about the day's events (how feeding, napping, etc. went) and even texts me fun pics of my child to bring me smiles while I'm at work. Little Stars is always very clean and tidy. Activities and developmentally appropriate toys keep the kids engaged while having fun in a safe, loving environment. Having our son at Little Stars continues to be one of the best decisions we ever made. If you are lucky enough to get a spot here, take it. My only concern is once our son graduates from Little Stars, we won't be able to find a place this wonderful...they truly set the bar high! We are so grateful our son calls Little Stars "home" and we can't recommend this daycare enough!

From our experience as new parents, Little Stars is a well-run home daycare that provides a…read morelicensed, nurturing, and safe environment for our child. Our daughter has attended this daycare since she was 4 months old and we are very happy with her development and progress there. The caregiver, Saira, engages the kids in plenty of age-appropriate activities (for example tummy time and sensory play for infants or circle time with singing and reading books for toddlers). Saira was also able to get our child on a good eating and napping schedule. Saira does a great job communicating with parents, genuinely cares about the families, and is someone you can trust. It is hard to leave your child with other people, but we always felt our daughter was safe and happy at Little Stars.

My daughter was at Gateway from age 3 to 4 (graduated to TK) and it was such a great experience…read more This was her first step into care/schooling outside of home so I was particular in what I wanted for her: Clean facilities: Due to covid, I couldn't go inside but I did a video tour, reviewed classroom videos, and was able to sneak peeks from outside. We felt good about it what we saw. After she was enrolled, we were allowed in a few times for family events and I was thrilled at the space. Neat, clean and organized. (The outdoor play area has shade for the kids and soft padded areas ... no tan bark!) Learning and Development: I'm amazed at how much my daughter learned over the year. They focused on the things you would expect like ABC's and numbers but also STEM experiments and social development (managing feelings, consent/boundaries, and relationships). Celebrations: when searching for schools, I came across a number of them that didn't celebrate holidays, birthdays and the like - which was a little sad to me. I understand it isn't for everyone but I wanted my daughter to be able to celebrate the fun stuff... gateway was an awesome place for that. They hosted a really fun Halloween event, a few family events and an adorable graduation ceremony (caps, gowns, awards, flowers, goody bags and all!). Teachers: They are truly wonderful. My daughter absolutely adored her preschool teacher (we had teacher Jianna) and I know all the parents in the class felt the same. She took the time to really build relationships with each child and work with them on individual needs. We had a parent-teacher conferences and I always appreciated how thorough her assessments were. Overall, I we have a lot of great memories at Gateway and I'd highly recommend.

I was a bit concerned with some of the earlier reviews here. BUT thankfully, this is a great…read moredaycare and we have both our kids here (2, 4). ALL of the teachers that we've encountered seem so friendly and you can tell they truly love kids, love what they do, and are so caring. The infant teacher that takes care of my son truly loves him SO much, and as for my 4 year old, the teachers are always on top of how she is, what she's doing, what she likes/dislikes, what she needs work on. The facilities COULD use some updates, but honestly, staff & kids are what's most important, kids don't care that much about amenities. I can tell my kids are really thriving here and would highly recommend to anyone! I think the only gripe was that it was a bit hard to get a hold of them for enrollment, but it's only one main office staff and I'm sure she has a lot to deal with dealing with parents, general office & building maintenance, etc. Took some persistence over email and over phone. The contact info on the site is updated so just keep trying!

there's daycares and then there's happy face family childcare, they're not comparable, Jenny is the…read morebest, an absolute treasure of a caretaker and teacher. my son Miles graduated from happy face 8 months ago and he still talks about how much he loves Jenny almost every day. we've used a number of daycares and no one gives the children as much love, attention, and lessons as Jenny. if Jenny has space for your child, you should take that spot immediately because you will never find a better place.

I am so happy to leave this review for Jenny and her staff. I found out about Happy Face Family…read moreChildcare from Yelp, and my friend also recommended it. It was very easy to communicate with Jenny on Yelp. We scheduled to visit the place before enrolling, and I was impressed at how clean and kid-friendly everything was. There were vacancies, so we enrolled immediately. It was our first time taking to kids to any kind of childcare, so Jenny understood us very well. She texted us pictures of the kids during their first few days there, which put us at ease. Seeing their happy faces in the pictures brings truth to the name of this daycare! Jenny cooks very healthy food for the kids - much better than the cafeteria-type foods at large daycares/preschools. She also sends weekly e-mails with pictures of the kids, of the meals, and of the activities that the kids do during the week. I honestly miss this very much! On special occasions, she sent videos of the kids singing songs. Whenever we picked up the kids, the kids were always happy. We were very, very comfortable with Jenny and her staff. Her staff were just as loving and caring as Jenny. It was also the sweetest thing to hear our children singing "Twinkle, Twinkle" in Mandarin when they're at home! My favorite thing about Jenny is all the love and attention she puts into caring for the children. She treats the children like her own. Jenny is so cheerful and upbeat. No wonder the kids are happy! We owe Jenny many thanks and hugs, and we miss her very much!

