The 5 stars are for the Happiness Hill Preschool (HHP) teachers and the love they have for the job and the love they pour into the kids! My child has been to a few different daycare programs, including one that's literally 2x the price (Bright Horizons). However, HHP is the only place where my partner and I felt all the teachers (that we've met thus far) have a genuine passion for the kids. At a previous daycare, my child only talked about one teacher who seemed to really care, who unsurprisingly was the only teacher we felt actually enjoyed her job as a preschool teacher. However, at HHP, my child raves about all the teachers. There is a glaring weakness at HHP though, and that's the administration team. Unfortunately, other Yelp feedback about the slow and sometimes lack of responses (via phone or email) are true in my experience. Phone calls or emails go unanswered for days or weeks at a time, if at all. Fortunately, interaction with the admin office are mostly unnecessary after the child is actually enrolled. I'm hoping this area will be improved! If there are any "emergencies" or issues with my child at school, the teachers are very good about either calling or emailing us. And teachers are timely in their responses to our proactive emails to them as well. All in all, HHP has been a very positive place for my child. read more

I loved Happiness Hill so much that I sent my son 5 years later. He was loved and cared for. I was so sad when he graduated but he was prepared for kindergarten and loves to learn. This school has been a blessing for our family. read more

We couldn't have been blessed with a better school. The staff is very friendly, the kids and other parents are all good people, and the education is unparalleled. My daughter has autism and this school has been such a tremendous help in getting her what she needs to be better. I would highly and proudly recommend to all. read more

After visiting about 5 preschools in Castro Valley Area, I am so glad that I chose Happiness Hill Preschool for my daughter. HHP has wonderful teachers and their classrooms are very spacious and organized. I think HHP is the only school in Castro Valley provides field trip which I really like because my kid can have fun while learning. They have newsletter each month for parents to keep track of what their kids will be learned in that month.There are so many activities through out the year, so parents and children can attend and participate. I can tell that my daughter loves her school, teachers and friends. Everyday, she gets home and tells me so much about what she's learned at school, who she plays with.. ect.. My daughter started at 3 years old, and is 3.5 now. She can count 1-20, recognize all letters and numbers, knows the months and weather ...and she also know how to pray, sing lots Christian songs. I am a HAPPY MOM ! :)) read more

Happiness Hill Preschool - Child Care & Day Care Near Me - Castro Valley, California

I heard a lot of good feedbacks about the school. However, my friends and I called so many times to the school and no one ever picked up the phones, we were thinking how we gonna get in touch with our kids if something happened. Emails were rarely replied as well. Safety is always a major concern for schools. Their lottery system is unfair that no one really knows their lottery process like. Think twice before you apply this preschool. read more

From the faculty to the facility, we couldn't ask for more. Our little guy had the best environment and experiences to start his school life. If they had primary school, we would enroll our son in a heartbeat! Faith filled, safe and nurturing, Happiness Hill has been such a blessing! read more

We loved this preschool and her education on Jesus. Our daughter never went to any type of day care before age 4 so she took a long time to adjust but ending up loving it. I think I was expecting her to learn more as far as identifying letters and numbers and working more on her writing. Other parents at this school confirmed that Preschool is more about them developing social skills, learning some basic stuff and understanding how to behave in a school type environment. But now that my daughter is in Kindergarten, she is really struggling to keep up with the other kids that were in different Preschools. She is actual below the acceptable level and I'm pretty shocked as to how much money we spent at Happiness Hill and she hardly learned anything other than Bible songs and Bible stories and a few letters here and there. I really am sad to say anything critical because my daughter's teacher was so sweet and loving. But I just wish more emphasis on education was enforced. They don't follow common core which I appreciated at first... but now I'm kinda wishing they did because my daughter can hardly keep up. read more

I have heard a lot of good feedback about this school and very interested of signing up my son for 2020 September. however the experience of getting hold of someone to further assist is not nice at all. no response from email and no one pick up the calls. I was advised by another mom to just physically show up and register my son which I don't know if it's appropriate when other schools are requiring phone calls/emails to register. read more

Hi guys Im writing a review about Happiness Hill Pre-school because it is a Grreat school with a wonderful staff. My Daughter attended HHP-S for the last year while my wife attended UCSEB. It is easily accessible off of the 580/238 interchange and located behind the Three Crosses Church. HHP-S is a Child Care Center a really well run center with great prices and a wholesome staff. We are currently looking for a Pre-School here and Berkeley and Im having a hard time doing so because nothing compares to the awesomeness we received there. My Daughter loved getting dropped off and would always talk so good about her Teachers and class mates. I always felt completely content with leaving her there and felt a real life comfort knowing she was in good hands. There tuition is beyond reasonable as well. I love this place and I am in the process of convincing my wife to drive her there instead of looking for a new place. (she's not currently budging though) Do I recommend this Pre-school? ABSOLUTELY with my Whole Heart. read more

Excellent. I can trust the teachers and leave my pre-schoolers in there. Kids learn to develop good character and behavior.

