We absolutely love Sakura Daycare. We have two children attending, and we are beyond grateful for the love, respect, and sense of adventure they receive there. Both of our children genuinely love going every day. Sakura Daycare has truly helped us raise our children while we are at work. Thanks to the constant learning and nurturing environment, our children are now trilingual. The kids sing songs, do little dances, cook, practice judo, bake, create art projects, and spend lots of time playing outside. The impact Sakura Daycare has had on our children has been immense. We are incredibly grateful for everything they have provided our family throughout the years. read more

Before moving forward with this daycare, I wish I had looked up the provider's license number to see her history first. I'd read a few poor reviews about the owner, Chishiro, and dismissed them, assuming the good reviews outweighed the bad. To my regret, we experienced much of what those reviews had described...unprofessional and aggressive behavior. When it came to our child's safety, we couldn't in good conscience leave him with someone who couldn't manage her own temper. Chishiro is highly disorganized and stressful to deal with. There were red flags from the very beginning that we overlooked, wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt, since running a home daycare is genuinely hard work. From the start, she repeatedly brought up personal financial pressures like being a single mother, needing to pay her employees, in ways that felt like a guilt trip rather than professional communication. She would text for random things throughout the day, then, after we responded minutes later, texted us back not to text during daycare hours unless it was an emergency. But she'd then immediately text us herself for questions that clearly weren't emergencies. She cherry picks her own rules. Things became unexpectedly tense when we explained that the information we received from her was contradictory to what she is asking now, and she exploded defensively and acted in ways that made me immediately pull out my child out of concern for his wellbeing. We later looked up the Sakura Daycare license number and found multiple citations whcih also tracks our experience and reviews on Yelp. I can see how, if you and your child behaved exactly the way she wanted, she could be pleasant. But to me, it felt too risky to put my child in the care of someone you had to walk on eggshells around even in low stakes situations. Final note, she states she is the only Japanese daycare in the area, but that hasn't been our experience of what's actually available. We've since toured a Japanese-speaking daycare in Berkeley with a far more professional environment, better facilities, and generous outdoor access for the kids. Update to follow up on owner's response: 1. We had a hunch that the owner is lying in her responses to negative reviews, now it is clear. 2. We, of course, paid on time. We paid in total for 6 weeks of care (2 weeks + 4w deposit) but received in total 2 days of care, each 2 hours. Quite to the contrary, we are filing a suit to get our deposit back. 3. Aggression - it's clear from the substantiated citations on her license (and reviews here) who has trouble with keeping their emotions in check. 4. We've not asked for any special treatment re our situation or profession (I do not even know what that means). read more

Our kiddo started at Sakura at 7 months old and it has been a great fit. Chishiro, Maria, and Estela clearly have so much experience with kids/babies and love working with them. Now our son lights up when they open the door at drop-off in the morning. The teachers are warm and nurturing and so loved by the students. They get lots of language exposure as well as new foods, arts and crafts, judo, cooking, and outside play. We also appreciated that they provide 3 meals a day and diapers so we don't have to think about getting everything together every single day. When our child was under a year old, we also were able to give them the can of formula and they put it all together and washed bottles so we didn't have to mix/wash everything every day. We are grateful we found Sakura! read more

My daughter recently graduated from Sakura Daycare after three wonderful years. It is hard to find the words to describe how special this place is, and how dedicated the staff are. Owner Chishiro, who runs the daycare out of her home, has been doing so for over twenty years, and that experience is evident in how great she is with the kids, and how efficiently things are managed. The two other teachers, Maria and Estella, are also fantastic with the kids. In the three years that my child went to Sakura, there were zero staff changes. In an industry where turnover is a real issue, I think that speaks volumes. I was fortunate to find out about Sakura from an acquaintance, and was initially intrigued by the Japanese and Spanish immersion. My husband and I are big believers in language immersion, and our older child has been at a trilingual school since age two. My daughter was not yet one when she started, and we figured she would be there for a year and then follow her older brother. Well, we ended up keeping her there not just for one year, but for three years! She was happy, thriving, and learning two foreign languages -- there was no reason to move her. We felt she was getting the same type of experience our son had gotten at his preschool. At age 4 she was ready to move on, but it was bittersweet because Sakura has been like a second home for her. Thankfully Chishiro has found time in her busy schedule for a weekly Japanese class with the older toddlers that we are able to attend after school. She truly cares about her students' ongoing development, and wants them to be able to maintain their Japanese language skills. I realize some people may be reading this looking for a spot for a new baby and not even thinking about language and preschool yet. Well, Sakura certainly will meet your needs of a safe and caring environment for your little one. What's more it will make your life as working parent easier because there is very little that you have to prepare in the morning. Sakura uses a diaper composting service, so you don't need to worry about running out of diapers or wipes for daycare. Three nutritious meals are provided -- yes, dinner too! And when I say nutritious, I really mean that. Chishiro is an excellent cook and often uses produce from her garden. She makes her own miso, nattō, and other traditional Japanese foods. I am not much of a chef, so believe me when I say that my child was eating better than she did at home! It was a great relief to me to have good food provided, and I appreciated not having to pack a daily lunch. Parents just need to send in bedding, washcloths and spare clothes -- easy! You will get periodic email updates with photos of the kids and their daily menu. Older kids get to participate in Judo, yoga, and cooking. And, of course, plenty of outdoor play with Chishiro's three tiny, sweet dogs. Taking walks with the dogs was a real highlight of the day for my daughter as a young toddler. There is even a monthly Saturday sleepover that older kids can attend for a very reasonable fee. I don't know whether the kids or the parents love it more! It seems like reviews here on Yelp are nearly all positive, but I would like to address two points from negative reviews. 1. It is perfectly normal for a daycare/preschool to have a strict pickup time and high fees for being late (especially repeatedly). Every other school I've ever toured has had the same. The reason is pretty clear: it needs to be strict to be a deterrent. The daycare has set hours, and workers need to be able to leave. That said, things can come up outside of a parent's control. If that happens, your child will be well taken care of until you can get to them. This would really only be a conflict if it starts happening a lot. 2. No one daycare/preschool can possibly be perfect fit for every single unique child/family. It also takes a while to adjust to any new place and routine. Sakura has a very clear contract, schedule, sick policy, and list of what daily items a parent is responsible for providing. So at least on that front you will know what to expect. Anyway, I know it is hard to choose a daycare -- especially as a new parent doing it for the first time! I hope this review has been helpful. I've told Chishiro that I'm always happy to serve as a parent reference, so if you are seriously considering the daycare you can speak with me directly if you'd like. read more

