I wanted to love this school, but it just was not a good fit. A few things to be aware of, in the last month they have been cited twice for type A violations. Please look up their violations before enrolling your child here. The two teachers who are front facing are great, but the teachers you never get to talk to are untrained. read more

Our son was at Empire from age 2.5 months to just over 4 years. He had a truly wonderful time there. His vocabulary in Chinese and English exploded, and he was so happy to go to school every day. During the SIP, my son really missed his friends and teachers, so we went back to school after SIP. I am glad that teachers were willing to work with children during the rough time. The teachers were kind, the director Sarah was super understanding, and communicative throughout an incredibly difficult year and made a HUGE effort to help parents entertain the little ones at home when everything went remote for a time. We thoroughly appreciated the efforts they made to keep us updated and comfortable throughout the lockdown and beyond. Sometimes I was wondering how my son was doing at school, and I called the Director by phone, and Sarah was able to give me a detailed update about my son's school life. Once awhile, Sarah sent me some nice photos of my son, so I was happy to see my son's daily life in the preschool. Our son has reached multiple milestones on target and being a full time working parent, I certainly want to give the credit to her teachers. We left only because my partner and I both changed jobs, and moved to south bay. A huge thank you to Sarah, and all the teachers at Empire, we will miss you read more

I feel this place is organized and cheaper than others. They are welcome to accept my kid given they have spots. I told them the boy was reared by grandparents and was not able to eat on his own yet. We were training him to eat on his own. I know this is late for two-year-old. I do not why they refused our application with no communication at all. I think this is the problem with this place: lack of communication and they do not tell you their true thoughts. My little boy was admitted to another preschool; On the first day, he was able to eat on his own. If delays in eating food on his own concerned Empire and that is why they refused our application. This is not good at all and it means they lack sympathy. read more

Oh wow... I can't believe I am reading these horrible reviews. Are you going to believe these and not bring your child to here? Let me tell you about myself first... I am a nurse, and a helicopter mom. A tiny boo boo or a scratch on my kids and I would make a huge deal. Oh and I do not speak a word of Chinese (although I am Chinese decent) and neither does my husband. Given said that, my daughter has been going here since she turned 2 almost 4 years ago. If you do your calculation, I am letting my daughter do her kindergarten at this preschool although all of her classmates has "graduated" to move onto official kindergarten. Why do I do that? Simple - my daughter when she was merely at age 4 can recite her multiplication from "1x1 is 1" all the way to "9x9 is 81" in Chinese. I continue to want her brain to be stimulated vs being in a regular boring old kindergarten. Yes arts and crafts are nice but sorry, it's not really on my priority. Don't get me wrong, they do their arts crafts and scissor work daily. My son who is 3 years old is also here in empire preschool with her as well since he turned 2. Don't tell me Montessori teaching isn't happening here. I'm not going to go in all details but that Kiddies can do a lot of things for themselves. Ever since he started here at just 2 years old, he would take his own plate and put it in sink after meal. And no eating with bib even for spaghetti days. I'm damn impressed. The teachers would help with potty training. I'm not saying everything always goes positive, but there may be times things may go not as planned. Hey - keep the line of communication open. Talk to each other, check in and out with each other on progress. Don't just drop your kids, sign in and leave or pick them up and sign out. It is a good sign when my kids who are not morning people would get up every morning and rush to get ready when we say "Do you want to go to school?' The school gets 10 thumbs and 10 toes up from me. I recommend this school to everyone. My brother drove his 4 years old son from Pacifica to this school - yup! My own primary care doctor is getting ready to sign his first born daughter enrollment as soon as she reach the age limit and my cousin as well - but too bad her daughter is only 3 month old, but she will use nanny til she reaches 10 months old : she is excited for the enrollment. read more

In the end we left after only 3 months or so. Things were never good and my daughter was losing weight the whole time, probably because she wasn't eating the food they provided but I could never tell the quality of the food or how much she ate. They never gave us any pictures and she couldn't really talk so I had no idea what was happening. My daughter also attended an after school roller skating activity but one time they canceled it without telling us so it was just my daughter and one teacher there doing nothing for a whole hour. After that we gave up and my daughters been at A+ Immersion for years and were very happy there. In fact we met another family who had a very similar experience with Empire and also had to GTFO. read more

