We enrolled our two-year-old at DVMS for the 2026-27 school year and paid $2,890 upfront, including…read morea $2,700 payment that DVMS's agreement specifically calls a "Last Month Tuition Deposit." The agreement also states that the tuition deposit "is applied to your FINAL DVMS invoice." Before we paid, we had asked DVMS for additional time. They declined, telling us in writing that they had "a significant number of families currently in our wait pool" and therefore could not hold the space without the deposit. Our circumstances later changed and we notified DVMS approximately 30 days before Theo was scheduled to start that he would not be attending. He never attended the school and therefore never had a final tuition invoice against which the "Last Month Tuition Deposit" could be applied. DVMS refused to return the money. Less than 24 hours after we notified them, they told us they could not backfill the opening because wait-pool families had already committed elsewhere. This was difficult to reconcile with their earlier written statement about the significant number of families in their wait pool, our two years on the waitlist, and general community knowledge that most never get into DVMS. We pointed out the language in their own agreement and asked them to identify any contractual provision stating that the "Last Month Tuition Deposit" instead functions as a forfeitable reservation fee when a child never attends. We also asked them to preserve records regarding the wait pool and efforts to fill the opening. They did not provide that information or refund the payment. Parents considering DVMS should understand this policy and the language of the enrollment agreement before paying the deposit. Our experience was that DVMS retained the full $2,890 despite our child never attending, approximately 30 days' notice before his scheduled start date, and the agreement expressly describing $2,700 of the payment as a last-month tuition deposit applied to the final invoice. We also learned that four families from DVMS moved their child to our current school in moraga in the last 30 days alone. It seems this may not be an isolated issue with how they operate.

Diablo Valley Montessori School is an iconic and well known authentic Montessori School. It has a…read morelegacy of high fidelity Montessori education. It follows the scope and sequence of the Montessori curriculum. In a world of screens and instant gratification DVMS provides the hands on concrete experience vital for a child's cognitive development. Their staff is professional and knowledgeable regarding the Montessori curriculum and philosophy. I highly encourage families to experience the true meaning of a Montessori preschool education.

This review has been a long time coming...we've been so grateful for The Nurtury and I've been…read moremeaning to put into words just how much this school has meant to our family. It is truly a top-caliber preschool in every way. Every single teacher is exceptionally caring, attentive, and deeply present with the children. You can tell they genuinely love what they do, and it shows in how happy and supported the kids are every day. The teacher-to-child ratio is excellent, which means every child gets the individual attention they need to thrive. Since starting at The Nurtury, our two-year-old has blossomed--he's become so much more social and confident in group settings, his language has taken off, and he even started saying "please" and "thank you" (a very happy surprise for us!). It's a truly special place that nurtures not only the child's development, but also their sense of safety, joy, and belonging. We feel incredibly lucky to be part of this community.

Our son has a fantastic time at Nurtury. The leadership and loving teachers really care for the…read morestudents and it is a solid, well-run Christian pre-school program. We entered when our son was 2 and the teachers were very patient in helping with the pre-school transition and provided a wonderful and safe environment. They have many activities and the children spend their days doing art, music, building social and emotional skills, and gather together for full-group activities such as a visit by the fire department (big hit!). We are thrilled to observe our son grow to be confident and enjoy school, and without qualms we hope to send our second kid there.

My oldest attended here from 2022-2024 along with Midia's son. The old reviews are an accurate…read moredescription of how this place used to be. The first year here with Ms. Amy, Ms. Joanna, and Ms. Lesli was wonderful! Ms. Amy and Ms. Joanna are exceptionally talented with young children and effortlessly brought our child out of her shell. She was finally experiencing life outside the home and other children for the first time due to the pandemic. For this, Amy & Joanna alone are worthy of five or more stars. The reason for the low rating is the new administration that came in after our first year here. The new director, Ms. Claire, oozes disdain for her job and incompetence to lead, and that is reflected in the high staff turnover and low morale. My daughter's second year here, she went through more than three different staff changes and the lead teacher took an extended leave after only a month in. Another teacher admitted to me that she doesn't interact with my child much. My child was not developing or learning, and she lost interest in preschool until we changed preschools. Two years later in 2026, I was catching up with a current family there. Their daughter has come home twice with pants soaked in urine, despite there being a change of clothes on hand for her. They also were crammed into a classroom that already had other children when the sewer line backed up in their classroom. Her teachers change on a regular basis with the turnover. Even before we started at Holy Shepherd, it was evident that previous staff had been close-knit and worked as a team. Under Claire, they just show up to collect a paycheck. They are too overwhelmed and undersupported to care. Verdict: this place attracts working parents because of its flexible hours all weekday long. However, your child may fall through the cracks.

