When we were looking for day cares we almost immediately marked OB off of our list because of the negative Yelp reviews. What a shame that would have been. When we toured we were immediately impressed with the kitchen and the atelier. Both are set in the center of the school (Reggio style). The kids do art, music class and dance class. When they go on a walk they are allowed to bring things back with them to incorporate into art (sticks, leaves, etc). They focus on building learning around the kids' interests (another Reggio gem), so if a group of toddlers is interested in fish, they will do underwater themed crafts, field trips tot he aquarium and walk down to the Fremont cut to peek at the wildlife. We have had the most amazing experience. We are a same-sex couple with an adopted child and have found the community to be so welcoming to our little modern family. The teachers care so much about each child and I always feel comfortable lingering during drop off and pickup. Our son is himself there, we know that he gets cuddles and love and that the meals they feed him are nutritious. Both of the teachers he has had (he started in an infant room and transitioned to toddler when he turned 1) have been so good to him. He loves going to school. We love the community and feel comfortable having him there throughout the day. read more

I had considered enrolling my children here, however, after hearing from a past teacher and experiencing an extreme lack of professionalism from another, this is the last place I would entrust the care of my children with. The previous teacher had quit and stated it was a horrible place to work. There were many violations, kids left unattended, or teacher/student ratios too high. The workplace was not healthy and teachers not appreciated. Our first experience with a current teacher was outside of the school. She came highly recommended by a different former teacher and current school family for childcare. After confirming day and time for care, she failed to show up and did not respond to messages (text or voice). We were concerned something may have happened, but learned that she had was out with friends. It was absolutely appalling to experience such disrespect and would have appreciated at minimum a communication that she was unable to make it. Knowing this now, I'm glad to not have my children in the care of someone so irresponsible. Having unhappy and overworked teachers and teachers that lack in professionalism makes me very wary of this place and will look elsewhere for childcare. read more

I realized I needed to post a Yelp review since the reviews here were so unbalanced. I think the majority of parents and children are having a fabulous experience at the school. Some of the things that I really love about this school is the emphasis on the Reggio approach, which encourages children to be participants in their own learning. The teachers come up with the most creative projects and clearly invest a huge amount of love and energy into their work. I also love the diversity of the daycare staff, including exposure to different languages and cultures. The food is absolutely phenomenal. The chef actually has a nutrition background (!) and these kids probably eat better than I do! Everything is cooked from scratch, and with organic ingredients. As you look for daycares you will realize what a rarity something like this is! Most of all, when it comes down to it, I have loved each and every individual teacher that my son has been under care of. Working in early childhood care is an extremely taxing and difficult job at times. I don't know if it's something I could do myself! But the teachers here are obviously committed to this and love their work. As with anything, it's not perfect. The staff turnover could be better, but OB is actively working to improve this, by offering extended benefits to staff who commit to a full school-year at least. They also work hard to provide quality ongoing learning to the staff. Their administrative staff also struggles with enough coverage which can make communication imperfect at times, but the admin staff they do have are so hardworking. The 'heart' of this organization is so in the right place, and I am so glad my son has been here for three years, and that his brother will be starting there this summer with the same teacher that his older brother worked with three years ago. read more

Our son started at Our Beginning last July when he was 3 months old. He is now 14 months old, and we recently moved him to a new daycare where both my husband and I work. Our decision to leave Our Beginning was not based on the quality of care he received there, but primarily for convenience and price. Overall, we have been very satisfied with the care that our son received at Our Beginning. I was actually quite disheartened by some of the poor reviews written about an infant room at OB. These reviews certainly were not about the infant room that our son was in, because all the families to whom I have spoken to are very happy there. I also am very fond of the teachers in the other infant room as well and my son was always happy to visit their classroom. The teachers and support staff in our son's infant classroom were absolutely terrific! We felt that he was well cared for every day. The 1:3 ratio was great, and well worth the higher price. The infant teachers would take the babies outside for walks and to play in the play area regularly. They would also finger paint, make playdough, go on field trips to the library to get books, participate in "dance" class with a dance instructor, and enjoy music class with a pianist. Also, the teachers were very receptive to any special needs that a child may have. While in the infant classroom, my son was also served the wonderful organic age-appropriate food that was freshly prepared. (They serve salmon, quinoa, beets, spinach, etc - all foods that I would have never thought my son would enjoy - but he loved it!) The transition to the early toddler room where there is a 1:6 ratio was slightly more difficult than I had anticipated, but my son adjusted well after a few weeks. (I'm guessing this is the norm for most daycares and I think it was harder on us as parents than on him). Certainly, there is room for improvement, as there is for all new businesses. In our time there, the communication to parents has greatly improved, and they are actively looking for further ways to improve the center. In my opinion, they need to hire more support staff to keep the center running seamlessly and hire new teachers in a timelier manner. Also, as another reviewer commented, they do take a lot of days off for training or have early dismissal for meetings, which is quite inconvenient. I have read and heard that the owner has been unresponsive to emails/calls from prospective new parents. However, both before our start date, and up to our last day, the owner has been very responsive to our requests. Again, we were very happy with the care that our son received at OB, and would have been happy staying there if there was not a daycare at our workplace. We will miss seeing the smiling faces of the teachers there every day. There is no doubt in my mind that that place will be a 5 star daycare in the near future! read more

