Our three children attended Sunshine House...a total of six years. One really gets to know a place…read morewell over such a period of time. The staff is excellent...deeply caring and skilled. The school is a small neighborhood location and is a great scale for kids. The facilities work very well with great real-life experiences for children and great prep for elementary education. The playground is very popular with fun activities, trees and equipment. Kids love the trike and scooter loop. There are playhouses, lawns and lots of discovery. Inside activities are well structured. Many staff have been there for years and are invested in the kids and the school. I've read a review that called the school a "scam". Clearly a flame and makes no sense. Take it from someone who knows quality and care when he sees it. If you're looking for a school close to CU and on the west side of Boulder, you should certainly consider Sunshine House.

Used to be a great preschool but things have gone down after a few of the better teachers retired…read moreand with the pandemic the curriculum has truly gone down hill. It's more of a good daycare now. Do not take your child to kindergarten here, they will not be prepared for 1st grade. The teachers are very loving and the children have a lot of fun, they just don't learn much.

When our daughter was young, we tried a number of daycare/preschools and were sorely disappointed…read more It was truly a blessing when we found Countryside. She went there through Kindergarten, and as other reviewers said, there's something about always being a Countryside Kid! She graduated from Countryside in 1994 and is still friends with her classmates. She is also a teacher and regularly uses the wonderful lessons she learned at Countryside to help her first graders remember to "use their words" to resolve conflicts and express their feelings. Just as she regularly gets together with girls from her Countryside class (and now with their husbands), I have a group of "Countryside Moms" that I meet for dinner once a month,. The Moms and Dads still see each other at annual holiday and summer gatherings. What a return on our preschool investment! Our experience at Countryside provided an incredible learning opportunity for our daughter that has provided useful and positive lifelong lessons. And, we have fantastic friendships that formed when our kids were little. As unbelievable as it may sound, several of the teachers that were at Countryside when our daughter was there are still teaching the next generation.. They nurtured, taught and supported a group of young adults who have a strong sense of who they are and who are making significant contributions to our society. We couldn't have given our child a better start. We look forward to having grandchildren continue the Countryside tradition. Countryside is truly a preschool treasure - there are none better!

Mountain Shadows International Montessori School is a phenomenal place for children to learn and…read moregrow. Head of School Lauren F, Assistant Head of School Jeff, and the entire teaching team are exceptional--caring, professional, and deeply committed to the Montessori philosophy. My son is in his fourth year at MSIMS and my daughter in her second, and both absolutely thrive here. It is also the only fully accredited AMI Montessori school in Colorado, offering a level of quality education you won't find anywhere else. I cannot recommend this school enough.

My daughter attended the school in 2020-2022 and our experience was far from positive. When we…read moretoured and applied in 2020, the school sounded fantastic. Unfortunately between the time we applied and the time we started, the seemingly wonderful head of school left and the board selected someone with no educational experience to replace them. A year later the other, fantastic, member of the original 2-person admin team left. My daughter started in YCC at 18mo. Several times my daughter came home with injuries (head injuries, bite marks) and no incident report or communication from the school. In 2022 we moved into one of the primary classrooms. My daughter initially had an ok experience in primary. But again we found out about several incidents from her that should have warranted an incident report, but never did. This culminated in her telling us that one child had hit and shoved her 3-4 times inn the course of a week. We of course brought this up and the teacher kept trying to tell us this was "normal behavior". We disagreed, and attempted to raise this with the head of school, who ignored us for weeks. In this time we had interactions with several other parents, where upon telling them of the issue we'd get responses like "oh, was it [kid]? My kiddo was getting hit by them too." One other parent told us their kid shook with anxiety about going to school and had to be kept home for a month as a result of bullying by this same kid. It became clear that the kid in question had bullied almost every other kid in the classroom, and the school had done nothing about it. Finally, we got a meeting with the head of school. He started by gaslighting us, telling us we were "complainers" and that he felt "nothing he could do would ever make us happy" - as if enforcing the school's own policies on bullying were too much to ask. We quickly ended the meeting after agreeing that the school would refund us the tuition we had paid for the two-month summer session we wouldn't be attending. The school refused to issue a refund until after the summer session, and then sent us ~$200. Half-day tuition at the school is ~$2,000/month. The refund is laughable and, in my opinion, an intentional fraud. In summary our experience was of an incompetent administration, classrooms that could not provide a safe learning environment for our child, a sudden termination of services and a wholly inadequate refund from a disingenuous head of school.