What an incredible place. Miss Joana and Miss Pat are angels. My son was new to group care. We…read moretried one other place, but that didn't work out. I knew he was going to need a lot of care, love, and attention through any transition. At two-and-a-half and not having much social play because of the pandemic, Miss Joana and Miss Pat were ready for the challenge. They worked their magic and now he loves going to school every day! I'm so thankful and blessed for them and lucky that they had an opening when they did.

Old Firehouse School is Exceptional!…read more We sent both of our children to OFS after moving to Lafayette, and it was a wonderful experience for our family. The dedication of the staff is truly what sets this school apart. We especially valued the model where teachers, like Liz, Pam, and Zahara, continue to work with the students as they grow. This consistency and the deep care they show for the children is evident every day. Our kids absolutely loved their teachers. We are huge fans of their kid-led, project-based learning approach. It allows the students to drive their own education. Just as important is their focus on emotional education--teaching kids practical ways to understand and manage their feelings, which is a key skill for life. Alex and Michelle are fantastic leaders, and the entire team deserves praise. We have nothing but great things to say about OFS and highly recommend it.

I have had at least one child at OFS since 2021. It is an incredible community and the director…read moreAlex is a thoughtful, bright, measured, and caring leader. We have loved all the teachers we've worked with and were first drawn to OFS because of the Reggio Emilio method they practice. This approach centers around a single primary caregiver for the majority of a child's time at the school. Our oldest has come out of OFS with incredible social emotional skills as a result of this model. We still have our son there and will be sad the day we have to leave. This is not the closest school to our home, but we trust the staff and we can't imagine going anywhere else.

Not a good fit for kids with special needs. I was told we need to find another place to go because…read morethe school is not just "babysitting" but rather an "environment of learning." My son learns in his own beautiful and unique way, so naturally I found that hurtful. After we left they hired my child's school aide to work for them which felt like a serious conflict of interest.

In the 12/13 school year, SS offered the 3's program 3 days a week so we went to a Moraga preschool…read moreon the other 2 days. Very quickly we realized that we couldn't continue at the Moraga preschool, my son would kick and scream the whole way, he didn't like that school and only wanted to be at SS. SS has wonderful teachers, a beautiful facility and a great group of families. Miss Tracie always brings in special people and her special touches - like goodie bags on the first day of school, a magician, the bee guy who brought his hives and the police and fire department. I also love that the school offers a soccer program in the afternoon's once a week, it's great to have one less trip to the park. The other teachers are great too. They talk in Spanish to the kids and have a separate art teacher and room. When I go to pick up my son, the mom's of the other kids have become great friends and we usually hang around catching up and chatting - love this community! Also, this is a not-for-profit school so the prices are $200-300 less than other places we've been.

My daughter attended Joyful Beginnings for 2 years before starting kindergarten. We always had a…read morevery positive experience there, but I'm kind of glad I never reviewed the preschool because now I have an even better perspective now that my daughter is in grade school. I feel like the teachers did an amazing job preparing her for kindergarten and fostering both her social and academic skills. I'm thrilled to write that my daughter is loving school and excited to go everyday. Thanks to everyone at Joyful Beginnings, especially the incredible teachers Erica, Tracy, and Taryn! The school runs very efficiently under the direction of Carol, and I always found it to be an incredibly safe and clean environment. I liked that the days/schedule was a bit flexible and that helped our family be able to select the schedule that would fit our finances. Thanks to all!

We love this school! All the staff is amazing! Very communicative, caring, professional and truly…read morehave the education and know how to care for your children and all their needs! My mom has been in education for nearly forty years and always loves everything I tell her about our preschool. I love that they use the brightwheel app and you can see pictures the teachers post to see what the kids are learning about or what fun activities they are up to. Can't recommend JB enough!

