I've never written a school review before, but Valley Montessori Academy has earned one…read more As parents, we all hope we're making the right decisions for our children, and enrolling our child here has been one of the best decisions we've made. The difference we've seen is incredible. Our child has become more confident, more independent, more curious, and genuinely excited about learning. The teachers are patient, kind, and truly invested in every child. They celebrate each child's unique personality while encouraging them to grow in ways that go far beyond academics. We've always felt like our child is known, valued, and cared for. What I appreciate most is the atmosphere. It's peaceful, organized, and full of positive energy. Every time I walk through the doors, I see children engaged, smiling, and learning with confidence. The communication with families has been excellent, and it's obvious that everyone who works here takes tremendous pride in what they do. This isn't just a school--it's a community that genuinely wants every child to succeed. If you're considering Valley Montessori Academy, I can honestly say I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend it. We feel incredibly fortunate to have found this school, and our family is thankful every day that our child is part of school.

We enrolled our son at VMA when he was 18 months old and, for several years, we were thrilled…read more Under the previous administration and teachers like Mrs. Marilyn and Mrs. Carolina, the school was a true community. We enjoyed cultural celebrations, field trips, and saw our son thrive. Unfortunately, the 2025-2026 school year brought a change in administration that has fundamentally altered the school. The welcoming environment is gone; field trips and community events have been eliminated, and most concerningly, the school has lost its credentialed Montessori staff. While the website claims to have AMS-certified and trained teachers, a quick search of the AMS registry shows the school is not a verified or accredited montessori school. We've witnessed high staff turnover and a lack of professional communication from the current administration like Oxana and Pilar. Don't get me started on the front office staff. After seeing the recent lack of classroom management and accountability, we can no longer recommend VMA. If you are looking for an authentic Montessori education with credentialed teachers, I strongly suggest doing thorough research before enrolling. Save your money and find a school that cares for their students and families.

This is a great school! Never have I ever met more caring and loving teachers. The class sizes are…read moresmall which is nice because it allows the teachers to give each child the attention they need. The director is always willing to bend over backwards in order to meet every child's needs and address any questions or concerns a parent might have. If you are looking for a preschool to send your child to, this is the one! You will not be sorry!

My son has been enrolled at First Experience Preschool for 3 years now and he absolutely loves it!…read moreStarting with the potty training classes right when he turned two years old and the teachers helping with every single step of the way. Now at almost 5 years old and his last summer here, we are sad to go. We love all the teachers and office staff. This preschool has helped him grow so much in all development areas. They also offer summer school and kindergarten. We highly recommend this preschool!

My grandson graduated this year and will be a kindergarten in august he learned so much and most of…read morethe time love to go. The staff there is great. The lady in the school lobby was so nice she never made me feel bad when I would be dropping Rowdy off or picking him up and couldn't remember the procedure. Small wonders is a great place to start learning and find Jesus

Can anyone tell me there prices also I'm active duty military do you know if they do military…read morediscounts. I'm trying to send my three year old son there at least three days a week. Thank you

We love the Learning Experience! - They have an app that…read moreupdates you throughout your child's day - Key fob security doors - Take home workbooks from class to continue learning at home - Events where children, parents & teachers can socialize My child has learned so much in the past year she's been enrolled here. She started right after she turned 2 and just turned 3 this month. This past year she's learned to recite her A,B,C's, can count to 20, and even asks questions like "mom, do you think this toy will float?" All children learn at a different pace, and I love how personable the teachers are with learning my child's needs. I am excited to see what else my little one learns this upcoming year as she officially starts preschool.

Where do I even begin about this place. They paint a perfect picture from the inside to the…read moreoutside. But within their staff they have so much to be trained on. My son came here when he was 8 months old and had difficulty reaching some milestones. They treated him like he was a waste of their time. From major injuries that were never related back to their licensing to lying about injuries about my son to me. I had to get licensing involved on this place and full investigations on their negligence. Injuries as bad as my son having to lose two front teeth due to their negligence. They don't value the children and the parents that pay so much money to have their kids enrolled at this center. Their directors are hardly ever there. Kacey had a vendetta against us for no reason. To the point that we were taken off our sons app without even notifying us and missing out on saving photos from those previous months in infant class before we completely took him out of there, they go through "teachers" like crazy. Half of them aren't even teachers. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND this center to a parent. Not after what happened to my son and how we were treated. I will continue to inform every parent as much as I can about the negligence of this center. Don't be fooled by them. My review will of course probably be deleted as other negative reviews have been for this place. Please don't fail to look up their licensing through social services as there have been other reports on there of them being negligent and leaving children unattended in a classroom.

I can't believe that I haven't reviewed this gem yet…read more Lengthy review..... My wife and I relocated to Bakersfield after I got off of active duty. We're new here and don't have family, so welcoming our newborn into childcare was already daunting. The first place had her in the Kern County heat during the summer for 2+ hrs and second place made us to believe she was chunky. Needless to say, my wife and I lost a lot of sleep stressing about if our baby was safe and loved at day care, I even started working nights to ensure she didn't have to stay at the daycare "Lil Explorer's" for a lengthy period of time. Well, backing up two years ago, my wife and I toured Cal Ivy and she fell in love, me not so much. I was scared that one of their pet lizards would get loose and attack my baby while she was sleep "nonsense because the pets aren't in the classrooms for the babies." Well, low and behold, I called them up for a second tour and decided to give them a try. Instead of the pet lizzard getting loose- the love, empathy, and sense of security came out and drowned my entire family. My baby girl was in the most safe of hands with people who genuinely cared about her. She had such a blast and we were all so sad when she had to leave because we relocated to Houston, TX in August of 2019. God always has the final say! We ended up moving back to Bakersfield in Feburrary of 2020 and they had a spot for her. Our girl ran up to all of the staff and gave them hugs and I, of course because full of tears. It's an amazing experience seeing your child runaway to school and know she is protected and educated. She litteraly ran away from me at the front desk and was playing in her new class. Cal Ivy has been so good to our family and I know they will be good to yours " someone I reffered from another yelp review enrolled their kiddo and loved it." Thank you for always loving my baby and keeping her safe. We're so glad to be back home and have her in the safest, loving, enriching school in town!