My family and I are really happy about our decision to put my son, who graduated from the infant room to the young toddler room, at Our Beginning. Firstly, I am confident that Our Beginning cares about my son's wellbeing and safety. I have read past reviews and my conclusion is that Our Beginning learned from them and adjusted, and/or readers need to take a step back and acknowledge that reviews about children and childcare are probably some of the most heated/emotional reviews on this site. At Our Beginning, the focus on learning and being a good, kind human being come through in everything that they do. In the toddler room, teacher Dina took amazing care of our son and helped us transition him smoothly to solids, and to sitting and waddling. He loved this time there and we all to this day give Dina hugs when we see her. Now in the young toddler room, teacher Candide has more exciting projects than we could even think up at home, my parents (who do pick up) routinely arrive to see all kids seated around Candide listening attentively while she reads them a book or if they arrive at snack time, all of the children are respectfully washing their hands and sitting around a child-height table to have an organized meal together. At Our Beginning, there is music from a professional musician, there is art, there is amazing organic food cooked daily by the nicest chef who knows my son's name and shakes his hand every day. As a result of attending Our Beginning, my son knows sign language and comes home singing songs. Most importantly, he loves going to school every day. The toddler room is definitely less organized than the infant room (which ran like a well run ship) but I don't know if I care, plus toddlers are just a lot more to keep up with than infants. The things that have annoyed me to do not impact my son's learning one bit - like the time he came home wearing someone else's clothes or the time a pair of pants were lost out of his cubby. I adjusted and labeled everything clearly, and it hasn't been an issue since. At the end of the day I would rather the school focus on child development than having the toddler classroom be super organized. As for the injury complaint from one of the past reviews - the school has a system in place to notify parents about typical injuries and we sign paperwork and receive a copy. Our beginning's philosophy about learning and child development aligns with my family's and we are happy with our experience there. I do recommend Our Beginning to other like minded families. read more

I think the negative reviews here are way over done. Our son has been at Our beginning for almost a year and he loves it. The hours they are open are really great (7am-6pm), they serve great meals that our son loves and they are pretty responsive to our requests. The parents of these children would not leave their kids, their most prized and treasured little ones in a place they felt was negligent. I agree that the ratios are not always adhered to and that there's a bit of teacher turnover, but they are constantly working hard to make improvements here. Also, the teachers that our son has had have been really wonderful. I think they are doing a pretty good job. I'm pretty uptight and would never keep my son in a place if I felt that he was being mistreated or neglected in any way. read more

Both our boys had fantastic experiences at Our Beginning. From the moment we met Paula, the owner, it was clear that her love for children absolutely lights her up--and I think that over the past year, she has created a very qualified leadership team at the center that genuinely shares her passion. Our kids came home every day with detailed reports that showed a real understanding of their personalities, needs and aptitudes. The teachers truly seemed delighted by all the kids. The kids were fed amazingly well, they had music and dance teachers, and they learned many positive behaviors while they were there. I had heard a few parents comment on the number of closures, but i always felt that Our Beginning was eager to hear to any and all constructive comments. I hate to hear that anyone had a bad experience there, but from the infant room to the toddler room to preschool, we were very, very happy with our choice. read more

My son has been enrolled at Our Beginning for 2 years now. He started at the age of 6 months. My husband and I feel that the teachers truly love our child and listen to our concerns. My career is in education and I know good practices and techniques when I see them. The teachers at Our Beginning are dedicated and involved in assisting my child reach his potential. read more

My daughter has been there since she was 4 months old, now she is in the toddler classroom and thriving. She gets amazing care. She is constantly doing fun activities that expand her mind. She eats healthy organic food. And most importantly she is surrounding by loving caring teachers. My only qualms are teacher turnover and the outdoor space. It is nice the Burke Gilman is right nearby, they take long walks twice a day with the children. My daughter loves it! read more

