Damian S. and Ford A. have got it right!!! The school, also known as Playgroup is fantastic!!! I…read morevisited so many schools (both on the Westside and Eastside) and all the work was well worth it. Playgroup's a diamond in the rough and a well-kept secret. You, fellow Yelpers, are lucky I'm sharing it with you! I would've been fine keeping it all to myself but I've got to give credit where it is due! Playgroup was established decades ago and is undergoing somewhat of a revival under their director, Tina. She's passionate, vibrant, and educated (a Trojan - but I won't hold that against her). ;) Under Tina's leadership, I feel that Playgroup is just going to get better and better. The school's teachings are based on RIE, Reggio Emilia, and are child-centered. Basic concepts are children are curious learners and active participants, and thrive in an environment that is safe, challenging, nurturing. Playgroup is located in the hills of Echo Park in a former residence. The rooms have all been converted to classrooms. It's really quaint. The playground is composed of a large slide structure and 1/2 of the ground is covered in a nice, rubbery material that absorbs shock and is almost spongy, whereas the other 1/2 or so is a large sandbox. There is also a little garden and I believe they will start composting soon. Students regularly paint and play with the organic playdough Playgroup makes. Also, every week there are additional (free) activities such as yoga, dance, music, soccer, and nature walks. Unheard of!!!I Most schools charge for these "extras"! Note: Tina, if you're reading this, please don't get any ideas. LOL! My daughter loves her teachers. The teachers all speak Spanish and English. They vary in age, which means there is a good mix of experience. Teacher Irma sends a daily handwritten note with a summary of events, and any important reminders. Teacher Betty sends a weekly e-mail to wrap up the week. The student-to-teacher ratio is amazing! On any given day, my daughter's class has 5-8 students and there are always 2 teachers. That is seriously unheard of in Los Angeles! Believe me when I tell you this is incredible. The best preschools in LA (including UCLA and LMU) don't have this! So what does this really mean? It means that (a) your child gets a lot of attention and (b) your tuition money is very well spent. Speaking of which, tuition is very reasonable given the (a) student-to-teacher ratio, (b) flexible hours (7 AM - 6 PM), and (c) nutritious breakfast and snacks are provided. I can go on and on, but I'm sure you get the idea! We heart Playgroup!

The center, known also as Playgroup, is the absolute best daycare around. The staff to student…read moreratio is the highest I have found. The philosophy of the school is called "non-violent education" and is based on empathy for the child's point of view. Ruth Beaglehole, the school's founder, is also the director of the Center for Non-Violent Education in Echo Park. We can bring our 3 year-old son at 8 am and pick him up at 6 pm if we have to. As it is we usually get there at 10 am and pick up at about 5:30 pm. But it is nice to have the option of longer hours if our work week is intense. Our son has really blossomed since he started at Playgroup the very day he turned 2 years-old. What was also great is that he didn't need to be potty trained when he started. He uses the potty now and I feel like training was so much easier because he saw other children doing it and modeled their behavior. Anyway, it is an a great place for children and the other parents are cool, so the social aspect is good for adults as well. There are also a dozen or so subsidized slots for families with moderate incomes. And the prices are not bad for full and part time students even without subsidies, considering what we paid a babysitter before our son was 2 just so we could work a few hours a week. I highly recommended this school and suggest you call right away to get on the waiting list and come visit Playgroup.

If I could give Bright Montessori a thousand stars, I would. Our youngest (of three kids) started…read moreat Bright at barely age 2 when our full-time nanny unexpectedly had to take medical leave. When I arrived for my visit, the director, Sakina, was hoisting a palate of strawberries from her car that she had bought from the farmers market for the kids' snack. From day one, our family felt welcomed and supported by Sakina and her colleagues and the parents at the school. Our daughter is thriving and we see every day how this loving community has contributed to her growth and development. The school has two beautiful classrooms with large glass windows/doors and a serene courtyard. One parent on Yelp commented about uneven pavement and I'm not sure I understand that. The space is perfectly safe (as well as clean and beautiful) for children to run around--I certainly wouldn't have sent my 2-year-old daughter to the school if I had any concerns. The teachers are extremely engaged and loving and I've watched them on a daily basis help kids to learn how to communicate and resolve conflict. Overall, the school is an absolute gem and I am so glad that we became part of this wonderful community. Our family is forever grateful for the marvelous work by Sakina, Vanessa, Michelle, and Romaline.

