Our daughter has been at PCMA since she was 18 months old and she will be having her last summer…read morethere this year - it is bittersweet. She will be going to TK in the fall. Over the past 2 and half years, we have seen significant growth in her emotional and mental well being. We do not have any close family near by so initially she had a hard time warming up to the teachers/support she did not see on a normal basis. The teachers, directors and the Montessori approach made it easier for her to become the little confident person she is today in which I thank them for their care and support. Additional Notes: The school itself is located on PCH so it is a busy during rush hour. There are times that getting in and out of the school can be troublesome. However, the school itself feels secure and I didn't worry too much about her safety as there are a lot of gates. Since we have been there for a while, we have seen a few changes in staff and was questionable at times. However, the current director does her best to manage the changes and notifies the parents as soon as possible. The director and teachers are very caring and do their best to accommodate the changes as well. The school uses an app for communication about your child and it is very convenient as they update throughout the day such as meals and if they took a nap, etc. It made me feel less anxious. I do feel that they are aligning well with the academics while fully embracing the Montessori guidance. My daughter does well with independent play and loves to learn. She shows an interest in many subjects. Thank you PCMA for the good memories and we will miss you guys!

We absolutely adore his teachers. One of them we actually met at our previous school--she later…read morejoined PCMA and told us about it, which ultimately led us here. Both teachers, Ms. Angie and Ms. Marizol, are truly wonderful with our son. They are encouraging, engaging, patient, and fun. We were told that it can take some children 1-3 months to stop crying after drop-off, but our son stopped crying after just the first week, which speaks volumes about the kindness and care they show him. What impressed us even more is how quickly we began to see growth. After just his first week, our son learned to sneeze into his arm, and we've noticed him forming his sentences more and more each day. The school provides weekly curriculum updates, which we love, and they also focus on a monthly book, reinforcing learning in a thoughtful, intentional way. It truly reflects an authentic Montessori learning style. The campus itself is adorable, spacious, and thoughtfully designed for children. The activities offered are precious and intentional, from the Thanksgiving kiddie potluck to Spirit Week and the Christmas recital. Another huge plus is that the school offers lunch and snacks for an additional $100 per month, which is very reasonable and takes a lot of daily stress off parents. The only con I would note is the number of days off throughout the year while still requiring full monthly tuition. This can be challenging, as it requires parents to take multiple days--and even weeks--off work. That said, it is the only downside we've experienced. We initially gave this school 5 stars, and while we still love and appreciate the teachers, it's important to note that a rating reflects the entire experience--including management. Since we don't deal with administration daily, it hasn't impacted us as much, but our confidence in upper management isn't what it once was. It's still a good option overall, especially because of the teachers--but don't expect the same level of excellence across the board.

Mama Gracie is like family to us. I had 2 children in her care full time and I will eternally be…read moregrateful to her incredible care and teaching. She loves all the children in her care and treats them as her own. I cannot recommend her enough to anyone looking for a daycare. If my kids could have stayed in her care till 18, I would have done that. My daughter started K this year and is leaps ahead of the other children because of the incredible teaching Grace did. We moved out of LA but every time we go back we visit her and I still call her for parenting advise haha!! We love you!

Our daughter was with Gracie from 3 months old to 2 years old and we could not be more grateful for…read moreher love and care! Mama Gracie has a safe, clean, and fun daycare with a great indoor and outdoor play space for the kids. Gracie kept communication lines open with us and always let us know how our daughter was doing. It's evident how much she loves all her kids and our daughter loves her just as much! We are so thankful for Gracie and are so glad we trusted her with our baby. She is forever part of our lives and someone we will trust with our daughter always!

