Our daughter attended Young World Preschool and Daycare from six months old until starting…read morekindergarten, and we had a wonderful experience. The teachers were caring, nurturing, and truly invested in her growth. We loved the sense of community and the variety of experiences offered, including gardening, cooking, crafts, art, special visitors, and exposure to a second language. Communication with the teachers was always easy, and the winter programs and summer graduations were always special. Most importantly, our daughter was exceptionally well prepared for kindergarten, with a strong foundation in letters, sounds, numbers, and counting, as well as confidence and independence. This was a sentiment we often heard from other parents as well, and we appreciated it even more after leaving and seeing just how well prepared she was for the next stage of her life. We always felt she was loved and well cared for, and we are very grateful to Young World for the role they played in her early childhood. We highly recommend them!

My son attended Young World from age 3 to 4. I was very impressed with Young World. The director is…read morecommunicative, and the teachers really focus on the children's needs. My son grew a lot during this time. He learned to write his name, count to 100, and say the days of the week and months of the year. I love that they have language programs as well. Having him learn Mandarin at school was such a joy. The food is nutritious, and the school performances were so fun. We're grateful that he had such a loving experience before going to TK. And the hours (7am to 6pm) are great for working parents. Thank you, Young World!

GSA was my daughter's first school and we couldn't have been luckier! Ms Sandy and the staff…read moreespecially Ms Jessie and Ms Christy were simply amazing in providing a nurturing environment filled with creative crafts, learning skills and building her up ready for TK. My daughter loved her time here and made friends she'll remember for long. She picked up quite a bit of mandarin even though we are a non native home so the staff must be doing something right to keep kids engaged and excited about learning a new language. It's located perfectly close to several parks so kids get plenty of outdoor activities as well. We recommend GSA whole heartedly.

We visited Growing Stem academy when they held the open house a few months ago, and it was amazing…read more Inside the school was new and clean, and there's plenty of space, books and toy. Ms. Sandy and her staff were very welcoming and our kid had a great time there! We are planning to enroll in the winter.

When I 1st came here there were over 20 kids waiting to get picked up by their parents for after…read moreschool care. As the weeks went on there was less and less. Even prior to COVID19 there were less than a dozen kids coming here. At a friends birthday party I ran into a child that had recognized my kid. She told me she was also going but told her parents she didn't like it there after a week, so the parents stopped. Seeing what the staff does and doesn't do I understand. My niece who had gone here for preschool said the pretty much the same thing now that she is in high school. It's pretty much like paying a teenager to watch over your kids, just having them watch TV, play and eat Goldfish crackers. The kids while waiting for their parents are walked down to the Wah Mei and allowed to play in the courtyard for an hour before going in and allowed to run around. When the weather is cold or raining they are allowed to run around the next door church instead. When there is a disruptive child in the group the staff does nothing about it. Most of the time the kids just all give and all run around and play instead of focusing on study and homework, what the staff should be doing. 6 months ago they invested in a TV so the staff could just plug in their phones and watch Youtube videos instead of running around.

Last Friday was our last day of preschool at the amazing Wah Mei Preschool. After two wonderful…read moreyears, I shed quite a few tears; it was bittersweet. With incredibly dedicated staff, a well-rounded, play-based curriculum that's an accredited California "First Five" school and choice of either full or half day programs, your child will be totally prepared for kindergarten and perhaps bi or tri-lingual in Mandarin and Cantonese. Children go on weekly field trips to the library and occasional field trips to the California Academy of Sciences, The Botanical garden in Golden Gate Park and Zeum at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Apply early (I recommend when your child is two years old) to increase your chances your child will get a spot at this top-notch San Francisco preschool. Especially with California having moved back the kindergarten deadline for children whose birthdays fall on or before September 1st, it seems there are fewer spots at all the city's preschools. And, tuition at non-profit Wah Mei Preschool is a fraction of what you'll pay at other preschools in the city. The school opens as early as 7:30 and closes as late as 6pm. Breakfast (until 8:30am), a hot and nutritious lunch and snacks are inclusive. Don't miss the opportunity to send your child to Wah Mei Preschool.