My daughter joined the Sakura family when she was a little over 1 year old. I was a stay at home mom, and the thought of leaving her in anyone else's care frightening. I vetted many, many daycares before finding Sakura Daycare. Just from our initial tour of Sakura, Chishiro san made us feel at ease and we could tell that she was a caring, nurturing woman who really cares about the needs of children. She has a beautiful backyard with many fruit trees and a garden which children can tend to and pick from. She prepares fresh, healthy meals daily for the children. She only speaks Japanese to the children, and they really do pick up the language quickly that way. I'm so grateful that my daughter was able to be a part of the wonderful Sakura Daycare, and learn as much as she did (Japanese, Spanish, and many cute songs!). Sadly, we had to change to a new facility as our family needs and schedule changed, but we will never forget the amazing time that we all had getting to know Chishiro san and the other wonderful families at Sakura! read more

Our son began daycare at Sakura when he was ten months old and we stayed for three wonderful years. I cannot express how incredible this school is, and the depth of care and education the children receive with Chishiro and her assistants. Yes, the school has some strict rules, but Chishiro is always there to communicate with you- by text, email, and in person. When we began working with Sakura, our son was just learning to speak words and phrases in English, so its was a particular delight to hear him mix in words in Japanese and Spanish as well. He is know fluent in three languages! Sakura provides all cloth diapers for the babies and three organic, home-cooked, gourmet meals and snacks (she attended cooking school for three years and makes her own miso, natto, bread, jam, and makes stunning organic lunches and dinners), plus a different educational activity each day. The older babies go on field trips. I love how we receive photos and the daily menu posting each day by email, and are alerted of other resources, local events, health tips, and other helpful information. Really, Sakura goes way above and beyond what I expected a daycare to provide, and she is constantly encouraging me to incorporate more learning activities or opportunities for my son. I cannot recommend Chishiro Newman and her daycare highly enough-- she is dedicated and beloved by so many children and families. This place is magical. ****** UPDATE: My son is heading into kindergarten in the fall and we are excited that he has been accepted into three of the East Bay's top independent schools, We credit Sakura Daycare for giving him the language (spoken and written) and social skills to shine and for helping him grow with such confidence and grace. Thank you, Chishiro! read more

I have only positive things to say about Sakura Daycare. It is a privilege to be at Sakura with Chishiro, Maria, and Estella. The kids are exposed all day to Japanese and Spanish and I'm so impressed with how quickly all the kids understand and can speak in both languages. All the kids at Sakura get wonderful care, education, and lots of love. Chishiro and her assistants, Estella and Maria, go above and beyond with their nurturing, dedication and attentiveness to the children. Chishiro is a very talented, engaging teacher and the kids respond so well to her. Everyday she keeps them active with fun, productive class activities, including writing practice, building vocabulary, creative art projects, dancing, and lots of music. Chishiro is a pianist so she is able to play and sing together with the kids. My son always comes home singing different Japanese songs. From listening to his singing, I'm able to pick up the words he's saying and find the songs online. It's fun for me to learn the lyrics in Japanese so that my son and I can sing Japanese songs together at home and in the car. So thank you Chishiro-Sensei for inspiring me to learn Japanese as well. Not only is Chishiro a wonderful teacher - she is a great cook. Everyday she freshly prepares multiple healthful, delicious meals, including dinner, with organic ingredients that my kid loves eating. When I see the photos of her meals, the food looks so good - I always wish I could have some, and she usually prepares Japanese meals too. Chishiro does a great job keeping each parent in the loop with their child's progress, fun moments, and achievements. I always appreciate all the photos she shares with the parents everyday of what the kids are all doing and eating. The kids have indoor and outdoor play areas with playhouses, structures, and fun toys. She also has an enclosed garden area where kids can play and run around in the grass among her fruit trees. I am always so impressed with Chishiro's energy and focus. She is very sweet with the kids, and also vigilant, alert, and always on her toes. She is also a registered nurse, so she has years of medical training and experience which gives me so much confidence with how she handles the kids' health and safety, especially with Covid protocols. Another interesting thing about Chishiro is that she is nationally ranked in the sport of judo. So she values physical activity, does fun exercises with the kids, and has the energy to keep up with all of them. I'm so grateful to have met Chishiro - wish I met her sooner. She is such a genuine, honest, caring, and giving person. I am heartbroken that my son will have to leave Sakura to start kindergarten. We really will be missing Chishiro-san, Estella-san, and Maria-san, and all the nurturing and invaluable things they share with the kids. I will also miss the community of Sakura parents, and my son will miss seeing his playmates everyday, but we have wonderful memories to keep. read more