I had both my daughter & son at Leap & Bound. While the program claims to prepare kids for…read morekindergarten, my experience was awful. In a class of 4- to 5-year-olds, teachers insisted my son was the only one who didn't listen--the only one who had to be scolded every single day. They were punitive, relied on constant scolding, & used negative instead of positive reinforcement. I recall going on a tour through the school since my daughter had gone there during preschool & kindergarten & one of the teachers turned to my daughter, who was now 10 years old, and said, "I remember you. You were a bad kid." She said this during a tour! I should've known not to have my son go there. No, she wasn't joking. She was serious. My daughter is very well-behaved. So, when my 4-year-old son went there, the daily complaints created HUGE anxiety for us as parents. They made us feel like there was something wrong with our son. Nothing was wrong with him. After moving into a new house & to a new school, it was night & day. His new teacher calls him attentive, well-behaved, a great listener & is a great student. Clearly, the issue wasn't my son--it was the teachers. Teachers at Leap & Bound can be bullies to certain kids while playing favorites with others. I do not recommend this school. Not to mention, they continue to raise their price. Warning: If you send your child here, there is a high likelihood that you will receive daily complaints through their parent app portal, which can cause immense stress. It is VERY unhealthy for a child to be constantly rebuked when they're simply acting their age. A 4-year-old has lots of energy. They can squirm in their seat. Big deal. Yelling at them every day is NOT healthy education. It is ABUSE! If these teachers can't handle 4-year-olds, then they shouldn't be teaching children!

My son has been at this school for two years. They had some teachers move to their Torrance…read morelocation and things changed a lot at this location. When he joined the school I let Diana know who is the owner, that he has autism and we will be getting a behavioral therapist to work with him at school. She was completely okay with this. The first few months being there he was with a wonderful teacher, Ms. DeJahnae. She was great with teaching students on how to behave, he never had an incident in her class because all her students knew to behave. He the transferred to Ms. Mary's class and in the first week there was pushing and pinching. Ms. Diana reached out to say she doesn't know what the difference is but they will figure it out to help him transition better. They did figure it out. Ms. Mary was a lot nicer and all the kids tend to act out. By this time we had a part time ABA therapist with him and she let us know that the class was all boys and they all acted out which of course my son followed along. But if the therapist could not make it to the school Ms. Mary knew how to handle him and help him with whatever he needed. Fast forward to last summer. We were told he needed to be a full time student to move on to Ms. Sues class which we agreed to because he loves Ms. Sue. Well we find out through our therapist that Ms. Sue isn't his teacher. I should mention that our therapist became full time with him at this point. If he was there so was she, unless she was sick. Ms. Lilli turned out to be his new teacher and she never interacted with him. His ABA let us know that if she didn't work with him on class work that no one would. She also let us know that she was the only one helping him potty train. Which we pay for. I had to email the owners on this one. They responded and said their staff is suppose to help with this. The most they helped with after that email was changing him since his ABA is not allowed too. But when it came to actual potty training his ABA was doing it. He eventually got it down pretty well at school. Just recently if he came to school with out his ABA his teacher would turn us away quoting "they don't have enough help anymore" which is a problem for us because my husband and I both work full time. I sent an email to Charles the other owner to discuss this in November. He claimed we will have a meeting and we never did. Fast forward to Feb of this year it happened again. So we finally set a meeting time. That did not go well at all. One major thing is the school doesn't tolerate biting. My son is non verbal but in speech classes making progress. He has had incidents with biting. One he did out of no where and was sent home for the day. Another time they called to tell me a kid was constantly bothering him and no one stopped the other child who turns out to also be autistic but doesn't have a ABA at the school with him. My son bit this kid but they didn't send him home stating it was their own fault for not stopping the other child. The therapist he has at school was there and witness it. She didn't stop it in time because she was across the room letting him play on his own. The teacher wasn't watching. A lot of incidents would accrue because of the lack of teachers and their care. I can't tell you how many times I walked in to drop him off and the entire class is running around and the teacher is coloring with one student. Or how I have seen a kid push my son and wait for a reaction from him. This has happen multiple times. He is non verbal and cannot explain these things. But if he reacts by biting he is in trouble. I tried to address these issues with the school but the owner was extremely rude over the phone. He told us we need a full time shadow or he cannot be in the school. He said he didn't have time to argue or address any of our concerns. When I said no one has ever told us that he needed someone full time all the time, he basically said I was lying but couldn't provide who told us this. I also mentioned how he was at the school for maybe 5 months without a therapist and it wasn't an issue. He didn't want to discuss that. Just kept saying they have had too many incidents and didn't want to talk about my concerns. So we pulled him out of the school. When asked to wave the two weeks notice you must give he said no. I stated it isn't our fault that they are giving us this new rule and we cannot follow it. We don't have someone who can shadow if his ABA cannot make it. He got angry and said he will unenroll him and hung up. I have not received our deposit back. We paid this place over $15,000 last year and that's how he responds. I also found out that the school had an incident last year that they were told to report to every parent that has a child currently enrolled. A teacher was restraining students and covering their mouths to keep them from crying. I found this on the social services state site. We were never told this. This school has a major lack of communication problem!