I recently visited Our Beginnings and must warn parents to really look at what's going on. The center is really cool looking, but the teachers looked stressed. I witnessed poor behavior from one teacher and a confusing situation in another classroom in less that 10 minutes. In the 2-3 year old room, a teacher pushed a child out of the way by putting her hand on his face. She was the only one in the room and looked tired. In another preschool classroom a girl was crying by herself, clearly isolated from the rest of the group that was having story time. We were all just watching her cry and the administrator didn't seem at all concerned by the situation or offer an explanation why she wasn't being attended to. I agree with other posts that I do not think this school is well run. I don't think I saw any smiles on the teachers faces. I know it is hard work, but it just felt like something was wrong. read more

We started our children at Our Beginning after having attended another pre-school for a year. We are so pleased with this environment. Our children are finally doing well and given appropriate attention at this new school. There are several reasons why I would recommend Our Beginnings to prospective parents: 1) the quality of teachers is above that of other schools (at least in the pre-school classroom); 2) the environment is calmer and more organized; 3) the owner proactively asks for feedback on how the center can improve and receives it well; 4) everyone is so kid friendly - even the chef and the cook are so cheerful and playful with my children when we arrive each morning; 5) the center is kept very clean and we have had less issues with illnesses than our old preschool; 6) amazing, organic food prepared each day for the children (no more cheese sandwiches!); 7) individual attention and smaller class sizes (at least for pre-school children) - the teacher spent an hour with me and my children before my children started to get to know them individually and to make sure they were comfortable when they started (tailored approach); 8) ultimately, my children went from stressed out over attending pre-school to actually wanting to stay later and go to school more days. It has been a really great transformation for us and we couldn't be any happier. I do agree that the center is new and has some kinks to work out from a logistical standpoint, but the positive experience my children have greatly outweigh that . read more

The actual care providers are great (although the turnover is alarmingly high). As is the food, which is all prepared on site. The administration is fairly unprofessional and obviously disorganized, but they manage to limp along and I've never been concerned that it impacted my son's safety or well being. The real rub here is that (like other posters have noted) they close for an extraordinary number of self-proclaimed "professional development days." And this is in addition to every holiday on the books and the week between Christmas and New Years. I've compared notes with friends with children in other programs, and Our Beginning is the leader in days closed by far. So if you're thinking about enrolling your child here, get a copy of their calendar first and make sure you're able to take time off (or arrange alternate care) on all of the random days that they're closed or close early. Otherwise, you might be surprised at how much work you're missing for daycare "professional development." read more

Our daughter started at Our Beginning four months ago when she was about 15 months old and she has adjusted really well. While it is true that they are still dealing with some start-up issues, we never felt like our daughter was not safe or not taken care of. In fact, she is getting much individualized attention. At first, our daughter had trouble adjusting to the new setting after having been at home with us for the first 15 months of her life, but all the teachers at Our Beginning took special care so that she adjusted well. Now, she is really excited in the mornings when she gets to go to daycare and seems genuinely happy when we pick her up. The food is just wonderful, the facility is beautiful and so homely and the different classrooms are put together creatively and with so much attention to detail. The teachers always attend to the different needs of the kids and support parents in however way they can (i.e., only offering pacifiers at certain times, potty-training, etc.). They really care about the kids and always promote such a positive, relaxing and fun atmosphere. We are also impressed with the different activities Our Beginning is organizing. Our daughter really enjoys piano time. If there is one thing I could change it would be the outside space. I wish it was more of a green space and generally a larger area, but the staff is doing everything they can to take the kids outside. But overall, we are very happy with Our Beginning ... and so is our daughter :-)! read more

I wanted to take the opportunity to post here because, while I respect the experiences of other parents, ours has been very different. Our son has attended Our Beginning since he was 2-years-old and while there has been some turnover and general growing pains of a new center, our son has received top-notch care in a nurturing and enriching environment. We have always been pleased with the teachers- they have been warm, caring, and display genuine interest in our son's well-being and development. He is now in the preschool room and is thriving. there have been some recent new hires to continue to refine the program (e.g., enhance the commitment to the reggio emilia approach, more support for the various programs, etc.). Moreover, the center director and other directors are approachable and show genuine care for our experience at the center. In short, I would recommend the center highly. read more

After searching for a couple of months to place my two toddlers into a childcare facility, I finally came across Our Beginnings. I was pleased at not only the visual cleanliness,but how they prided themselves on the fact that they were an all organic daycare. My children started here when they first opened. Although, they were slow in the beginning to find there way I had nothing but faith in what they had planned for my children. Is been over 1 1/2 yrs. And my children who are now 2 and 5 are thriving little adults. My 2 yrs old knows his ABCs and can count to 10. He knows some Spanish and a variety of songs,and he is so excited to go everymorning! My 5 yrs who will be attending kindergarten in a short few months will have obtained more from our beginnings than she would have a headstart. She can count to 20 in English and to ten in Spanish along with some words. She can write and read. I think choosing Our Beginnings was the best choice I could have made for my children. read more