If I could give Bright Montessori a thousand stars, I would. Our youngest (of three kids) started…read moreat Bright at barely age 2 when our full-time nanny unexpectedly had to take medical leave. When I arrived for my visit, the director, Sakina, was hoisting a palate of strawberries from her car that she had bought from the farmers market for the kids' snack. From day one, our family felt welcomed and supported by Sakina and her colleagues and the parents at the school. Our daughter is thriving and we see every day how this loving community has contributed to her growth and development. The school has two beautiful classrooms with large glass windows/doors and a serene courtyard. One parent on Yelp commented about uneven pavement and I'm not sure I understand that. The space is perfectly safe (as well as clean and beautiful) for children to run around--I certainly wouldn't have sent my 2-year-old daughter to the school if I had any concerns. The teachers are extremely engaged and loving and I've watched them on a daily basis help kids to learn how to communicate and resolve conflict. Overall, the school is an absolute gem and I am so glad that we became part of this wonderful community. Our family is forever grateful for the amazing work by Sakina, Vanessa, Michelle, and Romaline.

Hilltop has been one of the greatest gifts in my life. My son attended Hilltop for 2 wonderful…read moreyears. Hilltop is really the experience that set his life in motion to become the wonderful, thoughtful, compassionate and engaged human he is today. We looped with Teacher Camille, who is an extraordinary early childhood teacher, a total expert. Camille and Hilltop provide an exceptional childhood education that serves a diverse range of children. The educational program of the school honors each child's individuality, and in my experience, the teachers and staff meet the children where they are, so that they can grow and understand. Our teachers Camille and Amanda had a deep connection with all of the children they worked with. The school provides the social emotional learning framework that helps children discover who they are themselves, as much as they are discovering and exploring everything around them. At Hilltop, children learn in a hands-on way: cooperation, patience, joy, curiosity, and a social and emotional intelligence that the children will take with them to every situation for the rest of their lives. At Hilltop, my son learned how to see himself in the context of the world. He loves and respects Hilltop so much, and to this day, he still says it was the best school he ever went to. I see that many children have come out of Hilltop with these gifts. 5 years on, we still regularly see our Hilltop friends. The cooperative nature of Hilltop really built for us lifelong friendships- our children can't remember a time when they didn't know each other, are like cousins, and know other parents like they would their aunt or uncle. We are so thankful to have had this gift of our time at Hilltop and the fruit it continues to bear.

Our daughter attended Hilltop for three years, and her experiences here set her up to become a…read moresuccessful student and a kind and compassionate human being. Moreover, we made friends with other families who we still see regularly. This school is truly a hidden gem - once a hilltopper, always a hilltopper!

Lyric Preschool has been such a godsend for my child and my family. It's a year round school that…read moreis consistent and reliable. The teachers are incredibly patient, loving and provide wonderful educational nourishment. My daughter comes home with a smile on her face and stories of everything she did that day. She developed such meaningful early friendships. They do arts and crafts galore. How they get my little one to nap is still a wonder to me. They put together such thoughtful portfolios and meaningful Holiday, Mother's and Father's Day activities. We also love the once a month KPNO (Kids & Parents Night Out). Kids contained! Parents Play! As they often say, "the days are long but the years are short." I will treasure the days of picking up my daughter from Lyric and the milestones she accomplished in such a short amount of time. Thank you to all the teachers for your energy, love and simply everything you do to nourish these young minds every day. We appreciate you.

The most diverse school you can find in the area. The owner and the staffs are all so super nice…read moreand my kid loves to go to school everyday!