My husband and I cannot say enough great things about Sakura Daycare. Our son started at 18 months because his previous daycare was closed. The transition was much smoother than I anticipated; by the third day, he was walking into the daycare, excited to join his new friends. The other children were also very welcoming and made the transition easier for him. It makes me delighted that our son is excited to go to Sakura daycare every morning, and he talks a lot about his day at Sakura after he comes home. We are very happy with every aspect of Sakura, but here are the main three points that I want to share. First, the founder Chishiro is an amazing daycare/preschool teacher. She is also a Judo champion/instructor who used to be a certified teacher and nurse in Japan. Not only is she great with kids of various ages; she is also an amazing cook. We are so fortunate to have our son in Sakura! Chishiro cooks all the food from scratch. They are organic and well balanced. My son loves eating Japanese breakfast at Sakura. It is very helpful to start his day without sugary breakfast. She emails the menu every day so I get a good idea of what our son eats during the day. Second, we love their daily schedule. Kids have plenty of time being outside and they also have weekly activities, including Judo, cooking, music, and mindfulness. Every morning, they have their song and story time in Japanese and Spanish. The kids often do fun crafts and paintings. Chishiro sends photos every day so we can enjoy watching their activities too. She also posts videos periodically so we can see their daily lessons. Third, Sakura is Japanese AND Spanish emersion. The kids there speak only Japanese and Spanish at Sakura. My son also learned sign language from their daily story & song time. For full disclosure, my son speaks Japanese with me at home, but my son still frequently surprises me with the number of new vocabularies, sentences, and songs in Japanese that he has learned at Sakura Daycare. For Spanish (nobody speaks Spanish at home), he counted one to ten in Spanish before he did in Japanese or English. I saw him genuinely enjoy communicating with his Spanish teachers. I think this has motivated him to learn his third language without difficulty. The other day, he surprised us by singing a Spanish song to our baby son. Chishiro has helped our son grow in so many ways. She has supported us as first-time parents too. We cannot thank her enough for her care, teaching, and love to our son. read more

As a new mom, I am always stressed and worried about what could be right for my kid. Of course, every mom wants the best for her kid, however, it's not so easy to identify what's good for kid. When I decide to enroll my kid to daycare to get more exposure of social environment, I called every single daycare within 15 mins driving range from my home from the state daycare license yellow page. After tour all the possible daycare on the list, we finally lock down our list and decide Sacura is good for our kid since we are not just looking for a happy and nice daycare but also looking for a place can help to build up our kid's personality and construct solid foundation for the future.It turns out to be a good choice. Actually, I think our kid achieved more than what we expected. I highly recommend this daycare for people looking for a bilingual education for their children. The teachers are very friendly, caring, and experienced. They offer a Japanese and Spanish program that helps the kids learn two languages at an early age. The curriculum is also very rich and diverse, with arts, music, yoga and judo classes that stimulate the kids' creativity and physical skills. The food is organic and nutritious, and the kids love it. My daughter has been attending this daycare for a year, and she is always happy and excited to go there. She has learned so much from the teachers and made many friends. This daycare is truly a gem in Oakland. Thank you for your amazing work on all the kids! read more

Poor interactions, rude and unprofessional. Upon first interaction, I knew it was nothing I wanted my child to be a part of. Does not conduct business professionally. Rude attitude. Update: never once was any cursing done, so when she claims an "F" word was used, I can provide all emails to show nothing of the sort. She reaches out to say they have an opening, and when I reply, Great! When would the opening be, (which is a normal question to ask), she completely gets rude and a little unsound in her response yelling that she's not asking her families when they're leaving. When I reviewed that she was the first to mention openings, she continues this unhinged behavior. I would be terrified to have my child with her. read more

Our daughter attended Sakura Daycare from 1 - 4.5 years old and absolutely thrived. Chishiro san, Maria san, and Estela san were always loving and engaging with our daughter, and taught her not only Japanese and Spanish, but some American sign language as well. I'm always so impressed at how much she learned at Sakura Daycare. My daughter has grown into a kind, caring, and curious child and I credit Chishiro, Maria, and Estela for being a huge part of her development. Chishiro prepares and feeds the kids 3 delicious, healthy and organic meals complete with whole fruit. My daughter loved the food there and I never had to worry about her nutrition. Not having to worry about packing her meals was a huge bonus unlike any other daycares I've looked into, and made this working parent's life a whole lot easier. During these COVID years, Chishiro is always on top of safety measures recommended by the county and state public health departments, as well as the state childcare licensing unit. I deeply appreciated her caution and her focus on the children and staff's well-being and safety from not only COVID, but communicable diseases in general. It's clear that Chishiro, Maria and Estela genuinely care about the children and shower them with love. At pick-up the children are always happy and hesitant to leave daycare. I can't think of a better measure of how much the children enjoy their time there. Our daughter just started TK, and miss the staff and her daycare-mates so much that we're planning a playdate soon. I'm so grateful that we're leaving with many lovely memories of our years at Sakura. read more

