We have had such a positive experience with this preschool. The environment is always clean, organized, and thoughtfully prepared for children to learn and explore. What stands out the most is the dedication of the teachers -- they truly care about each child's development, both academically and emotionally. Our child has become more confident, expressive, and independent since attending. We have noticed significant improvements in communication skills, early learning abilities, and social interactions with other children. As parents, we feel very comfortable and reassured every day when we drop off our child. The staff is always welcoming and patient, and they take time to understand each child's personality and needs. We sincerely appreciate all the effort the teachers put into creating such a positive and supportive learning environment. It is clear that they love what they do, and it shows in the happiness of the children. read more

My kids have attended Growing Tree for more than five years, so this review is based on a long-term experience as a parent rather than a quick impression. For the first several years, the experience was genuinely excellent. The teachers and staff were caring, patient, attentive, and professional, and we felt comfortable trusting them with our kids every day. Unfortunately, things have changed a lot since the beginning of this year. From our experience, the focus now seems to be shifting more toward business growth and efficiency rather than maintaining the same level of care and parent partnership that originally made this place special. There has also been substantial staff turnover over the years, and the overall environment feels very different now. More recently, interactions with staff have at times felt rude, defensive, and unnecessarily accusatory, which has been disappointing after being loyal customers for so long. It honestly made me sad to eventually transfer my kid to another daycare nearby, where things have been going smoothly without any issues. To be fair, I understand experiences may vary by branch and staff members, and other locations may still provide excellent care. This review reflects only our direct experience with this particular location. I also respect that the business may have a different interpretation of circumstances, but this has been my direct experience and feedback as a parent since the beginning of this year. I hope management takes parent feedback seriously and works toward rebuilding the caring and supportive culture that originally made Growing Tree such a wonderful place for families. read more

Referred by friend, whose two kids were both learned here. After we tried, really a good place, the teacher are all nice and responsible.

Feels very homey since there are only about 60 kids there - you get to know the staff very well. Teachers seem to really care and my kid was excited pretty much every day to go there. They take many pictures and video throughout the year and share digitally. read more

Our two children currently attend Growing Tree. Our youngest goes to Growing Tree's all day preschool while our older child goes to the after-school program Our older child (son) attended various preschools , none of which were Growing Tree, so we are well versed in preschool styles and different curriculum. Our daughter's preschool experience at Growing Tree far outshines the other preschools our son attended - whether curriculum, school culture, or sincerity , Growing Tree is by far leaps and bounds ahead of the other schools. The after-school program our first grade son is enrolled in has been a fabulous experience as well. The instructors are able to tailor their teaching to our child's needs allowing him to quickly excel at previously weaker subjects - at the same time he tells us the program is fun so it's not simply non stop instruction. The staff is very accommodating and goes the extra length to involve parents/families to foster a comfortable community environment We are thankful to have our children enrolled at Growing Tree and wholeheartedly recommend Growing Tree! read more

My kids have been here for several years, they enjoyed the daycare and after school programs. Very good variety of activities and enrichment classes, multinational teachers and bilingual environment. The teachers and management teams there are responsible and caring, we feel very much respected. Also the curriculum settings are quite adaptive to our kids too. read more

My kid attended here for one year. We've had a great experience with it. The teachers are caring, patient, and truly invested in the children's growth. The environment is safe, clean, and welcoming, and the curriculum supports both learning and social development. They offer lunch and snack which saving me a lot of effort. We highly recommend Growing Tree Learning Center to other families. read more

I attended many schools' open house before I made my decision. What I like the most about this school is that it has a lot of events/activities relating but not limited to holidays which expose students to histories and cultures. When Ms. Ting gave me the tour of the school, I knew my children would love it. The classroom is organized and clean. The children always change their shoes into their indoor shoes whenever they enter the classroom. My children have been attending GTLC for almost a year now. They always bring home their artwork and tell me how much they enjoy painting or singing at school. Their teachers are loving and cheerful. The school also does well communicating with parents. We receive school activity updates regularly via email. Extra curriculum classes like dance, martial arts, and clay sculpture are also available for children to take. I can tell that they are passionate in working with young children. The school also offer Chinese lessons for adults to take in the evening. The school offers hot lunch. And on top of that, they also offer pre-order dinners on Mondays and Thursdays. This is super convenient! read more

