Reached out to possibly join a class, owner felt very dismissive. No people skills through e-mail…read more Turned me off right away. Shared this with a mom group and they shared that they had stopped going because it was very catered to a certain demographic. Ok, no thanks. Dodged a bullet. Going to look elsewhere.

I had gone through the Mandarin Immersion programs with both of my sons when they were 2-3 years…read moreold. I would definitely recommend Tiny Treks to any parent who wants to take their kids outdoors and learn about nature in a safe and social environment. My kids loved learning about the different bugs, trees, and seasons. It's a good way to exercise and bond with the little ones. Storytime was always entertaining with Teacher Hsi. The founder of the program is also very organized and responsive -- she definitely listens to feedback and recommendations. My kids have now outgrown the program, but they still talk about the fond memories of their Tiny Trek journey.

A Truly Exceptional Foundation for Our Children…read more Choosing Sharmila Montessori for our son and daughter was one of the best decisions we have ever made as parents. Nestled in a peaceful, bucolic setting, the school offers a warm and nurturing environment that feels like a natural extension of a loving home. But what truly sets this program apart is Sharmila herself. There is simply no one who goes the extra mile quite like she does. She also holds a high bar for her team. Both of our children entered her program on the quieter, shyer side. Sharmila met them exactly where they were, tuning in to their individual personalities with patience and unwavering support. Under her guidance, they blossomed, gaining both independence and quiet confidence. If you are looking for a pragmatic Montessori experience delivered with unmatched dedication, wisdom, and heart, Sharmila Montessori is peerless. We are forever grateful for the incredible start she gave our family.

Our daughter has been attending Sharmila's for years, with our son recently joining. The kids…read moreabsolutely love their time there and I cannot recommend it enough. The teachers are so caring and thoughtful. The environment at the program has nurtured our daughter from a very shy beginning to the BIG personality she is today. As much as it pains me to see them both grow up, the amount they learn at Sharmila's continues to astound me. Not solely reading and math skills, but social maturity and a general sense of imagination/adventure. The picture days and art projects will also melt your heart. We are so happy with our experience.

Trinity has truly helped my kids find their place in a warm, caring community. The teachers each…read morebring something unique, and the staff are always present and ready to help. The parent community also plays a big role in the school's operations. Kids feel heard, supported, and of course, academically challenged. If what you see on the school's website aligns with your vision for early education, chances are you and your kids will feel right at home here.

Our child is currently in 1st grade at Trinity, and we love the school's heavy focus on whole child…read moredevelopment and SEL. The academic focus is strong without the high pressure typically seen in Bay Area Schools. The Math is differentiated to be challenging and engaging. The teachers are very nurturing and truly care about the children.

University Heights is a "Montessori light" school with a good mix of play- based and project-based…read moreinstruction. We loved the teachers, especially Ms. Shirley. The school has a flexible after-hour program where you pay a modest rate for extra hours after the regular morning session. Our daughter did the Pre-K program at University Heights and then went directly into the local public kindergarten, so we didn't get to stay there very long (they have pre-K and a kindergarten program). The quality of the instruction is high. They employ the "explode the code" system for pre-readers which we thought prepared our daughter well. The campus is small / modest and a tiny bit run down but that is not relevant to the kids. Our daughter loved UH and we did too. It's expensive but in this case you get what you pay for.

Love this school and their warm hearted teachers. They were very accommodating with the schedule…read moreand my daughter loves coming here. Just this morning instead of gym care she was asking to go to Mila's school! She is taken care of, and love the automation of services like check ins, invoices and communication responsiveness. The best from any i have seen or communicated thus far:)

