Teachers Margo and Susan are so gentle and effective with the kids. Our child has really enjoyed…read moretheir time with the other kids and the teachers. We see growth and are excited to see how much is to come by the end of the year. The school is managed by the parents and follows an organized model for how teachers & kids are supported in the program. It's a beautiful school and we're happy with our experience and truly welcome others to visit and see for themselves.

Sequoia Nursery is a special place! The staff, the parents, the kids, the environment are all top…read morenotch. It's very well organized, structured perfectly, well balanced and run by teachers and parents who really care. We are proud and grateful to be a part of this wonderful community

We are on our second year (4th if you count toddler play time. *Hi teacher Nick!) at MCPC with my…read moreson and 1st (2nd?) year with my daughter. Pros: Phenomenal parent support, wonderful community, great skill building, socialization models for the kids. Inclusivity, diversity and cultural exposure, nature and mental/physical enrichment are all here, disability support physical and neurodivergent. Cons? This is a true co-op Parent involvement is required. The parents are running the school under the guidance and tenure of a past parent turned director. At least 25% of your life is this school once you join. You will work once a week per child.(Two child cap*) The kids will be here three hours a day so when you leave it will feel like you are coming right back. Second year you get a board job, more work! So, is it worth it? For our family, yes!!!! The memories, the involvement put you right in the front seat of your child's development and education. I feel like I am attending the school and relearning how to problem solve and function on my own. The experiences here are priceless. We don't want to leave!

This is our third year entering MCPC. We absolutely love the community...our kids are loved by the…read moreteachers, we're able to make friends with the other parents, and one of the best perks - we are all involved in parenting the children from a similar socioemotionally grounded approach which makes playdates so fun and easy. Any parent can step in at anytime and the messages our kids receive are loving and consistent. And the Director Jolie as well as Teachers Jamie and Nick are just rockstars. I feel a lot of confidence when I'm out at the playground, I feel that I can work things out with my child and ask about his plans and intentions and come up with safety guidelines together. It's helped so that he's able to re-engage with children and meet new friends rather than just decide they're done playing. I could go on an on about what I've learned alongside my kid at MCPC. Highly suggest attending their Toddler Playtime classes that run year round in the afternoon (18-36 months) and/or the annual Info Night in January if you're interested in preschool.

We are so happy to be part of the MOM community! Our child did her "TK" year at MOM and has been…read morethriving. My only regret is that we did not enroll her at MOM sooner. For those considering an alternative TK option, I highly recommend MOM. The curriculum at MOM has prepared our child in the following ways: 1) Academically: Math, Reading/Writing/Language Arts, Global Studies are taught in fun and approachable ways 2) Creative Focus: Art and Music are integral parts of the experience. The school puts on a few musical performances during the year, we attended our first one and it is such a special memory we will always have! 3) SEL: The students are MOM are taught the importance of being part of a community. The teachers are kind, patient and experienced - they truly bring out the best in the kids. Honestly, I can't even express how much growth we have seen in our little one! 4) Love of School and Learning: To cap it all off, my child's love of school was officially established at My Own Montessori. She loves going to school and is so proud and excited to tell us about her day and her most recent learnings. My child's experience at My Own Montessori has been incredible and I am so thankful she has been able to be part of the magic at MOM!

We feel very lucky that our child has ended up at MOM. It's such a warm and welcoming school, with…read morewonderful caring teachers. The school has been around for a long time, and has developed a bunch of lovely long-running traditions and parents and families are included in these traditions. It's a very calm environment and the kids have a lot of autonomy going inside and outside. My child has built a lot of confidence in social emotional development in addition to all the other learning (coming home telling me all about the moon, or continents, or Yayoi Kusama), it's beautiful watching the older kids support the younger ones as they move up through the school. Note that the hours are shorter than most preschools, and schools is closed in the summer with a summer school for the month of July, but if you can make the hours work it's a very special school and community.

My son went here and I was very impressed. All the teachers and staff were wonderful and…read morecommunicative. I saw great improvement in my son and he always came home happy. The only reason we left is we moved away and it was no longer feasible to take him to school here each day. Highly recommend!

