I've put off writing this review for quite a while now, b/c DC'ing is such a beloved institution,…read moreand also, there are so few daycares in Marin, that even if not a good fit, you may not have a choice. I ultimately decided to throw down my two cents, in case it helps a family, with similar ideas and priorities as ours, in deciding where to spend their hard-earned money and time (because this is a co-op you will be expected to dedicate work hours, too). If you commute from SF for work, good luck getting there at 6pm. I think more than a few parents hire nannies to pick up their kids or one parent only works part-time or not at all, which is how they manage it. And don't let the relaxed vibe there fool you. Even being a minute late will cost you $5, plus a few very nasty looks. Do it twice, and they threaten to expel your kid. It's a nonprofit, but they charge nearly as much as any other daycare. They have a fundraiser too that you are expected to contribute to. I raised $500 my first year there (Didn't get so much a thank you note. Makes me sorry that I traded in my "mommy capitol" among my friends and family to get them to donate, when I really could have used that effort and my friends cash for a nonprofit that would have truly appreciate it.) When you tour the place, you will see the rows and rows of diapers in the one small bathroom. Thats because easily 80% of kids are not toilet trained, including the ones who are going to start kindergarten next year. They only take the kids to the bathroom twice a day. The bathroom is hidden off in a side room, very far away from the play area. Trying to potty train your kid in this set up is a losing battle. (My kid was potty trained w/in 4 weeks at a new daycare, without me changing anything else about our routine. The new place takes the kids every hour). Initially, I thought the place had a sort of casual chic. $1300/month later, I wondered where my money was going, with the dirty toys, broken furniture, peeling paint, and all the delayed maintenance, including plumbing / drainage problems that shut the place down for a few days, that left us scrambling for daycare. Once again, they rely on that "relaxed" vibe to be what I would charterize as disorganized. If you have any questions or issues about your kid, you are supposed to write it in this notebook at the front. I don't think anyone reads that though, so I wound up spending a lot of time buttonholing teachers and telling them personally anytime I had info to convey. Meals - as you probably know if you are touring the place, you provide meals. That's fine, however, they are supposed to help your kid find, open, and eat their food. The very small kids, 3 - 5, have trouble with this. Example - my kids lunchbox had front and side compartments. I discovered that no one was bothering to open them up, and get the food out for my toddler. Meals wasted, kid hungry. 3 years old is just too little for kids for to be expected to feed themselves. My son is a picky eater as is - but even for a good eater, expecting them to find and open his own food? Like the potty issue, it comes down to staffing - too little of them. Staff - some are nice, some are less so, most of them seem overwhelmed. The owner only works 3/4 time (not there on Friday). I'm not one of those parents who minds if their kid gets dirty. My son is a very active child and loves a good mud puddle. However, I have my limits. He would come home, absolutely filthy, just about every day, including permanent stains from nonwashable markers and paint. I asked them if they could either switch to washable paint ("no, these are the paints we use") or put a smock on the kids ("no, we don't have time for that"). So, I had to add soaking and treating my son's clothes to my To Do list every day, or else have every picture ever taken of my kid in clothes looking like I dug them out of the trash. Or have an entire other wardrobe for weekends, with all my extra cash. And call me a bad person, but I would have liked to be able to go at least one day without having to give my kid a full bath. Overall, I don't think this place is understanding or responsive to the needs of working parents, particularly moms. It probably started as little coop for mommies to take the kids to a few hours a week, so they could socialize, but not as a real daycare, for working parents. Example - my kid was having a tough week, and kept asking for me. The teacher asked me if I could "spend some time with him. Just 15 minutes a day." She actually believed that I literally never spent more than 14 minutes a day with my kid - probably less! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I calmly explained to her that despite having a jobs, my husband and I spent breakfast, and 6 pm to bedtime every night with our kid, not to mention of course weekends. She honestly looked flabbergasted. Then said "oh. ok. I guess you do see him." SMH. Like I said at the outset, I know I'm the outlier here.

