We have two kids graduated from PRINTS kindergarten. One started already in Children's House and completed, the other started from Nido and also completed Children's House. The kids actually did not overlap due to age difference, but we had such a great experience with the first one when we first moved to the Bay Area, we decided to send the second one there as well. What we like about PRINTS: 1. The campus is very clean, and managed to have in-person learning with only 1 minor disruption starting back in summer 2020 (with camps first) and continued throughout, while the public schools remained in distance learning mode. 2. The freshly cooked meals are excellent. The younger kid literally loved the meals at PRINTS more than anywhere else. 3. Teaching standard very high, and kids have no problem transitioning to public schools afterward. (I came from a family with many professors and teachers and have a doctoral degree myself.) read more

Our child started the Nido program this summer and he has flourished at PRINTS. He is given lots of floor time and has learned to roll and is working hard on sitting. He is offered solids, and they are even following his cues and place him on the potty. The daycare providers all are very loving and invested in the progress and growth of our son. We even had a few questions on sleep training and they lent us a book from the school library that was incredibly informative. It's such a relief to not have to worry about his safety and well being while we're away at work. Yes, they are pricier than the other programs, and while we were fortunate enough to have been admitted in a few infant day cares and had options, we opted for PRINTS because the atmosphere was much more calm, clean, and organized, which translated into providers being more focused on the kids. Our little guy is very happy here, and their investment in our son's milestones is pushing us to be better parents--we've gotten more proactive with introducing solids and potty time to our kiddo! I have a friend whose daughters are enrolled in the Emeryville PRINTS location and they are very happy at that location as well! read more

And because of that I was homeschooled for 5 years then enrolled at a private school nearby this school, which I enjoyed very much. I am now at college and I'm having a great time! read more

PRINTS does their tours in the evenings, and inconveniently, it is only offered once a month. I made arrangements to attended one evening. While rushing to get to PRINTS from work, I noticed that I did not bring the address with me, so I quickly called them and asked for the address and some brief directions (like cross streets). The girl who answered the phone had absolutely no idea what their address was or how to get there. [So how did she get to work that day, one would wonder.] She put me on hold and decided to asked someone else for the school address, which she relayed to me. Because she did not know how to get there, she decided to GoogleMap it and then give me directions over the phone. This was a nice gesture, but her directions were completely wrong, including not able to differentiate which direction was north and south. [Isn't that written on the map?] When I got there, I was obviously late because of Miss Can't-Read-a-Map. I quickly joined the group discussions and met the director/owner. She was sitting in a reclined chair, with kind of a stuffed-up air about her, as if PRINTS is the best school out there. When asked why some of their preschool graduates did not do well in kindergarten, she responded, "Montessori kids learn at the own pace. They may appear behind at first, but by high school, they soar past their peers." [What a bunch of crock; I am not waiting until high school to let my kids catch up to their peers.] I met some of the teachers, who all looked very fobbish. It is apparent that English was not their first language; they may be okay in teaching Chinese, but I would not want my kids to learn English from them. I agree with the Yelper who stated that the teachers are Draconian. PRINTS may brag that their students are learning advanced math, but it seems like they only do so with a punitive approach. [Those crazy old-school Chinese teachers!] When I was given the tuition rates, I was appalled. Not only was it one of the highest in the region, the director/owner also clearly stated that enrollment means commitment until 12th grade. If one withdraws the child before then, there will be severe financial consequences. [No, thank you.] Needless to say, we will not be enrolling our kids in PRINTS, but I wanted to share my awful tour experience with everybody. To be fair, there were some parents on the tour who seemed to buy into their style, but this school is just not for my family. I would not be surprised if Miss Can't-Read-a-Map attended PRINTS as she is yet to catch up to her peers in basic geography... read more

My twins ( boy and girl ) started attending PRINTS when they were 3 month old. They went through the Nido, Infant community program and now they are in children's house program. Having been with the school for more than 4 years, I am so happy and sometimes surprised with my kids' progress. Both of them like to help out in the kitchen, folding clothes, etc. They have developed independence. At age 1.5, they could use spoon to feed themselves. My friends were all impressed when they witnessed my kids eating on their own. In terms of language, both of them picked up spoken Mandarin, some Japanese and English. My girl can even read some Chinese words these days. Instead of learning Chinese phonetics, they started conversing Chinese and now learning Chinese writing. That is similar to the way I learned Chinese when I was brought up in Hong Kong. The school has a systematic approach in teaching them words and they were each given a small booklet with Chinese words that they learned so that they can practice at home. It is so fun going through those booklets with them. They have developed curiosity and definitely some foundation in learning Chinese language. I have read some of the negative feedbacks on yelp from other parents and I am surprised to learn their views. In contrast, I do have a very positive experience with the school. I like the fact that my kids were given the opportunity to perform in spring festival every year. I like the quarterly CIN (community involvement night) where I can learn and share about raising kids in Montessori environment. I like certain structures the school put in to promote respecting others and environment. I found the staff and teachers are very opened and friendly to work with. They sometimes even give me helpful advice. I don't know if my kids will ever go to prestigious colleges or not but I am sure they will be moral and responsible humans that I will be proud of. read more

One star for the teachers and staff. One star for the cleanliness...otherwise this school is pretty much worthless. They have many half day Fridays throughout the school year with no explanations. They just want half day off every once in two weeks. Always no school on the first school day after any school breaks. Always half day school before holidays. School staff meeting, school cleaning always those type of BS reasons. Tuitions are almost double as everybody else. Principal of the school is a mother queen and either it's her way or the high way. Don't want to listen to parents feedback or input. Very dominant and difficult to communicate with to the point we even feel she is not even paying basic respect to the parents. Our son is much happier now in a different Montessori school. Huge difference between great school and this mediocre school. $2300 a month and any other drawing or hand craft class will be extra. Money sucking school. read more

If I could give this school less than 1 star, I would. Academically, they did not provide my children with an education equivalent to what the school district would for free. Why pay for an inferior education? If you sign up here, you are just signing up for a boatload of heartache and lots of outside tutoring. Further, the administration is outright mean to the parents. They are threatening and completely shutdown when there are issues. It is their ongoing policy that they are always right. Parents are not partners but rather to irritants be ignored and minimally tolerated. They will blatantly lie about issues with parents to keep them in line. After changing to a public school, I finally realized how abusive PRINTS was to their parents and to the children. Don't pay for the abuse. My son who had always received excellent academic reviews during parent teacher conference received decidedly underwhelming reading scores when he was tested for his new school. After 6 months, he has caught up but I was amazed how PRINTS had missed telling me he was a full grade behind! My son had always disliked going to PRINTS and complained every morning, but he had been going here since he was 22 months old so I just assumed this was just the way he was. With his new school, he gets upset when he is not 30 minutes EARLY for school. My threat to him when he is bad is "I am taking you back to PRINTS." He is more confident and chatters happily about his day at school. They blatantly discriminated against my Autistic daughter who Christinia personally interviewed and admitted knowing full well of her disability. When they decided to not renew her contract, they told me at the parent teacher conference it was because she was not keeping up with the program. If she was learning normally, she wouldn't be Autistic! They would not allow her aides into the classroom. They would not allow us to provide her a lunch that meets her oral sensory needs. They just ignored her and didn't even try to educate her. When we left, they would not return our deposit of thousands of dollars. I made requests via email but they ignored all my emails. Even if money is not an issue for you, don't send your children here. They are precious. Do not submit them (or yourself) to this horrible experience. Home school if you have to but don't send your children here. read more