Teachers: Cammy rules, and all the teachers are warm and…read morefriendly towards each other and with the children (which says a lot about the work environment). They are always in control (but not in a heavy-handed way) and as a result the children seem to thrive and really enjoy their experience. Instruction: Every so often my child will tell me that he knows some fact or another because Chatham taught it to him. One day he told me what the albumen was (white part of the egg). Another time he explained to me the difference between deciduous and evergreen. The singing: A big part of the school community are the semi-annual performances that they put together (luau, graduation, etc). As a consequence, they'll be learning a ton of songs (and singing them to you in the car). I picked up my son a few hours early one day and they were working on fuse beads. One of them would start singing and a bunch of them would join in. It felt very much like Santa's workshop. The backyard: There is a giant tree in the backyard that provides shade all year round, so you don't feel like your child is getting scorched while he's playing outdoors. My children used to be wimpy before enrolling into Chatham, but after a year they were monkey bar athletes. Be prepared for the sand that accumulates in their shoes, however. :) Art Projects: Every few days you will get different art projects in your child's folder. I didn't know so many different art projects existed. Critters: There are (non-allergenic) pets for the kids to interact with, like lizards, ant farms, and silkworms. Lunches: Lunch is provided, as they have a cook on staff, which is a great boon. Redwood Heights Elementary: If your child happens to transition to RHS, Chatham will provide before school and afterschool care for your kindergartener, which includes dropping them off before school and picking them up afterwards. Overall, we have loved our 2 year Chatham experience. Our children liked it from the beginning, which was a change from the Montessori that they weren't very happy to be in (for a few months).

We toured A LOT of schools before settling on Little Elephant. First, we saw plenty of larger…read moreschools and its smaller more intimate size was appealing to us. The space shows very well with two bright well laid out classrooms, nice outdoor space and lots of pets! Most importantly, we found the teaching staff to be warm and generally very experienced with reasonable tenure at the school. Our three children all had a positive experience and have fond memories of their time there. We spent almost a decade there (including through COVID) and appreciated the staff and parent community.

We love LEMs! Our 3 year old has been thriving there since she started the week of her second…read morebirthday. The teachers are fantastic and loving and fun and the environment really fosters happiness, curiosity and learning. The community is wonderful as well and we've become close friends with a few parents and good friends with the rest. We also love the diversity they foster and our bilingual daughter (we speak Spanish in our home) has flourished as she gets to speak Spanish with several of the teachers (who happen to also be native speakers) but has picked up English quickly from the learning and atmosphere here. We plan to send our second child here as we've had such a wonderful experience all around!

TLDR: Highly recommend this Daycare + Preschool, Strong Kindergarten (&TK) preparedness, Friendly…read moreStaff, Great Value (especially for this quality level). Was very pleased with the overall experience here for 2 years, and my student loves the teachers, their school friends, and the facility. Without going into a crazy long monologue, here are a few things that made this daycare/preschool great from my perspective. - My soon to be TK student already has 95%+ of his Kindergarten academic preparedness criteria met. They love telling me about the basic addition they are learning, and they love showing me their schoolwork papers when they get home. - The curriculum includes age appropriate social centered curriculum like noticing others' emotions and changing ones own behavior based on it (most noticeable when they ask their friends or visitors at our house if something is wrong, or what made them happy today). - Enrichment curriculum includes germinating plants, learning animals (including on-site animals), children's yoga, numerous art project styles etc. - Super cute performances!!! The Mother's Day performance was spectacular with actual singing and age appropriate choreography - The local parent community is reasonably active with play dates, and school centric activities. Was very easy to find parents within a short drive of the school for playdates and birthday parties etc. Easy to find parents on private Facebook community, and easy to share and access pictures from school - Staff has been great during our attendance here. Very responsive and my student loves them. Highly recommend checking this school out.

