My first experience with PFBS was during Covid, when we needed a summer day camp for our oldest. They basically just hung out at a local beach every day, exploring the length of it, nearby tidepools, discussing rocks, etc. She enjoyed herself despite the setting being fairly mundane. Now my Kindergarten student attends a weekly pod at the Coastside Moss Beach location and we are really happy to be sending her. The location--Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and the neighboring forest--is spectacular, and I am constantly being surprised at the random nature knowledge she casually spits out. They visit the tidepools whenever the tides allow, make secret hideouts in the trees, make dams in the sand, etc. I wish I could go to forest school! read more

Peninsula Forest and Beach School - Coastside - Moss Beach / Fitzgerald Marine Reserve - Preschools Near Me - Belmont, California

My son (started at 2.5, now is 3) has loved every minute at PFBS, he asks to go every day! We appreciate and trust the teachers and he is cared for with love and affection. He thrives in the beautiful forest classroom. In just a few months has become deeply aware of his surroundings in nature and has developed a true curiosity for the ocean, animals, bugs and plants. Now that he is 3, we planned to send him to a traditional preschool full time, but because of his love for this special program, we are continuing part time at PFBS to foster his love for the outdoors. read more

My daughter has been going to the Belmont location for a full school year, my daughter loves going to forest school, and she loves all of her teachers. Most of the days when I pick her up from school she would ask to play there for a little longer. I cannot say enough good things about this school. read more

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Our 2.5 year old absolutely adores Forest School, here in Moss Beach. He only goes twice per week but every day asks when he next gets to go. All the teachers are incredible (especially Teacher Maria), and we love having an outdoor option for him on the coast. read more

Our son has loved every minute he's spent at nature school so far. What Bonnie and team have created is truly special and I'm grateful that it's in our own backyard. Moss Beach is a magical place and I'm so happy that my boy can experience and learn all about the peace, adventure, beauty, and happiness that the outdoors has to offer. He comes home on cloud nine each time and is always giddy to tell me about his day counting banana slugs, seeing hermit crabs, making "sand pizzas" and playing under the "magic tree" with his friends. Teacher Maria and Bethany have been excellent- thank you for all the magical moments you're helping create for our kids! read more

Teacher Maria led a great after school forest school on Wednesdays for our kindergartener and his friends. Our child really took to nature conservation because of this experience and gushed with details about the tidepools ecosystem and its inhabitants. Really special an experience! read more

This was not as advertised, and I am furious and concerned for the safety and well being of kids. The Director should be ashamed of herself, and Redwood City should rethink advertising this program to families. The website looks dreamy, as if your kid is going to a Pescadero open space preserve to play. Reality: my nephew showed up at a public park, where counselors were totally disengaged (one college grad who was lovely, two rising 10th graders, one of whom refused to speak and was hired the day before). The counselors didn't have T-Shirts or any way of identifying themselves, and this camp thought it was a good idea to have kids wear nametags. It is a child abduction situation waiting to happen. The whole thing was totally disorganized, and when the issue was raised to the Director, Bonnie, she was nice enough but admitted they had overenrolled and that she didn't have any other staff members to send to the site. Again, it was at a public park in Redwood City where two rising 10th graders sat on a picnic table getting paid for watching six year olds but really just talking to each other. read more