*Revised July 2007* We ended our one year relationship with the school for 2 reasons: 1) tuition went up 11% for 2007-08 year, and they require parents pay for a tuition insurance plan equating to about 2.7% of tuition. The insurance is mandatory and was not well-communicated. 2) poor communication style - they prefer parents to write in little red books regarding child's development or any questions, and fail to respond to emails or calls in a timely fashion, giving the impression that they don't really care about what parents think, as they are so passionate about Montessori and their own program. the administration lacks efficiency and developing a partnership with parents. this year, management had a personnel issue with a teacher and inappropriately, in my view, aired their dirty laundry on email with the parents. teachers are not always fully credentialed and undergoing additional certification processes and are promised help with their visa/residency in the US, hence their bond to the school! With respect to diversity, I would make the case that it is heavily Asian and weight that as one consideration(Japanese, Chinese, Filipino etc) with single digit percentage population that is Caucasian). Should you consider placing your child through to the elementary and higher grades, the obvious concern is class sizes, in fact the issue being too small rather than too large, which I feel could impact a child's social development. As in anything, caveat emptor: Read the contracts fully, inspect and ask a lot of questions. check out international school of the peninsula in palo alto as an alternative read more

Education is sub par, not worth the money My wife and I were attracted to pacific rim because they had a Montessori curriculum and they also had Mandarin emersion. Our child attended PRINTS for three years, one year of Infant Community and two years of preschool (Children's House). We discontinued pacific rim because we didn't feel we were getting value for money. At PRINTS, the tuition prices go up every year and at the same time they reduce school hours by introducing more holidays and teacher education days. Another factor was that the quality of education is lower than what you would expect. This has to do with the high level of teacher turnover and that Pacific Rim hires a lot of teachers with little experience and then trains them on the job. When our son attended public Kindergarden, we discovered he was behind most kids in reading skills which shocked us. That itself, is the major factor that our second child will be attending a different pre-school. It's also worth mentioning that the Mandarin emersion doesn't add a whole lot of value. Our child picked up far more understanding at home in everyday Mandarin conversations with relatives then at the school. The administration is obsessed with building a "from birth to high school" Montessori educational program. The strategy seems pretty flawed to me in that Burlingame / San Mateo has strong public school systems so why would parents in these areas want to pay for a competing service. It almost seems that the preschool program is charged extra to help fund the elementary school and high school programs (which have much lower levels of enrollment than the preschool). The school reduced school hours every year that my son attended (and raised the price of enrollment at the same time). To me it seemed that one reason for this was that it enabled more up sell opportunities for the school for after school programs, extracurricular activities, late afternoon babysitting, etc). If your kid goes to this school, expect lots of push from the school on having your kids participate in these activities. PRINTS is not very competitive with the prices of nearby existing schools. There are now plenty of other Montessori schools in the area and even some other Mandarin emersion Montessori schools and they are all much cheaper now than PRINTS. read more

It is with extreme reticence that I write this review. Being from the school of "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," I HATE leaving bad reviews. But as a parent, I owe it to other parents to share what works and what doesn't. PRINTS did not work for my child. We know Montessori. We love Montessori. We had an older child attend a true, strict Montessori school but since we moved, we had to find a diff M/ssori daycare for our son. He started in nido and over the year progressed to Infant Community. We're used to tears at drop-off but he never stopped crying during the 10 months he was there. PRINTS payment system has you pay roughly 6 months in advance so if you withdraw, you get penalized. Like everyone says, PRINTS is expensive so it was already a challenge to enroll him that if we had to withdraw, we'd get a huge chunk removed from our refund. We let him stay but that decision haunts me. I can only assume their pre-payment is strategic, designed to discourage withdrawal but if they just improved, they wouldn't have this problem. PRINTS might work for a native Chinese/Japanese speaker only in terms of language continuation but for non-speakers, theres no value. Everything Chris L said below is correct. The kids don't smile, the teachers are cold and sloppy and the turnover is high. A lot of the teachers don't speak English so it's difficult to communicate with them and they aren't M/ssori-trained. They also don't love kids. They're just tired, going through the routine. I can go into details as to their many transgressions but it's emotionally exhausting to even think about them without feeling guilt. I will say this, tho, they had one administrator who was nice and apologized every time we brought something to her attention. It didn't happen again but stuff like that never shouldve happened in the first place. They also had an amazing NIDO teacher but she was gone after the first 3 months. PRINTS is very convincing. The halls are decorated with arts and crafts completed in Japanese and Chinese. The classrooms are organized and calm. They give you green/black PRINTS totes to carry your child's supplies, a green notebook to serve as communication between family and school and even an ID card. But if you open the canvas tote, you'll see soiled clothes either soaked with urine or filled with feces that should've been placed in plastic bags. If you open the green notebook, you'll see that the question you wrote to them went unanswered. And what's the point of an ID card for a 1 year old when nobody ever asks to see it? At PRINTS, everything is pretty on the outside. read more

I post this with the caveat that it has been 2 years since my daughter attended PRINS for 2 years. That said, I believe that the school has further declined since our experience. However, I'll just stick to what my direct experience was. The staff, while typically well meaning, was sadly prepared for the realities of day to day schooling. It was meant to be multicultural, but I believe that it merged the worst of 2 worlds.. They claimed to espouse Montessori tenants, however, adhered to them arbitrarily and strangely. Students had very little real freedom and no real physical outlet, UNLESS you sprung extra for the Kung Fu or Chinese dance lessons, which were conducted Draconian old school Chinese style. You were beholden to sign up for the meals, which sounded fantastic, but which my daughter detested to the point of going hungry. When I broached this subject with the headmistress, she said that allowances would not be made unless there was a food allergy. Hey, if my kid won't eat the food and says that it makes her stomach hurt, then I should be allowed to supply my own lunch, right? Wrong. They were inflexible administratively and the communication style was fragmented and confusing. They were strangely Draconian and old school Chinese ("Why do you wear your hair in such an ugly way?", one well meaning Chinese teacher asked my daughter) while claiming to refute that model. Weird. The education was similarly arbitrary, inconsistent and very confusing. I believe it was better for the younger kids, my daughter went through 3rd and 4th grade there. THe homework was over the top, and very, very complicated and confusing. English was taught by a non native English speaker, who was sweet, but whose English was inadequate. The math tried very hard to be "hard', without needing to be. Classroom culture? The headmistress was very concerned with "dressing properly" and would arbitrarily issue no jeans or no hands in pockets rules while classroom bullies called kids "fat" or "stupid" or ran around dropping the F bomb ( I kid you not) All in all, we had a very poor experience. My daughter breathed a sigh of relief when we switched schools and is very happy now. read more

