I (we) think that Coastal is simply a fantastic pre-school run by equally fantastic teachers and a great director. We dug deep prior to enrolling our little at Coastal and found it to be the most well-balanced pre-school that allows kids to both learn as well as engage in outdoor play. While we loved ENC, for example, and even got a place to enroll, I can't have our kid looking at leaves all day long without any formal learning or curriculum. Coastal delivers both education (we want to educate our kids right?) as well as the essential outdoor play, interactive, creative and group play. The kids are great. The campus is fantastic. It's a well run machine and there's plenty of value. Love this place and we highly recommend it. read more

Love Coastal! One joined at 18 months all the way to when she went to TK. The younger also joined at 18 months and has 1 more year left. The teachers are amazing and the kids always come home happy and cheerful telling us about what they did that day. Such a great place for kids to make friends and play every day! read more

The teachers are so nice and the manager is so helpful and understanding . My daughter loves the environment and asked to go in the weekend. read more

Coastal Children's Learning Center - Preschools Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We are so lucky to have found coastal! Our daughter started mid year when she was 3 1/2 years old after having 1:1 nanny care since 4 months old. We were a little nervous to make the shift but we knew it was time for her to have a different experience and a little more independence. We honestly couldn't have asked for a better little school to start her in. There is a very homey feel and all the teachers are sweet and attentive yet know how to enforce boundaries. The class sizes are on the smaller side and it is a play based environment which we love. The schedule works extremely well for our family and the price honestly is a little more affordable than some others in the area. The app/communication tool the school uses is great and the teachers and director (Katrina) are pretty quick to respond if anything comes up. Our daughter is in Mrs Taylor's class this year and she is having so much fun and developing so well.. Lastly, Coastal doesn't have a 'keeping up with the Jones's' vibe at all (which is surprising for eastside Costa Mesa/Newport area) and we greatly appreciate it. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming! read more

We love Coastal. Our son joined at 18 months and is still there. Ms. Destiny in the youngest room is so sweet and good with the little ones. The director Katrina is incredible as well and always takes time to discuss any needs or developmental questions. All teachers are fabulous and we love the small size of the school! read more

I love CCLC and cannot recommend this preschool enough! I feel so lucky that I found this gem when looking to move my at the time 3 1/2 year old from his in-home daycare to a preschool setting. I was looking for a preschool close enough to my office near South Coast Plaza. The added bonus of CCLC is that they take children as young as 18 months which is so rare to find so I moved my younger son there as soon as he was old enough too. Both of my boys attended for about a year and the only reason we left is they both got into a private school close to where we moved in Orange. The director Katrina along with her staff of teachers are all so kind and sweet. My boys talked about all the teachers constantly and it was always a struggle to get them to leave school because they enjoyed it so much. The school provides a morning and afternoon snack which my older son would always be excited to tell me about. They have a great outdoor space to keep the kids entertained while having play time. The school uses the brightwheel app and they SPOIL you with the updates. I got some of the cutest photos of my kids and definitely already miss that with moving to another school. This preschool is the perfect balance of play while also incorporating learning opportunities. They do the messy play like painting, playdough, slime which means I don't always have to do that at home. :) Our family already misses CCLC, but we are so happy that we had the opportunity to be a part of the community there. read more

We LOVE CCLC. Everyone is so nice and caring and they take Covid precautions seriously and try to keep the kiddos clean and healthy! My kiddos loves it here and also he eats his lunch which he never did at his other preschool...so happy to have found this little gem! It's a smaller school Which I love! read more

My daughter attended CCLC for a year. It is a warm nurturing environment. My daughter flourished under their care. My son will definitely be joining the CCLC family when I'm he is old enough. read more

We absolutely adore this play-based school! All three of my children have gone to Coastal for preschool and it is just the sweetest little school. Hiring and keeping teachers is so hard these days (post Covid), but Katrina has always hired the sweetest, most loving teachers to look after and teach our kiddos. We feel so lucky to be able to have our kids at this school over the past 6+ years. The addition of Brightwheel has been wonderful- a safe, private way for teachers to share pictures and messages throughout the day with family members; easy, contactless sign in/out...Coastal has made so many great advancements over the years that just keep making things better and better. The school is clean and they reinforce great manners and listening skills- it has really set my kids up for success when they go to Kinder. Thank you Coastal!! read more

I am so happy with this school! First my son went here from age 19 months to 5 years old. The staff really felt like family to me. Even the parents of other children became my friends. So when I got pregnant again, I knew my baby would be going here! She also started at 19 mos old and is 3 yrs old now. Since she has been going she has been learning so much from numbers, to grammer and manners. If any yelpers out there are researching pre-schools, feel free to message me with any questions about my experience at this school! I love it! read more