The thing that I noticed at Wildflower Preschool is that, more than any other school I've seen, the…read moreteachers are involved with the kids. They are down on the floor playing with them and interacting. This is not "I'll stand and watch" daycare, but a place where kids are going to get real attention and real friends. Wildflower has an amazing playground area and is incredibly convenient for families in the Heatherwood area or who have other siblings at Heatherwood. At Wildflower I have seen interactive plays, art, reading, and just such a level of creative and interesting work by the teachers that I imagine they must be exhausted at the end of the day. They work hard to help the kids solve their own problems in a safe and supported way. I'm very impressed.

We LOVE Wildflower! Amy and her staff are loving, compassionate, educated teachers who support and…read morechallenge our child to grow. While at Wildflower, our daughter has grown both in her understanding of basic educational concepts like letters and numbers, but also in her ability to interact socially, manage transitions, develop relationships, and be part of a group. We can't say enough good things about what goes on every day at Wildflower. The Wildflower curriculum includes both free and directed play, and the children are encouraged to explore sophisticated topics in science, art, language arts, and more. I am continuously amazed by the things my daughter learns and shares with me. The school places a strong emphasis on movement and the children have a great playground and Open Space close by to explore. Hands-on learning is the focus, and the children are supported in their natural inquisitiveness. Wildflower--and Gunbarrel's Heatherwood Elementary school--is one of the best kept secrets in Boulder IMO!

Our Experience at Patience Montessori: A Cautionary Account…read more Our time at Patience Montessori was unfortunately marked by significant concerns regarding the care of our child and the overall environment of the daycare. What should have been a nurturing, supportive partnership turned into a stressful and unhealthy experience for our entire family. Mismanagement and Poor Communication From the beginning, I had concerns about the center's management. When I approached the director to discuss issues such as classroom transitions, choking hazards, teacher turnover, and the handling of pumped breast milk, I was met with a dismissive and defensive attitude. Instead of engaging in a constructive dialogue, the director consistently deflected responsibility and placed blame on parents or staff. Communication at this daycare was a recurring problem. Any concerns raised were typically ignored or met with hostility. Over time, it became clear that the director only engaged with me to point out what she believed I was doing wrong as a parent--including breastfeeding choices, carrying my child, or even my child removing her shoes at school. This level of intrusion into parenting decisions felt entirely inappropriate and overreaching. High Staff Turnover and Questionable Hiring In just six months, my child had six different teachers in the toddler room. This high turnover created instability and was never proactively communicated to parents. After the sixth teacher, my child--previously happy to attend--began crying at drop-off and describing the new teacher as "mean" and "scary." I later learned that this teacher refused to offer milk based on a personal belief that another child might mistakenly drink it. Shockingly, she had cycled through twelve different daycare centers before arriving at this one. Concerning Treatment of Children and Staff More alarming were the reports I heard directly from staff members, who confided in me about the director's behavior. They expressed discomfort with being sworn at in front of children, being pressured to operate over legal child-to-adult ratios, and being given questionable directions, including how to minimize parent-teacher interactions during drop-off. On multiple occasions, the director interrupted private conversations I was having with my child's teachers under the pretense of needing to "talk privately" with them. This left me feeling that transparency with parents was being intentionally avoided. Emotional Wellbeing and Child Development One of my deepest concerns was the director's approach to emotional development. Patience's philosophy, as described to me, discouraged staff from comforting children in distress. Staff were reportedly told not to hold, soothe, or validate a crying child's emotions. "She needs to be on her own," they were instructed. This rigid interpretation of the Montessori philosophy felt, to me, like emotional neglect rather than encouragement of independence. Montessori education values independence, yes--but not at the cost of compassion and emotional support. Children deserve comfort and guidance as they learn to regulate their feelings. What I witnessed and heard about at Patience Montessori deeply contradicted those values. Final Thoughts What I hoped for was a nurturing and professional childcare environment--one that would support my child and work with me as a parent. Instead, I encountered a toxic culture, a lack of professionalism, and a director who was more interested in control than care. Ultimately, we had to find a new daycare where our child could feel safe, supported, and understood. I share our experience to help other families make informed decisions and to advocate for higher standards in early childhood care.