I was interested in learning about PRINTS because of the Montessori and Mandarin program as well as its location. My review is based off my observations while touring the Children's House during their morning free activity and a short peek into the Infant program. Before visiting with PRINTS I had also looked into a few other Montessori programs (with at least one hour dedicated to Mandarin) around the area. What I had observed was that there is a difference in AMI vs. AMS and other "Montessori ideals". I found that there were really only 2 schools that followed a pure AMI methodology, PRINTS is included in that two. Just by observing the children you know that they are individually leaning at their own pace and respecting other children's work at the same time. I saw some children in an organized circle with a teacher, while other children worked individually and together. It was eerily quiet but it worked. No one was crying and "tattling". The "teachers" did not interfere with the child as they worked. Initially I was put off, it looked like the teachers were stoic beings. However, I realized they wanted to let the children take control of their actions and therefor they sat in the wayside out of the children's way. There is a native Mandarin speaker, a native Japanese speaker and an English speaker. Each teacher speak her own native tongue. Though the Mandarin teacher was not available that day I was able to watch the Japanese teacher interact... didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. But the children learn how to communicate with each of their teachers. After my observation of 15 minutes was over, I had a 1:1 with the director while still in plain view to the children (the children did not seem disturbed). She started talking about the Montessori philosophy and then asked me questions to try to figure out what I wanted to get out of Montessori. She was nice and accommodating. I didn't find her stand-off-ish at all. Since I was also interested in the infant school she took me over and I was even more impressed with the infant program. The infants were totally engaged with their teacher who was speaking to them in Mandarin. In the infant program the children are fully immersed in a second language since the window for learning language is extremely high during this time. The outdoor area is pretty sparse but they have fruit trees and some gardening plots. (Other schools I had visited had really cool vegetable gardens.) As for outdoor play, the area is dedicated to structured sports. That was interesting since I figured you'd want children to just be "free" for the time they are outside. All in all I was impressed with school; the materials, the language programs, meals, cleanliness. The tuition is for a 10-month session and as others have noted you will have to spend a pretty penny. If it was more affordable, I would have put my child in the infant program right away. If you are looking for an AMI certified program with a second language and you can afford the tuition, you should invest in the program. What I have learned about any Montessori program you should invest 3 years in a Children House (3-5) program which includes the year of kindergarten. Children will learn at their own pace, so if you only have your child in for a year, they actually don't reap the benefits that a parent may expect. read more

Having been to other AMI montessori schools in the country, I honestly think PRINTS is giving montessori a bad name. Sure, this school is squeaky clean and quiet, but you also don't see the kids smile a lot. They can't even run around or explore when they go outside. There is just work work work and no play. No talking during work cycle, no chatting during lunch, and they must always walk in a single file in and out the classroom (think prison). Not a single play structure other than a climbing piece they recently put on the fake lawn which isn't nearly enough for a school of 60-80 kids. The school rules are there to keep both kids and parents in check and there is absolutely no room for negotiation. All the kids who left PRINTS are so much happier in their new schools and their parents much more relieved. This place literally takes the fun and life out of learning! There's so much good in the montessori method and I watch my kids blossom under the guidance of experienced teachers. But the way this school implements it is wrong. Most of the time I feel that they are just trying to justify the cost of tuition and preaching to parents how classy little kids should be. Things such as making the teachers and kids prepare and put on a 2-hr performance on stage, having them serve food like waiters at tea party (where they don't get to eat) and handing them Chinese or Japanese scripts to say in front of microphones at the end-of-year celebration. But the kids are not enjoying these things! They should be working on things appropriate for their age and feeling a sense of accomplishment from within. At this place, everything looks polished on the outside but the kids are sad and miserable, never quite sure when the director will glare down at them and their teachers, or why the office ladies are icy cold towards them and their parents. There is a complete emotional disengagement from the administration, as if they knew from the get-go one day these parents will start asking questions and getting on their bad side. Our kids don't feel safe there. There is no way to bond and create any positive experience. It's the very opposite of a Montessori education. Kids can feel love (or the lack of love) around them. Kids can learn well and have fun at the same time if the school is doing it right. Time and time again, the parents community has tried to work with the school but it was just a total waste of time. We gave up all hopes the moment they tried to shift blames onto the parents and took zero responsibility in losing nearly half their teachers. Good schools with genuinely loving, honest people in the administration are out there. Just keep looking and pass on this one. read more

I am reading other reviews and think it's time to share my experience. PRINTS for us had a lot of pluses from the get-go: multi-lingual tracks, hot healthy lunches and was a short commute for my pre-schooler. Great! Where do I sign up? At first, we did find the school strict and reprimanding in their daily journal with us -- we just figured we hadn't memorized the 60+ page handbook as well as we should have. There were lots of red flags that we didn't read properly. I could provide details about our interactions with this school but the bottom line is: We (including my child) are SO glad my child is no longer attending PRINTS. I really wanted there to be a fit because of the commute convenience and the main teacher was so nice etc etc. but the administrators don't care at all about the families. The admin is condescending, rude and dismissive. They also don't accept children (despite their supercilious demeanor that they work with children "the way they are" ) unless they fit into their warped perception of the Montessori mold. I am reading some reviews and find it very interesting that their experiences were similar to mine. I think if your child is very obedient (at age 2) and follows rules and can be VERY quiet then this school might be a good fit. My child at age 2 was very curious, active and needed more of a play-based environment. I feel sorry for the PRINTS teachers under that admin. Later I learned that my child's best teacher was leaving, along with at least one more teacher. The school admin doesn't care about the parents. They sign you up, take your tuition, tell you everything you're doing wrong and then if your child doesn't fit THEIR view of the Montessori mold, there is something wrong with your child. And they're rude. This was our first experience was a structured pre-school so we told ourselves that something was wrong with US. Only later I learned from other parents that they pulled their child out as well having finally read the cues. I learned to listen to your child, despite what a school's philosophy is or the perks/conveniences, your child even at age 2 knows what feels right. Our child is SO much happier at a Chinese-immersion school in San Mateo. He can't wait to go to school and walks in without a look back. Like another parent who reviewed here, we motivate him by saying he was going to the NEW school and asked if he wanted to go to the OLD (PRINTS) school. That would ensure him to do whatever he needed done as he abhorred PRINTS. We have driven by PRINTS and he has worryingly asked, "Mommy are we going to the old school? PRINTS might be good for some children/families. It certainly wasn't for ours. I think it's inevitable that not all schools are for all children. But the issues lie with the admin and their judgmental styles and rude attitudes. And to the director: please don't bother writing some meaningless response. If you actually cared about the families and the paying parents, you would have either trained your admin staff to manage things more humanely or followed up yourself. Your admin staff are going to run your school to the ground. read more

We moved from the East Coast to the Bay Area in 2011. We were quite disappointed with the school system here in the West. Initially, we placed our 2 sons in a Catholic school and was highly disappointed. We decided to try Pacific Rim International School. It was definitely a change for our sons since they had never been in a Montessori environment before. I would like to take the time to briefly talk about our experience with the Erkinder Program which is Grades 7-9 for the traditional school. Ms. Jo-Ellis is a phenomenal teacher that oversees the Erkinder Program. She was so influential in the learning process for my son, Samuel. Her classes are dynamic and projects that are completed in that class encourages the skills that are needed for our students to succeed in the world today (i.e. communication, time-management, critical thinking, problem-solving, writing, etc.). My son now attends the International High School in SF and has transitioned well to the rigors of study there primarily due to the preparation that occurred with Ms. Jo-Ellis. I look forward to my second son's time within this program, as well. read more