My child attended this school for over a year. We started off really liking the place but our experience deteriorated throughout the year. 1. management here needs a lot of work - they have an extremely high teacher turn over rate (my child's classroom had 5+ teachers leave and quit throughout the year). it seemed like every few months there was a new teacher. after i expressed my frustration they stopped communicating the teacher changes and i would only find out when i saw a new face during pick up. one of the teachers even told me she was very unhappy working there. Sometimes they may the teachers stay later for events but they don't pay them the overtime. 2. none of the bathrooms have hot or even luke warm water and were always very dirty plus the classrooms were also very dirty. my child's bedding box was covered in a thick layer of crumbs at the end of every week and we would end up having to wash the box 3. they try to nickel and dime you with everything (for example for the christmas performance they bought dresses off of temu and then sold it to all the parents for $30 each.) 4. whenever something happened i never received an incident report (when talk to the other parents the same experience for them too) i could go on and on but overall this place gives a good impression but once you start to pay attention and peel back the layers the management really needs a lot of work. read more

Our daughter has been attending GTLC since she was 18 months old. The teachers are exceptionally patient and caring, fostering a nurturing environment for the children. The hot lunch provided is not only nutritious and healthy but also simple enough for kids to enjoy. The management team is highly responsible, demonstrating excellent communication with parents and going beyond to understand and accommodate families' needs. My daughter loves the school and has had positive experiences with all the teachers across the three classrooms she's been in. The fact that she maintains a strong connection with each teacher speaks volumes about the nurturing environment at GTLC. Even when familiar faces teachers leave for various reason, it's reassuring that the spirit of the center remains intact, and the commitment of the teachers to care for the kids continues unwaveringly. Throughout her time at the daycare, our daughter has developed remarkable skills. She's become very responsible for her own tasks, showcasing independence by putting things away after playing and displaying good manners. The variety of activities offered throughout the year, including well-organized and enriched events, highlights the effort the team puts into helping kids perform. Family participation events like potlucks and moon cake making add a special touch, with teachers and staff going above and beyond by creating delicious treats. While our academic expectations at this young age may not be high, we appreciate the well-rounded curriculum that includes various aspects, including the blending of Chinese culture. It was truly impressive to witness our 3-year-old daughter memorize several Chinese poems learned at school--beyond our expectations. Overall, we are immensely grateful for the wonderful school and the dedicated team of teachers that have played a crucial role in our daughter's childhood and development. read more

Our 2 year old daughter goes here. Excellent pre-school for bilingual Chinese / English / some Spanish language education. The day is split between Mandarin teaching and English teaching for the kids. The teachers are all very caring and love kids, and they work hard. The classes are smaller sized, so your kid will get that extra attention. Tuition rates are competitive. The pre-school is also very well run by the administrators. They are very good at communicating with the parents: the daily curriculum, parent-teacher feedback day on how your child is doing, etc. The school is also very health conscious and our toddler is less sick here than at other schools. There are also many events & art projects for the students (summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.) We even had a recent Christmas performance for the parents from the students of the school where the students were singing and dancing xmas songs in both English and Mandarin! Highly recommend this preschool if you're looking for bilingual education for your child! The preschool is very well run. read more

I was introduced to Growing Tree through my sister who sent her two sons there for preschool many years ago. I enrolled my two daughters in Growing Tree in the Fall of 2021. The older graduated in 2022 and moved on to CLIP. The younger graduated this year and will also be attending CLIP in the fall. I am thankful for their time at Growing Tree where, on a daily basis, they enjoyed play, jobs (structured independent learning activities), music and movement (in English, Mandarin, and even Spanish when the school had Spanish speaking teachers), Story Time, Mandarin and English language instruction, Math instruction, and growing in their relationships with other children, teachers, and staff. The time they spent in the classroom greatly enriched their knowledge about the world, stimulated their thinking, taught them new skills, helped them better understand how to relate with other children and adults, enlightened their hearts through play, cultivated some meaningful friendships, and helped them to become familiar with a classroom environment. And even though there was a time when there were changes to the teaching staff and office staff the care my daughters received remained consistent. Taking care of and instructing children is not easy and the staff always did their best to provide a nurturing and positive environment In addition to the daily activities they enjoyed special activities and participated in special celebrations for Chinese New Year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and more. Each celebration was captured with videos and photos which I was able to enjoy and share. I also enjoyed seeing the girls participate in some of the extra curricular activities such as dance and clay class. My older daughter also attended Summer Camp which was a nice way to enjoy the summer months with other children centered around different weekly themes and special activities. So as you can see Growing Tree is a comprehensive learning center that provides care for children of many ages through their preschool, afterschool, and Summer Camp programs. Thankfully some of the other children my older daughter met through Growing Tree became friends who she now goes to grade school with at CLIP. As a parent it was really helpful to know my daughter wasn't going to be making the transition from preschool alone. Our younger daughter will also be going to Kindergarten in the fall with a few friends from her classroom. I recognize many children who go to preschool at Growing Tree may not transition to other schools together but it is a possibility and an extra benefit. All in all my daughters had a positive and encouraging time at Growing Tree. I am especially thankful for the teachers, helpers, office staff, and Ms. Ting who oversees the center for investing in our family and for doing their best to provide the best care possible for all the children who go to Growing Tree. read more

