We sent our daughter here to preschool, TK and summer camp over a period of slightly more than 2 yrs. Really nice campus with lots of play area and greenery right next to a church and Montessori. It is secluded and safe. Always felt safe sending our child here. When they resumed activities after being shutdown during the height of Covid, they maintained strict mask mandates, sanitization habits and social distancing. This was actually quite effective and is evidenced by the fact that their first Covid outbreak happened within a month of getting rid of the mask mandate, which was few months after kids vaccines were available. All staff are kind, nurturing and respectful. There was a change of ownership in mid 2022 and the new owner Seema is very enthusiastic and is determined to ensure the school performs at its best in all aspects. They are open to feedback and constant improvement. We also like the mix of kids from a variety of ethnicities giving our daughter a chance to develop friendships beyond racial and cultural differences. We have seen a lot of teacher churn over the 2 yrs but luckily all replacements have been able to maintain the quality. We wish the allergy standards are more strictly enforced in potlucks or parent sponsored birthday foods. All major holidays are celebrated well, so there is good community building and the weekly newsletter and updates on ProCare app are great. We will miss sending our daughter here. A great place for anyone looking to kickstart their kids education. read more

NO! SERIOUSLY NO! The teachers were irresponsible and judgmental! We literally went outside and laid on the ground during heavy rain. read more

My son 2.5 years old goes to safari kid toddler program and he loves to go everyday. Teachers are very warm, welcoming & friendly with kids. He learned how to share his things, eat food by sitting in one place & learning how to use the words. Their curriculum has designed all the elements and they have different activities on each day. Overall, we are happy to send him to this amazing place. read more

Love, love, love Safari Kid! The staff is professional, nurturing and prepared. The new owner is warm, welcoming, and always on site. She is involved in all activities. 1. Prioritizes safety? YES 2. Kind to all? YES 3. Helps children build friendships? YES 4. Communication is easy? YES 5. Learning a diverse curriculum? YES 6. Experienced Teachers? YES 7. Clean classrooms and well furnished? YES 8. Develops fine motor skills? YES read more

My child has been attending their toddler program for nearly a year, and I couldn't be happier with their service. Both my child and I adore the director Seema, who is incredibly responsible and responsive to our feedback and requests. We receive numerous photos every week, which we appreciate greatly. The daycare offers optional lunch services. The activities provided are diverse and engaging, like magic shows, Easter egg hunts, Christmas performances, and etc. Each semester there are one on one meetings to discuss the child's progress, showing the teachers' genuine dedication to each child's development. read more

My 4 years old son has been going to Safari kid for almost a year and he has been enjoying a lot. Teachers are very friendly, Attentive, caring and hard working. Thank you for everything that you guys do. read more

Safari Kids is THE BEST!! My Daughter loves going there, so much she used to cry when I used to go pick her up. Ms. Seema, Ms. Crystal, Ms. Jyoti, Ms. Sneha, Ms. Maria, Ms. Veeraj all very attentive, caring, and loving. They do an amazing job with teaching and guiding our little ones towards a great future. We've had some personal/health challenges this year, and they all welcomed my daughter back with some much love and care. Thank you, Team Safari Hayward read more

My grand daughter has been going here. So far, so good, no complaints. I was hesitant at first from reading some of the other reviews, but I had to experience it for myself. My granddaughter seems to like it, and the kids love her!! read more

Enrolled my daughter in Summer camp. Always exited to go and energetic afterwards. Great place for children to socialize

My daughter attended preschool here prior to Kindergarten in 2021. This was during Covid. It was my daughter's first exposure to in-person schooling. She loved this place and her teachers. Ms. Dina (Admin) and Ms. Henna (Class teacher) were very caring and attentive. My daughter did not want to leave. I did not know at the time that they would be starting K-2 grades in 2021 otherwise I would have kept my daughter at this location instead of enrolling her in a different school for Kindergarten. We definitely would be enrolling here for Summer Camp. I highly recommend this location. Teachers and staff are very friendly and the curriculum is well rounded. read more