We are really happy with this school. We have two children in the Mandarin-English Program in Children's House at Pacific Rim International School (PRINTS). To start if you have never been to an AMI (American Montessori International) recognized or certified Montessori or have had children in an AMI Montessori School then you are not comparing apples to apples, but rather apples to oranges. Since Montessori is not a copy righted name it can be used in any school name, thereby deceiving parents who do not know the difference. Harvard and San Francisco State University are both are colleges, but one has a higher standard of education. AMI is the IV league of Montessori Education. 1) Cost of a Classroom - To explain the classroom materials in 1 Montessori Classroom is over $100,000. In comparison, my cousin recently opened a 3 room preschool. She did not even spend more than $15,000 to set up 3 classrooms. The San Mateo campus is over 10 years old. To think that they have kept the material so well maintained for all these years is a testament to their standards and integrity. 2) Level of Education - According to the state public school standards and requirements for a child, the Montessori classroom material covers to a traditional 2nd grade. One example is when my son was 5. He started to name off the countries in a geography book for 4th graders to a 2nd grader at our house. This is just after my son had been in Children's House for 1 year at PRINTS. 3) Language - After 2 months at PRINTS my daughter came home speaking Mandarin. Truth be said many parents do not know this, but Montessori education was originally designed for the neglected children in Italy. This included children with learning disabilities, orphans, or physically disabled. 4) Life Skills - I want to speak on this because I am a counselor for our church youth group. All go to public school. Many of which I constantly encourage them to strive for the best and to set the "bar high". Unfortunately, they have been ingrained into the public school educational concept of "just getting by since you will pass and move up a grade any way." The 3rd year in the Children's House is the key year where the child has the opportunity to be the leader in the class by giving lessons to younger children and taking ownership and responsibility for the neatness, cleanliness, and damaged materials. These leadership skills are indirectly taught to the children as a natural progression in the classroom. My child was being taught not just how to be a leader, but a manager and trainer as well. All skills that they can take an use in the work force when they grow up. 5) Teachers - All the teachers in the Children's house have completed their AMI training. There are 2 in our class. So even if one teacher is sick the other teacher is there to help guide. Yes, there is staff turn around, but this is no different from traditional education. PRINTS has staff that has been there long enough that they rotate substitutes that understand Montessori so that there is never a break in the children's learning. Therefore it does not matter that teachers change constantly, since the next one can easily come in and continue from the previous teacher. 6) Afterschool Programs - So if you were to go out and have your kids take ballet, Chinese Dance, kung fu, art, music, or any of the extra programs that are provided at PRINTS, you actually end up paying more or about the same. The difference is that you do not have to sacrifice a Saturday for these classes or take time leave work early to go and pick your kids up to drive them to Kung Fu class or art class. At the Spring Gala we watch our son performed a waltz for the first time. All this is part of PRINTS's education. You are actually saving money by sending your child here then going anywhere else and adding the extra cost for all the other classes. My children come home doing yoga, dance and many other things that are consider extra-curricular and not included in traditional education. 7) Tuition - Actually PRINTS is the cheapest of the 3 AMI Montessori Schools in the Bay Area. Recently, I saw on facebook for a new Mandarin-bilingual school in the Richmond District of San Francisco. They are $5000 more than PRINTS, not including after school. Plus there is no large scale fundraising like public, catholic, and private schools. As well, the staff is very understanding to the financial demands of education. I have never had a problem and they have been so understanding to our financial needs. 8) Small Class - PRINTS prides themselves in maintaining appropriate class sizes in good balance without the compromise of quality and integrity. There are always 2 AMI teachers in our class and 3 AMI teachers in the other children's house. This doesn't include the 4 teachers in the elementary classes. Please see my full review by sending a message read more

My review for Pacific Rim International School (aka PRINTS) is long overdue!! I am so sad to see some 1-2 star ratings have popped up since we've started. We are coming up on our 4th year at PRINTS and it has truly been a wondrous journey. We have seen our older daughter (soon to be 6) flourish while at this school and we could not be more impressed with the teachers and staff. Our younger daughter just started (age 2) and the experience continues to be great. Now...I will admit, I was hesitant at first. Not with this school in particular, but with the Montessori style. Although my husband has a Montessori background, I always thought coming from a public school system did well enough for me. It took me a while to feel comfortable with this philosophy and PRINTS has provided plenty of outlets for parents like me, to learn more about it. They offer community information nights so parents can learn together and share experiences. They allow you to observe classes regularly and sit with the children at lunch. You are able to see firsthand, how well-behaved the children are and how nurturing the environment is. The teachers are there as guides to ensure the students learn what is important and expose them to more and more, in a way that makes it interesting for the student based on their temperament, individuality and natural curiosity. The flow of the classroom environment is quite fluid...you can see students at a table working on individual activities, or a small group on the floor working together. As a whole, it is a bustle of activity, but amazingly it is far from chaotic. The fact that individuals can still focus on what they are doing, while others around them chatter, is a testament to the level of concentration that is developed in the Montessori philosophy. They are given the freedom to choose their activities, rather than have one assigned to them, so they are truly invested and engaged in what they are doing. Members within a group learn how to contribute to each other happily because they are not forced to be there and the outlet for learning naturally grows. The materials used in each of the classrooms are impeccable and I have learned first hand how my child's mind will produce a solid foundation of knowledge from the use of each one, from the very basic to the utterly complex. I remember learning that if a child continues to grab an activity that is easy for them to do, then the environment has failed them because it no longer fosters their curiosity and evolving development. Each activity/toy/assignment (whatever you want to call it) provides multiple opportunities for learning and you need very good guides (teachers) to help foster that learning. PRINTS has always had excellent teachers, and while it is true, there have been new teachers since we've been there, they have certainly been held to a great standard because they have always been impressive to work with. The staff has always been accommodating and I really appreciate the use of email, newsletters, pictures etc. to further communicate with the families. As I'm sure with any school, there are processes in place that need to be followed, but they were put there for a reason. I'd much prefer a carefully planned and thorough program to one that is too lax. And with all that, this school is multi-lingual too?!?! YES! The multicultural/language aspect of PRINTS is such a bonus to the unique Montessori environment offered here! My 5 year old daughter, enrolled in the Japanese program, is already able to speak, read and write in it very well. She can also understand and speak Mandarin, the other language taught here, because of the intermingled classroom. My husband and I did not contribute to this in any way, shape, or form because we do not speak either language. In our ever-expanding global world today, we figured our children could only benefit from learning other languages, even if it's one we do not practice at home. We found that learning another language, simultaneous to her learning to read and write in English, came very naturally in this environment. I also believe because it was done early on, her mind was able to absorb everything. This may not be the case for every child, but it was something she found interest in, or had an aptitude for early on, and they were able to help her develop it. That coupled with the nurturing and organized environment of PRINTS, made the process for learning seem effortless for our child. And that is what it's really all about, ensuring our kids can get as much learning as they can from their school. We have already gotten so much from our experience with PRINTS, that we are very excited to see what the future brings for our kids here. We plan to stay on as long as we can, and while yes, it can be very costly...we believe it is worth every bit of time/money/effort you put into it. If you would like to know more about our experience with PRINTS, feel free to send me a yelp message. =) read more