There were so many troubling incidents over the year our kid was at Sakura that deciding where to start is overwhelming. It would be impossible to paint a full picture, but all the problems we experienced centered on the owner, Chishiro. It was a chronically stressful time for everyone in our family because we were always under the threat, spoken and unspoken, of being kicked out. We eventually came to feel that our daughter was a particular focus of negative attention, but all the families we spoke to experienced this, too. As another parent aptly put it, Chishiro a gaslighter. Many interactions were very disorienting. For example, I shot a video of our daughter's reaction when we picked her up on her second day there. Later that night, we got an email from Chishiro. Why did we do this, and would we delete the video in front of her the next morning? We apologized and did as she asked. But how could the owner of a daycare really not understand this? Or was she creating a problem to test us? These questions would come up a lot in trying to make sense of her behavior. She either knows less than the average person about children, despite her profession, or other people's autonomy is so threatening to her that she'll say any untruthful thing to control them. But of course the answer is both, as we learned. Chishiro's equilibrium seemed to depend on parents and kids behaving the way she expected them to. But those expectations weren't always clear, consistent, or reasonable. Whenever our kid was at Sakura, we expected a fire drill at any moment. Most of them were gratuitous, the result of Chishiro's misunderstanding, but still time-consuming and draining to address. Some were valid, but handled manipulatively. It was impossible to have a difference of opinion with her, let alone healthy conflict. To our day jobs, we added the job of meeting Chishiro's erratic emotional needs as she played both the tyrant and the victim. The final straw for us was realizing that Chishiro thought our kid was different and was treating her differently because of this, undermining instead of supporting her. When a new, more verbal kid around our daughter's age joined the Japanese class, feedback on her language skills went from positive to very negative. A few weeks prior, she had told us that our kid was doing well and knew all the Japanese animal names. Now, she insisted that she didn't say a word all day, suggested that she was developmentally delayed, and recommended we see a specialist. This was obviously untrue -- we saw her speak with caregivers when we dropped her off and picked her up and she spoke plenty at home. But ignoring it altogether wasn't an option in case it had some truth to it. We did our due diligence, counted all the words she knew and called her pediatrician. Our doctor reassured us that she was fine, that it was the environment. We told Chishiro diplomatically and she eased off for a time. But she returned to this false idea every time our kid did something totally normal for a toddler, like pushing. She found things like this particularly challenging and wanted us to "fix" her age-appropriate behavior at school from home somehow. Chishiro's interventions never addressed how to help our kid flourish at daycare -- they were attempts to pathologize her. We sensed that our kid wasn't being treated fairly, and it was clear that she wasn't thriving there. We recognized that even submitting to the owner's whims wouldn't stop this treatment, and that Sakura wasn't a safe place for our family. We decided to leave earlier than we had planned. We finally asserted ourselves out of frustration at yet another fire drill shortly after. I asked her to send a reminder to the daycare parents and she got increasingly agitated, following me and my daughter out onto the lawn as we left, pulling her mask down and repeating "Find another daycare" several times. Then she sent a barrage of texts and emails and accused me of yelling at, shocking, and traumatizing her. We subsequently managed to squeak by long enough to give notice and not forfeit our deposit by apologizing, which was very painful for me. She refused to speak to or see us for the remainder of our time there, which was partly a relief, but she punished our daughter for our transgression. Instead of playing with the other toddlers in the backyard after dinner, for the remainder of our time there, she had to wait in the house with the babies so Chishiro could avoid us. read more

Our two year old LOVES Sakura, dreams about Sakura daycare taker providers / says their name in her sleep, and is constantly asking for play dates with her classmates (and with her classmates' parents). In the time she has been there she has learned she loves LEGO and dolls, cooking, and she counts to 30 in English and Spanish and 10 (I think) in Japanese:-) It shows that Chishiro has worked hard to create a loving community for the kids who attend her school: from the composition of the class to enrichment activities (meditation, judo, cooking, etc) to homemade food. And over the last fifteen years she has also worked hard to hone-in the rules and regulations for Sakura to enable this environment. I highly recommend Sakura for parents who want a warm and loving, playful, structured, and appropriately stimulating environment for their kids... who want trilingual education for their kids (Spanish and Japanese)... and who are willing and able to follow the sensible rules that Chishiro has put in place to enable her to effectively run Sakura. read more

Exclusively Japanese (bonus: and Spanish!) daycares/preschools are hard to come by in the East Bay so I could not be more thrilled to have found Sakura Daycare! It is a safe, intimate, and educational environment for my almost 3 year old son and he absolutely loves it there! Chishiro-sensei, who is the head teacher, is an amazing caregiver and teacher to those who are a little older/in their preschool years. She provides organic and balanced homemade meals everyday (way more nutritious than anything the kids are served at home! hah) and has a variety of activities lined up for the kids both indoors & out. I also appreciate that she sends you pictures of the kids/their meal everyday so you have visibility into what their day looks like and who their friends are! In addition to caring for our younger son, she also tutors our older son (who is not attending her daycare) to help him with his Japanese. Even after a full day at school, my older son looks forward to his tutor class with Chishiro-sensei as she is so good at making learning fun for the kids. She has gone above and beyond for my boys in such a short period of time that she has quickly become family to us! I saw other reviews mention the rules; yes, there are many (for the parents, not the child), and she does enforce them. But I personally would rather send my child to a daycare with rules that are properly enforced as that goes to show that the kids are being taken care of well and fairly. If you are looking for a Japanese immersive daycare/preschool, I highly recommend Sakura Daycare. I only wish I had discovered them sooner!! read more

Our daughter started attending Sakura when she was one and is now about to graduate and transition to TK. Chishiro has gone above and beyond to enrich her experience. Our daughter now has a good grasp of Japanese (we speak Japanese at home) and Spanish and adores each and every one of the staff there. Chishiro has amazing Spanish-speaking teachers and we are so grateful toward their love and dedication to the kids. I always look forward to the photos of our daughter and her friends that Chishiro sends on a daily basis to all the parents. My daughter is going to miss Sakura very much! read more

Where do I start? We started our little one who at Sakura around 10 months and it was such a blessing as first time parents. Our son has some food allergies and Chishiro was really mindful and accommodating. She also reached out to a former family to get information about food allergies for us! We always felt safe leaving our son with her and her staff. She was really communicative through email, text and in person. I appreciated the daily emails with photos and the menu for the day. We also got a half sheet with information about our son's day including naps, how he ate, and diaper changes. The organic and fresh food choices seemed to have created a positive relationship to food for our son. The cloth diapers were great as it saved us a lot of money on diapers, which is always a plus! The kids got a lot of time outside and plenty of engaging activities throughout the day. I definitely recommend visiting Sakura to see if it's a good fit for your family. read more

