ELA is truly a hidden gem -- I only wish I had found them sooner! Finding a preschool with caring teachers and a clean, nurturing environment is not easy, especially for my son who has speech delays. I'm so thankful for the director, Ms. Veronica. To be honest, I had some doubts at first when I spoke with her and thought it might be just another preschool, but after she gave me a tour, I immediately felt confident that this was the right place for my son. What really amazed me was how happy he was on his first day -- he ran right in without any tears! Now, he looks forward to going to school every day, and I no longer hear him cry, "No school!" Ms. Veronica has truly given me confidence that my son will be ready for kindergarten at their sister school, Hilldale. Thank you to all the wonderful teachers at ELA for creating such a positive and caring environment! read more

My son love this school and she enjoys reading and paying with the teacher look forward to going to school and he now potty train too

I am so so happy with Early learning Academy. It's the best decision I've made as a mom. I love that there are 3 different classrooms by age and teach each group by their developmentally appropriate learning. The caterpillars class is basically a TK, and I love hearing all the things my son learns and am impressed with the school projects. It's my son's 3rd year there and I think he will be very well prepared for kindergarten next year. Also, the hours are very convenient from 7:30am and open all the way to 6pm. All of the teachers are wonderful and very loving. They even take kids who aren't potty trained yet. I love how they celebrate special events, like holidays. They did very special events for mothers and Father's Day with performances and art by the kids, and a lunch for parents and kids. I love that the director lets me help out for the Halloween and Christmas and Easter events. Community workers month allowed parents to give presentations about their jobs, and the kids looooved this! This is just a few examples. It's just such a great school! There is a monthly newsletter, and weekly email with day by day syllabus, parent teacher conferences, end of week emails from the teachers with photos . It is very structured, but they make learning fun. Also - it was super important to me that the school feels safe and secure, and that the playard is not visible from the street. Early Learning Academy checks these boxes. The outdoors play areas are much bigger than other schools I had toured, but most importantly are private - passersby cannot see the children when they are playing outside. The director Ms. Veronica is very responsive and kind. She and the teachers are very patient. I love hearing from her about funny things my son does and who he plays with. It's also a nice parent community, especially as now that my son is 4, there are play dates and parties. I will cherish the experiences and memories that this school helps us make. read more

Early Learning Academy - Elementary Schools Near Me - Colma, California

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My sister-in-law recommended this school to me. She had sent my nephew here when he was 3, he is now 14. Both of my kids are currently attending this school and I have to say I just love it! Their hours are great but most of all the teachers are so amazing. The teachers are excellent and have a lot of experience working with kids and teaching them advanced skills. My eldest who is in the Caterpillars class can read, add, subtract, and write which is considered advance for a kid who is about to start kindergarten. My youngest who is 4 is able to write his first and last name, knows the ABC's, he is able to identify and write the upper and lower case letters. He knows how to count, colors, shapes and more. The school is very structure in their academics. Kids are exposed to science, math, art, and history at a very young age. In addition there are a lot of school activities that parents are invited to participate. The teachers send an email at the end of the week listing all the activities that the children have learned. This allows as parents to carry on the process of learning. At the beginning of the week all parents received an email entailing the curriculum for each day. Communication among parents and teachers is easy and great. Ms. Veronica who is the director of the school, is very kind, and manages the school very smoothly. She has a very strong team of knowledgable teachers and they all work cohesively to help each kid. We will miss the school when we leave but I am very happy that we landed here. I highly recommend this place. My kids have attended all of the three classrooms and I can say they will be more than ready when they start kindergarten.Thank you ELA. read more

I love ELA and so does my toddler! Even my mom who has worked as a Montessori school teacher her entire life has been thoroughly impressed and pleased w ELA in Colma. The teachers are caring, fun, and knowledgeable. They have great communication both with my son and with me as a parent. My 3 year old asks if he can go see Ms Aike and Ms War as soon as he wakes up! They have a structured curriculum, but also always have fun activities and events planned. Going to ELA has really helped my son w language, numbers, and social skills. I wish I would've known about ELA when my older one was a toddler. I'd send my kids here again and again. read more