My child attended PRINTS from preschool to middle school program [Children's House to Erdkinder] I myself didn't have Montessori experience before so the philosophy was totally new to me. Now I could say that "I am a Montessori mom" thanks to PRINTS' informative meetings provided by the school principal and the teachers. And I was lucky to have supportive moms from the parent community. Multilingual environment: I loved their multicultural Montessori environment. It was fun to participate in cultural events like Chinese Moon Festival, Japanese Children's Day and European style Gala etc. And, it was amazing to watch PRINTS children expanding their vocabularies and phrases of their "second" languages naturally within English - Chinese, English - Japanese immersion class settings. CH - EC - Erdkinder: On my school visit day for CH, the school let me see the Elementary program, too. I was so surprised to learn that EC children plan and discuss their own daily schedule with the teachers! 3-year-cycle: I realized the blossom of my child every 3rd year at PRINTS. I thoroughly enjoyed the class presentation on information nights and the seasonal cerebrations. I guess that liveliness is come from freedom in the class, or well designed and prepared environment. In addition to practical life lessons [CH], acquiring self motivated learning habit [EC], deepening knowledge and exploring new perspectives [EK], outdoor activities -- summer outdoor camp, Erdkinder's farm visit to take care of organic produce -- attracted me. (Because I felt that it'd be vital for teens to be under the sunshine to grow!) Of course, there would be a moment of re-evaluation of the environment according to child's age. Actually, Montessori way of observation skill helped me to see and think about the path. I believe our fruitful school days provide good foundation for the actual life of my child. Thank you PRINTS! read more

We had a terrible experience with one of our children several years ago. The school tends to hire teachers that are disciplinarians. There are some good teachers there but there are also ones that are very strict with the children. The best teacher there, Ms. Varuni, left. After noticing problems with our child, we approached the Director who also owns the school. Our conversations with her were very disappointing. Unfortunately, the Director is the owner so there is no corporate governance and there are no checks and balances for the Director. We ended up pulling our child out mid year. We later found that many other parents are had similar issues with both the Director and some of the teachers. That year, there were about 5 or 6 families that pulled their children out early, which as you can imagine is a hard thing to consider mid-year. We very much regret sending our child there. She has been out of the school for a few years now. We still feel that the school had degraded her self confidence. I would suggest that you spend a lot of time figuring out if this school is right for your child. I am not a proponent of it. read more

We love this school! In 2008, we chose Pacific Rim International School for our 3rd grade daughter for its Montessori teaching method, the language program, and because it is a K-12 school. (There is also a language immersion preschool program). Montessori was new to us, and we had no Chinese language experience or exposure. We looked at a number of schools before deciding. While exploring PRINTs, I asked my daughter's 2nd grade public school teacher if she would be willing to to take the PRINTs tour and let me know her opinion of the school from an academic perspective, which she did. I followed up with her and asked, "So, what did you think?". There was a brief silence and then she answered, "I just enrolled my own daughter". Decision made... The PRINTs teachers, the director and staff are amazing. They worked closely with us as our daughter was transitioning into the Montessori style of learning and into her Chinese language lessons. I volunteered on a committee and the more I see this faculty in action, the happier I am; everything is geared toward supporting and guiding the students. Montessori is a fantastic approach to learning and reinforces the kind of personal and social responsibility we practice at home. Montessori is real life learning. As an example, in middle school, the students travel to a local organic farm once a week where they study the real life application of sciences, math, business principles and other aspects of running a business. Even elementary students organize chaperoned field trips to visit sites related to their research. Last year a group of Elementary kids went to a Marin County honey producer to learn about bees and their affect on the environment. There is nothing like this available at any other school we looked at. The school has a chef who prepares fresh, delicious, organic lunches for the children every day, and kids can even participate in preparing special foods for festivals and special events. We've gotten to know our daughter's classmates and their families and are so pleased with how many nice kids there are at this school. There are no bullies and you won't see 12 year olds wearing Prada, as status consciousness is not cultivated here. The kids get to be kids and part of a warm and supportive community. My husband and I attended the school's annual Spring Festival and after six months at PRINTs, our daughter stood on stage, smiling, before a crowded auditorium and spoke in Mandarin about what she wants to be when she grows up (a veterinarian). Another parent seated beside me leaned over whispered, "Your kid's got a great accent!" We couldn't be more pleased. Full fluency is a long way off, but her progress is testament to an effective, measured teaching approach that keeps her interested and challenging herself. If you are looking for something more for your child's pre K-12 education, this is one school to take a good, hard look at. Parent liaisons are wonderful and more than willing to give you a tour and connect you with other parents to answer questions and share their perspectives and experiences. read more

We have two children attending PRINTS, one in the pre-school and one in elementary. Both have been enrolled for a full school year or more. Previous to PRINTS our older child was attending a public elementary in our area, rated 10 by great schools.org. I can say without hesitation that ENROLLING our children at PRINTS has been THE SINGLE BEST DECISION we, as parents, have ever made. Here is why: 1) the elementary program and teachers (the student/teacher ratio is 4:1) ignited a tremendous passion for learning and discovery that was not previously evident in our older child. Our pre-school age child is quickly following in sibling's footsteps in this regard. 2) both children have achieved a level of maturity, self reliance, contentment and responsibility well beyond their years; friends, family and neighbors have all noticed and commented on these traits. 3) my in-laws have attended a number of the school functions and each time they have congratulated us on making the choice we did to enroll the children. It has been extremely rewarding to see the immense and outsized satisfaction and pride my-inlaws have taken in our children's education. (PRINTS has made me a hero with my in-laws!) 4) i am continually surprised and overjoyed with the wonderful activities and ideas that our children bring home as a result of the school. Christinia and her team do a wonderful job teaching the Montessori methods. 5) our children speak Mandarin at home to each other (as parents we have no chinese language skills/knowledge). 6) the school community is fantastic! read more

