My kids have been going here from the ages 2-5 and I could not recommend the preschool more. Friendly staff, great communication and most of all the hours are great! read more

My friend's child attended this school briefly. In the beginning it was great, until he became " a behavior problem". The teachers do not teach, they direct and expect results. Any teacher worth their weight in salt knows that not all methods work for all children, and that instruction should be differentiated. Not here. He was monitored and mainly reprimanded, but not taught . The school was adamant that this child had a developmental delay, when in actuality his behavior was due to being overwhelmed in a class of 25, give or take.. He was evaluated, and the only remarkable results were that he is very intelligent. Happily, he is thriving at another school where he is shown praise , warmth, & attention read more

The teachers and care givers in the toddler room are wonderful. They made all the difference in making our little guy's transition to daycare smooth and easy. read more

We love Miss Sandies! My daughter first started in the infant room at 9 months part-time. It was a very difficult time as my daughter was very clingy, Breast-fed, and refused a bottle. They were amazing with trying different things to make her comfortable. My daughter is 3yrs old and absolutely loves going to school! Lots of fun art projects and activities. Being a play-based preschool with large numbers is a benefit in my opinion because it teaches kids important lessons in being independent and dealing with different kids. Everyday she has a different bestfriend because she loves all (ok not all but many) of her classmates! read more

Love all the teachers & owners at Miss Sandies's. I have nothing but positive things to say. Take a tour and you can see for yourself!

I have two kids, both whom attended Miss Sandie's School. My oldest graduated from there and my youngest was enrolled until just recently when my wife and I pulled him out due to negligence on their part. My daughter was coming home complaining that she was getting beat up by one of the older boys in the pre-kindergarten program. There were no physical signs of this but we, of course, were concerned and addressed the issue with my daughters teacher. The teacher downplayed the issue stating that "kids often make up stories for attention". The following week one day after school my daughter came home with a cut on her elbow and a significant welt over her left eye. When we asked her what happened she was clearly traumatized and told us that the same boy beat her up again. My wife and I both took the next morning off a work to go in to the school and find out why this was happening. We sat down with the teacher and the director of the program and expressed our disapproval and asked why this was allowed to happen. After once again telling us that children often make up stories (in an attempt to advert any accountability) they also proceeded to tell us that "we can't keep an eye on all of the children all of the time, there is simply too many of them". Over the 3 1/2 year span that we had children enrolled in Miss Sandie's we had hear various stories of children being abused by other children, children wandering outside the facility and into the street, plus a number of others similar to this. We had for the most part always had a good experience there and wanted to give the school the benefit of the doubt, especially since these stories were from third-party. Now that my child has gone through this horrific experience I wish I had payed more attention to those stories in the beginning. read more

We placed our daughter at Miss Sandie's when she was three months old, and only left when she was about 2 1/2 because we changed jobs and it was too far out of the way. We loved Miss Sandie's so much we considered driving up to Novato to drop her off even though we both now work in San Francisco...that should provide some context for how great a school it is. The teachers all provide such warmth and love and create a really safe, fun environment for kids. The facilities, while somewhat aged, are terrific - the classrooms are big and spacious, and there's a huge playground where the children of all ages can play happily. It's extremely PLAY based, so if you are looking for a rigid curriculum for your toddler, it might not be the place for you - but our daughter thrived there, and it took us awhile to find another school even close to Miss Sandie's. There's a reason it's been around for 30+ years - it's worth it! read more

Absolutely adore Miss Sandie's School. We enrolled our son at about 18 months, started off in the toddler room, and we've been there just shy of a year. Miss Sandie's was actually our son's third stop... having been at 2 previous centers under the same umbrella that had partnered with my previous employer. After moving to Novato a few months prior and eventually switching companies, we decided we really wanted our son to not only feel a sense of community, but also make friends with classmates that would eventually follow him through elementary school and beyond. From the first moment I stepped inside Miss Sandie's for a tour, I knew we'd found our "home" for the next several years. The fact that our son (who had previously had a hard time with morning drop-offs & was always anxious to go home at the end of the day) settled in within a week's time reaffirmed our immediate gut feeling. In fact, there are often days where I can barely convince him to come home since he's having so much fun. Kent and Pam, who run the school, are amazing -- very easy to talk to, and are really invested in all of the children that attend. As for the teachers, you will never find a warmer, more caring group of folks if you tried. Aside from caring for our son, they also invest in the lives of the parents, and I look forward to chit-chatting with them at drop-off and pick-up each day. And if the glowing review of the staff didn't do it for you, I'll add one little benefit that goes so far above and beyond anything we expected to find. DATE NIGHT! Ok, it's actually called movie night.... held one Friday a month from 6-10pm. For much less than you can hire a babysitter for, your child can stay late to watch a movie, and they even provide dinner! So if you are like us and don't have family nearby to occasionally watch your little one, you can plan on painting the town red at least once a month, knowing that they are in a familiar environment and having as much fun as they do during the day. If I could give Miss Sandie's 6 stars I would, but 5 will have to do. Thank you to Kent, Pam, and the out-of-this-world teachers for providing us a home away from home! read more