I cannot say enough about this wonderful school. I credit my two-year-old son's happiness, growth…read moreand (decent ;) behavior at home to all of these absolutely wonderful providers. They have shown my son incredible patience and love (He has grown especially attached to Eva ;), and, as a single mom, it means a lot to me that they charge very affordable prices compared to other schools.

We are so grateful we found Oakview. After moving to Marin during COVID, it was difficult to find a…read moresense of community, but Oakview gave our family that and so much more. Our daughter started at Oakview at age two, and from the moment we toured the school, we knew it was special. The warm and welcoming environment stood out to us. Every classroom felt joyful, engaging, colorful, and thoughtfully designed. After touring a handful of places we knew Oakview was the one. Over the years, it has been a joy to watch our daughters grow and thrive. Our oldest recently graduated and is heading to kindergarten with confidence, independence, and a genuine love of learning. I have especially loved seeing how much she admires and adores her teachers. The teachers really go above and beyond with unique and creative, hands-on projects and building relationships with each child and their families. Lastly, as newcomers to Marin, we met so many wonderful families through the school who have become some of our closest friends. Oakview has been an incredibly special part of our lives, and we are deeply grateful for the love, care, education, creativity, and community it has provided. We couldn't recommend it more highly.

We've had such a wonderful experience at Oakview Preschool. Each classroom tailors its program to…read morethe children's age and developmental stage, which makes a noticeable difference. The teachers lead with so much kindness and care and you can genuinely feel how much they value each child. It feels great knowing my two boys are safe, well cared for, having fun, and learning every day, not just academically, but also how to be kind little humans. They enjoy being there and are happy when I pick them up, and that says everything to me. The amazing parent community is an added bonus. I feel lucky to have found Oakview and would absolutely recommend Oakview as the best place for children to get their start with school.

We couldn't be happier with our experience at Ice Cream & Shoe Preschool. It's such a warm,…read morethoughtful, and nurturing environment, and you can truly feel how much the teachers care about the kids as individuals. The TK classroom atmosphere is calm and welcoming, and the play-based approach strikes a great balance between social-emotional development and early learning. Our child feels safe, supported, and excited to go to school each day, which says everything. The teachers are attentive, patient, and incredibly skilled at guiding children through friendships, problem-solving, and independence. We also really appreciate the strong sense of community among families and staff. Communication is clear, and it's obvious this school has been thoughtfully run for many years!

Our son attended preschool at Ice Cream and Shoe and we truly loved the experience - the teachers…read moreare so nurturing, the methodology was loved by parents and kids, and the experience prepared him for kindergarten in a noticeable way! I highly recommend this preschool program!

Both of my children attended TLC for three years leading up to kindergarten - and I can only say…read moregood things about this place. Three things to remember: small classes (max 6 kids in a class), in-home environment (no transition issues), director/teacher with an MSE and 30 years of experience - actually taking care of the kids. Couldn't ask for anything more. Just today Bonnie called me to tell me something new that that my daughter had learned. She loves the kids and she loves teaching. My son is in now second grade and doing exceptionally well socially, emotionally and academically. I attribute this to tailored attention he received at TLC. Seema teaches the younger kids. She is creative, fun and loving. In the early days I remember peeking in and seeing my daughter asleep in her arms. It reminded me that I had made the right decision.

Both our boys went here. Bonnie and the other teachers are absolutely wonderful; a very caring and…read morenourishing environment where the kids both learn and play.

We are so lucky to be apart of the RCNS family. Our daughter attended two daycares prior to…read morestarting here and this has been by far our favorite program. We have really enjoyed meeting the other families and get together regularly outside of school. Michelle, June and Mimi are all such wonderful teachers. Our daughter has already learned so much from them and even asks to go to school each morning. We really appreciate the daily communication from they provide and feel more than comfortable with them caring for our daughter. We really feel so grateful to have found this program and I can't recommend it enough!!

