Our daughter has been at LPF for almost 2 years and we've had a wonderful experience! Laetitia runs…read morean amazing daycare/preschool and all the staff are very caring and engaged with the kids from infants through preschool age. The community is friendly and the space is large, clean, and safe and has plenty of outdoor space and stuff for the kids to play and engage with. We're very happy with LPF overall and looking forward to our new baby starting there at the end of the year as well!

Our baby was at LPF for 6 months and it was a wonderful introduction to childcare settings. The…read moreinfant teaching team is so warm, kind, and fun, and our baby quickly felt at home there. The communication is great and provides all the information and peace of mind you need. They sing, dance, and do lots of daily activities, serve a variety of tasty sounding meals, and expose the kids to not only French culture/language but lots of other cultures during different celebrations around the year. We switched daycares because of location and work commute logistics, but happily recommend LPF to other families!

It's difficult to articulate my thoughts on something that means so much to me. As parents, we…read morevalue the education and care of our children more deeply than words can express. As a teacher, I attach a special significance to this part of my family life. As both a mother and educator, I can confidently say that VLN is a truly special place. The head teacher and owner, Hilda, truly creates a community through her school. One thing that immediately stood out to me was how many of the families either work in education or are teachers themselves. I think that speaks volumes. VLN feels very much like an educator's choice for their own child, and many families return with younger siblings after their older children graduate from the program. At the very beginning of my daughter's enrollment, Hilda did a home visit on her own time and free of charge because she wanted to better understand my daughter's environment and needs. She also invited my daughter to attend extra days during her first month simply to help her acclimate more comfortably after being home with me full-time. That level of care and intentionality is rare. Hilda runs VLN from a place of genuine love for children and their growth, not simply as a business. The tuition is also remarkably affordable considering the children receive homemade meals, thoughtful activities, and individualized attention every day. Because my daughter is an only child, socialization was incredibly important to me, and Hilda, Marimar, and the rest of the staff are extraordinary at helping children build relationships and learn how to exist in community with one another. My daughter started at just 18 months old after being home with me full time, and instead of developing fear or separation anxiety, she quickly became attached to her classmates and excited about school. Even now, I have to be careful not to arrive too early at pickup because she never wants to leave the playground. Another incredible aspect of VLN is its Spanish immersion approach. It has been so fun and meaningful to watch my daughter begin learning Spanish at such a young age. As both a teacher and a parent, I deeply value giving children exposure to another language and culture early in life, and I love seeing her naturally absorb it through songs, play, and everyday interactions. The emotional culture at VLN is something truly special. During circle time, the children talk about gratitude, emotions, family, and kindness toward one another. Hilda also incorporates yoga, breathing, and mindfulness practices that help children feel grounded and connected to themselves. Of course, toddlers will still act like toddlers, but I truly value that my daughter is learning emotional awareness and self-regulation at such a young age. Every morning, Hilda greets her with a big hug, and I can see my daughter melt into it. There is something deeply nurturing and healing about the environment she has created. I toured more traditionally academic preschools before choosing VLN, and I would choose this environment again in a heartbeat. What Hilda has created is not just a preschool, but a deeply loving and emotionally healthy community for children.

VLN has exceeded all of our expectations, if we could give more stars we would! As new parents,…read moredropping our child off felt like leaving her with a very loving family member. As an educator, I felt she was consistently met with developmentally appropriate and fun activities to help her learn and build healthy relationships. She was well fed, loved, and supported in growing into a caring, confident kid and community member. The director Hilda is the real deal! She lives and breathes her work as an educator of young people. You see this in her warmth, years of experience, and practice of continuing to learn. She is constantly involved in early education programs and has more recently taken on yoga for children. She spends a great deal of time building the community of families through beautiful school events and we have made wonderful friends because of it! Our child would say she loves school because of the art projects, dancing and singing in the morning, playing on the giant play structure with her friends, eating locquats from the tree and mint from the garden. In her words: "The soup, it is so good and my teachers are funny!" Marimar, the head teacher, has been such an important person to our child. She has been there to care for her so sweetly when she was adjusting to school as a two year old, and now supporting her as a 4 year old: "Marimar is the best at finding bugs and playing soccer, she is soooooo funny." We could not appreciate Hilda, Marimar and the rest of the VLN family more for how they have cared for our child.

Teacher Tara is gifted, creative, warm, thoughtful, and goes out of her way for her students and…read moretheir families. LE's COVID policies have been a literal lifesaver for us as a family with chronic illness. Our kiddo absolutely loves going to school, and he's learning so much about so many things! Of all the things our kid has learned at LE, the social-emotional learning has been the most important for him. Teacher Tara has a magical way of engaging with students around conflict, helping them develop self-knowledge about their needs and boundaries, and helps the kids to learn about respectful and open friendship and community. I would recommend Little Explorers with no hesitation!