My child has spent 2 years at Daisy and we are so grateful for the love, care, and instruction that…read moreFey, Irfan, Mandy, Ron, Tim, and Nancy and all the teachers have provided over the years! We feel confident that our child is ready for TK and beyond, both from a social and academic perspective. Daisy isn't for everyone, and that's ok. There are definitely some quirks in communication, information, and structure. You won't get a student list, parent contact info, or a daily schedule, but you will have a safe and loving environment where your child is cared for and nurtured. One of the things I loved best about Daisy is that every adult takes time to genuinely interact with every child, and make them feel heard and valued. All the teachers (even the ones for other classrooms) knew our child and interacted with him in a positive and respectful way. Another thing I loved about Daisy is that the kids get A LOT of outdoors time which worked great for our family. We know he had a good day when we pick him up and his clothes were covered in dirt and his shoes were filled with woodchips. We know this isn't for every family, but our active kiddo thrived because of it. There are also goats, chickens, birds, and a turtle. Most importantly, our child loved going to Daisy. All the days where he would run to join his friends in the big yard at drop off, and blurt out all the stories of how much fun he had throughout the day at pickup made us confident that we made the right choice for him. Other pros: * They do music on Mondays and yoga on Tuesdays. * There's plenty of parking for easy drop-off and pick-off. * They focus a lot on social skills, and our child has made a lot of friends and frequently talks about them. * Though academics aren't their stated focus, our 4-year old can count to 20+, recognize numbers and letters, and identify words that rhyme. At 3, our kiddo knew all sorts of shapes, colors, etc. * They take hygiene seriously and the kids seemed pretty healthy (there wasn't ever a widespread outbreak of lice, COVID, etc. and our child I think only stayed home once or twice for being sick over the 2-year period. I think the outdoor time helped keep germs from spreading as well.) * They foster independence and teach kids to track their belongings. I remember thinking it was ridiculous that my 2-year old was supposed to track his own water bottle, but he learned to do it and at 3 he learned to navigate his lunchbox on his own too. Other helpful details: * The youngest age they take is 18 months. There's a separate smaller yard area for younger children. * There are many different family structures at Daisy. * They are flexible with start and end dates. * They generally follow OUSD's school calendar for days off with the exception of summer break (there's thankfully no summer break at Daisy). * They don't provide lunch, but they do sometimes provide snacks and your child certainly won't be hungry if they didn't have a great breakfast or won't eat what you packed them for lunch. * Onboarding was a little rough on our schedules as parents (our child started with shorter days for a few weeks so that he could ease into the new routine and space), but I think it set us up for success. * They occasionally post pictures to Facebook.

Awful school. They claim to be a Waldorf school but they have no idea what the true meaning of…read moreWaldorf is and what Rudolf Steiner originally intended. They treat prospective families horribly. At first they appear welcoming and supportive, but that is completely fake. They discriminate and there is complete lack of transparency.

Our family moved to Rockridge specifically for the great K-5 schools, but when those schools closed…read moreduring COVID we found a neighborhood school that was finding innovative ways to stay open and serve the students and their families. Now, 5 years later, we have every intent to see our kids graduate from the BRWS middle school. There is a rhythm to each day, week, and season. That rhythm (and the intentionality behind it) calms my children, grounds them, provides them with stability, and has allowed them to develop at their speed. This is a school that in early childhood lets kids be in nature, play, discover themselves and the world, and lets kids be kids. As the curriculum moves into the grades and middle school, it evolves into a rigorous, really well-rounded education that develops the technical analytical skills needed these days while also cultivating skills like resilience, creativity, and confidence. Beyond that we have found "our people" with the community of parents here. There is real buy-in from everyone. The school's seasonal festivals are wonderful, and weekends and holidays are often spent with other families from the school at parks or each other's houses. Unique aspects of the Waldorf curriculum (like no media in the classrooms and a de-emphasis at home, having one teacher stay with a class for several years at a time, leaning into creativity and skill development as opposed to rote memorization and an abundance of homework) really resonate with the parent community and are gaining mainstream traction for the antidote they seem to provide to many of the perceived struggles this generation of children is encountering (with respect to anxiety, isolation, depression, a lack of connectedness). We couldn't be happier here.

My son attended Treehouse for 2 years and my daughter attended some of their summer school…read moreofferings. I cannot say enough good things about this school. 1. The campus is beautiful. Classrooms are clean and beautifully decorated. It is set in the trees so it feels like a real retreat. The playground is beautiful and fully equipped with all kinds of toys. 2. The teachers are beyond! Each one is so loving and kind and fully invested in loving and supporting the kids. They got to know my entire family - grandparents visiting, siblings, etc. and took a vested interest in our entire family. They are kind, engaging, joyful, energetic, and professional. Most of the teachers have been there for several decades and I know that is largely due to the incredible warmth that Principal Jan and Kayla set as the administration of the school. There is truly no place I have ever visited with the same warmth and kindness. 3. The curriculum is impressive! I am shocked about how well my son is prepared for TK. They are doing kindergarten level work in preschool. But of course it is mostly fun and playing and art. I am amazed by all the creative projects he comes home with and the patience and attention to detail it must require from the staff. I truly cannot say enough good things about this wonderful loving environment and cannot encourage families enough to send their kids here.

My daughter attended Treehouse from age 3 through 5. Treehouse is such a sweet, supportive,…read morewonderful school. We are not religious, but chose Treehouse due to the great reviews, nice campus, and lack of teacher turnover (pretty much all of the teachers have been there for many years), and are so glad we did. Every member of the staff knows all of the kids by name, and the love they have for the children, and the children for the teachers and staff in return, is palpable. Treehouse is a perfect mix of fun play and deep learning of important life skills, expected behavior in the school environment, and academic curriculum. We are sad to have aged out of Treehouse for now, but look forward to returning with our younger child in a few years for the two year old class.