Christina and Brian are amazing! I was a stay at home mom for 2+ years with my son before I decided…read moreI needed to start looking for help. I was so nervous to leave him anywhere, but Christina was very calming about the whole process. When we did a site visit, we both felt at ease when seeing where he'd be spending his days. Their play room has a great rotation of toys, and the outside/backyard area is big with a lot to do (our little guy is active so this was essential for us). They cover meals which has been super helpful, and our son even naps there (an absolute struggle at home). He comes home smiling, with new songs and stories about his friends at school. I cant recommend them enough!

This is a great place if your kid can take a hit. Unfortunately, we had a really negative…read moreexperience here. My daughter, 14months, was here full time M-F for one week. Her third day there, I went to pick her up and saw Christina's son, a 5 year old with autism, walk up to a 2 year old child who was sitting on the floor. He walked up and kicked this child twice really hard and she screamed, Christina looked back and her son kicked the child once again. Christina said, "oh are you trying to play tag with her?" Obviously not LOL. She picks up the screaming child and consoles her. Within a minute of the first incident, Christina's son came up to this same child again and pushed her forehead so that she fell completely off of a bench. Christina said "oh are you trying teach her safety? Bottoms on the bench please, Ella." The violence was completely unprovoked. I asked Christina if we could have a check in about what happened. This is where the one star rating comes in. If we met with Christina and Brian and had an adult conversation, my daughter would still be enrolled. Unfortunately, they seemed unclear why we would want to talk about the events I witnessed to someone else's child. In general Christina and Brian seem to be on very different pages about a number of things, so make sure you communicate with both of them there and in agreement with each other. Even before we met to discuss her son physically hurting this other child, Christina called me and said, "hey it has been a really long week and Fridays we clean the whole house and I have a strict bedtime routine for my son, so I can't give you an hour of my time. This really has to be 20 minutes or less." Totally fine, I didn't see anything wrong with that but it struck me as odd and unprofessional. Similar to the next event, I kept saying "ok" and let her vent. The meeting was the most awkward and unprofessional experience. I wanted to know: 1. how often is this 5 year old child randomly hitting toddlers? 2. how can you make sure this doesn't happen to my kid. I asked why Christina why she suggested he was trying to play tag or teach safety and why I didn't hear anything close to, "honey we don't hit our friends" and she said that she tells the other kids "No hitting" but not her son, because he has autism and she handles that in a unique way. This was the first time autism was brought up and it was brought up by Christina. I don't care that their kid has autism, I care that he is abusing kids and it isn't being dealt with. The entire conversation was 15 minutes of defensiveness. Keep in mind, the child who was kicked and pushed was not even my child. Brian was very quick to go to the edge of his seat and actually raise his voice and start yelling that we are crossing a line and having him defend his parenting. My husband said "clearly this is a trigger, we're first time parents and just wanted to know that this isn't common practice here." Christina said maybe my 14 month old was too young to be there at her daycare. Brian was running around the house frantically gathering my daughters things and Christina was teary eyed and repeatedly apologizing for him in a whisper tone. Super awkward. That is when it became clear that I was left on a holiday weekend without childcare for the following week, the first day of my new job. I really needed and wanted this place to work. Even as Brian started raising his voice and acting incredibly unprofessional, we still maintained our composure (because we are adults) and because I knew I still needed day care for my daughter. I think this place has a lot of promise. There seems to be a conflict of interest having their son in the day care. Christina and Brian should work on communication between themselves and how they (mostly Brian) communicates with parents. I certainly hope they are informing parents when intentional violence is happening to their child. Accidents happen but this was repeated, intentional, and inappropriate. They are running an entire business built around keeping kids safe and I think they need to refocus around that guiding principle. Unfortunately as someone who also works with children, I feel inclined to report this facility. The Pro's: Quick response time Organized enrollment process Picture/text updates throughout the day Big backyard area