I saw the other post that the kid with language delay was observed with transformational results at 'Building kids at San Mateo'. In contrast, this school Empire Preschool basically discriminates against kids with language delays. They were welcome to my kids since they have several spots open for two-year-olds. Since I visited another preschool and the teacher said it is good to let then know if the kid has a language delay then they can help. I was frank and told Empire that my kid might need to seek some educational 1:1 service for my kid to help them speak. I might put my kid at half-time for several months to receive the 1:1 professional service. It is also possible to be full-time at Empire. She seemed to have no problem with full-time or part-time at all given they have part-time as the choice. They sent us the application form and when we filled it in, I never heard back. Refusing our messages and calls. Some kids start speaking at three years old. And they should not be discriminated against. This preschool does not have the spirit of tolerance, love, and treating kids fair. They think kids with language delay may need more attention and wastes their time. If you do not want to take part-time kids, be clear in the beginning. If you only take kids' normal development, let us know. My boy was accepted with other two pre-schools in Foster City and San Mateo. The teacher was aware that my kid has a language delay. I was totally let down by this place. Please think twice if you want to send your kids here. read more

We have been coming here for about a year and half or two years now. We are happy with the care that have been provided to our son. He is currently attending the school with my Niece and nephew (they've been coming here for about 3 yrs). Any way, teachers are awesome and love the fact that kids are learning while having fun. I've read all the reviews prior to writing the review. We just need to understand that everyone have different expectation and standards. I am not saying that my standards are low; matter of fact, my standards are higher than some of the reviewers here. But I also know that kids learn at different pace and different stages. We can not make a 3 yrs old to understand Calculus or write an essay after school. Preschool is a PRE School. Yes, we expect them to learn few fundamentals prior to Kindergarten but again, its a PRE SCHOOL. Having two older kids that are in a middle school and on Dean's List, I can assure you that we have been to different preschools. In my opinion, the purpose of the pre school is for the kids to get used to the idea of going to school, learning while having fun, and most of all, able to sit still and follow instructions for 1/2 hour to an hour at a time. Knowing that and understanding that in mind, I can not give anything less than 5 stars! PS: They also have after school or extra activities for kids (Roller skating) read more

My daughter has attended this preschool for almost two years since she was 3. My expectations for a preschool was that it be in a clean, safe environment, teach some Chinese (they teach Chinese about one hour/day) and have a good sized outdoor area with a nice play structure. It is a plus that their hours, location and cost is convenient and a good value. She has learned a lot of chinese and can sing a lot of chinese songs. She has learned to write her name on her own, count in chinese up to 100 and can recite multiplication tables. She has also learned dining manners and to respect her teachers. I guess the reason why some of the reviews have been polarizing for this school is that it does seem that if your child is of a certain temperament he/she will do well in this environment otherwise; he/she may have a more difficult time adjusting. They don't coddle the kids here and do try to run things in an efficient manner. However, as one mom has said, it's all about communication. If you know your child is shy or can be disruptive just work together with them and come up with a plan of action to get your child acclimated. Overall, I am confident that this school prepares its kids well for kindergarten. My daughter has made a lot of friends here and another added bonus is that they offer roller skating lessons after school hours! It's great to see her pick up a new skill (especially physical activity related). They would get 5 stars if they were able to give a short summary of what my daughter did each day but whenever I ask them they will tell me and I can count on them to tell me if she misbehaved. At the end of the day, choosing the right preschool for your child is a combination of your child's temperament, your schedule and what your expectations are. read more

Its been awhile I have sent my son in the preschool . So far , our experience is good ! The price is pretty fair for us and We really appreciate the fair price with excellent quality child care ! read more