Our son has been attending this school for almost a year, and we couldn't be happier with his experience. He enjoys coming to school every morning. We're sincerely thankful for his teachers and office staff. My son really likes the diverse range of activities the school organizes, such as Halloween activities, Christmas performances, and Chinese New Year celebrations. The bilingual environment helps him learn more Chinese, and I'm pleasantly surprised by his language development. Overall, the clean environment, caring staff, and engaging activities make this school a great place.We highly recommend it for parents seeking a bilingual preschool for their little ones. read more

My son just turned three, and he has been at this school for over half a year. He has undergone many changes, from initially not following teacher instructions to actively participating in last year's Christmas performance. All of these positive changes are closely related to the teachers' hard work, and as parents, we are very grateful. The teachers have been attentive to our special needs, making an effort to fulfill them. Despite the challenging nature of their job, they communicate with us about our child at school, sometimes also in the very late evening.These provided us a sense of reassurance. The school's management is dedicated, organizing various activities from last October, such as Halloween trampoline jumping, Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas performances, and more. Each holiday event has been rich and exciting. As parents, we judge a kindergarten based on whether the teachers put in effort and whether we can trust them with our children. Minor issues are understandable, considering the challenges of running a kindergarten in the Bay Area. Choosing this bilingual kindergarten initially because of its proximity to our home, we feel that our decision was very accurate after this half-year. A special thanks to Miss Jenny, Miss Karoline, Miss Lupe, and Miss Ting for their dedication to our child. read more

Both of children attend this preschool and love it. My oldest has been there for 2.5 years and recently graduated. Even though we do not speak mandarin at home, she can have simple conversations with my parents in mandarin. The school has additional activities like ballet, martial arts, and art classes that you can pay for during school hours. This is great because then I don't have to find additional extracurricular activities outside of school hours. The teachers work with each child individually according to the child's level and pace. My son has been there for less year, and he loves his teachers and his classmates. He has really blossomed there. The school also has numerous events where the children perform (not all preschools have this), and these performances help the kids build confidence. read more

Both of my kids have been going here for over 4 years and they love it here. This is a smaller school than the Growing Tree on the corner of Propsect and DeAnza, which I like! All the teachers and the admin staff know my kids and my kids aren't just another face in the school. The teachers here are very knowledgeable and friendly. My son is currently in the transitional kindergarten class and he loves his 2 teachers- Ms. Cindy and Ms. Rachna. They are both super nice. Ms. Cindy teaches Chinese and speaks Chinese to the kids consistently throughout the day. It's hard for little kids to speak Chinese willingly especially if they don't speak it at home all the time and all their friends speak English. But I've noticed that my son will occasionally start speaking Chinese to us and sing random Chinese songs- it's pretty impressive! He also has been practicing writing Chinese as well. Ms. Rachna, the English teacher, is also very good with my son. She's very patient and knows how to get kids to pay attention without being too strict. My daughter is in the after school program and she likes it there as well. One time I forgot to make her lunch and a teacher she knew saw her without food and just gave her food so she wouldn't go hungry. I think that because of the size of the school, teachers are able to really get to the the kids and the parents pretty well. I usually chat with the teachers for at least 5-10 min everyday because they are usually telling me about what my kids did that day or what I should do at home to try and help them. I read an earlier review that said the school food looked like cheap ranch 99 food. That might have been true years ago, but the food now is much better. I asked management before where the food came from. Apparently it's cooked by this lady who does home-style cooking so it's healthier than most restaurants. Another plus is that my daughter loves eating lunch at growing tree! She's a very picky eater and resisted eating there for a long time but one day she tried it and now she wants to eat it all the time. They alternate between American and Chinese food. The campus itself isn't huge but that's what I like about it. The classrooms are nice and clean. The play area has fake grass to accommodate those kids with outdoor allergies. Overall, I'm glad my kids come here! It's nice to know that the teachers care about my kids. read more