My son had a horrible experience with Peninsula Forest and Beach School. TL;DR: I watched a teacher shove my 3-year old son so hard that he fell backwards onto his back and his head slammed against a tree stump. That teacher quit the program later that afternoon. Director barely took accountability. There were many red flags with the program, similar to what Anna E. outlined. A parent from my son's preschool organized a multi-week private pod for about 10 kids, all aged 3-4 years. The first week we got Jean, who was assisted by Aimee. On Tuesday, I noticed an older kid at pick up -- Jean said it was her 6yo son who was "helping out" with the kids. On Wednesday, my son had an injury on his chin -- Jean told me that he'd been grabbing onto her son, and her son had pushed my son in self defense. I called Bonnie (the director) on Thursday to ask why Jean was bringing her 6-year old son to our private pod, and Bonnie said she didn't even realize this was happening, and would talk to Jean about leaving him at home on Friday. On Friday morning, Jean kept texting me telling me that my son was being aggressive with other kids and the teachers -- in retrospect, I feel like this was in retaliation for my convo with Bonnie. Then Aimee, who was leading the pod the following week, started messaging me saying she didn't know how to handle my son, and asked if I could come next Monday to observe/help out him. I said if the program wasn't a good fit, I was happy to pull him out, but she said that they didn't want to kick him out. I agreed to shadow on Monday, figuring that I could see for myself what was going on, although I already wasn't feeling great about it. What I observed on Monday at Twin Pines Park in Belmont -- an assistant teacher (Jimmy) showed up 2 hours late, so the first 2 hours of class was just Aimee and another assistant (high school or college age) who stood around and didn't actively engage with the kids at all. The kids were climbing on a downed tree (about 4 feet off the ground) without any supervision or guidance, and one kid faceplanted onto the ground but luckily didn't get too hurt. Aimee then led the kids on a hike where the path was extremely narrow (had to walk single file), with a steep ravine going into the creek on one side. I was SUPER nervous the whole time and trying to corral the kids away from the ledge. During crafting time, the kids were sitting in a circle doing a beading project. I was sitting about 10 feet away with my son, and he finished making a bracelet, and wanted to make another one. He went over to the circle where Aimee was sitting, and tried to squeeze between her and another kid. Aimee ignored him for a few seconds, and then out of nowhere, shoved him so hard that his head hit the back of the tree. Jimmy and I rushed over to help him. She snapped to Jimmy, "Get him away from me." When I told her "That looked like an accident", she snapped back, "NO it wasn't". I responded, "You didn't need to push him like that." She didn't answer, and just rolled her eyes at me. I didn't do or say anything further because there were little kids present, and I didn't want to escalate the situation even further. My son was inconsolable for 15 minutes, not so much from the pain but due to the shock at what had just happened. Bonnie gave me a refund, but I don't feel like she took me seriously until I posted this experience in a local mom's group asking for advice on next steps. Four hours later, she texted me saying she would take full ownership for the incident, and asked me to file a claim with her insurance company. However, the damage to my son wasn't physical, it was emotional -- the night of the incident, he said to me, "the teacher hurt me...she hit me on purpose." It was heart-breaking and I felt so guilty not pulling him out sooner. He acted out a lot during and after the end of this class, and only recently (3-4 weeks later) have I seen improvements in his emotional regulation. I'm sure Bonnie, the director, is amazing with kids and that's why there are so many older rave reviews, but the issue is that she's tried to scale her business by hiring people that are underqualified and unvetted who will actually be the ones working with your kids. In fact, I later found out Aimee complained to a parent that she'd been trying to get Jimmy fired for a long time, but Bonnie refused to fire him because she needed the headcount. Jimmy is still listed on the website right now. I'm writing this Yelp review now to warn parents who are considering the program -- please don't make the same mistake I did, and send your kid into a potentially dangerous situation with caregivers that aren't properly vetted. If you are looking for an alternative, I did Tiny Treks with my older son during COVID, and it is a MUCH better run program with teachers who are kind and actually care about and understand young kids. Please DM me if you'd like to discuss more since I have a character limit on Yelp. read more

My child attended his first year of school here (3-4yo), and it has been a wonderful experience. He has grown more confident both socially and physically. He has an impressive amount of stamina for being outside and trying new things for his age, and I really credit Forest school. He loves his teachers and they are caring, attentive and flexible. It's so nice to be able to do drop-ins even on the days he's not signed up for, with zero hassle (I simply text the director Bonnie in the morning if he's coming that day and we hadn't already planned on it). Also, it is so nice that he has barely gotten sick all year since he's always outside! Overall, I would highly recommend this program for families who value outdoor time for their children. This is our son's only preschool, but it could also be a good supplement to a more traditional preschool program on off-days. It's been such a gem and I feel like I'm giving him a gift every day when I drop him off - time and space to explore outside with friends and loving caregivers. read more

This was an awesome camp for my daughter. She has never been to preschool or any other camps. This is her first time with other kids. She learned so many things. She loves her teachers. Her teachers help her with everything including, social skills, sharing, being self sufficient and making sure her needs are met. There were several times where I had to text the teacher about certain things, they replied within 5-10 minutes. I think this camp is awesome for little ones to explore nature and just be a kid. The only request I have is to have pictures downloaded on the app daily or every couple of days. I love to collect pictures of my daughter, I scrapbook So that would be helpful. thank you to all the staff!!!! read more