PLEASE BE AWARE!!! Before Kavita posted her response to my review, she continuously messaged me back and forth to "guilt me" about posting my review because COVID has already impacted their business. Note to Parents - if Kavita and other staff members at this school were this invested in our experience while my child was enrolled there, I wouldn't have pulled him out so quickly. The experience was so bad, I couldn't stomach letting him stay for the rest of the year, let alone the rest of month even though we already paid for tuition (which wasn't refunded: they didn't care to offer and I didn't want the trouble to ask; when the money doesn't matter, that should tell you how bad it was). We made the investment in purchasing uniforms as well - he never even had a chance to wear them because we had to pull him out before they were even mailed to us. If they cared so much about the racist comments made to my child when my husband and I brought it to their attention, they would have addressed it THEN. They never did. In fact, Dina laughed in my face as if I were "overreacting". It took a lot to share this. Several parents in my social circle asked me about this school and when I shared it with them, they encouraged me to post. I'm glad I finally had the courage to share. BEWARE of this school. Proceed with caution. Judging by the interaction I've had with Kavita in the messages and her response here - the lack of accountability is still there and so I doubt very much anything has really changed in terms of quality of care. I can almost guarantee she'll post another response to my response . Be careful parents. read more

This review is of the Safari Kids - Hesperian After School program. They advertise a program that offers structured learning and tutoring coupled with a diverse choice of extracurricular activities. I can tell you that son has been attending their after school since Sept 2021, and they have no structured learning curriculum or diverse choice of extracurricular activities. There is a constant turnover of instructors in the after school program with a new instructor almost every week. The instructors do little to engage with the children, and they lack the appropriate training, education and experience to help children build their skillset's, develop critical thinking skills, or learn new things. They take no action when parents express concerns about the level of training and education of the instructors who supervise the after school program. The children don't participate in ANY extracurricular activities outside of watching videos on Youtube. Their after school program is very weak. I seriously caution any parent who might be considering enrolling their children in the Safari Kids-Hesperian afterschool program. The program is expensive and does very little to help the children. read more

My daughter started the toddler program at Safari kids in August. While my husband and I do work from home, i felt that my child needed time to bond with other children and activities instead of screen time. I was very worried about my child adapting to a new place, people, and other kids. The first week I would call/email Ms Henna throughout the day. She was crying the first week, but always assured me she is doing well and will send me photos of her day. Now, my daughter is talking so much and saying a lot of big words. She knows her shapes, colors, and numbers all before turning 2. I am happy I chose Safari Kids. I would highly recommended this school for your kids. read more

I want to start off by saying I am a very understanding person but somethings are just not acceptable. I enrolled my 2nd grader in Safari Kid afterschool program because I needed help with afterschool care. The place was nice and lots of happy kids I saw, however I'm not sure what happened yesterday that caused such negligence. I spoke with the director last week we outlined details for pickup and I felt comfortable. My sons first day, I prepped him to look out for the director (she told me she would be getting him on the first day so she would be able to give instructions to the following teachers that would do it thereafter) and he was excited. I didn't hear anything from her that first day and I called to see if she needed anything and basically just to confirm. But no answer, I did leave a message though. At 2:51 - 6 minutes after school let out I got a call from them saying they went to school and school had let out hours ago. Confused -I said excuse me ? She proceeded to confirm the school and said the wrong school ! I work in SF it's up to an hour drive that's why I needed their help. So now I'm upset because I'm in traffic and who knows when she will be there to get my son, I had to call the office to inform them of the mess up. And after all this I finally get back to Hayward and go pick up my baby, the director didn't mention anything, not an apology or anything. Just pulled out papers prepared for me to pay tuition and I had to stop her there. NO APOLOGY NO EXPLANATION NO NOTHING? won't be back don't take your kids here I know they child care subsidy helps a lot of parent pay for this child care but keep looking. They don't REALLY have a heart or I feel like I would have at least gotten a heartfelt apology. Seemed more upset she was losing $650 a month for my kid. Distasteful! Negligent! UNACCEPTABLE! read more