Our daughter has been going to Growing Tree for over a year, and she loves it. She went to this campus before, but we kept her at home for more than a year because of the pandemic. Because of this, we were worried she would be socially and emotionally unprepared to restart school. However, she adjusted without issue due to the warm and engaging staff and teachers. Some things we love about this school/campus are. 1. It's a Montessori school with a balanced curriculum. The school has recently upgraded its curriculum and academically based pre-k classes but is still very well-balanced. Kids learn and make progress in a fun and relaxing environment. As a result, they will be more ready by the time they start kindergarten. 2. It's a bilingual school, especially in Chinese and English. The school organizes many activities based on holidays, and kids are exposed to both cultures. 3. It's a safe and warm environment for students to learn and have fun. My daughter was shy when she started school. Now she is more active and doesn't want to leave school when we pick her up. 4. The school has recently introduced many extracurricular activities, including clay, dance, art, phonics, etc. The extracurricular teachers are also of high quality. 5. The school has lovely staff and teachers that stay engaged with us. The front office staff, Ms. Ting and Ms. Angie are very friendly and helpful. The pre-k classroom teachers, Ms. Abigail and Ms. Chunyin are awesome and super easy to communicate with. My daughter loves them. We feel it's home whenever we go to Growing Tree, and we highly recommend it to every parent. read more

My second son spent a year there as a pre-K before he left to join his brother at another school. He loved Growing Tree and keeps mentioning it after he left. The place is super clean and well organized. The teachers and staff are very helpful. When my son started out, he did not speak that much English and he had difficulty in keeping up with the rest of the class. His teacher, Ms. Saras, was extremely patient and helped him greatly make the adjustment to the new environment. The bilingual teaching (English and Chinese) was also a big plus. I strongly recommend this school for those families who want their children to start bilingual learning. read more

My kid has been in this site for almost 2yrs! Can't believe how time flies! Ever since Miss Ting join the team this site has been a wonderful school for both my kid and me. They have lots of great activities and teachers are always warm and welcoming. My son loves his school. He learned a lot from his teachers and made lots of friends. He's leaving growing tree this year for TK, but we are thinking sending him to the after school program. read more

My son has been going to Growing Tree since he was 18 months and is graduating this year to go to Kindergarten. We have loved Growing Tree from day one and trust the teachers and staff to take good care of our child. He started with Ms. Lily who was just so kind and patient with toddlers, then on to Ms. Abigail, Ms. Chunyin, and now with Ms. Sreedavi, Ms. Zoe and Ms. Jessica. The teachers care not just about their jobs but also about the well-being of the kids. My son is a picky eater and is sometimes shy around other kids and they've been so patient with teaching him to broaden his horizons. Ms. Ting the director does her best to accommodate our needs and calls or sends me messages to keep me informed about what's going on. When I had some concerns, they've been open to discussing solutions with me. We have recommended Growing Tree to other families because we know that they will do their best to work with parents and their kids. read more

My daughter got a sty on her eye the second day we sent her to the summer camp at Growing Tree Learning Center. We took her to the doctor before we sent her in and the doctor confirmed that even though it'll be uncomfortable and painful sometimes, it's not contagious. We provided that information to the staff and the front desk lady even told us that she had sty eye before. But still, on the 5th day of the camp, when my daughter's eye condition has improved a lot, not as uncomfortable as before, less red, less swelling, the school staff called me 1 hour after I sent her in, asking to put an eye patch(I.e. a one-eye mask, the one often shows up in Pirates of Caribbean movie) on her. When I refused to do so and re-iterated that it's not contagious, they asked me to pick her up. My daughter told me later that they also asked her to put on an eye patch earlier but she refused. So my question is, my daughter didn't get a fever, didn't get a infectious disease, why was she asked to leave the camp? While the sty was red and swelling, like a pimple on face, her vision was not affected, she was not blind, why did they ask her to put on an eye patch, which would impair her vision and make the sty even worse, with the risk of infection? My daughter also mentioned that some kids at the camp insulted her, and threatened to punch her sty eye. So instead of using this opportunity to educate the kids about sympathy and compassion, GTLC expelled the little innocent girl, so that the other kids didn't need to watch a "red, ugly" eye? Considering that my daughter told me two days earlier that some teachers at this place was very "mean", it's not so hard to see reasons behind the staff's behavior. I would suggest any parent who cares about their child's character education avoid this place. read more