I had the great pleasure of raising my daughter as a full time stay at home mom for her first year. When it was time to go back to work I be was in complete distress looking for the right daycare for her and our family. There is no perfect daycare, but there at daycares that are a good fit and Sakura was the best fit for our family. I cried for a month before sending my daughter to daycare and for the whole first month that she started, and then something happened...she started getting excited when she was being dropped off at daycare! She would give Maria-San and Estella-San a hug and wave goodbye as she went into the house. After the initial shock for both of us she quickly adapted to the new routine and now a year later she eagerly gets ready each morning to go to daycare and tells us all of the names of the kids she's going to play with. Chishiro is a very attentive director, she takes COVID very seriously, makes three nourishing meals for the kids every day, and ensures they have healthy snacks. One of the highlights of my day is looking at the pictures of kids everyday and seeing which fruits and vegetables they're eating for snack- imagine a bunch of toddlers with broccoli in their hands and mouths! She solely speaks Japanese to the kids and my daughter is already developing a Japanese vocabulary at 2! She talks to Chishiro in Japanese and sings the Japanese songs they learn at school when she's at home. Chishiro take the kids who are two year old and older to a little classroom to practice "writing", color, and do other crafts and activities every day and my daughter loves being with the three and four year olds. The kids at Sakura are super loving to each other and the older girls will walk with my daughter and hold her hand and help her do things when she needs support. Estela-San and Maria-San have been working as teachers with Chishiro for many years and they are absolutely amazing! If you watch the kids with them, they're hugging and holding hands with the teachers, and and sometimes just sitting on their laps. I really feel like they take care of the kids like they take care of their own kids. For us Sakura was the right choice because I knew my daughter would get attention and care, the meals are provided and they're really healthy, and the language immersion was really important to me. My daughter speaks Spanish at home with me and I wanted her to continue getting exposure and loved the idea of her also learning Japanese. I think most of the kids who have left Sakura have either aged out and gone to preschool or their families like ours moved out of the Bay. If what I'm sharing sounds like a place that is a good fit for you and your family I highly recommend touring the daycare! I'm so grateful I was able to put my daughter there for her first year of daycare. Thank you Chishiro for your dedication to quality care! read more

My daughter has been attending Sakura Daycare for almost two years. We are very happy that we found such a great situation for our child. We were nervous when our daughter first started because our family does not speak Japanese. Now our daughter teaches us words and phrases in Japanese, sings Japanese songs and corrects our Japanese pronunciation. The program at Sakura Daycare includes lots of free play, with outdoor time in the morning and afternoon. The children also have age-appropriate lesson time every day where they practice counting and letters, sing songs and read stories. My daughter can count to 20 in English, Japanese and Spanish. The older children have a Japanese language lesson in the afternoon. Every day at Sakura follows the same basic structure so the kids know what to expect and feel comfortable. Chishiro does an enrichment program every day; music, art, cooking or judo class. Chishiro also serves the children delicious, organic, healthy homemade meals. Today my daughter ate miso soup with brown rice and tofu, homemade carrot bread with cheese, snap peas with cottage cheese, homemade apple strawberry sauce (no sugar added), green peas, fried shrimp with homemade tarter sauce, grilled celery with Japanese dashi sauce and fruit smoothie that the kids made in cooking class. Chishiro has mastered the art of being both firm and fun at the same time. The children listen to her and respect her. She has three assistants, Maria-san, Ana-san and Chika-san who are kind and loving with the children. I often see them reading and playing with the children. In the afternoon, parents receive pictures of our children. It is a highlight of my day to see my kid having fun at daycare! read more

Our son began daycare at Sakura when he was ten months old and has just passed his one year anniversary there. I cannot express how incredible this school is, and the depth of care and education the children receive with Chishiro and her assistants. Yes, the school has very strict rules, but Chishiro is always there to communicate with you- by text, email, and in person. Our son is just learning to speak words and phrases in English, so its a particular delight to hear him mix in words in Japanese and Spanish as well. Sakura provides all cloth diapers for the babies and three organic, home-cooked, gourmet meals and snacks (she attended cooking school for three years and makes her own miso, natto, bread, jam, and makes stunning organic lunches and dinners), plus a different educational activity each day. The older babies go on field trips. I love how we receive photos and the daily menu posting each day by email, and are alerted of other resources, local events, health tips, and other helpful information. Really, Sakura goes way above and beyond what I expected a daycare to provide, and she is constantly encouraging me to incorporate more learning activities or opportunities for my son. Since we began, we have been invited to mama brunches, an occasional weekend playdate, and her annual, amazing animal show for the children and parents. All gratis, on top of what she provides five days a week. I cannot recommend Chishiro Newman and her daycare highly enough-- she is dedicated and beloved by so many children and families. This place is magical. read more

My child has had the best experience here. They have really bloomed with the other children, speaking Japanese and Spanish with each other and even trying to teach me. Chishiro goes above and beyond to ensure the rounded development of my child with plenty of art projects to take home. I have been extremely pleased with Sakura Daycare and am very happy with the service provided. read more

My children stayed at Sakura Daycare for a little less than 6 months. I was surprised at how much Japanese phrases they learned from Chishiro (and even some spanish from her assistant). They were fed breakfast, lunch and dinner, so all we had to do was drop them off with their baby bag and they were taken care of. She does cloth diapers, so we purchased diaper liners and she took care of the rest. No diapers to pack in the baby bag, other than clean liners. Chishiro took the kids out to the zoo and to the park, etc on a regular basis and let them out in the backyard daily (unless it was raining really hard or something). My kids learned something everyday, whether it may be a Japanese phrase, or a song. I loved the birthday parties she threw for the kids. I would highly recommend Chishiro and her great staff to any parent. read more

