Our child has been at Blueskies ever since he was 13 months old. Over the past 2 years, he has had…read morelots of fun time at the school. The school teachers are very responsible and kind to children. We've never had any issues. The prepared lunch and snacks provided by the school is also a huge time-saver for parents. we really like the school.

We visited several daycares before choosing this one, and from the very first interaction, the…read moredifference was clear. There was an immediate sense of warmth and welcome, not just from one person, but from the entire staff. It felt genuine and consistent, not performative. What truly sets this daycare apart is how thoughtfully the program is designed around child development. Every stage of a child's experience is intentional and age-appropriate, from classrooms designed to support parallel play for younger children (where they play alongside one another rather than together) to environments that encourage curiosity, independence, and child-led exploration as they grow. The level of care and attention to detail is impressive. Nothing feels accidental. From the physical setup of the rooms to how educators observe and support learning through play. Since starting here, I've seen my own child's growth and confidence accelerate in ways that have been incredibly meaningful to witness. We're so grateful to be part of this community.

Our son had a great experience here. It was his first time being outside the home. We started him…read moreat 13 months old and stayed her until starting preschool a year later. Evalyn and Evan were both great with him and were great with him through his transition to being away from home. After the adjustment period, he was always happy and excited to go to school.

Evalyn is the best! She very patient, and loves what she is doing. The kids are always doing…read moreactivities and come home with big huge smiles, ready to share what they did during the day. Her center is organized, secure, and welcoming - you can tell that she gives her heart to it. I am completely at peace with the notion that my infant is with her. Highly recommend Evalyn's Child Care!

The school's academic curriculum is awesome. I put my two daughters through Mountain Blvd.,…read moreMontessori and they were more than prepared to thrive in kindergarten. The staff and teachers are also very caring and want to see the children be successful in all aspects. If there is one thing I would love to see evolve is more activities/events geared towards parent and family participation. Overall, the school has done a fantastic job with our two little humans.

My son attended Mountain Boulevard Montessori for two years and three months before advancing to…read moreTransitional Kindergarten (TK). During his time there, we had experience with their toddler, preschool, and pre-K programs, and overall, our experience was wonderful. We never had any concerns about our child's safety, and communication with the school was consistently excellent. Every email or phone call was responded to promptly, and we always felt informed and supported. The curriculum is quite structured and leans a little more academic than some preschools, but in our case, that proved to be a real benefit. It provided an excellent runway into TK, where our son seems very well prepared compared with many of his peers, both socially and academically. There were several staff members who really stood out to us. Mr. Andreas has a wonderful disposition for working with children--he strikes a great balance between setting high expectations while remaining warm, patient, and humorous. Mr. Dennis is an exceptional administrator and was always communicative, open, and thorough. I never felt that a question or concern went unanswered. Ms. Wendy was my son's favorite teacher and was part of his experience for most of his time at the school. She was his classroom teacher for about a year and later his Spanish teacher after he moved into the pre-K class. She is very nurturing and has a particularly good way of channeling the energy of highly active children like my son while still keeping them engaged and focused. In terms of value, tuition seemed right around market rate. Compared with similar schools we considered, Mountain Boulevard Montessori was somewhere in the middle price-wise, but what stood out to us were the smaller class sizes, strong teacher-to-student ratio, and the overall quality of the facility. The school is highly organized, impeccably clean, and consistently well maintained. It was also extremely helpful that the school calendar generally mirrored Oakland Unified's holidays and vacations. That made childcare logistics much easier and avoided many of the scheduling conflicts that can arise when preschool and elementary school calendars are out of sync. If I had to offer any constructive feedback, I think families would benefit from as much advance communication as possible around staffing changes. At this age, changes in teachers can feel significant to children, and having a little runway can help families prepare them. At the same time, I completely understand that employment and privacy considerations may limit what a school is able to share. I also observed a few interactions involving one long-standing teacher where the communication style felt somewhat less patient and nurturing than what we had experienced with the rest of the staff. I have no doubt about her academic abilities or experience, and my son had very limited direct interaction with her until right before his departure, so I can't speak to any lasting impact, however, it was something I noticed that seemed inconsistent with all other interactions with staff at the school. This was very much an exception to an otherwise consistently positive experience over more than two years at Mountain Boulevard Montessori. We were very happy with the care, education, communication, and preparation our son received, and I would feel very comfortable recommending the school to friends or family without hesitation.