This is an overdue review I should post early. My daughter has been attended in Saratoga （12226 ）location for 5 years. The school includes Preschool (18 month to 6 years old)and Afterschool programs (5-10 years old) . Growing Tree has two campuses in Saratoga but we choose this one because it is bigger and also has Chinese Afterschool program. My daughter was in the preschool for 2years and now she is in the Afterschool program. Ms. Jerri (Senior Director) who has been working in Little Tree Campbell site since 2017, and started working in this location after April 2022. Now she is in charge of Little Tree Campbell site and Growing Tree Saratoga Site(12226 location). She works so hard to create the safe atmosphere including more interesting activities and balanced curriculums. Ms. Ting is an assistant director at this location too. After April this year, we can seethe big difference comparing to previous programs. There are several highlights I would like to share: 1.For preschoolers, during the summer fun time from July to the end of August, the school has weekly theme and also add one science activity and one cooking activity in each week. Ms. Ting also made the movies and shared with parents each week. The children are super happy to participate in different activities. 2. For Afterschool program, teachers send weekly report to the parents, so we know how the teacher teaches and it is easy and clearly for parents to supervise the child toreview the stuff at home. The school celebrates a lot of festivals. The preschool has many performances too. I can see my daughter's progress in 5 years in Growing Tree. 3. The school takes Covid protocol seriously. We are still doing the Covid-19 PCR test weekly. It is a simple procedure andsafe for everyone. 4. The teachers are very patient and nice. They treat the students like their own child. I can see it is the true love from their deep heart. 5. The lunch is gorgeous. They have 3 days of Chinese food and 2 days of westernfood. The school has a center kitchen and all the food are home made styles. Even though it costs $6 per meal but it is worthy. The child can eat until they are full. Each meal includes three different dishes. 6. The school is very clean. The professional team cleans and sanitizes the school daily. I also seea professional sanitation machine inthe office. 7. The ratio is better thanother nearby schools. 8. There are enrichment classes such as dance, art, clay ,soccer, and chess. My daughter will stay in this Afterschool until she goes to middle school. I highly recommend this school. read more

Growing Tree Montessori school (bilingual: Chinese & English) has 2 locations on Saratoga Sunnyvale Rd. My kids are in this location:12220 Saratoga Sunnyvale Rd that is bright and feels like home. My both daughters have been in this school since 2 years old. Teachers were very patient and I was amazed how much energy and love teachers have, even in the end of day. When I pick up my kids, the teacher always tell me how my kids do for the day. Great communications! There are different toys at school :) and kids are always "busy" and focus on them. They call it "job". The kids learn to take a "job", finish it, and put it back in place. I love this rule because it helps to train my kids to focus and know to clean up after themselves and take turns. There are often activities at school such as phonic class, athlete class, clay class, singing class, kungfu class, etc. that kids can choose to attend. There are also a lot of theme events for different festivals and the kids learn the meaning of it and 'practice' in reality. My kids told me what's St Patrick day or how excited they were to make moon cake. They will bring back their drawings/crafts back home everyday in a folder and parents can review at home. I remember, the school let kids to celebrate/show love to mom in mother's day. I always have tears in my eyes when I see the surprise. Now my oldest daughter is 5. She will graduate from this school. She learned how to write Chinese characters, simple English spellings and she learned about numbers (some addition/subtraction). She also learned geography, poems, etc. i was happy to see her grabbing a book and trying to read it! I believe those skills will help her continue in the kindergarten. I know my daughter and I will miss the teachers here. Definitely will be back for their after-school programs. I felt lucky to choose this school for my children as part of their growing path. read more

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In light of school closures, there has not been any consideration/grace for the 30 day withdrawal policy. Still requesting full tuition payment for afterschool services even though we have not sent our daughter there since school closure started. read more