My daughter attended Happiness Hill Preschool and Daycare for 2.5 years and now she is in Kindergarten at a different school since HHPD doesn't have kindergarten and elementary. My daughter loves this school so much, she is very proud of her school, every time we passed by her school, she always said this is my school with 3 crosses on the top.. She loves her teachers, friends and the classes. The teachers are very caring, attentive, nurturing, loving, can be tough but also can be soft to the kids. The staff are smiley and friendly. The school is very diverse with kids from different cultures but all of them get along very well. Before i chose this school, i visited 4 different schools and i liked this school immediately. The school is very safe, clean, well maintained, have plenty of space to play and run around. The classroom is spacious, clean, and well organized. Parking space is huge for parents to drop-off their kids. The location is perfect, near the freeway, and downtown Castro Valley if you need to stop by for dinner.. My daughter was very sad that she left her school, teachers and friends. She always have new funny stories every time i asked her "how is school today?".. it made me laugh, too.. I am so glad that i put my daughter here because she learnt a lot from here especially about manners, compassion and sharing with others and this is important for life lessons.. If i have another kid, i would not hesitate to put her/him here because i know that i will feel safe and secure about them. I highly recommend this school, have a good memory even though it's only a preschool. read more

We love this preschool. Between my two kids we've been there for nearly 5 years and I'm genuinely bummed my younger one is moving on to elementary school next year. The teachers and staff here are amazing - warm, organized, creative. They are all really kind people and do a great job teaching the kids and communicating with the parents. Not only that, they really go above and beyond with class field trips and optional events like picnics, ice cream socials and parent date nights. You can tell they put a ton of energy behind organizing and staffing these themed events for the families. For anyone who is concerned about academics since this is a play-based school, my daughter's kindergarten teacher actually commented to us that the kids from Happiness Hill were always especially well-prepared for school. The school also does an amazing job of keeping out nuts and the classrooms/playground are clean and fun for the kids. We'll miss this place. read more

My son went here for a year and I wish I had brought him sooner. The staff at HH are caring, attentive and wonderful with the children. The facility was clean and well organized and there was always a generous ratio of teachers to kids, most times 2-3 in a classroom of about 25-30. It wasn't very structured nor did they emphasize academic rigor but these are children 5 years old and under so I appreciated the focus on sharing, compassion, kindness and social skills. The Christmas pageant and graduation are held in the adjoining church which is a large and beautiful auditorium. To this day, my son still remembers his teachers' names; he calls them all 'Miss' regardless of their age--Miss Donna, Miss Corrinne, Miss Ana and Miss (70+ year old day care teacher) Googa---this is a testament to how loved and cared for he was. The joy to my child and my own peace of mind Happiness Hill provided were invaluable! read more

My daughter went here 2 years. She was very happy and the teachers were great. School is clean with a nice playground. She learned a lot of social skills but nothing academic. My only issue with them was too much free play and their potty training policy which essentially promoted diapers till the kid graduates from the school. Kids are put in pull ups even if they are ready to be out and dry at home. read more

I looked at over 5 preschools in the area and immediately knew this was the right one for us. My son started in the fall and we couldn't be happier. The teachers are awesome and the staff is so nice. Glad we found this place :) read more

This school is the best. We were glad to choose this school over all other 5 preschools that we visited in the area. Our daughter started to go there since she was 2. The teachers are very caring and willing to work with the parents. My daughter has some medical conditions that the school is willing to help out. They even train most of the teachers on how to treat her conditions. I love the fact that they accept toddler as young as 18 months old and help potty training. Though this school does not seem to be too academic focus (it's more like a play base), I think it's actually good enough for young preschooler. My daughter is now 3.5 and learns so much from her class. She knows the months of the year and days of the week. She can count 1--40 and recognize most of the alphabet. I don't think I can ask for more. One big bonus, they are the only preschool that I know that provide school bus for field trips. It's the 5 stars school! read more

I just wanted to say what an awesome preschool and everyone who works there. My son has been attending for a year and a half, and all of the teachers and staff have been so supportive and amazing! They have so much patience, and will really work with the individual needs of your child! read more

In the two year old class they give you a daily update on what food they ate, what they learned, and times of diaper changes. In the three year old class, that doesn't happen but you still get weekly updates on how often they used the potty. I really like this school. They are kind, friendly and take really great care of my daughter. It's clean, neat and organized. The kids are in an annual Christmas pageant and they host a couple of family nights. My daughter is learning a lot and also gets good time to play outside. read more

My daughter has been going here for almost 6 months. She is in the C2 jumping beans class. She loves her teachers and friends at school. I like how the school is very organized, clean and safe. They don't put a lot of pressure on my child, but does give good feedback on behavior. We recently had a parent meeting with the teacher and was able to ask questions and get feedback on her behavior in school. I will be putting her in preschool next year at Happiness Hill. read more

I feel safe with my kid there! teachers and helpers are great.