We have worked with Teacher Tara since about 2018, when she was the lead teacher in the 4-5 year…read moreold classroom at Oakland Garden School. Since then, our kids have attended her Little Explorers preschool through the pandemic, and although we changed schools when our oldest started Kindergarten, we have recently used the drop-in service at her new location. Simply put, Tara is amazing. She can work with any child to bring out their best. She has a magical touch with social/emotional teaching and brings forward kindness, empathy, and fairness with every interaction. She's also wonderful with child-led teaching and follows the interests of the children when developing curriculum while keeping a larger educational goal in mind. Lastly, we love how Tara brings in cultural experiences for certain times of the year. For instance, in 2020, her students celebrated Dia De Los Muertos by making tamales, celebrating family member's lives, and learning a traditional dance to perform for parents. If you are looking for compassionate and excellent care, we highly recommend Little Explorers.

I'd highly recommend hiring Adela to care for your children. My son has been going there since he…read morewas 6 months old and now he is 3 - and he never had a day he didn't want to go there. She welcomes them every day with her friendliness and it makes drop off much easier. My son has grown a lot in this time - she teaches them a lot in both English and Spanish. The kids are all very close and she creates a very caring environment. And when we were on day 3 of potty training she was not phased and my son never had an accident there at all - she's a pro! Her place is always so clean and well organized too. She also came to my son's birthday and all of the kids clearly love her so much. It's wonderful to entrust your child to someone you know cares about them so much.

Adela's is great. Her and her daughter Leslie are so caring and loving to all the children. They…read morehave a nice set up with plenty of space for the kids. They take them to local restaurants for breakfast every once in a while and to the surrounding parks. The make all there own baby food and cook fresh for the older kids. It's always super clean even through out the day they teach the children how to pick up and to put the toys where they came from. Check them out you will fall in love.

We couldn't be happier with Mechita Preschool! Both of our children (ages 3.5 and 1.5) attend, and…read morewe feel so lucky to have found such a special place. The staff are incredibly warm and attentive, and with a small cohort, every child gets so much individualized love and care. It's a play-based Spanish immersion program, and our kids are thriving in the fun, creative environment filled with art and local excursions. For working parents, it's a dream. The hours are great (8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.), they provide all the high-quality, nutritious food, and they are a massive help with potty training. Our kids are happy, learning, loved, and excited to go to school every day (3.5yo is often disappointed on the weekend when she finds out it's not a preschool day). We wholeheartedly recommend it to any family looking for a nurturing and supportive Spanish immersion preschool.

Mechita's provided a wonderful environment for our daughter! A very loving family that makes…read moreincredible homemade, healthy meals - and even got our daughter loving broccoli and kale. Full Spanish immersion, educational games, lots of music and dancing. They are absolute pros at potty training and have built a lovely community of families around the daycare. Highly recommend!

What a gem in our town! Often it feels like the best places get too modest of recognition. More…read moreparents, be they English-only or bi or multi-lingual, should know about this daycare. We've had such a great experience with Good Start Daycare. From day one, Luba and her wonderful team made us feel welcome and cared for. My child has grown so much here -- not just with reading and writing, but with confidence, creativity, and making meaningful friendships. He's grown into such a sweet, gentle and free-spirited boy - all thanks to the environment they've created. The home-cooked meals, fun music classes, and adorable performances are just a few of the things we have come to love. What this daycare offers is rare: good home-cooked food, true, highly dedicated care and attention, real, professional music classes, and the security your child is well-cared for and so loved. It's like you are dropping your child off with family! The care and love each child gets is truly special. If you're looking for a warm, nurturing, and thoughtful daycare, Good Start is hands down the best choice you can make.

Luba has been a wonderful teacher and caretaker, we are so happy our daughter has got to grow here…read moreand make great friends from ages 2-nearly 5. Luba loves the kids, from the musical concerts they put on that she pours her heart into (getting 3-5 year olds to perform!), to doing elaborate braids in my daughters hair almost every day, we're so happy with the care our daughter has gotten here.

We've passed two of our children through Tamara's Montessori-inspired programming. Both have been…read morecompletely prepared for K and TK through a warm, welcoming, thoughtful, and loving daycare! My wife and I work at least full-time, so having someone we know will deliver exceptional oversight with exceptional communication is crucial. It's been a relief to not worry about our kids for the last couple years. The facility is perfectly situated safely away from the ruckus while also being entirely accessible mid commute. The yard is glorious with pets, chickens, and groves of fruits and vegetables. They sing songs, play piano, read books, and get plenty of outdoor time. We received text updates weekly with the cutest photos and videos of the kids and the kids both had to be pulled away from fun daily. The expanded hours made life livable for us honestly.