Avoid this place at all costs. Totally unprofessional administrative staff that have no clue what they're doing. Nobody takes responsibility for "home office" decisions and they have no regard for child safety nor follow California state mandates on safety protocols- endangering the lives of the children these caregivers are supposed to protect!!! For example, we raised a concern around not having a formal sign in or sign out procedure at one of the summer camps. Additionally, there was nobody monitoring the playground when we picked up my child from her first day of camp. ANYONE COULD HAVE TAKEN HER AND THEY WOULD HAVE HAD NO CLUE!!!! Absolutely unacceptable. We have filed an official complaint with social services and this place needs to be shut down or at least severely reprimanded, at least for the sake of the parents and children attending there now. Again, avoid at all costs or move your child out of this place before something disastrous happens. Just look at the other reviews. Horrible. read more

All my 3 kids are in Growing Tree school (The location right across street of Chase Bank. There are 2 sites of Growing Tree.) The teachers there are very considerate, patient, responsible and fun. You really can tell that the teachers love the kids and it is not just a job. My kids have been to Growing Tree since 18 months old. They learned so much how to treat others, how to manage their own 'job' (such as art/craft work, or other Montessori activities), how to behave and love. I always have tears when I saw my kids having performance that you can be proud of. The oldest one is going to their summer camp (K-6th grade) program and after school. The summer camp has different theme for each week (cooking week, lego week, etc.). It also includes English & Chinese public speaking sessions. There are a lot of good things about the school and teachers, visiting and talking to other parents is the best. My kids are happy to go to school and I highly recommend it to others. read more

My daughter graduated TK from this Growing Tree location in 2017. She transitioned over from the Prospect and DeAnza location (also wonderful) as there was no TK class there. Originally, we had planned on sending her to another school for TK, but decided to stay. And boy were we happy we made that decision. My daughter had such a wonderful experience and learned so much from her teachers, Ms.Cindy and Ms.Tracy. Ms.Cindy was her Chinese teacher and she was so warm and caring. She was super patient with my daughter and always paid a lot of attention to both her academic and emotional needs. Whenever I had a concern about anything, Ms.Cindy would address it right away and was very supportive of me and my daughter. Ms.Tracy was her English teacher, who also was very good to my daughter. Like Ms.Cindy, she was also very patient and understood my daughter very well. My daughter graduated from there learning how to read and was very well prepared for Kindergarten. In fact, I think she learned more there academically then she did in Kindergarten. Growing Tree is focused on academics, but without being too strict and suffocating. I am so glad we sent her there for TK. No regrets whatsoever. She continues to take the after school Chinese program there as well. We had no issues with the lunch at all. I was actually jealous that they got such good home cooked Chinese food! I've actually tried their lunch. Way better than the usual pizza/fried chicken nuggets etc lunches that most schools get. When they did serve western food, my daughter loved their spaghetti! She always wanted me to cook spaghetti like Growing Tree. They also help heat up your food if you bring your own lunch. It is a nut free school and they are very cautious and strict about allergies. Overall, we had a really good experience at Growing Tree and we highly recommend it! read more

This review is definitely long overdue, our experience with Growing Tree on 12220 Saratoga Sunnyvale road over the past 3 years has been nothing short of amazing. Before Growing Tree, our sons attended AppleSeed Sunnyvale(Montessori based) and Challenger Saratoga (Curriculum based). Our assessment is that Growing Tree is by far the best pre-school and after-school program that you can find in the valley. Our first experience with Montessori at AppleSeed was not great, our older son doesn't want to go to school after a few months. It's the complete opposite with Growing Tree, both of our sons really enjoy and love to go to school. The classroom environment is clean, bright, and well equipped. We found Growing Tree teachers to be very experienced, passionate, caring, and really take the Montessori method to heart. This year in particular, my younger son had Ms. Cindy, Ms. Rachna, and Ms. Praveena in room F. His knowledge on English, Chinese, Math, Geography, and Science grew by leaps and bounds. They also incorporated sports, music, and art throughout the year to encourage kids to be well rounded. As a team, the teachers really get to know each kid and tailor the curriculum accordingly. My older son attends the afterschool program with Ms. Zhao, who just started teaching at Growing Tree this year and we can't be happier with her. She is very innovative in coming up with ideas to get her students interested in learning. We can tell by the increasing number of students in her class to know that she is doing a great job and very popular with kids. Overall, we just can't say enough good thing about our experience at Growing Tree and how fortunate we are in finding this place for our kids. read more