Miss Sandies is the greatest place for all 3 of our children! We had two of our kids in a home daycare until it no longer worked for them. We were nervous to make the transition to a larger school where the kids would be in separate classes as they had only known being together. Change is hard for children but Miss Sandies made it easy. On their first day all the teachers, whether they were theirs or not, knew their names and welcomed them warmly. We've been there for over a year now and the kids have transitioned into different classrooms again and each room they've been in has been great. All teachers are very open to speaking with parents and going over any "issues", be it on your kid's end or another's. I read another review that mentions playground bullying and to be honest we had an issue with a kid that was being a little too rough with one of ours. However, unlike the other reviewer we found the school to be quite open to working together to improve the situation. We understood that part of the issue was our child (he also plays rough and can sometimes over dramatize) so we went in with that outlook and came out with a great solution that worked for everyone. Since then we have not had one single issue with the other child. Our oldest can be easily overwhelmed after a long day of being well behaved and sometimes needs to be redirected. His teachers are amazing at finding ways to work with him to remind him that he's a great kid and tap into what he needs to stay that way. This comes in the form of one-on-one time with a teacher being their "helper" and helping him to sit off to the side by himself reading a book to calm down. Even with all the other kids in the class he still gets special attention and they spend time working on how to be good teachers for him, which in turn makes him a good student for them. We've recently had a 3rd kid and have started them in the infant room, which we had not previously experienced. It's amazing!! The teachers are very attentive and even send texts of pics and updates throughout the day, which any parent of a young one knows is so nice to receive when you're struggling to be away from each other. A very important factor in our decision making process when choosing a school was the education, of course. We wanted a place that would teach our children without making it the primary focus because we want them to be kids and play as long as possible before the real school years start. Miss Sandies balances play and education perfectly. The projects and teaching increases with each move to a new classroom. Our 3 year old is learning the months and days of the week while our 5 year old is learning to recognize and write letters in preparation for kindergarten in the fall. Our kids have come home and said things that have caught us off guard because we didn't expect them to understand so early on. I could go on and on. Miss Sandies is the greatest place!!! read more

Great teachers! Great administration! And great facility! Awesome place for working parents to send their kids! Check this place out as an alternative to Good Shepherd Lutheran School as tehy dont really accomodate working parents, so if you dont have au pair, nanny, or cant afford for one parent to stay at home, this place is awesome, they also prepare breakfast and snacks throughout the day!! Amazinf customer service as well! Willing to work with you and actually HELP you. read more

My daughter has been at Miss Sandie's School since November 2012. My daughter is now 4 years old and ready to start TK next fall. Miss Sandies has been an excellent place for my daughter to learn and grow. They are always receptive and caring towards my daughter's own personal needs and towards my own concerns for her. My daughter loves going to Miss Sandies and I never worry about leaving her there. I know she is very well taken care and she is also learning and being well prepared for kindergarten. All the teachers are top notch. Their movie nights are great for parents and kids! My daughter also gets to do soccer and other sports plus she comes home with lots of artwork and she is already writing her name and her numbers and most of the letters of the alphabet. Highly recommend Miss Sandies! read more

My son went to pre school at Good Shepard and my daughter to Miss Sandies when we moved. Both are great. Its hard to tell what goes on in the classroom but from what I gathered Good Shepard seemed more like kindergarten/academic and Miss Sandies more play based. My boy was bored in kindergarten as he seemed to repeat the same year over again so I think it depends on the child. . But in the end it will all even out or so they say. Very nice admin and teachers. read more

My daughter attended Miss Sandie's from the age of 2 until she went to Kindergarten. Everybody that works there are wonderful & very caring of the children. My daughter was heart broken when she had to move on. I highly recommend this place if they want their children in a respectble & safe environment. read more

This place is not very clean and often has a bad odor. Most of the teachers are not very attentive. My child got very sick every other week. I am not sure how they got Best of Marin. read more

My son has been going to Miss Sandies since he was 12 months - he's now almost 3 and loves it still. I completely trust the staff there. :)

We still LOVE Miss Sandie's and feel so lucky to have this school in our community! We will be sending our third child here next month starting in the infant room. So many teachers have been here for years and I believe that says a lot! Teachers and kids are happy. :) Administration is consistently putting money into the school, making upgrades and improvements and the teachers are provided with ongoing training throughout the year. Love Miss Sandie's School!!! read more

Another 5 stars for Miss Sandie's!!!! I was very nervous sending my 4 year old son to preschool for the first time because he had been with a Nanny he loved his entire life. But we knew he needed a more structured and social environment to prepare him for Kindergarten. The first week was harder for me than him. All the teachers welcomed him with open arms, watched him and helped him interact and make new friends. He also would not Potty train with us. They took control of that and he was potty trained in a month. Thank you Miss Sandie's.!! He absolutely loves it now and will be more confident transitioning into Kindergarten this coming August. read more

My 12 year old went when he was 4 and loved it. Currently my 3 year old is going from 9am to 12:45pm and I thought it might be too much stimulation. The classes are pretty big, 2 teachers per class but after the 1st week things have gone swimmingly well. His teachers are great and the "curriculum" works really well: they get outside time, circle time, they're read to, they have lots of time to play with whatever they want to and there's a large selection of fun stuff to stimulate their minds and improve their fine motor skills. The other children there seem active and happy. Administration is nice too and have been there for a long time. read more