My son doesn't go to Camelot Kids, but I took him there for a birthday party and here I am with my…read morediseased brain, writing a Yelp review. If you're still reading, I'm sorry. Camelot rents out for parties on weekends, and from what I understand, the base fee is pretty reasonable, and you can add on from a whole menu of entertainment options. We went for a 5th birthday and it was a pretty ideal venue, with tons of space, all of it outdoors. There was a covered area with tables for food and drink and cake time, as well as a huge playground with lots of equipment. I tend to judge kid party venues by how little I have to watch my own kid, and this one was top tier, safe and confined. Well, except for the train ride, which felt kind of wild, but was also my son's favorite part of the party. I guess Camelot works with a company that brings a mini-train for parties, and the kids went nuts for it. I stood in the parking lot watching that train loop around for a full hour, swerving and doing donuts to make the children giggle and scream and occasionally break out in tears. My son rode it something like ten times. He spent the rest of the time running around the playground, with brief, emotional interludes for cake and piñata (he was absolutely terrible at picking up piñata candy, just the slowest little guy, with my genes imprisoning his whole body). We stayed for three hours, and he did not want to leave. I don't know how Camelot Kids is as a pre-school (though if you have any appetite for gossip, you will not be sorry to read this: https://www.jezebel.com/the-story-and-nightmare-emails-behind-one-elite-silver-1741632103), but we were happy to visit for an afternoon. If you're looking to host a party for small children, it's definitely worth checking out.

My husband and I hosted a birthday party at Camelot Kids for our 2-year-old daughter. The staff was…read moreso nice and welcoming. They helped us set up before the event and clean up after. During, they also checked in with us and asked if we wanted help using the speakers or turning on the bubble machine. The venue itself was very cute. The playground was spacious, and the kids enjoyed every nook and cranny. The other parents were also happy with the location and everyone had a fun time.

I can't recommend this school enough! The teachers and community are so warm, caring, and devoted…read moreto the children, their happiness, and development. I love that it is mixed age - my daughter's language increased exponentially just weeks after starting and I attribute a lot of it to the regular interaction with the older kids. She enjoys going to school every day!

I cannot say enough glowing things about ACGS. My three year old came here after a rocky experience…read morewith a different preschool. It immediately felt like we made the right decision. It was exactly what we hoped for; warm, caring, nurturing, and safe. His incredible teachers, Adela and Yolanda, treat him like the tiny, complex human that he is and are truly invested in helping him become the most kind, curious, patient, confident person he can be. It's a place run by people who are very good at what they do and who care deeply about what they do and I can't recommend it highly enough!

My three children attended the neighborhood nursery school from 1988 through 1993. In retrospect,…read moreit took me six years to graduate from nursing school. My three children grew up to be wonderful, caring adults. Their formative years were blessed with the experience of young children are growing up in a loving and productive atmosphere. The opportunity to bond with my children over those six years was invaluable. I was fortunate enough to have a work schedule that would enable me to miss every Monday for six years.

This is a truly special school, and attending has been an incredible experience for my family. The…read moreschool is completely outdoors, and the children get to explore and learn at their own pace. The space is beautiful, the teachers are incredible, and it provides a really magical preschool experience that our entire family will treasure. It is a co-op, so you need to be able to devote time to helping out with the school, but the rewards you get in return make it well worth the effort. In his time there, my son has really thrived, and become a confident, capable and thoughtful kid. He has made good friends, and we have become very close with many of the families.The school is a wonderful community, full of supportive teachers and parents, where you get to be a part of your child's education and growth. After the isolation of the pandemic, it has restored my faith in humanity to be a part of such a warm, welcoming place, where everyone truly cares about the development and well-being of all the children. If you have a child about to turn 3, check it out, take a tour, and you might love it too!

In a matter of 3 months, our quarantine baby broke out of her shell. She built up a wide vocabulary…read moreand can identify letters and numbers, as well as shapes. I was taken aback when she recognized an oval at just 2 yrs old! It was her first school experience, and if you're looking for a place with great parent communication, look no further. This intimate preschool was the perfect start to our little one's education.

From the owner: We are excited to come alongside parents in providing a safe, Christ-centered, nurturing…read moreenvironment where children learn through play and discovery.