I want to begin by saying that we appreciate the school's approach to academic education but there are some other major concerns that led me to give such a negative review. The director of the school has had poor communication, lied to us, and has complete unawareness of cultural sensitivity. When we first enrolled our daughter in school, she had a difficult time adjusting due to separation anxiety. We knew this was normal and waited to allow it to work itself out. A few weeks later, we went to pick our daughter up and Dina, the campus director, told us they switched classrooms to see if that would help her adjust. She apologized and said she would have called us but didn't have time. While it was a good decision to switch classes, we should have been kept in the loop. Feeling this might be an isolated incident, we let it slide. However, a couple months later a kid scratched our daughter's face and they never notified us she was injured until we went to pick her up. It is because of these instances that we don't trust if something goes wrong, which things are bound to with small children, that we will be informed or kept in the loop. As far as honesty and cultural sensitivity, we were told the school is non-religious and inclusive of all. At the Thanksgiving potluck, a young girl sitting with the owner who I assume was their daughter, sang a solo of "Go Tell it on the Mountain." I thought it was odd to sing a song about Jesus at a Thanksgiving celebration. When I looked at the books in the shelves I saw that between 20-30% of them were about Easter and no other faiths were represented. I let this slide until Dina asked me if it was okay if my daughter sang Christmas songs for the Christmas party this month. I asked if there was going to be non-Christmas songs that were just seasonal and she said it was up to the teachers that they decide but she would check. When she came back she said there was only one Christmas song and the rest were seasonal. I got the list today of the songs they are singing and dancing to and every song was about Christmas. Basically my daughter has been studying a curriculum they told me she wouldn't be forced to learn. In addition, when I asked Dina about the music she ensured me the school would never sing about Jesus yet the girl with the owner did just that at the Thanksgiving event. Also when my husband asked her why other interfaith/secular music wasn't being used, she said they were limited to non-religious music by corporate. This directly conflicted with what she told me that the teachers chose and it was out of her hands that the songs were all about Christmas which is a religious holiday even when presented in secular form. I asked her how the school was accommodating the non-Christian students which there are a very large number of, and she said that none of the other parents complained so she didn't feel a need to accommodate anyone else. We also brought to her attention that in general she was being culturally insensitive and that even the way the school was decorated for winter wasn't cross-cultural or interfaith. We noted that there were no representations for kwanza, Yule, Hanukkah, or any other religions, but that there were several specific decorations for Christmas. She said all decorations came from corporate and they couldn't add other stuff. We asked if corporate sent the large Christmas tree and Santa they had on display. She said the owners brought that in. We pointed out the discrepancy in policy and how this contradicted what she said earlier about everything had to come from corporate. Her response to that was the decorations were a personal decision. All this said, what saves this from being a totally negative review is that the academic curriculum is good. Our daughter has learned a lot and is ahead of the curve. The staff is compassionate and love children. While my daughter was in the hospital with a respiratory infection, Dina called daily to check on her. My hope is through this review, the staff grows and becomes more sensitive to other cultures/religions and that they learn to live up to the promise they gave us that they will be inclusive always. Also, that they learn that sometimes the best answer is, we messed up and will do better rather than being dishonest. We are all human and sometimes make mistakes. The key is to be compassionate and learn from them. read more

Absolutely the best! Great great place. We've been sending our son here for only a relatively short time but are already seeing such positive growth...he loves going to school and is really blossoming! The teachers and the Director Ms. Seema are all so very kind and caring and provide a safe and nurturing environment. They have a great curriculum as well and a clean, bright facility with lots of age appropriate toys and materials. Highly recommend. They really go above and beyond to make sure kids are cared for and comfortable at school. read more

My Wife and I decided to enroll our 2.5 year old daughter into a preschool to aid in her overall development and social skills. We mistakingly visited Safari Kid on accident as we actually made an appointment with a completely different pre school. After visiting the pre school we initially scheduled for, we decided to enroll our daughter into Safari Kid instead. These are some of the reasons we decided to enroll our daughter into Safari Kid: - Very structured and organized curriculum - Strategic and methodical teaching style and philosophy - Performs/teaches potty training (for children not yet trained) - Intentional and constructive engagement with teachers and children/students - New facility - Transparency between director, teachers and parents Our now 3 year old daughter has flourished and developed beyond what we first expected. After some tears and adjusting in the beginning, she now loves to go to school. We've noticed how she is a lot more social and can adjust better in different environments. Her ability to retain and recall has improved and her speech has progressed more than we can handle at times =P. She now even has a best friend that she loves to talk and share about. Ms. Dina and all the teachers really do love and care for each child and our 3 year old is a living testament! read more

I want to start by saying, Thank You! My husband and I are two full time working parents with very limited outside help, The director and her teachers has treated my child as their own! It is a great feeling knowing your child is being properly cared for while you're at work. My daughter (2 1/2yrs) old is very clingy to me, very spoiled as she is the youngest, so I thought it would take her awhile to adjust, but, to my surprise she absolutely LOVES going to school!!! She say's "bye mommy" anytime I am dropping her off with a huge smile on her face! This review is long overdue as my child has already been attending for a few months now and she has already advanced to the next level! Thank you for the continue love and care that you all have giving to my child, words cannot express my gratitude! read more