This was called the Mercy Child Development Center until they decided to get out of the child…read moredaycare business several years ago. With facing impending closure and the possibility of the community losing such a invaluable child care service, Mr. Edward R. Paine stepped up and assumed financial responsibility and now Cal Ivy Prep has become the finest daycare facility in Bakersfield. I know this from personal experience because when my daughter first moved to Bakersfield her son was less than 1 year old and now he is 4-1/2 years old. He has been going to Cal Ivy all this time while his mother was working full time and completing her degree at CSUB. Since we lived locally at the time, I was afforded the opportunity of sometimes taking my grandson to daycare in the morning and picking him up in the afternoon. While spending time at Cal Ivy I got to know many of the the teachers, aids and admin staff. My distinct impression is that they are all caring, nurturing, compassionate and supportive people with good hearts. Oh I'm sure you could find a less expensive place to take your child if that is your prime criteria. However I can assure you that you will not find a finer daycare facility in which to leave the most precious gift in your life - your child.

We love Ms. Lacy and Ms. Ashley. My child is two and had a really hard time with starting school…read more Ms. Ashley was so embracing and helpful with drop offs in the morning. She would take her and hold her throughout the morning. Ms. Lacy comes in the afternoons and seems to spend quite a bit of time with my daughter. She is my daughter's favorite. She is always super attentive and keeps me updated on how she does throughout the day.

No stars for this facility. They are understaffed, ignore children, and during recess a teacher…read moreleft classroom door open and no one realized my son was in there for a few minutes alone and then blamed it on him, called me and had me go pick him up for the day. My child came home with hair missing from his head and no one knew what happened. I pulled my son out of these as soon as I was able to. Do not recommend. Place should be shut down.

My daughter assisted Ms Wendy's school for 2 years and she learned so much! Ms Wendy has a lot of…read morepatience and dedication to the kids. My daughter loved Ms Wendy she also learned Spanish thanks to Wendy, and she is very smart and prepared for kinder now. She's one of the few students that knows how to write her name and that is thanks to Wendy! shes very advanced on her social skills, numbers etc! Wendy has a very good schedule that's followed perfectly designed for the little ones!

My 3 year old daughter attended Mi Pequeño Mundo. Mrs.Wendy and Ms.Rodriguez were very friendly and…read moreloving. They both made sure to welcome my daughter and make her feel comfortable. My daughter's behavior/attitude was always happy/cheerful when leaving. As she would state when leaving "I had so much fun mommy". Mrs. Wendy was very professional and provided helpful tips.One plus is that they assisted with our transition to potty training. I Can see the improvements in my daughters social skills. Thank you Ladies!

My babies, 2 & 4 now, have been attending since August 2016 so where do I start? When we pick them…read moreup, we are given a half sheet daily report that includes the day's menu, the focus of the week, if they napped, important notes on behavior or rewards, and even emojis to tell us what their mood was like that day: happy, quiet, tired, excited, etc. As a parent and educator, I find this form of communication helpful as well as convenient. Here is some work we have up this month. I'm always excited to see what they will bring home next! Thanks to the team at Lil Explorers

I'm writing this to share my experience and hopefully help other parents make an informed decision…read more My daughter is almost 1 1/2 years old and has been attending Lil Explorers since she was just 8 weeks old. Unfortunately, since the administration changed in October 2025, the quality of care has significantly declined. There has been a very high turnover rate with teachers, which creates an unstable environment for the children. One of my biggest concerns has been safety. My daughter was repeatedly bitten by the same child, and there were multiple instances where I was not informed. I only discovered the injuries after noticing marks on her arms and legs when she got home. At one point, my daughter was bitten four times in a single day. I reported this to child Care Licensing in California, and they conducted a visit to the facility the following week. After that, I felt there was a shift in how my daughter was treated. I began receiving reports that she was "biting" and "fighting," which had never been an issue before--either at home or previously at the school. What's most concerning is the lack of transparency and consistency. On multiple occasions, I've received completely different explanations from different staff members about the same incident. Most recently, I picked up my daughter and found a bite mark on her hand that I had not been informed about, and I was given three different stories by three different teachers. While the director may come across as professional, my experience has been that communication is inconsistent and not always truthful. I strongly encourage parents to do their due diligence by looking up the facility's licensing history on the California state website and reviewing any complaints. At the end of the day, we trust these facilities to protect and care for our children. Based on my experience, I no longer feel confident that this center is providing the level of care and supervision that children deserve. I also want to add that my experience wasn't always negative. My son attended this facility from the time he was a year old and graduated in summer 2025. During his time there, I had a wonderful experience. The staff was always loving, caring, and attentive, and I never had any issues. It was truly heartbreaking to see so many of those amazing teachers leave when the administration changed, because they made such a positive impact on my child and our family. Child Care Licensing state of California https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/child-care-licensing the facility license number is 153808662 and 153808664