Our son has been attending Global Montessori International School (GMIS) for the past 10 months,…read moreand we couldn't be happier with our experience. Since starting at GMIS, he has truly been thriving. So much credit goes to the school director Vivi and teachers, who show incredible care, warmth, and attention to every child. The principal's passion shows in every detail, and her thoughtful programming makes the school truly special. The transition was remarkably smooth--the school coordinated visits ahead of time so he could get comfortable, and the teachers welcomed him with open arms. Just a couple of months after he started, we attended a school event, and all he wanted to do was find his teacher because he loved them so much! We were also pretty hesitant about potty training at 2 years old, but the teachers were so encouraging and supportive to both the kids and us as parents throughout that entire process. His teachers pay close attention to the specific support he needs and are always encouraging him to try new things and build skills independently. As a result, he has grown so much in his curiosity, confidence, and self-reliance. We also love the wide variety of activities included in their curriculum--from gardening, cooking, and soccer to music and dance. My son brings all of these skills home and is constantly asking to help us cook dinner or work in our home garden! Plus, he is always singing and dancing at home to all the songs he learns in class. We are so grateful to have found GMIS and highly recommend it to any family looking for a nurturing, well-rounded, and high-quality Montessori environment.

We've been a GMIS family for over three years and we highly recommend it to other families. Our…read moredaughter started at 2 and is now thriving in kindergarten at a Berkeley public school. Our son just turned 2 and started this fall, so we're doing it all over again. The biggest thing for us is the teachers. They're incredible. Turnover is very low, so the same caring faces are there year after year, and they build real, deep relationships with the kids. It's a very safe and supportive environment, and we never have to worry when we drop them off. Our daughter still talks about her teachers all the time. They're simply the best. The program itself is wonderful. Kids learn in both Chinese and English, and the Montessori approach gave our daughter so much independence and confidence. The classrooms are beautifully set up, with everything at the kids' level and thoughtfully organized so they can choose their own work and explore. She walked into kindergarten well prepared, both academically and socially. For parents of 2-year-olds: the teachers are really supportive with potty training. They work with you as a team, stay patient and consistent, and make it a positive experience for the kids. The kids also learn to care for lots of animals onsite - goats, bunnies, guinea pigs, chickens, lizards, fish, turtles, birds, and even worms. It's a highlight for us to see and it teaches them responsibility and gentleness. On top of Chinese, English and math, every single week includes gardening, soccer (Soccer Shots), dance, music, science and cooking. We love that the school includes all these activities in their curriculum. If you're a prospective parent weighing your options, reach out to GMIS to book a tour or ask to speak with a parent reference.

I have had the pleasure of taking adult classes at the Oakland Korean School for the last 2…read moresemesters with Soran Min. She is a great teacher who has explained the pretty complicated Korean language to a bunch of beginners, starting with teaching us Hangul (the system of writing) and moving toward basic conversations, numbers, and useful vocabulary. They also offer classes for children, which seem to be the majority of their students. They hold events for all students periodically throughout the year - I spent last Saturday learning Korean calligraphy and eating some delicious Korean food prepared by volunteers! If you're thinking about learning Korean, start here. It's not easy, but you can't go wrong with this school!

I like the Korean I think I was the first one there I love the teachers there the after school…read moreprograms are good I love the school most of the teachers knew me but I had to move so I had to stop going I hope they stay in business they are a good Korean school I recommend

We have had our infant son attend guidepost for a couple months now. The staff is extraordinarily…read morekind and deeply care about the well-being of the children. I myself am deaf, and the staff was open to using sign language in the classroom to affirm his basic language skills -- that is incredible and no other daycares we toured seemed so happy to embrace our Deaf culture! Our son always gets dropped off with a big smile on his face and truly loves it here. Miss Yvette is a saint and our son loves her deeply :)

It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and a great reminder for me to share a review…read more May 2025: A year later and we are still loving Guidepost. Ms. Emilia, Ms. Carol, Mr. Miles, Ms. Tanya, Ms. Shelby, and so many others have been amazing teachers to our precocious, rambunctious toddler. He loves his class and looks forward to school every day. The guides take such great care to nurture our toddler's curiosities, spending a great deal of time organizing events and exposing him to new words, activities, cultures, and habits every day. They spend some of their evenings and weekends as well to facilitate fun activities like movies & pizza for Parent's Night Out or summer water parties when the weather is warm. We feel so fortunate to have been introduced to this place and know that our kids are happy and healthy here. The teachers use apps to help log activities and photos, so we never miss out and get tons of updates throughout the week. Ms. Emilia sends weekly updates about our toddler's class and their focuses for the week, and Ms. Shelby send weekly updates about school happenings. Ms. Stephanie is always available to chat if we have any questions or concerns to share, and all of the guides seem to celebrate the mini milestones our kids achieve every day. --- Jan 2024: Our little one just started in the Nido infant class and is thriving! We were so worried about the transition, but Mrs. Yvette and all of the teachers are so wonderful and kind. They guided us new parents and helped make the environment so warm and welcoming for our baby. It's only week 3 but our little one is eager to go to school to see his teachers and friends!

