My daughter started at MIM once she turned 2 and she's loving it. So much so, she never wants to…read morecome back home when it's time for pick up. All the teachers are warm and attentive to the children. The space is cozy and inviting. And the playground is a small paradise for the little ones. She is learning a lot, from new words and sentences to putting on her socks and jacket by herself. We've seen a lot of progress in a few months! All good things. The older kids keep an eye on the younger ones and they are very sweet to each other. All in all, I highly recommend the school.

Montessori in Motion is truly a gem. From the moment we walked in, I could feel the calm, nurturing…read moreenergy of the school, and it has been nothing short of magical for my daughter. The teachers -- Crystal, Josh, Tracy, Alyiah, and Ashley -- are amazing. My daughter transitioned mid-year, and the way they welcomed her made her feel comfortable and excited to be there. The classrooms are filled with a diverse set of activities and materials to explore, and they have the best play yard I have ever seen. As a mom, the biggest gift was peace of mind. I could leave each morning knowing my daughter was not only cared for, but genuinely thriving. She has grown in confidence and independence, and came home excited to share her day and look forward to the next morning. The contrast from other schools we've experienced was night and day. At MIM, I felt supported as a parent, informed, and confident knowing my daughter's overall well-being was prioritized. It is a wonderful community. Montessori in Motion isn't just a preschool -- it's a magical place where children flourish.

We were at CMLC for 3 years, and our experience was stellar! The teachers are so loving,…read morethoughtful, and intentional. There is absolutely no "going through the motions." The Reggio Emilia approach to childhood education allowed our son to blossom into himself rather than be molded into someone he is not. The teachers know each student intimately. Natural Classroom days allowed our kid to explore beautiful surroundings with friends at his own pace. We will miss the bonds created at Curious Minds! Highly recommend!

I can't recommend CMLC enough. We have been with them for over 6 years and (2) kids. We feel…read morehonored to be part of the little community that is built around this school and will miss it dearly. The teachers go above and beyond in so many ways to engage our kids in new activities and help them grow. They also provide weekly photos, weekly summaries of activities, topics, challenges faced by our children as well as the class room as a whole. Not to mention the quarterly review letters, that call out our children's strengths, challenges and learning path ahead. Jackie is a 5 star administrator. She has been there every step of the way to build the CMLC community as well as keep us updated on current events effecting the school. She has provided in depth advice for both of our children to set them on the best path forward. THANK YOU!!!!

I was browsing on yelp and was quite shocked to see that MHS has received several negative reviews…read morefrom angry neighbors who are upset over a sidewalk. This sidewalk was recently built to keep residents and MHS students safe on a quite busy street. As I regularly walk on this street with sometimes as many as four young children (we carpool) I was overjoyed when the project was finished and I did not have to grab on to my kids trying to dodge speeding cars anymore. I find it quite inappropriate that some of the residents who were against this project try to hurt the school and its reputation by posting negative and irrelevant reviews on yelp. These reviews should definitely be read with a grain of salt as they have little or nothing to do with the education and quality of the school itself. I speak from first hand experience. We have been a MHS family for almost five years and have been extremely happy there. Our two oldest children have absolutely thrived, both academically and socially. We love the teachers who have been nothing but outstanding. We don't live in Mill Valley and we spend approx 30 minutes driving each way. While this is exhausting we believe that it has been absolutely worth it. Tired of the commute we initially enrolled our second child in a very popular and more local preschool closer to our house, but having already experienced the excellence at MHS we quickly realized that the two schools were not even comparable. Thankfully we were able to transfer our daughter to MHS mid year where she has been since. We instantly noticed a huge difference in her enthusiasm and awareness. She now started coming home from school wanting to share everything that she had learned. In other words, our experience at MHS has been worth every minute spent on the road and we absolutely want to give this very special school our warmest recommendation.

I attended Marin Horizon in the early-mid 2000s, from 3rd through 8th grade. Those years were…read moreextremely formative for me, but unfortunately were not positive - in fact I remember them today as being the worst years of my life. The academics at MHS may have been good, but were rendered irrelevant by the brutal, ceaseless bullying I experienced, the scars of which haunt me to this day. I have memories of horrible things my classmates did to me while the faculty and administration stood by and did nothing. It pains me to think that my parents spent so much money for me to be treated so poorly, and even today I wonder how I made it through those years of misery and came out the other side. Today I'm 32 and have a wonderful and fulfilling life that I am extremely proud of - everything I have is not because of, but rather in spite of, my time at MHS.