All these glowing Yelp reviews are 100% true! They really do capture how amazing the school,…read moreteachers, and whole environment are for the kids. For a little backstory: my son has been at Safari Kid for about 8 months now, and he absolutely loves everything about it. Last year, he was at another "popular" school in Menlo Park where we had a pretty terrible experience, so we decided it was time for a change. I ended up touring almost every school in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, from tiny local spots and fancy corporate schools to super structured programs and pure play-based ones. It felt almost impossible to find that sweet spot between good academics and fun, play-based learning. Then we found Safari Kid, and I've been so grateful ever since! They've helped my son really blossom and gain so much confidence, both socially and academically. His current teacher Bev has so much experience and is an absolute gem. Whenever we're working on specific skills or behaviors at home, she jumps right in and partners with us to meet his unique needs. Sandhya is also super responsive and doesn't miss a beat when it comes to the kids. As a parent, you truly feel like they care about your child as much as you do and that you're all on the same team. The daily routine is so well structured. Every week has a fun new theme; like earth week, sea animals, or baking week, and the kids do tons of hands-on activities and art projects. Plus, the teachers upload daily photos and updates to their app, which I love checking during the day. They even teach basic Spanish! I had no idea until my son randomly came home one day counting and naming colors and animals in Spanish. Also, their outdoor space is easily one of the best I've seen around here. Safari Kid has tons of toys and the staff rotates them out regularly to match whatever theme they're learning that week. All of that is great, but honestly, the absolute best part is how much love the kids get from the teachers and the staff. That's what matters most to me. If you're sitting there scrolling through these reviews like I was last year :) to be totally honest, I remember reading all the 5-star feedback and thinking, "There's no way a school is this good, some of these must be fake!" But now that we're here, I get it :) I completely understand why parents love this school and the staff so much!

We've had a wonderful experience at Safari Kid Menlo Park. Our daughter has truly blossomed into a…read morehappy, confident child during her time here. Sandhya has always been responsive and helpful with any questions we've had. Teachers Stephanie and Bev are caring, attentive, and consistently engage the children with a variety of fun and educational STEAM activities. We especially appreciate how Teacher Stephanie shares thoughtful updates about our daughter's behavior and offers practical suggestions to support her growth at home as well.

I have toured 20+ preschools and this is definitely the best one. We decided to send my son there…read moreimmediately after touring. My son has stayed there for almost 3 years. Several highlights: 1. The cleanest school. I heard that it's common in preschools that one kid gets sick (e.g., flu), the whole class gets it. This has never happened in Discovery (amazing, right?). During this very special school year 2020-2021, there was no COVID case found in this school. 2. The teachers use Positive Discipline to educate kids. They even gave a lecture to parents about it! This is the only preschool that I know which truly does this... (Many teachers in other preschools do not even know Positive Discipline.) 3. This is a true Montessori school, but my son is doing great academically in terms of math, phonics etc. He is super happy every day there. Drawbacks of this school: The teachers focus too much on caring the kids that they may not reply to emails or phone calls quickly. If you are interested, please just walk to their door and talk to them. And this becomes dramatically different after your kid is enrolled: whenever you have any questions regarding to your kid's development, just give them a phone call and they usually respond within 1 day, giving you awesome suggestions (often following Positive Discipline). They just care too much about kids' education, rather than advertising... If you have any questions about this school, please do not hesitate to message me and I am more than happy to help.

Discovery is an excellent school. My both kids attended here (one is still there) and my daughter…read morewas reading Harry Potter in Kindergarten thanks to Bonnie and the other teachers at Discovery. It is Montessori style and has a very diverse student and teacher population, which we loved. While my kids are doing very well academically due to the school, it wasn't a very "academic" environment. They teach things in a fun way using Montessori and have plenty of enrichment activities - art, music, Mandarin, etc. We have recommended 5+ families to the school that have all loved it. We even know two families who left and then came back within a year after realizing this is the best preschool in the Bay Area!