We truly cannot fully express the amount of joy, comfort, and confidence we feel leaving our…read morechildren in the loving hands of Meher Schools. When searching for the perfect preschool, we had very clear priorities - and White Pony/Meher Schools was the only preschool that checked every box after extensive research, visits, and interviews. After falling in love with White Pony preschool, we decided to stay for The Meher Schools elementary school - also, one drop off for kids if you have one in preschool and another in elementary?! Yes, please! The Meher Schools met our top priorities in choosing aas did the White Pony Preschool: 1. Teachers who genuinely practice kindness, patience, and love, creating a safe, nurturing environment that mirrors the care we provide at home. 2. A strong focus on kindness, emotional and spiritual development alongside academics, using the Nurtured Heart Approach to teach leadership, right from wrong, and strong values - something that truly matters in today's world. 3. A calm, organized, clean, and open learning environment inspired by Montessori/Waldorf principles, filled with music, dance, art, nature exploration, and joyful activities that spark curiosity and a love of learning. 4. Low teacher-to-student ratios with consistent, dedicated staff and minimal turnover. 5. The ease and convenience of reliable daycare availability and consistent school hours, which is invaluable for working parents and provides tremendous peace of mind. Our children have grown into calm, patient, loving, socially and emotionally intelligent individuals. They come home happy - singing songs, performing dances, and confidently demonstrating leadership skills such as speaking up, standing up for others, self-regulating ("resetting"), appreciating nature, and truly loving life. We are incredibly grateful for the dependable, efficient, and communicative staff and teachers. Watching our children's growth, confidence, curiosity, and joy throughout their time at Meher Schools has been nothing short of amazing. We wholeheartedly and highly recommend Meher Schools to any parent looking for the very best for their child.

I want to start by saying this is a long time coming, and this is just my experience…read more We first looked at Meher after learning our son's previous preschool prioritized moving kids up to open seats, over real development. He was three, and his old school, though called Montessori, felt like just unstructured play with no guidance. We wanted better for him, so we applied to Meher. When I spoke with the administrator, she was initially hesitant to transfer him but ultimately accepted our application but in hindsight it felt influenced by where we live and work more than our child's needs. On our tour, we learned about the school's "legacy" tradition: multiple generations attend, and one teacher is even an alumna. It struck me as both odd and charming--I wondered if our son's future children might go there too. They want you to stay on his first day (and as long as needed) to help him adjust. Since we both WFH, one of us could be there until he settled in. We appreciated the school's structure: clear work time and play time, unlike his old school's laissez-faire approach. Fast-forward to his transition: he struggled with the new routines, having mini-meltdowns when he couldn't do things his way. On day one, another child cried for an hour over a forgotten jacket. Day two, the same child sobbed over his beanie. Then our son had his first major meltdown screaming and crying. Concerns arose when a parent complained her son was negatively affected by our child's outburst, even though her child had cried extensively before our son had any issues. We were also told one of the girls in the class reported the meltdowns to her principal father. During one episode, the teacher scooped our son up facing her; he flailed and knocked her glasses off. I don't think what he did was right, but at age three, kids sometimes lash out in fear or frustration. After just four days in class, the school questioned whether Meher was right for him. They cited the legacy parent's complaint, the report to her father, and the incident with the glasses. This happened just before Founders Day; a big celebration we didn't know about and weren't part of. When I picked up his things, I saw the pomp and realized the decision had more to do with "show" and pleasing established families than supporting all students. In the end, I learned two things: 1. In the school, legacy families hold sway, and compassion is in short supply. 2. The administration cares more about appearances for legacy parents than the well-being of every child. They promised to "follow up" and welcome him back, but we never heard from them again. If you're new to the area (we moved to Saranap in 2021) and lack connections, think twice before choosing Meher. Your child won't get the same grace as those with legacy ties, and the school won't invest in you as much as you'll invest in it.

Initially I sent my son to a Montessori school nearby. They did not meet his social and emotional…read moreneeds. Everyday during drop off he would vocally tell me he didn't want to be there. So for a few reasons we decided to switch him to TOPS. His demeanor instantly changed. Although this school isn't "academically focused" he gained self confidence and doing much better in social settings. For him, that was exactly what he needed to continue to thrive and "learn" from all the interactive and magical activities that occur at TOPS. Our son is now more confident than ever in all social settings including with strangers and adults. The confidence set the foundation he needed to thrive in other areas of learning and development. Being first time parents, it was the best decision we ever made. (On a side note: The parent participation and abundance of optional school events have fostered a genuine community of parents at TOPS. I really appreciate the connections I have made here.)

TOPS is an amazing place. Last year, my wife and I moved to Orinda from San Francisco in July (a…read moremonth before school started) and we were welcomed with open arms. The school is play based. TOPS may not be for everyone. In fact, our oldest daughter would have been a deer in headlights in this unstructured environment. However, our son loved the cornucopia of all the wonderful activities inside and outside the classroom. He's so excited by all his options that he's eager to get going after getting dropped off. Which has been wonderful, because we were worried about teary eyed goodbyes every morning. The teachers and staff at TOPS are beyond excellent. Many had been there for years, even decades. They are very knowledgeable about child development, discipline, etc. I feel very comfortable leaving my son in their care. Last, but not least, is the superb TOPS community. Because parents have to be involved, there's a great sense of belonging and camaraderie that is fostered by TOPS. In summary, TOPS is a wonderful school and environment for kids.