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I have been really happy with the Coastal, my daughter loved the environment and the staff is polite and kind. I don't remember problems of miscommunication, rudeness but I do remember how they were always ready to advise and helping me and my wife with the wild behavior of my daughter. When I was working until late hours teachers were always happy to assist me and to stay with my daughter. I have just positive memories of this preschool, I know one day I will be in Costa Mesa again and both my son and daughter will return there. One positive and last note, teachers were able to cope with multiple languages, which was not expected and it was absolutely a plus. Good job! read more

When I first visited Coastal 6 years ago, I knew right away that this would be the school I would send my daughter. After looking into many other preschools in the area non of the others had that warm and welcoming feeling that I got when I first walked in to Coastal. I remember the owner, Kristin was there with her own two children and it was as if we were a part of the "family" right away. My youngest daughter just graduated from there this spring and I have to admit, after 6 years of dropping off/picking up -I'm really going to miss this place and their staff. I don't know how many times I've asked Katrina or their teachers for advice -anything from "how do I get her to get dressed in the morning -without her throwing a fit" to "how do i get them to sleep in their own beds at night". As a parent it's always nice to have someone that also knows your child well to go and ask for advice. I felt like I always got that from them. I'm bummed to see bad reviews about this school. I respect everybody's opinion, and we all can't see eye to eye on things (that's life), but when you call me out as an "idiot" for actually liking this place! I'm sorry, but I can no longer respect your opinion..... I hope everybody that looks up Coastal on this website and are interested in this school will take the time to read all the positive reviews and not get scared by this one persons bad experience. Go visit and see for yourself -It's a great place and I would send my girls there all over again if I could :) read more

If you are looking for a Pre-School, Coastal Children's Learning Center is absolutely the best and would recommend it to anyone. My boys 5 and 3 have been attending since they were 18 months.They have blossomed over the years. My 5 yr old is in the Pre-Kinder class now and he is learning so much. His socialization skills have developed tremendously. We love getting daily reports, that way we know what they did or enjoyed doing that day. The staff are incredible! Mrs. Katrina is always there to answer any questions or concerns we might have. You can't have the best Pre-School without having wonderful and dedicated teachers. The teachers are just amazing!!! Words cannot describe how these teachers have impacted my children's learning and behavior skills. We will be very sad when our time here comes to an end but we are grateful that we picked Coastal as their first learning foundation. read more

Best preschool ever. My son has been going here since he was two. The staff is so sweet. The school is clean and has been such a pleasurable experience. My son has grown so much socially and academically. Katrina,the director, is so sweet and friendly. She's super knowledgeable in preschool education and is great with the children. My son loves going here. He has developed everlasting friendships and will miss his Coastal Family dearly next year. read more

My son has been with Costal Learning Center for almost 4 years. I've always loved the teachers and wouldn't put him in any other school. He's grown so much and I truly believe his experience at CLC has had a major impact on it. read more

This place will always hold such a special place in our hearts. My Son will be done in June and transition to kindergarten in the fall. To say that he loves this place, his classmates and teachers is a total understatement. The director and staff have treated him and all the children like their own. Dropping him off has been easy because we know he has been in such great hands. The daily reports and Facebook updates are such a great addition to an already communicative school. I cant picture a better place. Our son has learned so much, academically and socially. His last day will be a sad one but we are so happy with all that we gained from his time here. read more

I've had all three of my kiddos go through Coastal and it's been wonderful! As a mother I can't even imagine dropping my kids off at another center each day. It's the perfect first school for little ones... teachers and principal are very nurturing and caring. There is plenty of structure but also lots of time to let their imaginations blossom. The teachers are very organized and on top of things. The phonics program for the pre-k year is well put together and taught. As a result my son was ready for kindergarten. The most comforting moments where I knew I made the best choice in schools were times my little ones got sick and I had to go in to pick them up.... on more than one occasion teachers were holding them like they were their own. To me that's priceless! I would give Coastal Five stars hands down! read more

I really think this is the best preschool in Costa Mesa. I moved to California from out of state over a year ago and when it came time to find child care I stopped looking after I found Coastal Childrens. The teachers are great and I couldn't ask for a better location. read more