My daughter recently aged out of Baby Bubbles Infant Care after turning two and we've been so sad…read moreabout having to move on. She had been with Ms. Patty and her team at BBIC since roughly 5/6 months old. The care she received here truly felt like an extension of how her father and I care for her at home. As a first time mom, I was so nervous to leave my tiny baby with someone outside of the home but after our first meeting with Ms. Patty, my husband and I knew we had found the perfect match. Baby Bubbles specifically offers infant care, so only a small group of babies/children will be enrolled at any given time. The ratio of caregiver to child is often 1:1, with each child receiving lots of love & care tailored to their specific needs. Our daughter had to go through the helmet process (IYKYK!) and everyone at BBIC was more than willing to work with us through the process. Our daughter definitely developed some really special bonds while here and was quite attached to everyone who cares for her at BBIC. She arrived every morning excited to be greeted at the front door, and couldn't wait to jump in with her playmates. She even cried at times when I would arrive to pick her up at the end of the day! By the time she "graduated" at two years old, she had learned all the basic sign language, could sing her ABCs and could even count to 10 in both English, and Spanish! She actually still says "mas" when she wants more lol Her caregivers, and the little friends she made here, were really the only thing she'd known outside of her dad and I so we were truly sad to leave - I cried after we picked her up on the last day! This really is such a special place and you definitely get the sense that you're part of a little family.

BBIC is a small home daycare for infants that my son has been going to for the past 6 months…read more Patricia, Athena and her team are great! My son is excited when he gets dropped off in the morning and he sleeps great at night because he had so much fun. They adjust to your child's schedule and they send you a summary at the end of the day so you can see when they fed, napped, etc. We send our own bottles but they provide food and snacks for the older infants. I would highly recommend the BBIC team to any families in the area

Our daughter started here when she was two and a half years old. And we are very fortunate to have…read moreher attend Michelle's Backyard! She loves all the activities (bouncy houses, reptile day, all the crafts during major holidays) and field trips to different locations around south bay and Los Angeles area. But most of all, she loves the teacher/caretaker and the group of friends that she interacts with daily. It is truly a family atmosphere. I would advice if you're interested, to email or inquire about open position asap. (We contacted Michelle before our daughter was born)

For me, Michelle's Backyard was the closest thing to having family look after our son that I could…read moreimagine, and we always felt completely safe and comfortable knowing he was with Michelle. Michelle cares very genuinely for the children and families, and always showed so much love and care for all of us - It was always clear that Michelle's Backyard is so much more than a business for her! It's a genuine passion, and she really is incredible at taking care of, nurturing and teaching children. The group is big enough that your child can learn to socialize and play with a variety of other children well, but small enough that they all build strong bonds and connections together as a group. Our son loved his time there, and always seemed to feel just at home at Michelle's as he did at our own home (which is the highest praise I can give!). Michelle also creates a true family environment among the children and community with the parents by organizing field trips, picnics, camping etc. throughout the year, which we loved being a part of, and goes way beyond any other daycare curriculum I've known.