My son has been here for three years now and we are really grateful to have found this wonderful…read moreestablishment. He has learned how to be a more concise and considerate person. The teachers are practical parents themselves and know when to coddle and when not to coddle. I have met many parents who's children are now in high school and college but they still remember there time at Daycaring with fondness. I know this chapter in my son's life will also be revered with Daycaring Preschool as the wonderful backdrop to his experience.

I've put off writing this review for quite a while now, b/c DC'ing is such a beloved institution,…read moreand also, there are so few daycares in Marin, that even if not a good fit, you may not have a choice. I ultimately decided to throw down my two cents, in case it helps a family, with similar ideas and priorities as ours, in deciding where to spend their hard-earned money and time (because this is a co-op you will be expected to dedicate work hours, too). If you commute from SF for work, good luck getting there at 6pm. I think more than a few parents hire nannies to pick up their kids or one parent only works part-time or not at all, which is how they manage it. And don't let the relaxed vibe there fool you. Even being a minute late will cost you $5, plus a few very nasty looks. Do it twice, and they threaten to expel your kid. It's a nonprofit, but they charge nearly as much as any other daycare. They have a fundraiser too that you are expected to contribute to. I raised $500 my first year there (Didn't get so much a thank you note. Makes me sorry that I traded in my "mommy capitol" among my friends and family to get them to donate, when I really could have used that effort and my friends cash for a nonprofit that would have truly appreciate it.) When you tour the place, you will see the rows and rows of diapers in the one small bathroom. Thats because easily 80% of kids are not toilet trained, including the ones who are going to start kindergarten next year. They only take the kids to the bathroom twice a day. The bathroom is hidden off in a side room, very far away from the play area. Trying to potty train your kid in this set up is a losing battle. (My kid was potty trained w/in 4 weeks at a new daycare, without me changing anything else about our routine. The new place takes the kids every hour). Initially, I thought the place had a sort of casual chic. $1300/month later, I wondered where my money was going, with the dirty toys, broken furniture, peeling paint, and all the delayed maintenance, including plumbing / drainage problems that shut the place down for a few days, that left us scrambling for daycare. Once again, they rely on that "relaxed" vibe to be what I would charterize as disorganized. If you have any questions or issues about your kid, you are supposed to write it in this notebook at the front. I don't think anyone reads that though, so I wound up spending a lot of time buttonholing teachers and telling them personally anytime I had info to convey. Meals - as you probably know if you are touring the place, you provide meals. That's fine, however, they are supposed to help your kid find, open, and eat their food. The very small kids, 3 - 5, have trouble with this. Example - my kids lunchbox had front and side compartments. I discovered that no one was bothering to open them up, and get the food out for my toddler. Meals wasted, kid hungry. 3 years old is just too little for kids for to be expected to feed themselves. My son is a picky eater as is - but even for a good eater, expecting them to find and open his own food? Like the potty issue, it comes down to staffing - too little of them. Staff - some are nice, some are less so, most of them seem overwhelmed. The owner only works 3/4 time (not there on Friday). I'm not one of those parents who minds if their kid gets dirty. My son is a very active child and loves a good mud puddle. However, I have my limits. He would come home, absolutely filthy, just about every day, including permanent stains from nonwashable markers and paint. I asked them if they could either switch to washable paint ("no, these are the paints we use") or put a smock on the kids ("no, we don't have time for that"). So, I had to add soaking and treating my son's clothes to my To Do list every day, or else have every picture ever taken of my kid in clothes looking like I dug them out of the trash. Or have an entire other wardrobe for weekends, with all my extra cash. And call me a bad person, but I would have liked to be able to go at least one day without having to give my kid a full bath. Overall, I don't think this place is understanding or responsive to the needs of working parents, particularly moms. It probably started as little coop for mommies to take the kids to a few hours a week, so they could socialize, but not as a real daycare, for working parents. Example - my kid was having a tough week, and kept asking for me. The teacher asked me if I could "spend some time with him. Just 15 minutes a day." She actually believed that I literally never spent more than 14 minutes a day with my kid - probably less! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I calmly explained to her that despite having a jobs, my husband and I spent breakfast, and 6 pm to bedtime every night with our kid, not to mention of course weekends. She honestly looked flabbergasted. Then said "oh. ok. I guess you do see him." SMH. Like I said at the outset, I know I'm the outlier here.