i wish i could leave no stars. instead of notifying us that our son (who only goes to this daycare 2 times a week)was out of diapers. instead of calling us to bring more they felt the need to write in sharpie on the genital portion(front) of my sons diaper "more diapers please" why?? my son is 2 why have him subject to such ridicule and disrespect as to write in sharpie for the other kids and so called care takers to see and laugh. when i spoke to the owner i expressed my feelings regarding this situation and she said it was common place at this daycare to do that but when i called 10 comparable places and asked if this was common practice they were appalled by just the thought of doing something like that!! why couldn't a call have been made? (i work 9 miles) away why wasn't the caretaker writing progress slips that could have said "almost out of diapers" instead they wanted to be nasty and do that to a 2 year old defenseless boy!! garbage daycare katrina is the godmother of the owners kid so the owner didn't want to hear it and when she was mad cause i hung up the phone she called me back and started to curse me up one side and down the other that's who's taking care of kids and that's how she acts when you challenge her daycare about there practices!!!! do not bring your kids here!!! please note that the employees are trying to write reviews on yelp to boost their rating after my bad review which is 100% truthful and i have pics attached to back it up!!!! just look at the newest 5 star reviews that are from employees of this daycare 7-31-14 we also have video of katrina (the manager) lying and backtracking about the situation.!!! 7-31-14 funny how this place had 1 review from 2012 before my negative review!! the owner is begging people to write reviews so that it gets swept off of yelp. maybe my 2000 followers on instagram need to be notified now!! could have gone a whole other way but they want to lie and cover things up instead of saying we made a mistake and it will never happen again our practices have changed but instead i got cursed at while her son was in the car (i know this because she was on her handsfree in the car and notified me her own son was in the car listening! someone who curses like that in front of their own kid what do you think they are doing around your kids. this is that serious!!! AND ANY REVIEWER THAT AGREES WITH THIS PRACTICE NEEDS THEIR HEAD EXAMINED! read more

Reading the last two negative reviews made me want to tell you how great this cclc is my niece attended this preschool and she loved we never had a problem with the teacher and the director till this day she still remembers her teachers name and all the amazing thing she learned from them . read more

Love the teacher's and staff here! My daughter adjusted so quickly! The students here are all really sweet too. I also like that they post pictures so we can see what our kiddos are up to. The only thing I'd wish differently is if the pictures were private, not public for all of the Facebook world to see. read more

My son went to coastal clc from 2007-2011. He loved the school, and he still remembers the teachers there. The school did a very good job at preparing the children for kindergarten both academically and socially. The owner and all staff there are honest, professional, and kind. They are passionate about their job and that's very important to me. Whenever we drove past the school my son always wanted to stop by. He's now a well adjusted little guy who has lots of friends and loves to read. read more

My son was there for a few months and we had a less than pleasurable departure because the school director decided that he needs to be shadowed by someone the entire time he is at the preschool. I have never heard of such an impossible request nor have I heard of a parent in this situation before. And this was communicated to me on Friday that by Monday this would have to be done or the child would not be seen here anymore. Basically I would have to pay someone to stay with my child while in preschool. We have decided we can no longer continue going there, and the absolutely insensitive way and lack of notice that this was done in is simply baffling to me. It was at the beginning of a new school year, so maybe a less challenging child was much easier to deal with than mine, but either way the manner of handling the situation was completely inappropriate. read more

I feel I have to write this review especially after reading the latest two negative reviews. I am professional who need to travel very often and during one of my stays in USA the entire family have been with me so I've been in the need of a preschool for my daughter. A friend directed me to the CoastalCLC and my daughter loved it so much that after one year we had to return "home" and now... still after one year, after many schools tried by my daughter she only remember the names of the teachers, of Katrina and of a special friend. If I ask her now which are the name of her friends she always repeat one name.. if I ask her the name of the teachers she tells me only the CoastalCLC's teacher names! Some nights she still cry their names as she miss them a lot and keep asking us when are we going to take a plane to see them again. Personally I have never had problems with the owners and with Katrina as well Teachers have been always very polite and understanding when we were having problems to pick my daughter on time. English is not my native language but they always tried to understand and helped a lot my daughter speaking english! Now she speak english almost fluently and with better accent than mine! This is a genuine review, not a made up and I am not paid to write this, the truth is that this preschool is like a small jewel. Once you have it you don't want to let it go. Sadly I am not in Costa Mesa anymore but believe me that if one day I'll have to return there the CoastalCLC will be my first and only choice. read more

Our family LOVES Coastal! Their pre-k program has a fantastic readiness curriculum for the kids to enter Kindergarten prepared. Our first child went there for three years and our second is there now. While our children are polar opposites, Coastal has done wonders for both of them. Kids do not need to fit a certain mold to thrive at Coastal. A few things that stand out... 1) It's a small school--only one class per age group. Our children develop a special bond with each teacher they have and truly enjoy every single day. 2) Children are comforted--occasionally a child will have a sad drop-off, but they are always treated with extra care in those moments. No child is left to cry alone, but rather gets special time with a teacher or the director until they are ready to join their friends. 3) Amazing value--the tuition is very reasonable and you get so much for what you pay. Coastal stands out as one of the few pre-schools around that has realistic working-parent hours (7am - 6pm) as a STANDARD vs. others that charge an additional fee for early drop-off or late pick-up. 4) Diaper friendly--children can start preschool as early as at 18 months, so there's no pressure to have a kid out of diapers in order to start school. This is rare! read more