This is an ok school with fair pricing if you have a perfect child that is outgoing and listens very well. My daughter is 3 years old and painfully shy. When she is in a new environment she needs encouragement from adults to come out of her shell. She is also slow to approach new experiences. We sent my daughter to Empire for exactly one month before deciding to pull her out. It usually takes her a little bit of time to adjust to a new place, but it really concerned us that after one month, she was still not adjusted. She was in class #2 with Ms. Marian. When I asked her teacher what do you do when she is crying, they tell me they take her to the side and lets her cry alone until she is done. I can understand this if she is being bad and you need to put her on a timeout to calm her down. However, if she is scared because this is a new environment, it makes the situation worse if you don't explain the situation to her and encourage her to come out of her shell. She is also told by her teach, Ms. Marian, that she is too slow to do everything. Yes, I admit she can be a little slow at lunch time (she hates to eat), and she is a little timid and is slow to go outside and play with other kids because she is new. But it is the teacher's responsibility to help and guide her during school hours. That is what we are paying her for. Instead she tells my daughter "I will like you more if you do ______ faster." And she tells my husband and I we are not teaching her at home, which we have explained multiple times that she listens very well at home, you just have to be calm when you speak with her, or she shuts down. Because of that, every morning my daughter tells me in the car before going to school "I'll be faster today so Ms. Marian will like me.". It is heart breaking to hear these words from a three year old. And it's child psychology 101 that you should not be putting them down, instead should be encouraging them to do better. Prior to going to Empire, my daughter has been at a daycare since she was six months old. She was shy in the beginning there as well, but soon after she was the leader in her group and making friends. My daughter was also going to dance class every Saturday and loved participating in class. Since she joined Empire, she's stopped participating in her dance class. Instead she hides behind me and acts scared. She also became less confident in herself in other areas. There are other issues that just didn't sit well with me. During my tour there, they never mentioned to me that they allow the kids to watch TV. My daughter is allowed to watch TV at home, but when she is in school, that is not what I want her to do. I also find it suspicious that they do not allow the parents to go into the school at all, kids don't bring anything home, and there is no communication from the school on what they are learning or doing all day. They should also stop calling themselves a montessori, because they are definitely not. Since pulling her out of Empire, she has started at Odyssey a few blocks away. Yes the tuition is higher, and they don't include meals, however she has improved leaps and bounds. She made friends there the FIRST week (actually the first day because her teach took her around and introduced her to other kids her age in her class), and there were NO tears when I drop her off. The teachers are encouraging and she looks forward to going to school everyday. She has since then started participating in her dance class again. I much rather pay a little more and have the peace of mind that my daughter is being taken care of. I'm giving this place two stars only because they are clean. read more

We had a horrible experience sending our daughter to this daycare. In fact, of all the daycare we have been to this was the worst. Initially the director and teachers were quite nice, price was affordable and we liked the bilingual program. But after a few months a serious accident happened. One day we went to pick up our daughter after work, her elbow was dislocated and she kept saying 'ouchy' when we touched her elbow. What was scary is that the teachers/director didn't even know about it. We had to take her to the emergency room after that. The teachers/director didn't apologize, didn't issue an accident report immediately and blamed our two-year old daughter for injuring herself. This is simply unacceptable. Elbow dislocation takes quite a bit of force. We contacted the director afterwards and hoped that we'd get some resolution (a sincere apology will do) and more importantly that this type of incident doesn't happen again. The director got very defensive initially but finally after a few days issued an accidental report, didn't offer to pay our medical bill for going to the emergency room and there was still no formal apology. My daughter is well potty-trained (90-95% success rate) but after our request for an accident report, three days in a row she came home with two to three pairs of wet pants per day. We don't know what happened but we could only speculate that the teachers didn't take her to the bathroom. After this incident we left and we found a much better daycare somewhere else in Foster City. read more

Both of our kids went to the school and absolutely loved the place. Mrs Sarah and her team is absolutely focused on putting their best into the kids! read more

The worst school I have ever encountered. First of all there are definite lack of Teachers for such a large group of students. The students to teacher ratio is more than 35. Not once did I ever receive any reports, papers, or arts projects home. My son used to know his alphabets and numbers very well before joining this school and now his academic has decreased tremendously. When i ask him why, his response was "because the teacher didn't teach me anything". I hope you don't send your kids here for their sake because this school sure is cheap for a reason. read more

Yes this school does need improvments, but it has recently been opened, and is steadily growing. This school is a montessori school, which has a strict curriculum that focuses on a child's indepence, and exploration but within limits. It is not a play based program where the child is offered to wander around freely. My daughter has been here for a few weeks and loves it. She cant wait to get to school every day! read more