My child attended Via Nova for two years--as a "Grasshopper" and then a "Dragonfly". It's a warm,…read morevibrant community run with utmost professionalism, and I can't recommend it more highly. The program is bilingual (English-Spanish) with a child-led, play-based Reggio Emilia curriculum. The teachers have so much love and care for the kids, along with strong child development knowledge and skills to support and teach how to express needs and feelings and resolve conflicts. The classrooms were always calm yet energized with joy and creativity, and the backyard playground is perfect for the littles. I was continuously impressed by the school's directors. Every communication from them was clear and timely, the programs and field trips were well thought out, and I really just never had to wonder or worry about anything. It's more than six months since my child graduated from Via Nova and started kindergarten, but it's a testament to how much we loved the community that we still get together pretty regularly with the other families for playdates and birthday parties, and our cohort's WhatsApp group is still active with parents arranging impromptu hangs, sharing tips for summer camps, etc. We love Via Nova, and I recommend it to other families looking for a great balance between small/cozy and professional/reliable. Thank you, Via Nova teachers and staff!

My daughter went here for two years, ages 3-4. This place was recommended by her daycare and did…read morenot disappoint. Theresa is very attentive and responsive and Ms. Lupe + Ms. Siloni are incredibly patient, loving, and fun. The place is clean, and they really are focused on your child.

Our daughter arrived at CEC around one year old from another school. She was in infant care at CEC…read moreand we immediately felt at ease. All the teachers were very caring (Luz, Louise, Angelica, Cameron, Aster). Two teachers tag teamed and once our daughter gravitated towards one teacher, that teacher became the primary teacher. There's also a procare app showing when our daughter ate, was changed, and it photos. The app easily allowed for communication between the teacher and parent. When our daughter moved up to the next level (2-3), it took about a week for her to adjust. She bonded with her primary teachers (Huiqui, Maria) and her cohort of friends whom she moved up with. She is thriving and happy to go to school everyday. What our daughter liked best about CEC were her teachers, friends, and fun things (walks, music class, painting). What we liked best was how CEC handled COVID, the generous care hours w/ few holidays, the ease of communication, the child- centric approach, and the kids night out giving parents a break every month. We can't recommend this place highly enough. It's a hidden gem with flexibility and little bureaucracy. Finding good care was such a sigh of relief!

We've had at least one of our children at CEC since 2015 and can't recommend it highly enough! Our…read moreoldest started when he was 1, our middle kid started when he was only six weeks old, and our youngest will be starting soon at four months. Ever since we started, CEC has been a wonderful second home and community for our entire family. Even in the classrooms with the youngest children (0-2), the teachers are attentive, creative, and engaged. Even the smallest kids spend time outside, and even go on "field trips" to the nearby park. There's painting and dress-up and dancing and stories -- all of those fun things you aspire to do with your small children but can't always summon the energy for are a regular part of the day at CEC. Starting in the 2-year-old room, the children take longer field trips, using the bus and BART, or walking. This year my kids have checked out the marina, gone to the library, gone to a play, gone to various parks, as well as the Habitot children's museum, Oakland Museum of California, and the Lawrence Hall of Science! I love how familiar and comfortable they are with using the bus and BART, thanks in part to their field trips. They also start doing cooking activities in the two's room, which has been a great experience for my kids. In the 2-year-old room, the teachers work with parents to tackle potty training, and they have the patience of saints. The program is Reggio-inspired (similar to Montessori, but with a less structured, play-based approach), and it's not uncommon to see kids joyfully running around in their underwear, or proudly covering themselves in mud or paint. It's the closest you can get to experiencing the liberated and liberating school environments of western Europe, as enviously portrayed on NPR and the like -- and also one of the most affordable center-based daycares in Berkeley. The teachers will even occasionally host all-night sleepovers at the school, for kids as young as 2 or 3; my two oldest kids have loved the sleepovers, and come back feeling very grown-up. For a more lightweight experience, most months there's a "parents' night out", where for an extra fee you can pick up your kids up at 9:30 PM, after they've had dinner, done activities, and/or watched a movie with their friends and teachers. Many teachers are open to babysitting outside of school hours, and it's been great having a potential pool of babysitters who the kids already know. Even though the kids are in age-based classrooms, they have a chance to get to know teachers and kids in other rooms. (My 4-year-old went through a period of checking with his 2-year-old brother's teachers every day to make sure his brother was behaving.) The "parent participation hours" requirement (4 hrs/month) are a way to get families involved, doing everything from chaperoning field trips, to doing laundry, to bringing fruit for snacks. (I've done mine by sewing dress-up clothes.) If you really can't make it work, there's a fee you can pay instead. We (and our kids) have made so many friends through CEC; three of our kids' teachers came to visit at the hospital when our youngest was born. We're sad to see our oldest (and his friends, and their families) moving on, but grateful that many of his friends still have younger siblings who will be around for a while yet. We're looking forward to four more years here with our youngest, starting soon!