ELA is truly a hidden gem -- I only wish I had found them sooner! Finding a preschool with caring…read moreteachers and a clean, nurturing environment is not easy, especially for my son who has speech delays. I'm so thankful for the director, Ms. Veronica. To be honest, I had some doubts at first when I spoke with her and thought it might be just another preschool, but after she gave me a tour, I immediately felt confident that this was the right place for my son. What really amazed me was how happy he was on his first day -- he ran right in without any tears! Now, he looks forward to going to school every day, and I no longer hear him cry, "No school!" Ms. Veronica has truly given me confidence that my son will be ready for kindergarten at their sister school, Hilldale. Thank you to all the wonderful teachers at ELA for creating such a positive and caring environment!

My son love this school and she enjoys reading and paying with the teacher look forward to going to…read moreschool and he now potty train too

Our child attended Creative Gardens for full-time daycare starting from 4 months of age. Creative…read moreGardens was integral in helping with the transition despite our daughter's young age. The teachers were very attentive, engaging, and very kind. They communicated all of the details of our child's day and helped her achieve developmental milestones by helping with standing/sitting practice. We felt our daughter was safe and so well taken care of. She truly enjoyed spending time at daycare.

We loved our time at Creative Gardens and so did our daughter. She attended their preschool. The…read morelessons were fun and creative and the kids always seemed engaged when we'd look in on the classes. More importantly for us, she was happy and enjoyed the friends she made. When we dropped her off she was happy to arrive and only protested twice when my wife or I would leave. The place was super clean and the toys and projects were exhilarating for our daughter. We often had to convince her to leave at the end of the day when we picked her up because she wanted to keep playing. She often talked about creative gardens long after we left and she'd get sad about not being able to go back. We miss it and look back on it fondly. We now have a second kid and we've moved out of the area or else we'd send him to Creative Gardens without fail.

Extremely dissapointed. please consider another catholic education for your child. After a school…read moreyear of dealing with rude and disrespectful parents which obviously do not practice the roman catholic doctrine in their home, I see no real value in having to pay full tuiton cost where the school staff and teachers do not have any organized control or any outlined safeguards at this school. Make sure you visit other catholic schools before registering here. Good Luck!

What's bad to say about this school?....nothing. The teachers here are spectacular because they try…read moreto make their kids strive to reach their academic goals. After school they are there to help you and answer any questions about the subject and about anything else. Everyone here is your family, teachers and staff. We have mass every Friday, to celebrate our life and beliefs, which students participate in. What can I do but to give this school an A+

Brightworks is a truly magical school! It has been a place of complete transformation for my child…read more As a seasoned educator who has taught in public and private schools in both the U.S. and internationally, I can confidently say that the Brightworks ethos and pedagogy embody what children need to thrive and succeed in our ever-changing world. We came to Brightworks when my older daughter was in 4th grade (also known as the Quartz band). She had previously attended another wonderful school--where my younger daughter continues to thrive--but it simply wasn't the right fit for her. By 3rd grade, she was taking three half-hour "bathroom breaks" each day, essentially the equivalent of cutting elementary school. She was being bullied by peers, had grown to hate the process of learning, and was beginning to believe that she was "dumb." She was also nearly two grade levels behind in reading. After exploring many schools, we discovered Brightworks. It wasn't flashy, but it immediately felt like the right place for her. Our first day was challenging. Although she had struggled at her previous school, she also found change difficult and was resistant to starting somewhere new. She refused to enter the classroom and instead ran up a tree in tears. The teacher (collaborator), Shirvan, responded with remarkable patience and warmth, reassuring me that my daughter could join the group whenever she felt ready. The administrators were equally phenomenal, offering compassion and support when they could see how embarrassed and overwhelmed I felt with my "spirited" child. About four hours later, she finally joined the class. Within just a few days, she loved school so much that she was sad when the day ended and disappointed when holidays approached. After each winter, spring, and summer break, she was thrilled to return. Within a year, she progressed from reading at a 2nd-grade level (e.g., Dog Man) to devouring upper elementary and middle school novels such as the Wings of Fire and Warriors series. She came to love school, the process of learning, her teachers, and her peers. She transformed from a wilted flower into a blossoming tree. The ethos of Brightworks is to meet children where they are and to approach learning through real-world contexts that spark their interests. Science and math are taught through hands-on exploration and authentic problem-solving, while reading and writing are developed through both personal interests and guided learning around social justice topics. Students gain genuine critical thinking skills alongside practical experience using shop tools. The multi-age, schoolhouse model allows older students to care for younger ones, fostering responsibility, empathy, and meaningful mentorship. Every collaborator is dedicated to guiding each child to become the best version of themselves. I only wish that all teaching and learning could be approached in the way Brightworks does.