(This review was originally posted in 2013. Updated) I have attended Pacific Rim from Pre K to 5th grade and I understand from a student's perspective on coming to this school. You can read other reviews that this school is amazing but really, it's not. The academics are horrible, I didn't learn the required grade material and wasted my time there. There are only two teachers in one classroom which didn't help me at all - I would just sit at my seat and waste my time waiting for them. Most of my classmates were below my grade level which was confusing because the teachers focused on one grade level each day to teach and left others to do their own work. I understand that this school offers a Montessori curriculum but how would students learn if they are not challenged each day? Most of the teachers and staff were abusive and ignorant. I still remember in elementary school that I was being yelled at for helping someone out. My classmate dropped a material on the floor and I went to help but then I was yanked by my arm and was told to go back to my table. I guess they wanted her to learn on her own, but it is excessive to pull by a little kid's arm and yell at them to not do the right thing. I also remember crying from a staff pulling my arm because I did something wrong (oh sorry, I was six years old and no one is perfect) and telling her other colleagues to ignore me. I made a mistake but it didn't make sense how they avoided me the whole day. They teach nothing about American history, current events, or the "real world" - which I believe is essential for every school to have. I was once questioned by a teacher in my new middle school about a historical fact which I was "supposed to learn in elementary school" but of course, I had no idea and I was embarrassed. Additionally, after leaving this school, it was difficult for me to adjust to my grade standards. I had to catch up with a private tutor for months and it stressed me out. I am not sure if they have changed since I left, which was five years ago but I doubt it. Overall, I just had a bad experience. You really don't know until you have experienced it yourself. I hope all of you, especially parents, take this into consideration before taking your children there. read more

Our experience at PRINTS has been extremely positive. We were looking for a school that would support our child's development into a confident, compassionate person who loves to learn. Our child, now in the equivalent of 5th grade, has been provided a nurturing, enlightened, intellectually challenging, and practical education, and speaks and reads Mandarin (which neither parent speaks). We particularly appreciate the Montessori-based elementary environment, which creates opportunity for choice of educational activity within appropriate limits (for example, students can't "ignore" core curriculum requirements). PRINTS provides monthly parent education for those who want more information about methodology, class culture, how to support the learning style at home, etc. The more I learn about the Montessori educational method, the more I marvel at the way it supports all learning styles and personalities. While I suspect that Montessori would work for any child, as it has been said, it is not for all parents. I was a little surprised to read a review suggesting that the school (and elementary classroom) have done anything other than improve over the last two years. The current elementary English teacher is a native speaker, and we loved the previous teacher too. The elementary "homework" includes daily practice of the second language (such as writing a short story or a geography lesson), reading, and journaling. As part of the math work, called "life math", the students are encouraged to find the ways that math operates at home in their daily lives. A recent class project included making raisins from grapes dried in the sun. Depending on the student's level, they were encouraged to calculate the percentage of moisture lost in the process, the ratio of liquid to solids, the rate at which the water evaporated, etc.) The students also translated their results into metric measurements. During many "play dates", I've had the opportunity to observe groups of PRINTS students (typically including children ages 5-14) utilize the conflict method modeled by their teachers - it is astonishing and wonderful to watch children of different ages taking turns saying what is true for them, respecting each other's opportunity to speak about their feelings, and ultimately creating a solution to their disagreement. The teacher conferences are delightful and eye-opening - I am always impressed to hear how well the teachers know my child (including an accurate acknowledgement of strengths and truthful assessment of improvements needed). As working parents, we appreciate the convenience and quality of the after-school programs. The Kung Fu and Chinese dance classes are taught by professionals with their own successful businesses. I would guess that these lessons (like learning a new language) are best started as young as possible. The organic-whenever-possible hot lunch is one of my favorite things at PRINTS. The menu includes seasonal fruits and vegetables, and all meals (including the pizza dough, breads, wonton, vegetarian sushi, soup, etc.) are made fresh onsite by a professional cook. New students may need to adjust to the relatively low level of salt/spices in the food, since the food must accommodate the tastes of the 3 -5 year old children in the younger environments. On various occasions, as is perhaps true in any environment in which people of many cultures and languages interact, misunderstandings arise. We have always found that upon respectful inquiry, the administration and teachers have made themselves available to listen, observe and respond. The director is a dedicated educator with more than 20 years experience teaching children in a multilingual environment. Her understanding of bilingual and Montessori education, and attention to the education of the whole child, enrich all our students. We so enjoy being part of the PRINTS community of educators and parents with a common goal -- the best possible education for our children. read more

I have 2 kids in the Children house, which is a pre-school and kindergarten equivalent program. I love the fact that all their classes are either bilingual or tri-lingual. My kids are in the English and Mandarin program. The language immersion is such a way that the child natural learn both languages. I read some negative reviews about this school, all I want to say is that the school is a AMI certified/recognized school, meaning that at its worst, it still maintain a certain level of standard. Not many Montessori schools can claim this standard, it is not easy to maintain. I agree that this school is a tad bit expensive. We could not afford it when we first started coming here. This school worked really hard to accommodate our changing financial situations so that we could afford and keep our kids at the school. The Montessori concept and focus is very different than what I am used to, growing up with traditional (public) schooling. There were a lot of concepts that I did not understand or know about when I first sent my kids to a Montessori school. So, it is great that this school makes great efforts to try to help parents grasp the method behind the teachings. There are parent information nights, about once a month, there are opportunities to come in to class for lunch, to observe the child at work, and certain events parents are welcome to come and have the child show you what they do. I see that some parents gets disappointed and pull their kids out after one year. This is very sad, as the programs are in blocks of 3 years. You will see some differences in your child within the first and second years, but nothing compare to what you would notice and see in the 3rd year. What I came to learn when my kids started coming to this school is that the growth expectation for the kids by the school is very different then what my expectations were. We tend to be so focus on the academia side of things and quick results, so I can understand why some parents feel that the school is not what it cracks up to be. Besides the academia part, for kids in the infant program, the key learning is independence, exploration, and strengthening of natural senses and skills. For kids in the children house, it is a followup of the infant program where they now learn to focus and complete the task they have before them and an understanding, awareness, and interactions with their surroundings. For the elementary programs, I am not too sure what the true focus is yet, as my kids are not part of that program yet. My oldest is going to be in the lower elementary program next year and I am looking forward to it. read more

We have three kids, the youngest now at PRINTS in the Children's House program. With eight years between her and our middle child, some time had passed since we were a PRINTS family. But it was such a great experience the first time around that we knew we'd be back. While the Montessori method is wonderful in and of itself, the integration of bilingualism into a Montessori environment is what originally drew us to PRINTS. The school does a great job of developing independence, self-motivation, responsibility, and curiosity, all the while incorporating grace and courtesy. The dual-immersion classrooms have been effective in not only teaching my kids Mandarin, but also in instilling a desire to continue studying it in their lives after PRINTS. And my younger daughter is now teaching me Chinese vocabulary! Of course I recognize that no school is perfect. I do wish for less teacher turnover at PRINTS, but at the same time, I know that kids are resilient. With certified teachers coming into a consistent environment, the transitions have been pretty smooth. And I trust the principal and her "for the children" philosophy. We plan on staying at PRINTS for at least a few more years. read more