We absolutely love this school. We have two kids here and have had such a great experience. The…read moreteachers are wonderful--warm, thoughtful, and genuinely invested in the kids--and the French immersion has been amazing to watch. We're an American family, and one of the things we love most is the incredibly diverse, international community. Of course we love that our kids are learning another language (and all the benefits that come with that!), but they're also learning about different cultures, foods, places, traditions, and histories just by being part of this community every day. The programming is also incredible. There's a big focus on social-emotional learning, including time with Christopher, who is so sweet and wonderful with the kids. And the enrichment classes are so fun--cooking, mud art, accessory design, chess, drumming, gardening, and lots more. Even my two-year-old gets to do gardening! And then there are the chickens who live at school, which my kids love. It's one of those little things that makes the school feel special--the kids get to learn about nature, animals, caretaking, and responsibility as part of their normal school experience. Most importantly, our kids are happy there. They're learning so much, they love their teachers, and they're growing up surrounded by people from all over the world. We feel really lucky to have found this community and can't recommend it enough.

We loved this bilingual school. It gave a really advantage when it was time to go to high school…read more Because of the dual immersion in both systems, the academic level was higher than a regular school which opened a large aera of opportunities to choose from after 8th grade. It inspires a way of thinking out of the box if your kid embraces all the opportunities to learn there. Successfully entered in a UC university.

I'm usually a Yelp lurker and don't typically write reviews, but our experience with Strategies for…read moreLearning has prompted me to write and tell you what a wonderful experience we have had and continue to have working with SFL. The intake process was extensive. We met with their staff in person and were asked many questions about my son so he could be matched with a tutor that he could connect with and who was skilled in relating to someone like him. Strategies for Learning is clearly committed not just to helping him learn to study, but more importantly, they are gently guiding him to understand how he learns and how to maximize his study skills. What he's gaining is not limited to improved test scores. Raising test scores is great, but the real payoff is in the self-knowledge and self-confidence that he has gained. That knowledge and confidence will serve him his whole life. Thank you SFL!!

I can't recommend Strategies for Learning highly enough! Natalie and Michelle have both been just…read moreamazing. My son (6 yo) has a number of learning disabilities and tonight he was able to accurately recite the entire alphabet to me (twice!). For parents with kids who struggle in school, it is the small victories that matter so much and to see your child make such a major improvement in only three months is just amazing.

I have found this school to be full of staff that are very thoughtful, intentional, and loving of…read morethe larger community that they serve. The founder/head Michelle is a passionate leader who is in her purpose and it jumps right off of her when you meet her. I strongly recommend Pear Tree as they really do an exceptional job of wrapping around the youth. They promote and build a strong sense of community and ownership of the youth's educational advancement here. My plan is to bring others to this environment. Our son loves it here. Fred Tatum

Our daughter has been enrolled in Pear Tree as a preschooler and is now a 4th grader. We loved the…read morepreschool so much that we were ecstatic that director, Michele Hamilton, decided to grow the preschool into a separate elementary school. We've watched the school grow from just a handful of students to its current enrollment and its new location in Montclair. What we love: Montessori curriculum - we have had a rethinking of the state of education in the United States. It is not set up in any capacity to create critical thinkers and dynamic creators which is what the future economy will require. Montessori in the way that Pear Tree implements it allowed our daughter to consistently test 2 grades above her level, while allowing her the opportunity to become an awesome drummer with Pear Tree's musical enrichment. With a no homework policy, she has ample time to explore her love of reading and is an avid bibliophile. This love of reading usually starts to wane around the upper grades as kids struggle with the rigors of grades-based academic performance. Social Justice emphasis - the kids are being exposed to history and sociology from the context of social justice. Focus has been on pre-colonial history and ancient civilizations in the primary grades. Project based learning, group and individual research papers have allowed our daughter to put context in her history lessons. This year, climate resilience as the number one social justice cause, has given our daughter the ability to look at our current situation and actually come up with solutions with her class. This has been done through in-house video and audio content creation. Small class sizes - with no more than 16 students in a class along with a teacher and an aide, our daughter has always felt supported. She came into the preschool shy and timid and is now a vocal leader at school and outside. We don't think she would have found her voice in a class of 30 or more. When it comes to raising kids, no parent's decision-making is perfect. But our decision to be at Pear Tree was perfect for our daughter.