1. I would definitely disregard the negative reviews below as those people did not actually take their children to this school. I was almost hesitant to start my daughter here because naturally, you read something negative and get worried. I am so glad I didn't listen to those negative reviews! 2. Enrolling my 2 year old into Early Learning Academy was the best decision I ever made - she is blossoming! As a pandemic baby, she wasn't as social or verbal but that quickly changed upon starting at ELA! 3. My daughter was going to UCSF daycare for over a year, and although the location and parking were more convenient - it was as important in the grand scheme of things. I'd happily go out of my way and park with my hazard lights on for a minute while I walk my toddler into this amazing facility. The curriculum at ELA is equivalent to that of Bright Horizons and the teachers here are just EXCELLENT. 4. More about the teachers: The teachers are so sweet and so experienced. Mrs. Aike and Ms. War War love my daughter like she is family. Ms. Veronica is the director and is also amazing and so easy-going! ELA truly makes you feel safe, heard, and at home. 5. The play areas aren't as extravagant as what my daughter had at Bright Horizon daycare in SF but that's not what is important. The play areas at ELA AEW fully equipped with what the kids need to play with and the teachers also interact with them. I get photos from Mrs. Aike of our daughter throughout the day and although there isn't a mobile app, We don't need it. I love ELA!!! read more

Early Learning Academy - Elementary Schools Near Me - Colma, California

I am so happy we came across ELA when searching for a school for my daughter. The facility itself is very clean and safe. The class sizes are not too big. But the staff here is absolutely fabulous! You can tell every person here loves kids. They are all compassionate and engaging. Every teacher, even though they are not my daughters teacher, know her. They all know every kid in the school. My daughter has grown so much while being here. And I have such peace of mind knowing she is in the best care. read more

Starting a new preschool during a pandemic was a difficult decision but it has been the best choice we made for my daughter. She has been thriving while at ELA. The entire staff is amazing at communicating what the kids are learning each week. Every week they have a science topic with hands on experiments which are fun for the kids. What I like the most is they keep each class together and don't allow classes to mix. They have also been amazing at sanitizing, social distancing and mask usage when not possible to distance. I would recommend ELA to any parents who need a quality preschool, especially now during the pandemic you will see a positive change in your child by sending them to ELA. read more

Early Learning Academy - Elementary Schools Near Me - Colma, California

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This is review is based on a phone call. I called the school today to get information on enrollment, hours, and fees. The 1st time I called a woman answered and then hung up on me, rude! The 2nd time I called the same woman answered and did not introduce the school and just said hello. I was confused and thought maybe I dialed the wrong number, but when I asked if this was the preschool she immediately said yes. The phone call felt very forced. It felt as if she did not want to be on the phone. Still I asked my questions which she quickly answered and said "OK was that it?" No interest providing a good service whi h makes me think they don't want more kids, yet they are open for enrollment- strange!! Anyway the entire call I just wanted to get off the phone but did not want to be rude, like her. It was definitely a first bad impression and I will not be considering this school from my child. read more

from My personal Experience with Early Leabring Academy, I would categorize Ana's review into the " things that didn't happen for 1000, Alex " category. read more

My little one has been attending ELA since she was 2 1/2 and she is now 5 and staring K in 2017 (She missed K because of her September bday). We have been extremely happy with her care at ELA. The teachers have all been wonderful and the director is always available to answer any questions or concerns. We had thought of moving her to a TK program, but we felt that ELA was a place that she felt comfortable and safe. They do teach PreK lessons and I feel that they challenge her on different activates when she needs it. My little is starting to read and she seems on track to be reading by the time she starts K. The school offers great academics and balances it with fun activities. My daughter loves when Learning Wheels ( http://www.ssf.net/776/Learning-Wheels ) comes and she gets to pick a new book from their library. They also have mothers and fathers day breakfast, holiday program and a school carnival. This to me it much more then a school, this place is a community and family. I'll really miss ELA when she graduates next year. I highly recommend this school! read more