Removing our child from PRINTS was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. The administration is completely horrible, the teachers seem overworked and extremely fearful of their Principal, Christinia. If you only care about your toddler being able to independently put on his own shoes, put toys away, never smile and speak Mandarin/Japanese in a sterile environment, this is the school for you. These are the only things the school excels at. If you want your child to experience warmth and happiness you will most definitely not get that at PRINTS. Our son was at PRINTS for 3 months before our first parent/teacher conference, after asking repeatedly for 3 months about what our child was eating and how much and being told not to worry, we only found out in the conference that our son was refusing to eat any of the school's food. This means that our child was only eating the snacks we packed for him which are only fruits and vegetables. This is an inexcusable threat to our child's health & development. Our notebook correspondence and emails back and forth with the school asked repeatedly for this information and we were repeatedly hushed and told not to worry. We received only a handful of photos of our son from the school throughout the 8 months he spent in Nido, one of them being on his end of year "attendance certificate." He's crying and frowning in the photo, working on some task that he looks extremely unhappy to be doing. Is it absurd that the school wasn't able to capture a single photo of my child smiling or even just not crying? Our son is generally an extremely happy child. The school is not receptive at all to parent feedback and fails at every attempt to create some kind of community. All of their community nights are canceled due to low interest from the parents, it doesn't seem to occur to them that the subjects are not interesting to the parents. The Annual Gala was by far the most bizarre event I have ever attended, for many reasons, but the most notable was the Principal's request that all of the toddlers sit still at their tables for HOURS and requested that no children go on the dance floor until she said it was OK. I would not recommend this school to anyone who cares about their children or their own sanity. I can't wait to see Christinia's response to this post and how she'll defend her horrible school. There is a reason why this Montessori school has no waitlist unlike every other good school or day care on the Peninsula. read more

0 star if I could It is true, their director and admin staff really don't care about you and your kids after they take your money. If there is one thing they care about at the school, it's $$$$$. Oh, and saving face. Now I do not mind paying for it if they really deliver what they claim to, but clearly that's not the case. There is exactly 1 teacher on the days I visited my kids at school unannounced for the entire classroom of 25-30. Isn't that lower than public school ratio? Is that even legal for preschool setting? Apparently the teachers are needed to cover infant section. They wouldn't answer why they don't have permanent staff in that section and constantly covered it by up saying, "Oh it's just for today, so and so is sick". But my kids and their friends all confirm this happens on a regular basis. On average I don't think our kids learn more than their friends attending other daycare centers. During the year we didn't know anything about their progress, as teachers are not allowed to talk to the parents. There was a lot of chaos when 7 teachers quitted in Sept 2017 (yes, in the beginning of the year, and no.7 was a new teacher), but we stayed on with the school. We asked PRINTS for more updates and suggested they use an app or online system to let parents keep track of school progress, but they threatened to send my kids home without giving us our money back. I heard from other parents that's what they do if they think you are making them do extra work. The admin manager became rude and they treat my kids like they don't exist once we got on their bad side. We became the less prioritized people, while those whose parents work for the school or had signed up early for the next year get preferential treatment. Some parents who took their kids out and moved to another school got blamed for everything. Forget "respecting the children" like the director likes to say, they can't even respect other adults who are paying customers. Most parents complained about the lack of play structure in the school. Yes, it's boring to spend the entire day as a kid when you cannot run or play. But this year things took a new turn when they don't have enough teachers and hire inexperienced ones. A lot of kids got hurt due to lack of supervision. HFMD was rampant. Their bottoms are not cleaned properly after poo poo and they get infection which is super painful. The older ones fight each other until there is blood. We saw an older boy with a cut on his bloody face when we picked up our kids early one day. My younger kid imitated what they do in the yard and it's like pro wrestling. But the school always have an excuses to everything. Most of the time they blame the parents: "They are not doing their part at home!" It might be so in some cases, but if more than 7 teachers and 12 families quitted the school within a year, then something is rotten at PRINTS. And by the way, these parents left without getting any of their money back. But it didn't matter, they wouldn't let their kids stay in this school. Last but not least, the kids do constantly hear condescending remarks from the director to the teachers, and they repeat it at home. I am sure PRINTS had received complains about it before but it has not stopped. It is funny, the school tried so hard to create a positive image but they cannot stop the kids from revealing the truth. All the main teachers had left, and most parents decide to leave after a year or 2. Bottomline is they rather take the money from new parents than to work with current ones and keep them. It is hopeless to try to talk some sense into the director and the manager. We hope whoever is funding the school to keep it from closing will step in and support the parents in giving the children what they really deserve. read more

This is a Montessori and bilingual school that focuses on the Montessori aspect, but it is Chinese-run so the cultural aspects are front and center. I have experience with Montessori education and their version of it seems on par with what I have experienced. The fees are reasonable - definitely similar with other private schools in the area. You aren't going to get co-op prices, but this is not a co-op. It is a full time school that takes children as young as 18 mos. and goes up to 9th grade, which is rare in the Peninsula. As stated in another review, the major drawback of this school is the communication with parents, but if parents know this going into the school it would be easier to start off knowing that and attempting to bridge the gap yourself rather than waiting for instructions on how the school works. If you are looking for a bilingual Montessori education, this is the place. My children have excelled in this environment and we plan on staying indefinitely. read more

My daughter starts her 1st grade at PRINTS and if I knew the school earlier, I would put her in PRINTS when she was 18 months old. This school offers complete programs for your child; but the most important lesson I think is creativity and the ability to learn independently. Kids work in a groups, which they prefer most of the time anyways and are able to learn how to deal with problems & resolve conflicts themselves. Academics are fine and some kids are able to learn more advance then their grade level. The Chinese and Japanese programs are wonderful. My daughter is in the Chinese program and she is able to read, write and conduct basic conversation in Mandarin after 2 years. During the Chinese New Year, the students put together a wonderful celebration performance and do most of the planning themselves. The school is a really close community and everyone in the school are constantly trying to do their best for the kids. There is no pressure in school participation for the parents unlike other schools, but most of the parents are more than willing to do their part. After school programs are available in school, program such as, art, Chinese dance, kung fu, and science club (just to name a few). The best part for our point of view as parents is that these programs are offered in the school itself. There is no busing my child around town every day. Children are able to do their homework with teacher's supervision while waiting for their after school program to begin. I understand no school is perfect and this school is certainly no exception; but for what they have to offer, I couldn't find a better game in town. read more

We have two children, one who just left PRINTS to attend Burlingame High School and another in the Elementary program. We intend for our second child to complete at least the middle school program at PRINTS. Our eldest is easily adjusting to high school and we are more than happy with his preparation. We developed close relationships with the administration, teachers, and parents, and believe PRINTS provided a nurturing andchallenging academic environment. read more

They have an interesting concept in teaching kids, they can not share toys as they call it "work". When one child is "working on an item" they are told "someone is working on that, find something else to work on", shouldn't children learn to share? My experience watching, there was one girl that sat there for an hour doing nothing, no one went up to her to interact until she had a little accident. Second and third day the little girl did the same thing, sat in a chair and did nothing. None of the teachers interacted with her. Christine gives a good talk and with her research backing it up, but not all kids are fit to attend Montessori. My opinion is kids under 3 need to have fun, explore and interact with other kids. read more