I toured this place, had a very positive first impression, had my child go back for a $25 nonrefundable assessment for possible intake for about 45min, received the acceptance email and decided to pass on this school. A couple unacceptable factors stuck out to me: 1. The children needed to walk outside of the gated school area to get from the classroom to the larger playground, but given that they were walking right along the busy street of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd, there was only one teacher at the very front of the line of kids, one at the very end...the one at the end went back with some kids to get something, the teacher at the front already turned a corner, leaving at least half of a line of 20 preschoolers unsupervised out in the open sidewalk right next to a large 40mph road, except I was there to watch and help watch them...but what would happened if I wasn't touring that day? Big safety concern. 2. Teachers in the classroom seemed uncaring and unenthused about their jobs. I can't speak for the all teachers because we only were assessed in one room. They looked like they hated their jobs and couldn't even smile once for an observing potential family. A teacher was sick and they let her come to school and had her wear a mask but she had it hanging off her ears until I came into the room and upon seeing a parent, quickly put it back on. I don't even know why a teacher would be at school if she was sick. But this was just the class we toured. I did notice that the class next door had a very enthused, happy, caring Chinese teacher that was very involved with her students. Too bad that class was full...I wonder if we would have had a better impression of the school otherwise. Also, from the few weeks between when we toured and when we were assessed, three teachers have changed. That is a HUGE turnaround IMO. 3. I saw a little boy separated from the rest of the class on the playground when they were doing some organized group activity. He was just playing in a sandbox far off to the side by himself. No one cared to ask if he wanted to join the others. I'm not even sure the teachers realized he was off on his own...or they just didn't care. I also saw the Chinese teacher standing idly right in front of a few kids as they called a girl a nasty name and she did nothing. A friend, whose son goes here, told me that teachers sometimes just believe tattlers without actually seeing/knowing the truth of an incident and your child may be blamed for something he/she didn't do. (I first heard of the school from her, but every time I ask if she liked it, she sort of shrugs and asked me to tour/see for myself but also made it a point to recommend that I tour others...I think they only stayed there because her son has made close friends there and he is also graduating soon.) 5. Bathrooms were clean when we first toured but on assessment day, when the teachers took the kids on a bathroom break, some kid accidentally made an obvious mess on the toilet, which is understandable because they're just kids and accidents happen. But instead of cleaning it up between kids, they just had the next girl in line sit right on the filthy toilet. Incredibly unsanitary. 6. Ok, enough cons. Obviously, I'm not comfortable sending my kids here so the cons stuck out more to me but I did notice some pros too: they're organized and things are neat, the facilities are nice, lessons/circle time seem very educational and constructive, kids speak Chinese really well here, about half of the kids seem happy to be there (so maybe your kid might be too), I like how they have native speakers for both the English and Chinese sessions, and even though they are not accredited Montessori they do seem to follow the methods fairly closely. Lady at the front desk seemed on top of things and makes a great first impression on the school but it pretty much stops there with the exception of a few good teachers that I saw. 7. Even if you do choose to go here, don't get the lunch option. It looks like cheap Chinese food from the deli section of Ranch 99, when they make food from groceries that are going bad soon. I can't even bear to eat that stuff myself, let alone feed it to my kids. read more

My son started going to growing tree preschool as soon as he hit 18 month. Now he is almost 3, me and my husband have seen his progress in many aspects especially he is more social and always willing to play with other kids. All teachers and staff are very friendly. Even teachers who are not in my son's class always say hello and give him a big smile when they see him. Which shows that they really care about all the kids not just those in their class. I do want to mention one of the teachers in my son's class, her name is Lily. My son loves her. She is kind, patient, and experienced with small children. She is also artistic. She creates lots of crafty project for kids to improve their finger muscle development. Overall, my son enjoys going to school and I trust all the teachers and staff who works there are putting all their heart into doing the best for students, parents, and teachers. It's a warming big family. I definitely recommend! read more

My kids love this school. We started with preschool and now my kids doing after school here too. Teacher are fantastic. My older one reached 1-2 grade level of English and math when he is in elementary school. Also learning a lot of Chinese words. Teacher are doing individualized teaching. My younger one does work books at higher level along with a few of classmates..also pretty flexible, once my older one have no school day at public school, we drop them off here read more