My 3.5-year-old has attended Early Learning Academy for about half a year now. I think it has been very good for her. In a nutshell, my daughter likes her preschool, seems happy and excited about the things she learns, and seems to be flourishing. The routine seems to be good for her. The staff are very friendly and supportive and have been willing to work with us on a number of issues. And compared to the $60/day we were paying for all-day daycare--which is already comparatively cheap--this school is a veritable bargain. Here's a brain dump of all the details I like about the school. "ACADEMIC" LEARNING They are very organized post a calendar so you can see the daily activities. My daughter is solid on ABCs and is starting to read words. She could also count to 30 going in but now can count higher, which also translates to counting objects, not just rote numbers. Every week she brings home a packet of things they've worked on such as reading and writing uppercase/lowercase letters and numbers, recognizing patterns, matching, and so on. She can already write her name which is great. SPEAKING/THE WORLD AROUND THEM Every week they have show and tell, talk about their weekend, and sometimes get special guests in like a mailman, police officer, firefighter, pharmacist, or librarian. My daughter has also learned the days of the week and how to describe the weather. They celebrate holidays with artwork and special activities that sometimes involve parents, which is fun to see. ARTS We love the painting, drawing, and craft activities. She likes telling us about the blobs she's drawn which might be a whale or her family. :-) She used to only scribble but now can color somewhat within the lines. Her cutting skills have greatly improved in the time she's been there. MUSIC I love that my daughter will burst out in song after song that she's learned in school! They even do a holiday performance and I was wowed that they learned 4 songs in a couple weeks. HYGIENE My daughter started 95% potty trained and they really worked hard with us trying to figure out the best position b/c she kept spraying her clothes on the unfamiliar toilet. She's only had a few accidents since then, but I've never heard an unpleasant or judgmental word about it. They're very supportive. They teach good hygiene and the kids learn to wash their own hands. PLAY Because the location is fairly new, the outdoor play equipment is in great shape and looks like a super-fun place to play. My daughter learned to ride a tricycle here without my even knowing. One day she just hopped on a friend's trike and I was delighted. STAFF AND GROUNDS They are really wonderful. When we started, my daughter was clingy and for months said she didn't want to go to preschool (even though she was fine when she got there). The staff worked on soothing her and now she goes no problem and talks about her friends and what happened that day. As I mentioned, they also worked hard on her potty position to help things go down into the toilet instead of spraying out. For a while none of us could figure out what was going wrong but they tried all kinds of things until they found what worked for her. My child is not a great napper and gets wild and overtired if she doesn't rest, but we are working together with them to find incentives and methods to get her to sleep, and lately it seems to have been working. Any time we have a medical issue come up, they are very willing to watch her during the school day and report anything of note. The school has a very structured, dependable incident reporting policy where they'll write up anything worth noting, such as a child bumping her head, etc. There is a sign-in and sign-out and an alarm on the door so you can hear if someone leaves. So I feel it's a secure environment. The neighborhood is safe, too. There is a parent group that helps out and distributes newsletters so we're always aware of events and communication from the school. They provide snacks and assist with having kids eat their packed lunches. There is an emphasis on healthy eating which I love. The only reasons I give it 4 stars instead of 5 are: - Because staff is limited, they don't have someone to lead a group of kids who are non-nappers or nap-fighters like my child, so even if some kids aren't napping, they need to be lie quietly which is hard for my daughter. On the other hand, the director personally helps my child get to sleep so I know they are super-committed to trying everything within the scope of their staff. - It would be nice if they occasionally did some project-based work like a Reggio Emilia school but they don't bill themselves as that (they are play-based with some academics) so this is just wishful thinking on my part. - Some other schools do more field trips which would be fun. These are pretty minor nits, though. Overall, we love the school and would highly recommend it! read more

Full disclosure, we haven't sent our daughter here. But after our tour today, we definitely won't be doing that. First annoyance: there's only street parking. This is a symptom of the area and not so much the school's fault, so I would have been willing to let that slide had we decided that this would be a great fit for our daughter. However, the woman who led us on a tour instantly put us off. My daughter, who isn't even two, had a pacifier in her mouth because she had just woken up from the car ride. I asked my daughter if she could give me her pacifier, because she was now awake and we were inside. The woman then proceeded to tell my daughter/us, "We don't allow those here!" in a really sing song, almost mocking tone. Again, my daughter isn't even two yet, and she's on the tail end of pacifier usage anyways. I would have been fine with a no-pacifier rule (would probably ease her transition to doing away with the pacifier completely,) but the way the woman said this was so incredibly condescending that it really rubbed me the wrong way. As if that wasn't enough, apparently our tour was scheduled about 5 minutes before the kids were due to wake up from nap time. We would have happily waited until the kids were awake, but the woman insisted on taking us into each classroom and talking about the school while these kids were still asleep. Maybe 5 minutes isn't that big of a deal, but it showed a complete disregard of the children and their need for a nap. Couldn't we have waited? Or even better, couldn't you have scheduled us at a time that wasn't nap time? Despite all of this, I still kept trying to ask questions about the curriculum. Apparently "this is an academic preschool, we make sure they can read" was about the only thing they could tell me. Perhaps the teachers are fantastic, and perhaps the kids here are really happy and transition wonderfully into Kindergarten. But first impressions matter, and this experience did not make me want to spend over $1000 a month and put my daughter in their care. We will be finding a different preschool for our daughter. read more

Having graduated this year from ELA, I figured it was time to write a more complete review. Kiddo attended ELA from 3 yrs to 5.5 yrs old, from the "Chicks" classroom to the "Caterpillars". He has learned so much, gained a sense of self awareness and has such a love for reading and stories, and he had a wonderful overall experience. I am confident that Kiddo's own experience reflects my enthusiasm and sentiment. The school is well maintained, the staff are so dedicated- there are many holiday events (mother's day, father's day, spirit week, carnival, santa, etc) put on by the staff- so much work for them to put it on but they put in so much effort it for the children. I visited many schools in various parts of the city and peninsula before deciding on ELA... There are many things that set ELA apart from the rest of the schools we saw, the dedication by all the staff, the well appointed and well maintained facilities, and the many events for the students and families made it all the more special for us. Since he was 3 1/4 or so, kiddo has been able to read, and is now enrolled in a highly academic program and I am so glad ELA prepared him academically as well as socially. It is a fantastic school and I am so happy with the choice to bring kiddo here for almost 3 years! read more