My daughter went to kindergarden here and she absolutely had a blast. She always wanted to stay there longer and not come home. It was a small class size and kids got a lot of attention. The staff is very friendly and took proper action whenever we brought our concerns to them. I would highly recommend this school for your kids. read more

It's hard to leave a preschool that genuinely takes good care of your child. The teachers were very nice and easy to deal with. The facility is clean and simple too. My son learned a lot from them and on top of that he had fun too! read more

I have a 3 year old and he is in Pre-K Safari Kids Hayward. It is a diversified school with great teachers who not only looks after toddlers but also works on them individually per the child's need. Seema who is the owner/director is continuously working on improving the overall environment for kids. The Teachers also don't let the kids leave unless they recognize the pick up person. Safe for my kid. read more

As a parent with no prior experience with daycare facilities, I have to say Ms. Heena was very helpful in making me feel welcome and listening to our unique scheduling needs. My child has been attending Safari Kid 2 for several months now, and they are excited every Sunday to go back again for the week. Ms. Bebe and Ms. Maria (who are our primary teachers) are incredibly loving and attentive. I feel very safe with the environment and staff, who seem to support each other and seem at confident and comfortable in their provider roles. They are obviously providing quality care because the kids are all so happy and calm. They greet each other and say goodbye, show good manners and helpful attitudes. My child hugs their teacher each day with appreciation, and I am just so happy we found a place that they feel like "home" staying at. - Naps every day for infant/preschool age - Competitive tuition prices - Parents supplies child's own meals - Flexible drop off/pickup times (whole days, half days, late pick up and early pick up w/ fluctuating prices) - Outdoor play area and structure - Real approach to education following TK structure - Very few dates of closure (holidays only) I am again very happy with our experience so far, and I waited several months before reviewing so I could get a good estimate of the environment and the status of my child's learning development. We are very pleased. read more

This school is the best place for your kids. I am grateful to the teachers for doing an awesome job in taking care of my children.

Just wanted to post an update on my previous review. We are sad to be leaving Safari Kid. My child is now eligible to attend elementary school hence we are leaving Safari Kid. These last few months of in person learning at Safari Kid has been extremely valuable to my 4 year old. After a year of staying home during the pandemic, her trantrums increased, she was bored, not learning, not willing to potty train, no socialising. So when Safari Kid opened up again, we were happy to send our child to school. There has been incredible change in my child. The teachers with a great deal of help from Ms. Dina (Director) worked with my child and helped her potty train, socialise with peers and get back on the academic learning curve. I'm so grateful to the teachers for providing our family support and encouraging our child to achieve new goals. We will surely miss you all. Special shout out to Ms. Dina for always being helpful and supportive of our daughter. read more

We decided to send our daughter to preschool to gain some social skills, structure, and potty training. To give you a bit of context our daughter is an outgoing gregarious only child. She also happens to be the youngest from both sides of the family. The first 2 weeks were very difficult with non-stop crying (from the time she woke up to the point I dropped her off), to even falling sick and missing 2 days of school! I was ready to pull her out of the program but after consulting with Dina I stuck it out. Dina assured me that she would improve but I had to give it time. She was right! By the third week my daughter began accepting the idea, and now 5 weeks into the program she no longer cries and instead waves goodbye. We have noticed our daughter being more interested in interacting with kids when we now attend social gatherings. Structure wise she is now interested to sit and eat at a table. Pre-Safari days my daughter only ate certain foods I could count on one hand, but today she is open to trying new foods. Dina, and Ms. Maria have made his transition easy for us and most importantly my daughter. Thank you Safari Kids, we look forward to her growing with you in years to come. read more

I don't know who answered but was so damn rude ! All because I was asking questions about the school. If I could give no stars I would !

It was the first day for my 22 month old to come here. We had bought his snacks and prepared his bottles for his first day. When my partner picked him up, he noticed my child bottles and the snacks that he brought that day was never given to my child! They stated he didn't want to eat and was crying all day. If he didn't want to eat, he was never even offered his formula milk because the bottles were still in the bag unused. We will never take our child back to this place. One day was enough to realize this place is horrible! read more