MFT has been an outstanding experience for our son throughout his time there. Terese, Lori, and the…read morerest of the staff are deeply attuned to the needs of young children and have created an extraordinary early education and social experience. We couldn't have asked for a better learning environment for our son to grow up in. Highly recommended!!

Both my kids went to Terese Montessori and they both are thriving at their schools. The…read morefundamentals they learn are the best in Novato. They approach each kid different and it is an individualized approach. It is a strict program but my kids have learned to be confident and independent. My son has a lot of energy but has learned to focus in the classroom where now at his elementary school he is one of the best behaved kids in the classroom and releases his energy outside. Highly recommend this school and by far one of the best in Novato. My only thing it is small so great for ages 2-3.5 or a kids that needs that small class.

Cannot say enough good things about The Learning Tree…read more Our little guy has been there since September, and the only reason we're moving on is so he can overlap at another school with his older sister. If that weren't the case, we wouldn't be leaving. Sharon has built something truly special in Marin. It is exceptional value for the Bay Area. But the price is almost beside the point once you see what the program actually delivers. Our son is spirited, and finding an environment that could channel that energy productively was something we were looking for. Sharon handles it with ease. Watch her for five minutes with the kids and you immediately understand why: her personality is perfectly suited to it. She sets firm, loving guardrails and creates space for kids like ours to thrive. She's also put together a phenomenal supporting cast. Nehal is the backbone of the operation and was an absolute lifesaver through our son's potty training phase. Caridad rounds out the team beautifully, always present and keeping things running smoothly.

We had such a wonderful experience at The Learning Tree. My daughter attended for about a year and…read morea half and absolutely loved her time there. The staff was incredibly supportive, loving, and caring, and they created such a positive environment for her to grow and thrive. We loved it so much that my older daughter even chose to volunteer there over the summer! The Learning Tree truly feels like a welcoming and beautiful community, and we are so grateful to have been a part of it. I highly recommend it to any family looking for a nurturing and enriching place for their child.

I can not understand how this place has a 4.5-star rating. The positive reviews must be fake…read morereviews created by the staff to help keep enrollment up. My experience is a 1-star at best. Let me start with the absentee owner of this school, Olga. You will likely never see her because she never comes in unless it's time a holiday event or time to raise fees, which happens often. The morning staffer who's name starts with N is so mean that my kid would cry to us at night and had anxiety about going to school. This is a 4 year old kid we are talking about! Her attitude just blows my mind that any preschool would employ someone like that to work with kids because she clearly hates children. Next, they will nickel and dime you to death. What seems like a reasonable monthly cost is padded by exorbitant fees which are always rising. Every event has some cost attached which makes you wonder where all the tuition money is going. It certainly is not going to the staff or teachers and it shows. I am not the type of person who likes to leave negative reviews, in fact, this might be the first one I have ever posted and I decided to do it because I feel it is my duty to warn other potential parents to stay far away from this place. There are BETTER choices in the neighborhood. So let it be known that all the rumors you've heard about this place are true. It is a below-average pre-school for an above average price. AVOID.

I love this nursery school. Its first step of my son to…read morenursery school, and he is loving it. I found this place the best in business. The staff is pleasant and takes good care of kids. My 3 yr old is enjoying it ...

I can't say enough about how Waku Waku has been a wonderful experience for our family. Our daughter…read moredid not speak Japanese when she started, and within a month she was singing Japanese songs and confidently following the rituals and routines of the day. It has been remarkable to see how naturally and quickly she has absorbed the language. The small, close-knit environment helped her feel happy, secure, and genuinely known. The teachers are exceptionally warm and caring, and their devotion to the children feels like a calling. They take the time to understand each child, create a calm and respectful environment, and help the children feel proud of what they are learning. The days are full of rich, varied experiences. The children make art, sing and play music, learn through stories and hands-on activities, and spend meaningful time outdoors. They walk to nearby parks and also take longer adventures into nature, exploring hills, creeks, and the world around them. We love that these outings give the children room to be curious, capable, and connected to their surroundings. The end-of-year graduation performance was a beautiful example of how much the children learn. They performed The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Japanese, bringing together language, music, storytelling, art, and the confidence to perform in front of their families. It was joyful, thoughtful, and incredibly moving to see how far they had come. The school also teaches much more than language. Respect, cultural understanding, independence, and consideration for others are woven into everyday life. For curious children who are ready to be challenged, language immersion adds another meaningful dimension to their learning. The extracurricular activities and community events make Waku Waku feel like a true community for both children and families. We are incredibly grateful to have found such a nurturing, thoughtful, and enriching school for our daughter.