Having read the reviews below, I wanted to respond with something more recent which may give a different picture to families. My son attended PRINTS' children's house for 16 months. Prior to that he attended a different Montessori school out of state, which we had loved and we were worried about the transition. We didn't get a great first impression from PRINTS during our first visit for some of the same reasons mentioned below which I think is interesting. But we had met several families who loved the school, and the Japanese language immersion was critical for us, so we decided to enroll our son. He started in the summer camp and was a bit slow to warm up. At first we also felt that the administration was not as parent-friendly as our former school, and felt a bit alienated, and even considered pulling him out at one point after a staff member had been a little gruff with my husband. What happened after the fall session began was that I think because many parents felt this way, some began to organize and become a strong voice to the administration in areas that needed improvement, particularly in communication. One parent in particular began to formally act as our 'liason' and things improved dramatically - for example, we were able to act to completely change the morning/evening carpool dropoff procedures that all that parents loathed, in a way that was so much more efficient and less stressful (and less dangerous as well). In terms of academics, I agree that you must be commited to the Montessori method to like the school and perhaps it is not for everyone. For our son, we felt the multiage classroom was very important to his development - to see him transition from a younger one learning fromthe big kids to become a class leader was amazing. He behaves the same way on the playground now that he did in school, watching out for and helping younger children, and truly enjoying his role in that way. He also developed a lot of independence in his work habits and became very self-motivated with respect to all his learning. We'd often see him peforming many of the Montessori-style behaviors at home (for example, he'd get inspired to write a letter to grandma and clean off his desk the way they do in school and set out a 'work mat', etc). I think these techniques help him focus on every task he sets out to do, (and try getting your average 4 year old to do that yourself :) The other thing that is great about Montessori is they allow the child to take their natural intellectual curiosity to its completion point- he is not truly finished with the letter tracing until he really FEELS finished, in contrast to other places where sometimes it is letter time, or number time, and then it finishes when the teacher says. Because he was able to continue tasks to the natural completion point for him, his skills developed far ahead of what I think was age-appropriate. For example, he loved doing simple addition so much that he soon progressed to addition of large complex numbers, carrying over digits, etc which I don't think most 4 year olds get exposed to. But what really sold us on PRINTS was the incredible nurturing and support given to our son in his Children's house class and his interactions. His two main teachers (Japanese and English)were absolute gems and he adored them both. He also interacted substantially with the CHII chinese teacher who although a quiet person socially was a great teacher who he also adored, and he learned a fair amount of Mandarin during his time there. Yes you do communicate through a journal because it is chaotic to try to do so during pickup/drop off. However, when we had issues of concern I was able to email and set up meetings separate from teacher conferences which were helpful. The access method worked well for us. Parents are expected to volunteer for a variety of activities, but having been in 3 differrent private school systems now I can tell you this is not unusual. Although I work full time I enjoy every opportunity to do so as you do get so see more of what goes on, plus it allowed me to spend more time with my son at PRINTS and interact with more families. In closing, we had to leave PRINTS as we moved out of state. This was a sad transition for our whole family as the experience had been so overwhelmingly positive for us despite our intitial not-so-great impression. Our son was briefly in a non-Montessori environment but we are putting him right back in, that is how convinced we are of this method's power. And with respect to his language skills, we traveled to Japan this past spring, and he was completely seamlessly fluent (despite the fact that neither myself nor my husband are). People we met were amazed to see a non-Japanese looking boy speaking so well. I strongly recommend PRINTS for these reasons, and if we moved back to the San Mateo area, I'd re-enroll our son without hesitation. read more

Bottomline is this school is expensive and below average. The classes are overcrowded because they don't keep to the montessori 24 kids in a class standard. The upper classroom are empty because none of us want to keep our kids there after preschool, no one is happy with their program. The biggest beef we have is the lack of transparency about the who is coming and going. The after school activities are led by people who are not qualified because those who have the proper training all quit. The main teachers are always changing (never a good sign) but they don't ever tell us. Those who are staying are there simple because of their visa. Without experienced, qualified teachers, a school cannot nurture each and every kid and provide lessons in the classroom according to their needs which is the essential part of a Montessori education. And why can't they update the parents on what's going on at school? Why are the teachers not allowed to speak to the parents????? Things are going down at PRINTS, or have been for a long time, and this will not change because the school doesn't listen to the parents, they think they know it all. They shamelessly said they know your children better than you at parents' meeting! We feel bad enough we have been cheated, that we are stuck there because of their tactics, we don't want more people to suffer. This business is all about the money. They don't care about the kids. read more

My review is based on my observation on the pre-school tour. The moment I stepped into the school, I immediately felt that this is my dream school. Everything about the school exceeds my expectation - the orderliness of the classroom, the quality of teacher, the cleanliness of the campus, the bilingual and Montessori program, the organic food prepped by their onsite chef are all flawless. My one on one conversation with the program director is enlightening and very educational. Now, all these wonderful things come with a high price, which also exceeds my expectation. The tuition nearly doubles other preschools in the neighborhood. This is not a preschool for the average but for people with extremely strong financials. This makes me wonder whether it is worthwhile for me to tie up so much cash in this one program? Also, I wonder if my child will get the diverse social interaction at this school. If most (if not all) have pretty well off parents, will this limit his social experience? At the end of he day, unfortunately, I had to walk away from this school. read more

I have two children going to this school. One in Infant Community (IC) who is going into Children's house in the fall and one going into 2nd grade. The Montessori environment provides strict structures but allows the children to have choices within those structures. When I put my boy in at 1.5 yrs old, he was in heaven. It was a whole new world to him, one that I could have never provided at home. He is turning 3 in August. In the last 1.5 years, he learned to dress himself, put on his own shoes, make his bed, put it away, is potty trained, use a child's knife, set the dishes, serve himself, washes his dishes, cleans up after himself and the list goes on. He even came home with a sewing project he did out of a real needle and thread! My girl who is older, came home at the end of first grade with the work from the year in a binder. In it she has a compilation of her work from English, Math and Japanese. In addition, I received a photo of her working with a slide and microscope by herself. She is 6 years old. Much of the children's time is self directed which encourages them to do their own research and become self sufficient. My daughter harasses her Japanese teacher regularly for Japanese instruction by not allowing Atsuko Sensei to finish her lunch. When I peak into the classroom, she is either working on her own, with a friend or taking her lesson. The students are guided as well as taught. It is an environment that encourages my daughter to learn rather than drilling the information into her for a test. For parents who are worried about testing, my daughter scored very well on the Stanford Achievement Test which doesn't really mean much to me. It just tells me that she is learning more than what the standard curriculum requires and she is not limited by what is taught to her, she can learn at her own pace and excel in subjects that interest her and I will be notified by the school if there are subjects that needs to be supported at home (so far there haven't been any). I visited the school one day and the Principle told me that my daughter mediated a conflict that day. I've been a parent at this school for 5 years and found that the children who come over to play are much more mindful of adults and instruction. As for the English teacher who is louder than the Asian teachers, she is Italian and more dynamic. I've seen her speak to the children loudly and the children hug and love her. New children might be surprised but that is the beauty of this teacher. She IS different than the rest and it allows for the opportunity for our children to learn to love the diversity in each other. Look deeper and hear the intent of the person speaking. The school is very particular about the teachers they hire and when possible, hire only Association of Montessori International (AMI) certified teachers vs. American Montessori Society (AMS) teachers. AMI requirements are more stringent and adhere more closely to the cultural and multi-lingual environment of Pacific Rim. This school is unusual because of it is not traditional and that is its beauty because it allows our children to explore the world around them rather than have their noses in books memorizing drills. read more