Our son is 8 and in the middle of his 3rd year at Brightworks…read more We couldn't be happier about how the school has supported his learning, both socio-emotional (he is high energy and we were worried he'd be seen as a 'bad' kid at a traditional school) and academic (particularly reading, where he's been a bit slow, but now is right on track and loving reading). Brightworks' approach is project based. Not just doing projects *in* classes--like the science class doing a science project about earthquakes--but doing interdisciplinary projects *instead of* classes, with a greater degree of fluidity and flexibility in time and approach. The school has a strong maker and tinkering culture. We also don't have things that more traditional schools have, such as tests or grades, though we do have parent conferences and documentation of progress in several key areas (like a swim school report card). The kids do NOT sit at individual desks. A lot more time is spent outdoors, and we're in the Presidio, so there's tons of nature to explore. The kids aren't organized into typical grade levels, like K, 1, 2, 3. Instead they're in "bands" of up to a dozen kids each, giving the school more flexibility in placing kids in the group that they'd most benefit from being in each year, with less stigma if a child is "skips" a grade or is held back. The school's approach is naturally well-suited for kids with different needs. E.g. the focus on meeting every kid where they're at, individual learning trajectories, and being able to take the time that the kids need rather than being tied to a fixed daily or weekly schedule with lists of specific learning objectives. We've gotten great and entirely non-judgemental support for our son. That said, as a small school and as a private school, not every need or circumstance can be accommodated and we have seen a couple classmates over the years with, e.g. dyslexia or autism, move on to more specialized schools. (If your kid has special needs, I would ask about it; we do have many neurodiverse and other kids with particular needs that are doing great and seem well supported.) One thing that exemplifies the school is our annual Maker Marketplace where anyone in the community can sell things-like crafts, food items, gifts, or even carnival games or other experiences. It's entrepreneurial and community-forward, and there's a fair amount of open-endedness in what is possible. Maker Marketplace is a bit chaotic and a lot of fun and learning, and to me that really is the Brightworks way.

We have had a wonderful experience at Mills Montessori School. The teachers are caring, dedicated,…read moreand highly professional. The quality of education is excellent, and the staff provides wonderful attention and support to the children. My child has grown so much academically and personally during our time here. We have been at this school for 4 years, and we are very happy with our experience. I highly recommend Mills Montessori School to other families!

Our family has had a wonderful experience with our choice of Mills Montessori for our two-year-old…read more He started very shy and had only been cared for at home, so starting school was a big transition for him. His first two months were with Ms. Cali, who was absolutely amazing--so kind, patient, and nurturing. She took the time to make him feel comfortable, supported him through the transition, and helped him come out of his shell.He is now with Ms. Bella who has been just as excellent of a teacher and caregiver. We are so grateful for the care and attention he received during those first few months. It was clear from the beginning that both teachers truly cared about him and wanted him to feel safe, confident, and happy at school. Watching his growth and seeing how much he now enjoys going to school has been so special for our family. We are very happy with Mills Montessori and feel fortunate to have found such a caring environment for our son.