Our son is all smiles when time to go to school. Herewith some of the great things about Sakura Daycare: 1. Food - Homemade meals 3 times a day using healthy ingredients. 2. Thoughtful - They provide organic milk, snacks, cloth diapers, and disposable diapers to go home with. 3. Activities - They teach songs, art, cooking, judo, ASL, Japanese, Spanish and more! (He can count 1-10 in 3 languages and he is only 2 years and 1 month old) 4. Get dirty - They let kids play in backyard as much as possible, pick fruits in their backyard and eat! 5. Bonus - Sometimes they take the kids to fields trips (a few kids at a time). Overnight sleep over! We were also very happy with his previous daycare but we had to take food, milk, snacks, diapers, and it adds up, not only $ but washing little containers/bottles and having to think what to make lunch tomorrow etc. You don't have to worry about that here. We are grateful for this daycare and see our son flourish! read more

I inquired with someone here nearly 2 weeks ago and never received the information I was promised. Very bad first impression.

My son as been going for several months,we had to change daycare for language worry,We speak french & english at home and Sakura was only in Japanese and i guess 3 languages was a little too much for him. The daycare as strict rules, and it get expensive if you are a busy business owner with no family around. She charges $20 per 5 minutes late and you cannot escape from it. So for the quality of care i give 5 stars! For the communication :like telling us progress or changes in the child behavior and or improvement 2 stars! Most of the kids there are from asian parents,we where almost the only non-asian family,so keep in mind being the minority can be challenging sometimes. read more

Sakura Daycare is amazing. My husband found Sakura and we have been going for over a year. At our previous daycare, the kids ate typical kid fare like Mac and Cheese and PB&J's, and rarely ventured outside. Not so at Sakura, the owner Chishiro makes everything from scratch every day - I really have no idea how she does it. My son eats so much there, he doesn't like my home cooking half as much (sad face). Also, the kids are learning and speaking in Spanish and Japanese. They have judo lessons (I think she is #1 in the country), music classes, cooking lessons, art projects and spend a ton of time outside in her fenced-in, shady, green back yard. My son really loves the school and the 3 helpers as well. They are helping potty train him now which is nice (she uses all cloth diapers, so cool). Every day I enjoy viewing the photos that are sent, documenting the kid's daily adventures. The care is top-notch, the very best we have found and we did a lot of searching. read more

My son was 18 months old when he started attending Sakura, only 3 days out of the week. He is now 27 months and attending 4 days. We (parents ) and my son love Chishiro (the owner) and her assistants Ana, Maria, and Kaoru. They are truly an amazing team. I only speak Spanish to my son and it is being reinforced at sakura with Ana and Maria. He is even learning Japanese and English! It's amazing how his language and social skills have grown. He is well fed organic home made meals and that's a plus for me, he gets all his veggies and fish. The caliber of Chishiro's knowledge on child development has surpass the many interviews we had at other daycares before deciding on Sakura. The schedule is very organized and structured with plenty of fun. From cooking class, art, music, to judo. Plenty of time outside in the beautiful backyard or visiting the zoo, park, or habitot museum. My son now knows his colors in Spanish, English, Japanese, and some sing language. He is all smiles when I drop him off and if he has a bad day Chishiro is always updating me, sending me txts or pics. I highly recommend Sakura daycare with Chishiro the owner and lovely Maria, Ana, and Kaoru they have enriched my son's weekdays. read more

Our child has been at Sakura for over 2 years and recently we started sending our younger child there. Chishiro keeps the children busy with a regular but diverse routine of activities - including formal teaching in Japanese - that makes Sakura more like a preschool than a daycare. The kids eat healthy organic food every day, and we get daily pictures and videos of our children interactive with the other kids - a very nice perk for working parents. We have never worried about the safety of our children or the quality of their experience there. We feel lucky that Chishiro is a part of our children's lives. Furthermore, as we get to know the other parents that send their kids to Sakura, we hear similar experiences over and over again. The Sakura community is tight and most of us know when a new child joins, 'graduates' or moves on for some other reason. If you're interested in sending your child to Sakura, consider talking to one of the parents who sends their children there. read more

I felt threatened by Chischiro Newman, owner of Sakura Daycare. After repeated incidents of non-professional behavior from her part, I finally pulled my 2 year old out of her care afraid she would retaliate and hurt my child. We had a break down in communication regarding my child's needs. I tried to resolve in a friendly matter but Chischiro pushed my child to my arms and lashed the door at my face. She screamed out loud from inside the room that I "don't know anything about children much less how to raise (my)your child". All of this happened right in front of the other children under her care. How someone with such a temper can care for my child or your child?! Concerned mom read more

My daughter started this daycare at 20 months old, never being in daycare before. We teach her Japanese at home, and wanted to continue her bilingual environment. She was very shy at the time, and typically did not adjust quickly to big changes. Chishiro took special care and interest in my daughter and she just blossomed! I could not believe the rapid improvement in her language and social skills in such a short period of time. In addition to the quality care, Chishiro provides homemade organic meals, even "desserts" straight from her own orchard. Another perk is that Chishiro takes pictures through the day, and posts them for only the parents, so we can see what are kids are up to all day. If my daughter was having a "bad day" she would let me know, sometimes sending a text and a picture, to keep me up to date. Parting was very hard on my daughter in the morning, and Chishiro would give me an update later in the morning as to her adjustment and mood. I really appreciated this, since it was my first time leaving my daughter all day. Each day had a regular schedule, but activities varied from art projects to Judo to cooking. I am confident in my daughter's development, even when I don't have time to provide appropriate opportunities everyday. I would highly recommend Sakura daycare for anyone's children, whether looking for a bilingual environment or not. read more