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

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

I can't begin to say enough good things about this awesome preschool! It's honestly a little gem or…read morea diamond in the rough as some would call it. Both of my kids have graduated from LSP in the past couple of years and they both made so many awesome friends and even my wife and I have made some amazing friends as well with some of the other parents. The teachers there are amazing and they've done so much to enrich the little ones who attend with a great curriculum while instilling great values to help them grow into such wonderful TK students (TKers) to make sure they're all ready for the next chapter in their lives. If you want your preschooler(s) to attend a great school while knowing they will be in great hands, while learning, having fun (and even getting potty trained if they need to be....bonus!), and making special friendships, then Little Sprouts should definitely be worth checking out! PS They've always be very reasonably priced as well!

All of our 3 children went to Little Sprouts Preschool and had an amazing experience. Teacher…read moreZugeyli has been such a loving presence for our children (potty training all of them!). Her care extends to the families of the children as well. Our children have gone onto school at NYU, UCSD, and Oakland High. Little Sprouts laid such a beautiful foundation for them to thrive as students and as members of a larger community.

Wonderful Preschool! We've been at Growing Light for the…read morelast few years and love the school, teachers, and other families. Ms. Awa (the school director) leads a fantastic staff of dedicated teachers and we always feel that our kids are cared for, safe, and getting a great education. So happy that we are part of the GLM community.

It took me a few months to write this review. Mainly because it's hard to publicly comment on a…read moreplace where kind, loving people have cared for your children. No one wants their words to be seen as coming from a place of bitterness. But after nearly three years at GLMS, I think it's important to share an honest account of our experience so other parents can make informed choices. The good: Our daughter learned a lot during their time at GLMS. She developed strong foundational skills in letters, number sense, music, and social topics. She loved kinderdance! Many of the teachers were warm, nurturing, and truly loving some with a grandmotherly kindness that made us feel our kids were genuinely cared for. These teachers are the heart and soul of the school and a reason why we stayed as long as we did. The challenges: The school is poorly managed and lacks transparency. Communication is reactive rather than proactive, and parents are kept at arm's length from the people who spend the most time with their children. Teachers frequently leave, often without clear explanation. It's telling that parent access to classrooms was restricted well after COVID had ended and only changed after intervention from California Childcare Licensing. Leadership, particularly the owner and directors, tightly control communication between teachers and parents. It's not uncommon for them to intercept or filter conversations, making it difficult to have an open, productive dialogue about your child's development with their teacher. Many teachers appear fearful of management, which makes it hard to trust that your child's best interests always come first. GLMS is extremely overpriced for what it offers. Tuition is among the highest in the area (+34k / year), and there's also a mandatory $900 per-year "supply fee." With roughly 78 students, that's nearly $70,000 collected annually--yet the snacks, art materials, classrooms, playground, parking experiences don't reflect that investment. It's hard to justify those costs when the school's operations and transparency remain so lacking. GLMS struggles to balance what it's legally required to do with what's simply right for families and children. It's a school with kind teachers but poor leadership, inconsistent quality, and a lack of accountability. Parents--please do your due diligence. Review the public state licensing records, ask hard questions, and advocate for more transparency. The children and teachers deserve better.

Ms. Lori and her team are wonderful. They take great care of our little one. They are clean, kind,…read moreand very professional.

Lori and her team take wonderful care of my son! He has been with them since 5 months and is now 2…read more He loves going to school, his teachers, and his friends!

Carabao Kids was a godsend for my daughter in the midst of the pandemic. A sociable two year old…read morewhen she started, she needed to be in a safe environment that not only cared about her health, but also her development. CK was able to adjust to the many recommended CDC changes and also provide a healthy lunch and extended nap schedule in her second year. Their daily field trips around the city and involvement in the community made crossing the bridge from Oakland worthwhile. Connie is an amazing childcare provider and we always feel at home when we come back to the CK family. STEM activities, Interactive play, lots of nature and a new adventure every day for your kiddo. What's not to love?

Carabao Kids is the best! Heard about CK and Connie from a friend who also had her kids enrolled…read morethere and had an amazing learning / growing experience! We enrolled our 2 year old who loved loved loved Connie and her teaching style! OUTDOORS! PLAYING! DIGGING! BUILDING! LEARNING! PLANTING SEEDS AND WATCHING THEM GROW! All of the things that kids need! Our daughter grew so much under Connie! Connie truly prepared her for pre-K and kindergarten, where she is now thriving! Also loved the interactions with the other amazing parents - field trips and the penultimate graduation with speeches and everything! We love Connie and are so grateful for CK!