Before we started here I mentioned to a parent I met at a playground where we were starting…read morepreschool. We were in southern CA at the time. He immediately knew the school and said it was the best preschool in California. Turns out he does education certification for the state and analyzes preschool effectiveness for students and communities. He had visited the MACooP on several occasions. This place is wonderful! Our child's teacher is incredible, super knowledgeable, up to date with best practices, so talented and very experienced. The amount they do with these kids every day is amazing, there is always something new to explore. Very glad we gave this a try even though I was very nervous about the time commitment for parents with all the extra meetings. It is intense for sure but that intensity also comes we a deep cultural value of taking care of each other. Everyday I see parents helping each other make it through, and not just the parents who are besties or belong to the same economic bracket. Everyone helps everyone.

The Co-Op is a magical place! We started looking at and applying to preschools before our son was…read moreeven born. I went on many tours and applied to many schools, but after a lot of debate, we chose the Co-Op. It was the best decision we could have made. Our son loves going to school! While many schools call themselves play-based, the Co-Op truly is. The kids get to come in and play for 2.5 hours, choosing their own adventure from a wide variety of options. They can choose to play indoors or outdoors, no matter what the weather. The teachers are incredibly caring and really value letting kids be kids for as long as possible. The director, Teacher Kristy, does such an incredible job of advocating for the kids and staying true to the principles of a play-based philosophy. While I had concerns about the level of parental commitment, it has been one of my favorite parts of the school. Getting to watch my son in the classroom and form a close-knit community with other parents has been such a gift. Now, I can't imaging going to a school where that wouldn't be part of the routine. The parental education classes have also been so helpful. You come together with with other parents to learn from each other and support each other in the journey of parenting.

We've had such a wonderful experience at Palo Alto Montessori. Our son has been incredibly happy…read morehere, and as he gets ready to transition to Transitional Kindergarten, we're genuinely sad to leave. What makes this school especially special is how warm, stable, and family-like it feels. Dinesh, the owner, is wonderful and genuinely cares about the children and families. Tony and the entire team have always made our son feel loved, comfortable, and at home. One thing I've particularly appreciated as a parent is the continuity of the teachers. The children get to know their teachers over time and form genuine bonds with them. Having experienced preschools where teachers changed more frequently, I've come to really value how much that consistency matters, especially for young children. Most importantly, our son absolutely loves going to school. When we started talking to him about moving to TK, he literally told us he didn't want to go anywhere except Montessori! He comes home excited to tell us about gardening, cooking, painting, drawing, and everything else he has done that day. I love that the children get so many hands-on experiences while also simply having a really happy childhood. It has been incredibly reassuring to know that he spends his days somewhere he feels happy, secure, and cared for. Palo Alto Montessori has been a very special part of his early childhood, and we'll miss this community tremendously. Highly recommend!

My son attended PAMS from age 2 to 3.5, and we had a truly wonderful experience there…read more He came home every week excited to show us all kinds of handmade projects like paper cows and snakes, drawings, shapes, and even letters he practiced writing. It was very special to watch his creativity and confidence grow over time. PAMS also organizes many fun events throughout the year, especially during the summer. Some of my son's favorites were the cooking classes, gymnastics, dance activities, and visits from fire trucks and police cars. The campus itself is warm, cheerful, and filled with things young kid naturally like, e.g sand boxes What stood out most to us was the kindness and care from the staff and teachers. They are incredibly warm and attentive with the children. Whenever we traveled for more than a couple of weeks, by the second week my son would start saying he missed his school, friends, and teachers. While PAMS is not the type of school that sends daily photo updates, they do keep thoughtful photo albums from school events and activities. Some of those photos are very meaningful to us, especially from when my son first joined the school. I still remember seeing a picture of his teacher holding his hand during a police car visit while he was adjusting to a much larger class than his previous daycare. Moments like that gave us a lot of reassurance as parents. We ultimately left only because we applied to the early learning center of an elementary school we were interested in, and to our surprise, our son was accepted. During that transition, Dinesh was also incredibly supportive and kindly helped by writing evaluation letters for us, which we truly appreciated. Otherwise, we likely would have stayed at PAMS through the kindergarten years. We are very grateful for the care, warmth, and joyful early childhood memories they gave our son.