My daughter is 3.5 years old and has been attending Sakura Daycare for nine months. In those nine months, she has gone from understanding a few basic words to fully comprehending Japanese and is now able to speak in Japanese with her grandparents in Japan. Chishiro has daily 40 minute Japanese classes for the children and manages to make this time exciting for them-- none of the kids get distracted or lose focus and the older ones are well on their way to reading Japanese. Aside from the daily Japanese class, the daycare has a weekly schedule that includes: -Music: Chishiro sings, plays the piano and the ukulele, and provides fun props for the kids to dance with during this time -Cooking: Each child is provided with a chef's hat and apron and participates in preparing a healthy snack -Spanish: Only Japanese and Spanish are spoken at Sakura Daycare which really encourages the children's language skills to be activated at an early age -Judo: Chishiro is an avid participant in the Judo community on a national level and the kids seem to enjoy this activity a lot -Art: My daughter always brings home creative projects that allow her to experiment with different textile objects On top of all of this, Chishiro provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus snacks; almost all organic and many made from scratch, like her breads and natto. She also sends daily emails to all of the parents with the day's menu, a picture of a meal from that day and posts pictures of the kids on Snapfish on a daily basis. All in all, this is a wonderful daycare and a great environment for kids. My daughter has made incredible progress in Japanese and socially, and more importantly, cannot wait to go to daycare every morning. read more

I highly recommend Sakura Daycare, run by Chishiro Newman. She is a dependable and responsible caregiver. My son 2 yo and my daghter 4yo go there since last year. Each day, Chishiro prepares variety of organic meals for the kids, and my kids eat better at daycare than home! She also uses cloth diaper and my son's diaper rash dramatically improved. Each day she has special activities for the kids and she even purchases toddler outfit for Judo and cooking and it is so cute to look at the pictures that she takes daily and shares with us online. My husband waits for those pics everyday and look at them at work. She also teaches sigh language and it is so cute, when my kids do the baby sign at home. My kids picked up Japanese pretty quickly and they can now talk to my parents in Japan on the phone in Japanese. She really loves children and is a very caring person. You can be at work peacefully, knowing that your kids are in great hands. read more

My daughter has attended Sakura for almost two years and will sadly be leaving in a couple of months to begin Transitional Kindergarten in the fall. Our experience at Sakura has been absolutely amazing. Recent menu items have included grilled artichoke and crimini mushroom pesto with organic chicken and goat cheese, organic cabbage and watercress salad, portobello mushroom tempura, organic apricot and bell pepper salad with creme fraiche. Aside from the three meals she provides the children (all cooked from scratch, including natto, miso, bread, pasta and almost always organic), Chishiro provides a structured daily schedule that I believe prepares them for a more disciplined academic future. Before attending Sakura, my daughter only knew a few Japanese words and no Spanish. Now, with Chishiro and her assistants nurturing guidance, she speaks Japanese and Spanish with ease and can also read hiragana and katakana. Chishiro has also recently added math to the curriculum and my daughter is working on single digit addition and subtraction. Chishiro provides individualized attention to each child and his/her needs and creates a fun environment to learn new things-- they are currently learning flags of the world and recite the country names of flags at an astonishing pace. In between these more academic aspects, loads of free time to play, art, music, and story time are also included in the daily schedule, making it well rounded and pure fun. We will be sad to graduate from Sakura this summer, but plan on enrolling our younger daughter when she is ready. read more

My son has been coming to this daycare since he was five months old (he will be 3 next month) and I could not be more satisfied. When I had to go back to work (after maternity leave), I was so concerned about finding the right daycare for my baby. I couldn't be more thankful to have found such a wonderful environment for my son! Chishiro cares for the children as if they were her own and is "top-notch" when it comes to organization, education, and management. Each day, she serves the children home-cooked organic meals and involves the children in such learning activities as cooking, gardening, art & crafts, music, dance, judo, gymnastics, and reading. At Sakura, there is a large backyard for the children to run and play. There are also outdoor play structures and a wide variety of bikes, wagons, and riding toys to keep the kids busy and active. The children have a structured day, with consistent meal, nap, and activity times. Chishiro writes everything down on a slip of paper that she gives to the parent each day, so that when you pick up your child you know exactly what time they ate and napped and also their potty times throughout the day. And you never have to wonder about the day's activities, since Chishiro takes photos (and records videos) throughout the day and then emails them to all of the parents each afternoon! How great is that?! I should also specify that this is a Japanese daycare and that all of the children eventually become bilingual, even if you are like me and do not speak Japanese yourself. Honestly, I cannot compliment Chishiro enough! I strongly recommend Sakura Daycare (Early Preschool) ...if you bring your child here, you will not be disappointed. read more