I am lucky to have had an amazing preschool for my son. With a caring director and amazing teachers it helped me have a piece of mind knowing that my child is safe and having fun while learning. I have noticed how much his vocabulary has expanded and how social he became once he was surrounded by other children. My son is an only child so he loved being around other children and the staff. I like how the school brought other activities to the school such as soccer shots, music class, and gymnastics. I did not need to drive my child to other places to have my child do these activities. It was very convenient for me. I also like that my child learned Spanish as well. Most preschools are half days but I like how Coastal is open from 7am-6pm. Any questions regarding my child or just concerns I had for him was nice to be able to ask the director and his teacher. As a first time parent everything is all new to me and I was the parent who always had questions regarding my child's behavior and growth. If I ever had a second child I would definitely send that child to Coastal. Thank you Coastal for teaching my son and helping him feel better when he would run and scrape his knees up. read more

Coastal CLC is an amazing school!! I love how the teachers treat my children like their own. Katrina, the director, is amazing and very easy to talk to! My kids love it there and actually look forward to school!! The school is very academically based vs. playing all day like I've seen at many other schools. If you also check other sources like google, yellow pages, Facebook, you will see the reviews speak for themselves!! read more

This school has been amazing for my son. We love the caring and friendly teachers. They have helped him grow from a little toddler to a young boy ready for kindergarten. He has learned so much here from socializing to speaking to his abc's and 123's. The phonics program they use is great. I will truly miss the "family" that we have made here. Rachel read more

Our daughter went to Coastal CLC when she was little, we loved it so much, our son goes there now. The teachers are great (which is really what its all about). They are very kind and loving to the children, they work with their different behaviors and personalities. They teach the kids proper behavior, how to interact with the other kids, how to listen and participate in class. There are lots of hands on, fun activities for the kids. They work on motor skills, hand eye coordination, as well as learning colors, numbers, letters, shapes etc. read more

I just want to say how much Coastal and the staff means to me! This place I highly recommend to people I know with children who are looking for a safe, family like environment, fun and great learning experience for their children. I've come to know the coastal staff for well over 7 years and I still find myself having a hard time staying away :) Katrina the director is amazing! She is why I chose coastal. I've been to many preschools even in other states and this is by far my #1 choice read more

Both my boys have attended Coastal Children's Learning Center from 2008-2013 and loved it. They both attend Davis Magnet School now and are doing very well. Coastal had prepared them not only socially but academically for elementary school. Plus, Katrina, the director was very knowledgeable and helpful with any concerns we had. She even suggested that we look into Davis when our eldest was about ready to graduate Coastal due to his love for science. There has been a small turnover of teachers and the ones my sons had were excellent and prepared them well for K grade. To this day, both my boys would ask to visit their old preschool teachers if they knew we were in the area. read more

I had my daughter at Coastal for 2 years and was sad to leave when she started Kinder. Yes, I loved it. Yes, I am giving 5 stars. Therefore, I am bumbling idiot as Mark A. eloquently put it since we go way back and he knows me so well!!! And since I am such an idiot, I'd like to know how do you change/wipe a baby without touching their genitals??? I know, writting with a sharpie on a diaper is so much worse!!! Duh! read more

Coastal was my sons first preschool. At first, I was very nervous and apprehensive about our school choice because it was our first time. When I drove by the school and noticed the adorable wooden red building with white trim, I loved it. But what really sold me was when I called the school and Kristen, the owner answered. She was very honest, patient and kind. We met that day and all my worries disappear. My son attended Coastal for two years until he went to kindergarten. To this day, (he's twelve) he still talks about his positive experiences and the wonderful friends he made at Coastal. read more

When I moved from San Francisco to Costa Mesa I did not know the area and carefully researched every preschool before enrolling my son, Christopher, so that I could keep my busy work schedule. I met with the owner, Kristin, who was very knowledgeable and engaged, as was the rest of the staff. The kids were clearly happy and well-cared for and the curriculum was top notch. Other preschools felt like factories to me, or seemed overly pretentious. My son attended Coastal until he left for kindergarten. He made friends for life, loved his teachers and the director, Katrina, and entered kindergarten as a top reader. He is now a top student in a magnet school and we firmly believe that the caring environment and strong educational foundation that Coastal gave him have helped him to thrive beyond. We would recommend Coastal to anyone with good sense and values, and also suggest that families who don't show respect for the hard work and dedication of this family owned preschool go find other alternatives. read more