A diamond in the rough, as they say. I am so grateful to have found this hidden treasure of a…read morepreschool for my daughter. While she attended Cottage she was immersed in an environment of art, music, creativity, nature and the ability to explore what interested her. The Montesssori method was fairly new to me and Ms Mary explained what it was about with such a passion I knew it was the right fit for us. No plastic toys, no screens.... instead a quaint little cottage full of items to encourage creativity, problem solving, intrigue with the natural world..... so many beautiful lessons and experience. Thank you!

From the owner: A nurturing environment for 2 1/2 - 6 year olds in the classic Montessori Method. A creative place…read morefor children to explore, discover and grow to their full potential with the gentle guidance of highly trained Montessori teachers. Cottage Montessori School is affiliated by the American Montessori Society and licensed by the state of California.

I first called on the phone and the owner answered the phone and she wasn't condescending. Then…read morewhen I went in to get some paperwork (which she instructed me to do when we spoke on the phone) as we walked in she scoffed, rolled her eyes and her neck that people were arriving. Once inside I could see it was lunch time but the children were not effected about me and my lil' one walking into the office. Then while getting information about the place and the paperwork all Trish (the owner) did was complain. She complained about lack of communication with some parents, California daycare standards, the mosquitos in the backyard etc. as a person coming in to look for a new daycare that wasn't an impressive first impression. The Great Beginnings rates are very affordable but I think I see why. My little won't be going there, it a pass for me babes!

Love the ladies here! They have helped me raise all 3 of my…read morekids. So dependable and reliable. When my work schedule changed the owner made sure she was there early so I can drop them off before my shift. I'm so grateful for them all.

If you're on the fence don't be!! This place is literally the Best, i wish I had found them…read moresooner. my son misses them so much we had the best experience ever at this school. The staff is amazing and are so sweet to the children. Never once did any red flags arise I am Very observant and can honestly tell you they truly Care about your child. Wish my son could go back thank You Growing Patch for an amazing 2 years and the best experience we miss you all can't wait for our new little to get of age to join

I LOVE, love, love this place! I've watched my little one grow by leaps and bounds at Growing…read morePatch. Her previous "school" was little more than a babysitting facility. The previous school was more worried about meeting funding requirements than the needs of my kid and the staff seemed annoyed by her cause she is headstrong. Growing Patch loves my kid and her quirks. They have curriculum and I feel like they are really preparing her for kindergarten. They take field trips, have community members come in and speak to the classes, they even have some extracurriculars on site. The teachers are professional and actually like kids and what they do. Most importantly they KNOW my kid and meet her where she is. I honestly don't know how they do it all but they do. She has been there for just over a year now and I continue to be impressed by their staff and her growth. I'm going to be so sad when she leaves this place. She absolutely loves it and looks forward to going every day. It's affordable but I'd pay more for my kid to go there!

My 2 children have attended this amazing school since pre school. I am so grateful for the staff…read morethat has taken tremendous care of the education of my children. The moment I walked into this school you can without a doubt feel the love and care that goes into running this School everyday. highly recommend!!

My daughter has been going there since she was in preschool. I love the fact that there is a-lot of…read moreparent involvement. They do a really good job hosting events. And like the current principal who is very involved making the school better as well

Staff has a bad habit of telling the innocent child to stay away from the child or children that…read morebully them. Many of the teachers scream and yell at the children in class and completely overreact to the littlest thing. I can't understand why these teachers don't go find another job if they don't like what they do. Oh wait, it's probably because they have Zero accountability at this school. I hate that this is the school my nephews attend. It's much different than when I attended Lincoln years ago. Granted there probably are some great teachers there too, but the bad ones will ruin the reputation of the entire school. Maybe the good teachers should report all the screaming and yelling that comes from the other teachers classrooms to the principal so she can send them to training or something. My nephews love the custodian Freddy. However, the bathrooms at the school are a disgrace so Freddy could probably use some more help in that department. They also love coach Perez.

Great school. My daughter has been going here since kinder. She says they have the best…read moreplaygrounds. Her teachers were. Mrs. Russell. Kinder Mrs. Christiansen first Mrs. Herspring third She has loved all her teachers so far. They take a lot of care in each child. Mrs Herspring is the best teacher ever according to my daughter.

The principle of this school is wonderful! But the staff has no manors whatsoever. The kindergarten…read moreteachers yell at the students. It's terrible to witness. And they all do it. The talk down to the kids. The entire staff needs to be retrained in kindness. There is a way to teach that doesn't involve belittling children. (The lady in administration who answers the phone actually hangs up on people mid sentence). Madera Unified needs to send people out to make sure these schools are functioning under the proper guidelines.

I have nothing but good things to say about Nancy Fuller Children's University (Madera). My son has…read morebeen at this location for 2.5 years, and we've had a wonderful experience. My son was originally in a smaller in-home daycare center but transitioned to NFCU as he became older and needed more quality interaction. My son experienced some small struggles upon his initial transition, nothing out of the ordinary with change, but the NFCU team quickly identified his needs and helped to make his transition smooth. Fast forward a year later, and my son was transitioning into the pre-school class. Like most kids, this was a very big change for him. A larger group setting, fine motor skill activities, and more involved math, science, and literacy activities. Plus, the need for growth in behavioral skills! My son struggled with attention span, maturity, and patience. (like all kids do). The team at NFCU did an amazing job at identifying my sons pain points and finding alternative activities when my son became overwhelmed. Each day they worked to incorporate an extra minute in his circle time, until finally he could make it through the entire circle time. They allowed him to be a class volunteer and help pass out supplies or prepare for activities when he would start to get the wiggles and needed to get up and do busy work. My son is now fully engaged and on track with where he needs to be at this stage of pre-school. All the providers, the Campus Director, and Nancy herself, have been extremely involved in the overall success of my son's experience and I couldn't be more thankful. I look forward to this next year and plan to continue to use NFCU for his before and after school care, once he transitions to Kindergarten.

When I first moved out to the Ranchos, nearly 10 years ago, I only knew a hand full of people and I…read morewas so lucky to find Nancy Fuller. Nancy, Robin and all of the staff are amazing and always friendly. I've sent all four of my children to this daycare. Any time I had a concern it was immediately resolved. They have an amazing program and go above and beyond with their Christmas program and Pre-K graduations. My children are 13, 12, 6 and 5, they are amazing little people and in large part due to Nancy Fuller Childrens University.

My experience is based on a 30 minute tour only. While we are big fans of the facility, the…read morecleanliness, and the programs they offer - Roxanne (the owner i came to find out) seemed... off. She didn't ask our names, our relation (there were four of us), she didn't introduce herself. She had an incredibly difficult time providing explanations, would give vague detail, followed by "you can read the handbook", and an overall condescending tone when i tried to follow up. The disconnect was very apparent, as my party agreed separately that she was very slow and disoriented. We found her demeanor to be questionable. After discussion, we concluded if we sent our daughter to Bluff View we would be concerned with her stability as owner & admin. Overall, we will be crossing this off of our list for good. Strong recommendation to all new parents to take a tour and go through that.... interesting experience before handing over 250$ for application fee.

This review is purely based on the unsettling experience I had during my "tour" at Bluffview. It…read morewas given by Roxanne, who is the director of the center. The place is 10/10 based on external appearance and facilities only. However, the affect/discussion I had with Roxanne was the reason why we decided to pursue a different childcare center.