I have to add an honest update. I was uncomfortable with three unaddressed issues before I moved and enrolled my daughter elsewhere. First of all, she had two head injuries in the same place on her forehead in which layers of skin were removed- almost as if she had fallen and slid on her face. I was never called about either one, and when I went to pick her up, the teachers acted as though they didn't see it until i pointed it out. She still has a permanent scar there. At the time, she claimed she "didn't remember" what happened to her forehead, then during our move, when she knew she wasn't going back there, she said the blackboard fell on her head. Secondly, she got bedbugs right before we moved. She kept coming home with new bites, and it certainly wasn't coming from my home because we had donated every piece of furniture and we were all sleeping on the living room floor. she would wake up with no new bites, then come home with new bites. And my daughter literally told me "My teacher said the bites are coming from home, not from school." Don't tell my child that. It's not true anyway. I sent an e-mail suggesting the have the school checked for bedbugs, but nobody returned the email. At that point we were driving cross-country and it wasn't my problem anymore. Of course, after we left they cleared up. Thirdly, my child's medical forms clearly stated that she had a dairy allergy, yet for the first 6 months she was fed macaroni and cheese on fridays. It wasn't until she had two ear infections from nasal drainage due to the allergy that I consulted with them. I had been told to send rice milk for breakfast to replace milk, but it wasn't until I brought up the ear infections that they told me to pack her lunch on fridays. All that being said, I still have not found a better school ACADEMICALLY. I have recently enrolled my child in a catholic school with a great curriculum, yet it is nothing in comparison to the level of math, reading, poetry recitation, and language acquisition I witnessed at Empire Montessori. Just be sure to be very assertive about communication, and follow up on any concerns. read more

We have had both of our kids in this preschool, who were among its first students. The school started in earnest with all the right ingredients but perhaps tried to take on too much too soon and there were a few road bumps along the way incl staff turnover, inadequate permits, lack of proper process and general operational inefficiencies. However, there's a strong desire to identify, address and quickly resolve these issues, more growing pains and not chronic problems, and I think most have been addressed and resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned. That said, the present staff is sincere, genuine, hard working. What they lack in aggregate in terms of stellar credentials that other similar preschools might have, they make up for by showing concern for parents, true affection towards the kids, and keen desire to keep improving. You can never get a preschool that scores highly on all attributes -- even if you do, it's either too expensive and inaccessible or simply unavailable -- so you have to find the best compromise and create solid trusting relationships with the teachers and the staff. Then it becomes a pleasant experience for all -- most of all, for the child! read more

For Fremont Empire Preschool... I just loved this school. Classroom teachers are very nice to my son. Director is always available on site and she is very patient to explain things to us while we have questions or concerns. Now my son loves to go to school every day and even during weekends he asks for teachers and schoolmates. I enjoy sending my son to this wonderful preschool in our neighborhood. Thank you!!! read more

I want to give this "school" a zero star!!! I will find ways to report this school. My son was there for 4 months and he cried everyday for that long because he said he doesn't like the school or teachers. Initially i thought he was just very attached to me. So once in a while I'll spy on him at drop off. Many times I hear the "director" Sara taking kids to a room, slam the door, and started verbally abuse kids making kids scream and cry, and banging sounds. So I don't know what goes on in there. But my son's been in the ER twice since he started school there due to some major stomach problems which is to be unknown how intestines are twisted. I just hope it has nothing to do with physical abuse there. But my son is SO MUCH HAPPIER at his new school. I would still try to report them for being so unprofessional and bad behaviors towards kids. These people only want your money but they don't really care about your kids. This NOT A SCHOOL! It's more like a place to torture your child. read more

So, as my son is in the new school around the area. I happened to meet 4-5 other parents that also came from Empire preschool. They all mentioned either similar abusive or bad experience that they had with the Director there. One couple actually suggested that we should for a group to report them. Now I know that I wasn't the only parents who had issues with them.... This place really needs to be investigated. Parents be aware! read more

My daughter was one of the first student there when Empire opened. We were very happy to see an Immersion Pre-school in the area. We knew they were a brand new school but willing to coup with the fact that it will be a bit out of order. Luckily we stuck with the school. Turns out that my daughter learned a lot of Mandarin and Pre-K curriculum. I'm very satisfied that the school prepared her for her up coming Kindergarten level. read more