My son has been attending the Sakura Daycare for the last 2 years. Two main reasons that I chose the daycare - 1) Japanese language immersion and 2) home cooked- healthy meals. After spending sometime, I realized there are other positive aspects. Food: It's great quality food. It's great for working parents to have 3 meals plus snacks provided. Chishiro (owner) makes sure that all kids have a good balanced diet. She is flexible enough to accommodate kids who need to eat more, less or some other diet restrictions. She provides Japanese and some more American food. Parents will have an opportunity, at least, once a year for taste what she provides to kids. Communication: Some of negative comments below address lack of communication. She prepares a sheet for every kid informing parents number of bowel movement, pee, amount of nap, and amount of food they ate. Even if you don't get to talk to a care provider that day, you will get an idea of basic things. In addition, you receive photos every day. The daycare closes at 5:30pm. I, personally, think that parents should arrive early, at least by 5:20pm, if they have any questions about their kids. I personally feel that I should ask questions, wrap up my son's play and leave the day care by 5:30 pm, not arrive by 5:30pm. If I e-mail or text Chishiro for a question, she was also available. Activities - She has a basic schedule. Again you will see what kids do each day because you can see photos. Sometime kids come back home with art project or some backed items. She also take kids to occasional field trips if parents provide consent. Sometimes kids walk to a nearby parks. As the weather has been nice, they have been spending a lot of time outside. My son loves playing outside. She has a good amount of outdoor and indoor toys as well as books in Japanese and English. Chishiro balances out activities with some academic instructions (numbers, Japanese and English alphabets), art, songs, reading, cooking, and exploring senses outside. Cloth diaper/Potty training: She provides cloth diapers with no extra charges. It's a bonus for me. Also, she and her staff are patiently assisting potty training for my son. My son is making a progress, but it has been taking a while as he does not care about being wet... Flexibility: Above all, she is flexible enough to accommodate some individual needs. Every child is different, and she tries her best to accommodate those needs as long as those are reasonable or does not take too much time away from caring other kids. Language: I sent him to this daycare because it's Japanese immersion. He is turning 3 and is multilingual (Japanese, Spanish and English). His strongest language is Japanese. One of the daycare staff is teaching him Spanish. We (parents) don't teach him English, but he is learning English somehow with his daycare buddies and by listening to others. Raising a multilingual kid is not easy. My son understands what he hears in Japanese, English and Spanish, but his ability to construct a sentence is below average. I know it will come in time, and he will catch up. Parents should know that multilingual children demonstrate a different patterns of language development compared to monolingual children, but learning language at early age provide grate benefits. One more response to a negative comment regarding late fees - These days late fees are expensive at many places. Chishiro spells out late fees in annual contract, so it should not be a surprise to parents. For the current year, it is $2 per minute. It's more than when we started 2 years ago. If you arrange an extended care 24 hour in advance, you will pay an hourly fee not late charge by minute. read more

My daughter is 22 months and has been attending Sakura Daycare for 1.5 months. I am very happy with the caregivers in Sakura Daycare. Everyone is very kind, my daughter loves to go to her Daycare. She is always excited to see the teachers in the morning. She is so happy that even my older daughter wants to join. Sakura daycare has many fun activities for children to play. She would come home with artworks and cupcake that she baked from school. She is eating extremely well at school too because Chishiro makes nutritious organic meal everyday. Moreover, Chishiro would upload pictures daily to let parents see what their children are doing. I am so glad to see my kid happy and healthy knowing that she is with good hands. read more

We love Sakura daycare! Our son has been at Sakura for a year and a half and if he absolutely loves his 'school', just as much as we do! It is time for him to transition to pre-school and we are so lucky that Chishiro and her team have set him up with the tools; social and educational to make his new start an easy one. During his time at Sakura our little one has been fed with the best home-cooked, fresh and organic foods, he has developed language in both Japanese and Spanish but most importantly, he has been cared for with kindness and love by Chishiro and her assistants. We could not have asked for a better place to send our son! read more

I would not recommend this childcare to any parents. My child used to be enrolled at this daycare and I started to have some apprehensions when I would go to pick her up and there would be a lot of crying and unhappy children. What really got me to end my relationship with this daycare was when I was told that two or three children had gotten out on their own (2 or 3 years old) and neighbors found them wandering across the street. Chishiro was supposed to have legally notified all of the parents that this had happened, and I only found out about it from some of the other parents. I was angry and terrified that something could have happened to my child. Chishiro is not easy to work with and gets very angry and defensive when you ask her about questions you may have about the daycare. I am much happier that I now have another, safer daycare for my child. read more

I highly recommend Sakura Daycare. My son was not yet 2 years old when he started attending Sakura Daycare. He attached to Chichiro right away, and I felt very comfortable leaving him under her care. I was very impressed with the program she runs at her day care. She teaches Japanese, alphabet, sign language, cooking, story time and much more. I witnessed a 2 year old recognize the alphabet. She takes pictures and sends download links to the parents. One of my favorite pictures was of the children cooking with their colorful chef outfits on. I asked her later that day what they made. She said they made fresh fruit smoothie. The nutritious meals she provides are also something I was very impressed with. Her home made miso soup with lots of vegetables and meat looked so delicious. She goes the extra mile to make sure the children get good quality and nutritious food. All of the children looked very happy there at Sakura Day care. read more

My husband and I cannot praise Chishiro and her assistants enough, they are amazing. Just to give you an idea of how much our daughter loves Sakura Daycare, she has been coming here since she was 4 months old and even to this day as a 19 month she is always excited and all smiles to see Chishiro and her assistants. I grew up speaking Japanese so naturally the language emersion is how I found SDC. However, there are many more qualities about this place that make SDC very special. First, I can probably speak for all the other parents when I say the kids eat better than we do. They get to eat delicious, well-balanced, homecooked meals every day. This is especially a perk for working parents as you don't have to worry about food prep every night. Chishiro also sends daily feeds of update pictures with the menu of the day, which brings me to my second point. She is very communicative and leaves herself available for any questions you may have throughout the day, and will be the first to let you know if she has questions or concerns. Third, they not only teach the children Japanese, baby sign language, but also Spanish, which I am very excited about. I speak Japanese to my daughter but she is also able to understand English and Spanish. The kids also get to participate in a variety of group activities (in addition to play time), such as Judo, cooking class, story time, singing, and dancing. We cannot recommend this place enough! read more