Wonderful school. My little one is a toddler and the director and her staff have been great. He's saying new words, singing songs, and naming colors. He enjoys going to school now when I drop him. It took about 2 wks before he was okay with me leaving him and now he knocks on the door to his class on his own. His class is small and the teachers are nice and from what I've seen interacts well with the kids. We're so glad we found this small gem for our little one. Dina the director always follows up to check in when I call or text her. I saw the neg reviews and I don't know who Kavita is but Dina has been great with me and my little one. I also don't have an issue with Christmas songs or celebrations and do love the fact that I was told they learn about all cultures. I also love the covid precautions being I work in the health field and am a first responder so the whole covid pandemic has had me worried and cautious. I love the changing of the shoes, temp checks, and other procedures in place by Dina and the school. read more

My daughter is not ready for preschool yet, but I have heard many great things from my friends who her son loves attending. She said they have the most structured curriculum and staff that is passionate about the kids. Also, she said it is very clean and a great ambiance for children. read more

We are very happy that Safari Kid Hayward. My son is very happy and excited to go to school every morning. Spacious and structured classrooms. Play area is huge, safe, and very beautiful. My son learned a lot just a few weeks. Staff is very nice and caring. Director Ms.Dina is very helpful, polite& hear all our concerns and feedback everyday & try's to accommodate us. Best place !! My son & I love it & feel very safe leaving my son there without any hesitation. read more

The staff at this location really help the children become engaged in the daily activities and are great about communicating over issues or upcoming activities with me as the parent. The Safari Kid curriculum has helped both my boys develop significantly from a social, emotional and academic perspective over the past few months since enrollment. Before enrolling him, my 4 year old could not sit for more than 5-10 minutes at a time and now he'll sit and color and talk to me about his friends for longer periods of time. And for the younger class the help with potty training has been great. Beyond the curriculum this location also has optional extracurricular activities such as sports and dance which I can see my sons enjoy. I am very happy this location opened near my home and I feel my children are well cared for throughout the day. read more

Safari Kids has been a blessing to my little boy who was initially not talking much, not showing affection and not expressing much just like how a kid his age should be. Also, My son had trouble adjusting initially in school, couldnt even bear hearing the word "school" as he will cry and get anxious about it. It took him 3 months to get well adjusted with the help of the wonderful teachers at Safari Kid Hayward. Heena the director of preschool has openly communicated with me about what i should expect when we started bringing my son in school. She has updated me everytime i pick him up in school and has told me every single improvement my son has reached. My son is now very talkative, wouldnt stop talking at home and is very curious to a lot of things. He now wants our attention at most times, before he wasnt really asking much of it! He plays and read books for us now, and he's asking so much questions too! There is still a lot of room for improvements for my little boy but i believe and trust Safari Kids' expertise when it comes to that! I am so thankful that God has brought my son to this school, i couldnt be more thankful in seeing my son more happy and joyful around people and for being expressive than how he was before! Thank you Safari Kid Hayward! read more

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SCHOOL! We love Safari Kid Hayward-Hesperian. We couldn't be more pleased with the love and care and attention they get from the amazing staff, especially the Director Dina Abiy are fantastic.The director and teachers make themselves very accessible and very supportive.It feels more like a good family and I would recommend it to anyone without hesitation. read more

During this whole pandemic in 2020, the daycare is being nice enough to consider virtual classes. I was all for it, but sadly my son wasn't. He just turned three and he will just get distracted with his toys, he had his bad and good days. Ever since the day care closed down because of COVID-19, my sons development in learning slightly stopped progressing, and virtual classes was not helping. But I am thankful that the daycare provided online virtual learning, as I supervised my son during the meetings, it was nice to see they kept regular routines as if it were in person. But I cannot wait for everything to go back to normal, because my son does miss the school! read more

I love this place. This preschool is very clean and the staff is very friendly. The curriculum is great and very easy to follow for my son. Dina Abiy is an awesome director. Definitely recommend this preschool. read more

My friend's son is going this daycare and it is a very good school. Her son learning so much. After he started in this daycare his social skills are growing. He is having so much fun while he learns new things everyday. read more

This is my first child's first school. My daughter was very shy, and I was very afraid to send her to school, in between completely strange people. However, the staff at this school is very caring and sensitive to every child's unique personality/needs. All the teachers and director (Ms Dina) very good at communication; they provide you feedback on how child is performing and improving in school. The curriculum is great, they actually teach kids, not just watch them play there like some other schools. I have noticed so much improvement in my daughter's social and academic skills in just few months. She is gaining so much self-confidence. My daughter absolutely loves her school. Plus, they have a variety of extra classes being offered here (like gymnastics, dance, sports), so you don't have to drive your child to a different location for a separate class after the preschool. I would love to recommend this school to everybody, there is so much potential for a kid to learn from here!!! read more