My son has been in the 2-year program at Empire Preschool (San Mateo) for over half year. He enjoys playing there, and we like the place very much. The teachers are very nice, and show true affection towards the kids. I really appreciate what the teachers did to my son. My son was spoiled by grandparents, and had some difficult time to adapt into the new environment. He cried when I dropped him off, cried during the nap time, and refused to eat. The teachers are very patient to my son. They understand that my son requests a lot of attention, and take care of him one on one to help him to gradually fit in. My son likes songs, and the teachers sing songs to him to comfort him, and this helps. My son wants me to pick him up early, one teacher brought a phone to him so that he can "call dad". There are many many more examples that shows how they care my son. Now, my son become much better than the beginning time. He says that he likes the teachers, and likes the preschool. He also learned a lot of stuff from there. For example, he can sing many songs, he improved a lot in his English (we only speak Chinese to him at home), he also learned to play with other kids. I'm also very satisfied with the communication with the teachers. I can easily talk to the teachers and know what happened to my son. This is very important especially in the beginning. The teachers also gave me lots of education tips and "personalized tips" to make my son happy. Overall, I highly recommend this place. read more

My son is one of the first three students in the school on the grand opening day (04/01/2010). I am very pleased with the school facility and teacher's performance. Though he had difficult days like almost all the kids, he enjoy his time there and makes some friends. Tuition includes good lunch, which saves lots of headache for busy moms. At age of 4 he learned 50-60 words, math within 20, reading map and LOTS of English and Chinese poems/ songs. Teachers are very nice and friendly. The director sent out monthly newsletter with rich information to let parents know what kids are learning and doing at the time. If I want to talk to the teacher face to face, I can easily have few minutes quick chatting right away. My younger son soon will turn 2 next year. I will not waste my time looking around for another preschool for him. read more

Sara, the director, is caring, patient and clearly understands the needs of families. She is nurturing and fosters a deep sense of comfort and confidence in each child. The playground has a different covering for the children to sensorially experience, grass, spongy playground covering, blacktop, there is shade, there is even an indoor play area used during rainy weather so the kids still get their wiggly energy out! : ) I say just visit the school, meet everyone and check out the environment, a lot of heart and love obviously went into creating a wonderful learning environment. read more

My daughter has been going to Empire preschool now for one year. Tuition is very reasonable and the facility is new and clean. I am impressed by how much Chinese she learned from school. I also like the art class and dance class- I observed the dance class once and it was very well-taught by a professional dancer. I agree with other reviewers that communication between teacher and parent can be improved, but overall my child is happy and looks forward to going to school everyday. read more

My daughter has been going to this preschool for more than a year already. She learnt a lot of vocabulary and songs. They also has after school skating class on site. That's nice for my daughter to have some fun and give us more time to go pickup after work. Teachers are very nice. Facility look pretty clean. Price is very reasonable too. I am quite happy to let my daughter stay here till public school. read more

My boy has been this school for a year. They teach kids maths, Chinese, music,dance, craft . My boy can sing a lot of Chinese song now. At school they also celebrate Chinese tradition festival . The most important is my boy like the school and his teachers. read more

I put my daughter in this school about few weeks. Heard teachers said that one of teachers is the director's mom. What? I thought every teacher has teaching background and non-related at all. I also heard one of teachers said that the mom (teacher) involves a lot of issues at school and cannot get along with other teachers very well. She even argue with other teachers and give other teachers hard time. Do you think is it good to the school business and new children or parents? Will they be professional to this teaching work? This school still needs lot of improvements even though they have been opened almost 2 years. Teachers changed a lot and while they hire new teachers, they never inform parents about it. While teachers leave, they never tell us about it either. I don't suggest new parents bring your child to this school. Please compare to other schools around first. read more

This school still needs lots of improvements. My kid has been going there for almost 5 months now. I hardly know what's going on in his classroom and what he learns everyday. There is very little useful communication between the school and parents. They recently expanded and added two more classes and more teachers. The school has yet to send out any updates to the parents informing who the new teachers are. So when I go pick up my kid, I can't tell whether the person there is a teacher or just a parent. I really think that the school can do much bettter communication with the parents than this. Even a simple email informing the change will be helpful. I also don't see much crafts being brought home by my kid compare to my friends' kids from other schools. The director also claims that they don't do yearly performances for the kids because it's only for the joy of the parents and the kids will not enjoy it. I personally disagree with it. I believe the kids will enjoy it and it will also help build up their self confidence and pride. Anyway, just my 2 cents, I am sure there is different opinions out there. read more