I did a petting zoo event here today and I have to say I could not believe how well-mannered and…read morewell-behaved the kids were! This little nursery school is very clean while still being incredibly fun and interactive with plenty of outside play. Miss Michelle and Miss June are both GREAT with the kids- I was even taking mental notes on how to parent me own future children! You can tell that they keep the kids active, involved, and encourage creativity. The amount of parent communication and involvement in the school is also something that just warms my heart. I absolutely cannot wait to be a part of Miss Michelle's upcoming Wilderness Cubs nature learning program!!

We could not be more happy with our Marin Montessori Middle School experience. We transferred our…read moredaughter in mid year and have been thrilled to see her engagement and interest in learning return. The staff are incredibly lovely and caring professionals who have the deepest respect for each student. We were met with openness and warmth and the turnaround for her academics was pronounced. She looks forward to going to school and loves getting to have choice in her own learning. Marin Montessori has truly created a culture of kindness and it has made all the difference for our family!

My oldest child is completing his first year at MMS, and I couldn't have dreamt up a better…read moreexperience for the equivalent of his pre-K year. He has always had a tough time with transitions until he made the transition to MMS! The school thoughtfully welcomed him in such a way that he walked in on his first day with no hesitation, making me feel at ease sending him to school everyday. The mixed age Montessori classroom environment nurtures his curiosity, giving him the opportunity to learn from his peers and practice leadership skills. The school's administration and guides are incredibly supportive of my child, meeting him where he is while ushering him to the next level. When my son's guide checked in with me after his first two days of school, the words she used to describe him were spot on. Beyond the school's administration and guides, the parent community has been an excellent resource to me and my growing family. My family moved to the Bay from the East Coast a few years ago, and I greatly appreciate that many parents are from other states and various non-US countries with diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences that their children can share with my children. I am looking forward to my second child starting in the fall!

After touring ABC I knew it was the place for my two girls. Just the feeling I got while in the…read moreschool made up my mind. My kids absolutely adore going to ABC. Every single child is happy and engaged in some kind of activity. The wonderful staff is always busy helping the children, teaching them, singing to them, reading to them, creating art projects, etc. You will never see the ABC staff sitting in a chair and playing on their cell phone. It just doesn't happen. The school is super clean and the toys are switched frequently. The academics are incredible. They teach the children about a different topic weekly, and also do age/ability "small groups" daily where the children learn to recognize shapes, colors, write their name, learn letters and numbers... My children both go fulltime, and at 2 and 3 years old, I have a lot of mommy-guilt about that. However, when I pick them up they are so happy sometimes they don't even want to go home. In fact, on the weekends they ask why they can't go to school. I love ABC so much and I hope you will schedule a tour and get that heart-warming feeling that I got. Simply put, the children are truly loved and it shows.

A FANTASTIC preschool! I can't imagine enrolling our son…read moreelsewhere. We enrolled our son at ABC at the beginning of this summer, and have been totally thrilled with the school. The staff at the school is super - a well-trained, very caring and very fun/energetic group of women! It made it so much easier to say goodbye to our little guy knowing that he'd be in the care of such a wonderful group. It's amazing how much ABC has helped our son in his overall development - speach, general socialization and independence.

This is a great place! The teachers are like family to us. All my 3 kids are here. One just…read moregraduated from here and i feel she really blossomed when she went to Alpha Kids. They emphasized how to play with other kids. I love how supportive the teachers are. They're overall great people.

This is a wonderful place! We placed our 2 year old here in Feb 2018, having transferred from a…read moredifferent school. He transitioned very quickly and was always positive about going to school. At his time at Alpha Kids his language skills exploded and his social interactions became much more courteous and empathetic. The teacher to child ratio is awesome - giving all these young kids the time and attention they need to get the most out of an early education. The teachers and administrators are all very caring, attentive and organized--they've put an engaging, well run program together. Alpha Kids is new to Novato so they're still relatively unknown - so we feel lucky to have found it!