UPDATE WITH PICTURES: I should mention that this school is geared towards ages 3-6, not just…read morepreschool, and there are spots available now. We decided to send our 5yo back to CMS for Kindergarten (we also homeschool) and she is so happy to be back! There is also now a bunny for the kids to enjoy! The lovebirds and chickens are still there. Such an amazing and special learning environment, I highly recommend this to anyone! I'm also happy to answer any questions!

Alameda Montessori Children's House (AMCH) is truly a special place, and I cannot recommend it…read morehighly enough. When our family was deciding where to enroll our son, we visited many preschools. While we appreciated something about each one, none felt quite like the right fit. Some classrooms were too large, some environments felt chaotic, some teachers seemed less engaged, and others felt more like daycare than a preschool with a thoughtful curriculum. Then we found AMCH, and it felt like a dream. From the moment we walked in, we noticed the difference. The classrooms were beautifully organized, warm, and child-friendly. There was a wonderful sense of calm throughout the school, and the teachers were welcoming, kind, engaged, and genuinely happy to be there. We immediately knew this was the environment we wanted for our son. Needless to say, we chose AMCH, and I could not be more grateful for the experience. Watching our son grow and thrive there was incredibly rewarding. The staff provided him with structure, encouragement, and, most importantly, so much love and care. What makes AMCH especially remarkable is its staff, in particular Xina Laoshi and Ms. King. This dynamic duo is truly exceptional. They provide a wonderful bilingual Montessori-style curriculum while creating a classroom environment that is calm, engaging, nurturing, and joyful. They have an incredible ability to connect with children and meet each child exactly where they are. They put so much thought and effort into getting to know each child as an individual. They truly learn who your child is--what motivates them, where they may need support, and how they can help them grow. You can see this firsthand during parent conferences. It is clear that they genuinely know your child, and their developmental assessments are incredibly comprehensive and thoughtful. They provide detailed insight into each area of development, which made us feel that our son was truly seen and understood. We saw the impact of that care even after our son graduated from AMCH and started elementary school. We were so proud to see how well prepared he was. He was thriving academically and transitioned successfully. The hardest part for him was leaving behind his beloved teachers and friends. Xina Laoshi was incredibly thoughtful during this transition. She welcomed him back in the afternoons with open arms so he could spend time with his old friends and even told us that he is always welcome to visit. That gesture meant so much to our family. She truly made us feel that we would always be part of the AMCH family. The communication from the school is also outstanding. We received weekly updates recapping what the children had been learning and what was planned for the following week, along with weekly photos that gave us a glimpse into our son's days--learning, exploring, playing, and having so much fun with his classmates. The amount of thought, time, and effort that goes into keeping families so informed is no small feat, and it truly does not go unnoticed. It is clear that these updates are created with genuine care and intention, and they gave us such a wonderful connection to our son's experience at school. As parents, it meant so much to feel included in his learning and to see all the little moments that made his days special. Another unexpected highlight was the food. The meals provided are fresh, healthy, and delicious. They gave our son opportunities to try foods he otherwise might not have been willing to eat, and we loved seeing him become more adventurous with what he ate. More than anything, what stands out about AMCH is the genuine care and love they give to every child. From the lead teachers and classroom helpers to the cook, Vincent, and everyone else who contributes to the school community, every person plays a part in creating such a warm and nurturing environment. They care not only about the children, but also about their siblings and families. You can feel that this is a community built around supporting the whole family. AMCH is so much more than a preschool. It is a place where children are nurtured, encouraged, respected, and genuinely loved. We feel incredibly fortunate that our son had the opportunity to spend his early years there. I cannot recommend Alameda Montessori Children's House enough. I sincerely hope other families have the opportunity to experience the warmth, care, and magic of this school. AMCH will always hold a very special place in our hearts--it is truly a gem.

ACMH is an exceptional school led by Xi Laoshi, a dedicated and talented Montessori educator…read more Xi Laoshi has created a positive and loving environment where children learn how to respect themselves, one another, and their surroundings. All of the staff are extremely patient and skilled at helping children process their emotions. Guest teachers come regularly to teach mindfulness, art, and martial arts. The classroom is bright, inviting, and filled with a rotation of interesting activities, and the outdoor space is large and filled with vegetables and fruit trees that the children help plant, care for, and enjoy. Lisa NaiNai prepares the most delicious and nutritious lunch for the children with a menu sent out at the start of each week that would make any fan of Chinese/Taiwanese food want to partake. My daughter came home everyday excited to tell us about all of the interesting things she did that day and excited to show off her math and Mandarin reading and writing skills. We feel so lucky to have been a part of this community for the last 1.5 years and could not recommend it more highly for parents seeking a school where their children can thrive!