We started our daughter at the moss beach location when she turned 2 years old. She only goes one day a week but she loves it and asks to go back as soon as we pick her up from class. We love the low teacher ratios and how independent she has become since starting. She loves her teachers (Teacher Joanne and Teacher Jessica) and all of her friends there. They climb trees, go to the beach, learn about nature and just play while they learn, rain or shine. In severe weather, class is cancelled for safety reasons, but that's only happened a couple of times since she started. It's really a wonderful experience for her, and we're so glad to have found it! It's definitely worth looking into! read more

Bonnie and her team were lovely to work with. I felt so great sending my kiddo to school with this amazing group of teachers. My little one was apprehensive of a 100% outdoor school at first but ended up loving it! Love that she had a nature based school experience to play and learn. Highly recommend the program. read more

I was part of the private pod Jessica W. was speaking about below. I would be very cautious before considering working with Bonnie and Peninsula Forest and Beach School. I can speak of my own experience. My daughter missed the first week of camp, so we arrived on that Monday when the hitting incident occurred. I'm in the parking lot ready to pick up my daughter and I ran into my girlfriend Jessica with her son who was clearly shaken and upset. Jessica briefly told me she had witnessed her child get hit and pushed into a tree stump by the teacher. I was NOT expecting to hear that. I could tell she needed to get out of there, so she left, and I wanted to get my daughter and find out what was going on. On the way to my daughter I passed a grandmother of one of the kids. She too was visibly upset, so I asked her what was wrong. She told me, and I quote, "remove your child from this camp. It is NOT run by competent staff. Today was the final straw for me. We are pulling (so an so)". This particular grandmother is a former preschool teacher, her granddaughter attended the first week of camp. She expressed to me that she had been at the camp with her granddaughter all last week because she'd seen numerous red flags and didn't feel comfortable leaving her. I get all this information BEFORE I reach my daughter to pick her up. Once I got home I started hearing all sorts of other things from other parents in the pod, people were pulling their kids, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm so disappointed that we went through all the steps and effort we did to set up this pod months prior to summer starting so it would be a smooth and fun experience for the kids. It was unprofessional and chaotic across the board. I don't feel much thought at all was put into our kids and who their teachers should be, or any of the things we discussed in the months leading up to the camp. It was truly unsettling to see the reality of what was happening. I did not immediately leave the camp. It was our first day, (a Monday), we were told we would be getting a new teacher on that Tuesday. Before all this I had planned on having my daughter participate in camp for four weeks, so I needed to figure out where I was going to put her if I was pulling her. I have a JOB. I certainly was not anticipating having to deal with all this drama. I was hoping based on the seriousness of what had been occurring that Bonnie would show up and work to turn things around. Do what in my opinion any good director and or owner of a school would do. Sadly, that is not what happened. Bonnie did NOT seem all that interested in making the parents' experience better. In fact, she was nowhere to be seen. As a parent who has many relationships in the community, I found it quite audacious for her to assume we would just take our horrible experience and shut up and go away. Pretty convinced that is what she was hoping would happen. But as a parent I am not ok with that. I believe you should have the information. I found the way she handled all of this to be really poor and truly telling, on a variety of levels. We ended up staying one week. I had paid in advance, and Bonnie refunded my remaining 3 weeks. So she did do that, ha. But honestly she should have also refunded me for the week I was there. That one week I watched one teacher be replaced by a new teacher who was nice, but never a lead, and that was clear. Myself along with almost all the other parents who were left at that point, didn't feel quite comfortable leaving their kids those first few days, (understandably after what had been happening). So I was paying for a camp I was staying at. Yeah. The last few days I didn't stay the entire time, as one of the parents' nannies who I felt very comfortable with and trust was keeping eyes on my daughter for me, so I felt comfortable leaving. I just couldn't believe I was paying for this. I want to be clear in saying, it was not the new teacher's fault. Her name was Erika, she is a lovely human. (Remember I was there for a good few days, so I got a good sense of her abilities and character). Poor lady was thrown into a pretty horrible situation and given very little context from Bonnie, according to her. In my option the week felt very much like daycare outdoors. In addition she showed up late almost 30 minutes after camp started two days in a row. Things that should had been pre prepared and ready to go weren't. I knew more about about the bugs and the area we were in than the lead teacher of our NATURE camp. It was weird. Do I think this could have been a better and different experience? A RESOUNDING YES! We were VERY clear about what needed and wanted that from the start, that is why we put together a PRIVATE pod and spent the time we did to set it up. But again, it's like that was totally ignored. Leadership was ABSENT. This is my honest experience. read more