My daughter absolutely loves Patience Montessori! Ever since we've started we've been nothing but…read moresurprised at how much she's learned and progressed. They really focus on social and interpersonal skills as well as practical skills to help your child in everyday life. She's learned really great things regarding the alphabet and numbers and all of the things that will prepare her for kindergarten. The teachers seem happy to come to work and there hasn't been much turnover of staff since the chaos of COVID died down. One thing I do want to mention is that I know that Patience Montessori gets some variation in review. And our experience has been that a lot of this has to do with implicit racism. We have felt this racism as a product of taking our daughter to a black owned school. In our experience these reviews are not representative. Patience is a very direct person, but she has decades of experience under her belt and she works with parents to make sure that the parents and the school are working together to provide the students with the best chance of success. The state auditors seem to hold Patience to an arbitrarily stringent standard. For example, one time Patience had to reprint all of the sign in sheets because it said "sign" instead of "signature". This doesn't really seem reasonable note indicative of how well the school knows or complies with state standards, which seems to be more than some of my friends' kids' daycare. We love Patience Montessori and would definitely recommend it to others. If I had a second, there is no doubt in my mind that they would go here.

This community center location is beautiful. And they have goats! The customer service could be…read moreimproved. They have day camp programs during the summer that looks really fun.

I just can't say enough good things about the JCC. We have two kids at the preschool right now…read more * Susie, the director, is fabulous. One year we wanted to try a private Montessori school for one of our sons. It was a disaster and I knew I had to reverse that decision. I also knew the Boulder JCC was already at capacity for the year. Susie's response? There's always room here for your son and your family. Now he's back at the JCC and loving every day. * The teachers go above and beyond for our family. In the morning the teachers smile and give my 3 year old high fives. They are always smiling, singing, reading, connecting with the kids. They text me photos of my little guy doing hip hop. * Super responsive. My oldest loved chess. His teacher brought in a chess board from home. His friends became interested. Then before you know it a chess club was created. This all happened within the span of a couple of weeks. They truly follow the child. * The community. Every school says they have a community. This is the real deal. The JCC community is tight. Everyone is welcome. Every member is important. I think I know all the kids and their parents. We do play dates, birthday parties and big park days. If you are looking to make friends, this is it. Their preschool philosophy is play based with a reggio influence. What this means in practice is a whole lot of fun, sharing, and challah making. Little ones do yoga, play instruments, chess, soccer, and learn about the solar system. In the summer you send your kid to camp in their swim suit because they are playing with the sprinkler hoses and water tables. They come home happy and exhausted. My kids love school. Day off to ski? Long weekend in NYC? They CRY because they don't want to miss school.

This is my son's first year at Mt. View Preschool and we absolutely love it!! The care the teachers…read moreshow the students is remarkable. We love how bright and colorful all the classrooms are. The playground is wonderful and a safe place for kids to play at. We love the low turnover rate among the staff and teachers (most have been at the school for 15+ years). I would highly recommend Mt. View to anyone looking for a warm, caring environment for their preschooler to learn and grow.

I love Mt. View preschool - and more importantly so do my kids! This is my daughter's second year…read more She loves all the teachers. She is treated very well and has fun. They have a great program for early childhood development. They even take time to have the teachers do a home visit so they can get to know each child a little better in their own environment. My son loves the Mommy & Me class where we get to spend time together playing, creating, and enjoying the music class within it. They both feel at home at Mt. View. My daughter has the same teacher that our neighbor's 24 year old son had - they have a phenomenal teacher retention rate! I recommend this school to everyone! And it's even very reasonably priced! The kids and other parents are great, too. I have nothing bad to say.