Looks Can Be Deceiving: The Reality Behind the Polished Facade…read more From the outside, Beach Babies might look like the kind of place you'd feel good about leaving your child, a bright building, a polished brand, the right words in the brochure. We were there with our son for almost 2 years, long enough to see that the reality behind the glass is very different. And it's a reality that parents deserve to know before making what is both an emotional and financial commitment. What struck me immediately was how transactional the entire experience felt. This is a place run like an ATM machine, policies designed to extract, not to support. For the tuition and fees charged here, you would expect a level of care, warmth and professionalism that matches the price tag. Instead, you're met with rigid rules and inflexible policies. There's a mandatory fingerprint scan at the door, followed by a physical signature for entry, with a fine for any missed sign-in. No exceptions, no grace, even credit card companies allow for a margin of error before charging you interest. Here, it's about compliance above connection. And then there's the culture. The staff appeared unhappy, their energy closer to a high school clique than a team of early childhood educators. At the center of it, Laurie, whose leadership style could best be described as authoritarian without empathy. The tone from the top trickles down and you can feel it in the way the staff interact with each other and, unfortunately, with the children. Even the smallest, most human moments felt mechanical. Drop-off and pick-up should be times of warmth and reassurance, a simple "Good morning" or "How was their day?" goes a long way. Instead, it felt perfunctory, like we were interrupting a system that was already on edge. This isn't about expecting over-the-top enthusiasm, it's about basic care and acknowledgment, the kind of thing you can't fake if the work environment is toxic. Parents choose early education centers not just for safety and facilities, but for trust, trust that their child will be seen, cared for and guided with kindness. For the cost, that trust should be a given, not a gamble. Beach Babies might check boxes on paper, but in lived experience, it fails at the one thing that matters most... Creating an environment where children and parents feel genuinely welcome. I'm giving two stars only because there were a few teachers who truly shined and cared for the kids. Not surprisingly, none of them work there anymore, an unfortunate reflection of the environment created by leadership. For families considering Beach Babies, know that what you see in the tour isn't what you'll live day-to-day. If you value warmth, flexibility and authentic care over rigid rules and transactional treatment, I would urge you to look elsewhere. Your child, and your peace of mind, deserve better for the money you'll spend.

We really enjoy sending our daughter to beach babies. It's really evident that our baby girl feels…read moreloved when she's there during the day. The caregivers go out of their way to make sure all the kids are attended to and that the parents' concerns are met. Our daughter is always kicking with excitement once she gets out of the car and sees that we are going to BB. BB goes out of their way to make sure the parents have ease of mind and are up to speed with their kids daily activities. The facility is very safe. They use a biometric scan as well as a password to allow access the location which in today's world is very reassuring. There is also a weekly curriculum that the parents can follow on their app. I have many colleagues who have used or currently use this specific location. It's a great jumping off point for kids going to any of the South Bay school districts and I would highly recommend sending your kids here.

I send my 2 and 3 year old here. I can't say enough good things about this school. While my husband…read moreand I toured all the fancy South Bay preschools in the area- we had never heard of Seaside. Luckily- they popped up on yelp. And we couldn't be happier. -The teachers are SO caring. My older son likely struggles with ADHD, and they are so patient and loving. They always cuddle him if he's overwhelmed and they're like extended family. -The class sizes are small. The kids get so much attention. -there's an on-sight chef that makes all of their homemade meals and snacks (included with tuition) - the hours are 7-6pm, amazing for working parents - one teacher moves up with the class so the child has a familiar person with them during their 3 years. -it's play based, and the kids can choose their activity. -they are outside 80% of the time, which is amazing. Not just for recess. -the facilities are clean and nice, a bit of a Montessori feel but also it's very homey. - they offer after-school sportsball on Wednesdays, which my kids love. -they accept starting at 2 years old and you don't have to wait until August after their second birthday.

We've had such a wonderful experience at this daycare! The teachers and staff are incredibly…read morefriendly, kind, and truly love the children--you can feel it in the way they interact with every kid who walks through the door. They create a warm, safe, and happy environment that gives me complete peace of mind. I also appreciate that they provide snacks and lunch, which makes our busy mornings so much easier. Overall, an amazing place with people who genuinely care. Highly recommend!