I have been overjoyed to be able to add this program to the limited amount of things that we do currently thanks to COVID.It has helped create a sense of normalcy back into the lives of my kids. It's much more then a 'daycare' the teachers actually teach; they have wonderful art and craft activities and games they play as well as an educational component that helps them really look at the wonderful outdoor world around them. We are thrilled to have been with both teacher Dani and teacher Valerie- they are hands down amazing and really care about the kids. Precautions are taken, ratios are low and I haven't met Bonnie but she has been very easy to work with managing schedules and communicating all the things. read more

Our 3 year old son is enrolled in the Coastside Forest and Beach School and really enjoys it. He comes home happy, covered in dirt, asking to return the next day instead of going to his other preschool. It's exactly what my little boy needs and we are so glad to have found this organization since it's hard to find this type of care and education anywhere else. I recently enrolled him in an extra day during the week since he loves it so much. Ms Bethany and Ms Maria are both so warm, friendly and engaging with the kids as far as I've observed. I felt comfortable leaving my son with them. Lead teacher Maria cares, engages in fun nature education and art activities, is quite obviously very well experienced with children, positive, happy, and everything her bio says. I really wish she could stay on, and am hoping she can, or if not, that the new head teacher is just as wonderful with the kids. read more

Forest school has been life changing for our family. We are so thankful for Peninsula Forest and Beach School! During a virtual school year, our private pod provided much needed social time for our daughter and friends. Not only did she build great friendships, but she became a big adventurer - not afraid of getting dirty and is an avid climber now. Instead of seeing nature and outdoors as scary or icky, she lights up and sees adventure. We have also participated in group forest school for our younger daughter and have loved watching her thrive and grow. She loves telling us new facts about nature and recounting the fun from creek walks and rope swings. Thank you Bonnie and Teacher Karen for this amazing experience!! read more

Our sons attended half day summer camp at the Belmont Twin Pines location for a week and had a wonderful time! The lead teachers were awesome--kind, attentive and infinitely patient. Shout out to Gannon, who made both our kids feel welcome immediately, and who posted thoughtful and entertaining reviews of the day on the Procare app. Our kids came home positively filthy, beaming, and full of stories about their adventures--exactly the reason that we chose forest school. read more

My son was the first child to attend Peninsula Forest and Beach School when it opened a few years ago. He's almost 10 now and STILL loves it! Hanna, Bonnie, and their assistants are very nurturing, fun, and creative! They really know how to keep all the kids engaged and yet maintain a safe, supportive space for older children like mine to explore and play on their own. Managing my business and homeschooling my son has been challenging to balance. This program has been a lifesaver for us! I have time to work while my son has time with his friends in nature (as opposed to being cooped up in the house with me!). I highly recommend it to others who appreciate outdoor play for their children and the life-learning that naturally comes with it. read more

We have had a great experience with Peninsula Forest and Beach School. My 3 year old and 6 year old out attended multiple camps this summer and they loved them! It was so nice for them to be outside with the freedom to play and explore in a safe environment. By the end of each session my children were teaching me so much about my surroundings! My 3 year old son is so excited to start the preschool program. read more

Teacher Hanna is wonderful! My son has been going to the beach school program at Pacifica State Beach and it's been great. Though it can be hard to get kids out and playing in every type of weather (especially when it is windy and raining), Hanna does a wonderful job. The kids explore the area, play on the beach, and get creative with what is around them. read more

Peninsula Forest and Beach school in absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! The teachers are patient, passionate and so gifted at connecting with the children. This program has brought nature into my daughter's everyday life--which can be difficult without a yard etc. at home/in the Bay Area--and I've witnessed my daughter's connection to nature soar. I'm so thankful for teacher Hanna's kindness and devotion and for finding this special program. read more