I've never tried any other preschool so i have nothing to compare. I did notice an improvement in my daughter after only 1 week, who was begging to go to preschool. I was going to put her into a school in September to learn mandarin. At that age they are a little sponge, if the prices don't go too high I'll keep her in. They mentioned raising them recently and still have a deposit down on another pre-school just in case. They bring home work every week so you get an idea of the curriculum and you can go over the work with your child at home so you can see if they are learning and verify they did the work themselves. There is no drop off zone or parking so you have to park in the red zone during pick up and drop off. update: in the end my child did learn a lot of stuff, but she can barely read or spell anything. i don't think she can add either. I was hoping she would learn these things, but overall she did learn a lot of other things like matching, counting, abc's, built confidence, socialize, songs, dance, met police, firefighters, etc. read more

I found out about ELA through a friend who enrolled his two kids there. After looking at various programs, I decided on ELA and do not regret it. The staff are great and amazing with the students. I especially love the various events like the holiday program, mothers/fathers breakfasts, carnival, etc. It's also a great way to meet other parents and see the program in action. As an educator, I really looked at curriculum and the academic focus on the programs I was researching and by far, ELA had the best. They have a reading program that encourages parents to read with their little ones, which is so important for their cognitive development. If you are looking for a preschool program, check out ELA! read more

My oldest son goes to ELA and he loves it! The Director, Ms. House, is wonderful, approachable and warm hearted. She is available to answer any questions, get feedback from parents, and address any concerns parents may have. The teachers are all Great! I trust each and everyone of them. They do their best each day to make sure our kids our taken care of and learn something new each day. They deserve all the best! I can see a big difference from the day my son started at 2 1/2 to now. If we weren't moving to San Ramon next year, I would definitely place my younger son there next year! It's hard to find a good preschool, but if you consider going here...know that you won't go wrong!! :) read more

very happy with everything- and that is a hard thing for me to say. the director- ms.house is very hands on and involved- and makes sure everything is perfect. she is an amazing director and we are very lucky to have her! the teachers are very experienced and VERY good at what they do. my son has been learning in lightning speed. every single one of the teachers makes the place feel like home! read more

I have 2 children at ELA. Our experience have been extremely great! Great teachers, co-teachers & aids. As well as I've had the pleasure of working with both the old director (Ms. Hao) & the new one (Ms. House). My children have learned so many great things, from counting, colors, reading, songs etc. Their curriculum is great! They learn new things weekly. Teachers are amazing in implementing all the different things they can teach. I give this school 5 star because it is not only a school it is home for my children! Everyone has made it very accommodating & relaxing to know that we as parents can leave our kids in a good environment where they will be safe & will learn different things. Thank you so much ELA! read more

I usually do not write review, but I think is unfair for Leigh R to give ELA 1 star without even experiencing the place. I think the teacher she mentioned is Ms. Aiki. She has a great sense of humor and she takes care of the youngest class-2 year old. I am sorry that she rubbed you the wrong way. ELA is a great school, I am so happy that I found this place for my son who is 6 years old now. He was here from 3.5-5 years old. I did a lot of research before sending my son to this place and I honestly think that this is one of the best place. All the teachers are caring and loving.The facility is very clean and new. Ms. Hao is such a good principle and she brings the best out of my child. My son learn to be discipline, read and write. They also have so much fun meeting with fireman, policeman, and even Santa during Christmas (volunteered by one of the daddy). Those holidays like father's day breakfast, annual carnival are very thoughtfully planned and the teachers and community make a lot of effort to create magical experience to the children. Besides, they also have field-trip annually. My son even came back during his summer holiday when he was already in Kindergarten. He had a hard time adjusting to summer camp and they took him back without question. I hug the teachers and cry during my son's last day. I can't wait to send my second child here when he turns 2. read more

As parents who live and work in San Francisco, my wife and I found it incredibly difficult to get into a quality pre-school near our home. We searched and got on waiting lists but in the meantime, we found Early Learning Academy (ELA). Although ELA is in Colma, it's only a block from BART, which turned out to be very convenient at least a couple of times a month. But most importantly, Ms. Hao and the teachers provided our son a well-balanced mix of learning & play in a wholesome, caring, and clean environment. read more