We're in love with Mustard Seed! We can't overstate how grateful we are for this incredible team…read moreand community. It really feels like there's a village helping to raise our family. Our eldest transferred to MSP from another daycare / preschool center during the summer term when she was 2 1/2. It was a difficult decision because there were things we loved about her first school (where she'd spent almost a year), but the switch felt right. We liked that MSP's physical space, level of enrollment, and staffing strategy provided more structure: with same-age classrooms, age-sensitive schedules, age-sensitive teaching approaches, and opportunities for mixed age play outdoors several times a day. We liked that our daughter would always have a primary teacher team focused on her, as well as opportunities throughout the day and week to build relationships with other teachers. We liked that she'd have a dozen peers close to her age, for a nice variety of personalities to befriend and grow with. And we liked that the outdoor space supports a variety of play types under a beautiful leafy canopy. It's all turned out beautifully. Judging by our daughter's energy at drop off and pick up, her transition to MSP was immediately easier than her previous transitions. Even in her first weeks there, it was clear that the structure made it easier for her to get through the day than at her previous school. In the past year and a half it's only gotten better. The vibe is relaxed and confident; they really know what they're doing and everything about the program feels intentional. The teachers are very thoughtful about helping our daughter navigate socio-emotional development and challenging social dynamics, and are happy to discuss strategies with us when we ask how we can support at home. Although her classroom teachers are primary, she has great relationships with all of the teachers in the play yard and they all know her well. She is developing strong social skills and has made wonderful friends. The community of families has been warm and fun for all of us: we regularly meet classmates at King School Park after school, the staff organizes incredibly fun family parties for holidays and more throughout the year--usually featuring Music Man Chano and his band, total celebrities for all ages!--and there's a meal train organized every time a new baby arrives. Lunches by Chef Miguel are expanding our daughter's palette and simplifying our mornings at home. We can't wait to start it all again with our newborn when she turns 18 months old!

Both my children attended Mustard Seed preschool. It's a…read morereally wonderful place run by people who truly care about children. Candace, the director, treats everyone like family. She's also a very insightful and creative educator. The administrative side of the school runs very smoothly and they are very accommodating of different schedules and constraints. My kids, now 10 and 12, still remember Mustard Seed fondly as a place where they were surrounded by loving teachers and great friends.

So fortunate to have found this little gem. We found Little Elephant Too in Berkeley online when we…read morewere moving from India to the Bay Area last year in 2022. Fortunate to have fallen in love with this cute cozy and calm space for our daughter! She has so much fun here, loves her teachers and her friends We have been enjoying being part of this community, talking to the parents and bonding over birthday parties at the park or potluck gatherings in school. Amazing memories we will cherish forever! If you ever want to gift something special to your child, gift them montessori education for their early childhood

Little Elephants Too (LE2) has been a fantastic experience for our third child. Our older two kids…read moreattended a different preschool in Berkeley; we made the switch to LE2 for our third due to some logistics concerns about drop off times and proximity to the elementary school. We felt badly moving on from the preschool our older kids attended but having the benefit of comparison I recognize how special LE2 is and how much more my third has benefited by being in this small, nurturing Montessori environment. Specifically, she is very good about cleaning up, politeness, recognizing and calling out unkindness, and engaging with others socially. She is much further along in terms of number and letter recognition than my other two kids were at this age. She loves going to school every day. The teachers at LE2 are wonderful people, each of whom provides a different sort of nurturing for the kids who attend. The space is also perfectly set up with different areas for exploration and a very large outdoor play space. I have been delighted with LE2 and think you will be too! Frankly I wish all of my kids had gone here! Highly recommend this gem of a preschool!

My son started 2nd grade this morning; my reflections after dropping him off reminded me of his…read moremost beautiful school beginnings at Redwood Garden preschool. There is so much going on in the world to cause anxiety and insecurity, but each morning that my partner or I would drop our son off we felt that he was entering into a protected and enchanted space. We learned so much from Lauri about how to move through our days and months with a rhythm that our son takes comfort in. There are so many rich traditions that the school celebrates, and our son's crafts from his two years at RG still hang and remind us of those sweet years and the community we gained being a part of Lauri's preschool. Many others have mentioned it, but Lauri's ability to see my child and delight in his individual gifts and personality traits was so appreciated. We don't have family close by and I felt that my son had another caregiver that loved him and cared for him as family do. Redwood Garden will always bring back joyful memories for me, and I'm so grateful that we found RG and Lauri.

Between our two sons, Redwood Garden has been a wonderful part of our lives for almost four years…read more Teacher Lauri provides a warm, safe, and nurturing environment for the children. Each day follows a rhythm and a pattern, so the children always know what to expect. Transitions are managed through songs. Lauri lovingly provides the children with boundaries. She is a true professional. I know we have been very lucky to have her all these years! I have Lauri to thank for my children's love of being outside on a rainy day, appreciation for rainbow chard, and many beautiful songs and sayings that have become a part of our family's vocabulary and culture. Lauri holds a few parenting nights each year, and I always come away feeling inspired and recharged by the wisdom she shares.

The teachers here are great - very attentive and supportive yet able to foster independence and…read moreimagination. Our son's language and social confidence has absolutely thrived here!! The staff to kiddo ratio is great, no concerns at all about 1-2 teachers watching 20-30 kids which was one of our big anxieties trying to find the right fit. Also the community events are great like garden planting/harvest with coffee and pastries for all, kids and parents alike. Not to mention the parents group chat that is always active with outside park play dates and birthdays and such. So lucky to have found this community!

My daughter started attending BHNS this August, and she absolutely loves it! We -- parents and…read moregrandparents alike -- couldn't be happier. The facilities are wonderful and offer so many engaging activities for the kids. The teachers are warm, dedicated, and truly caring; so far, we have nothing but amazing things to say about them. We're also very pleased with the parent community that's beginning to take shape. BHNS has been a fantastic experience for our family.

It might have been the time when we were there, but they kept changing teachers in the span of a…read moremonth. It made our kids feel very unsettled and without having experience at the day care, they felt isolated. The owner does not have as good information or control on what goes on in the day care every day. If there is conflict resolution, the teacher's are first, your kids are second, and you are last. I hope things have changed since we left a couple of years back. Some of the teachers were great. It's a nice spot and the food they had for the kids was good. The kids like to hang out at the park nearby afterwards - a good opportunity for littles to socialize. I would not recommend this day care.

Simply said, Olga and the teachers at Fox & Bear Daycare became an extension of our family. We had…read moreour son start at the daycare when he was 4 months old and he remained there through preschool and even into Kindergarten, due to the pandemic. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had the chance to enroll our son at Fox and Bear Daycare and highly recommend them for child care of any age. All pictures included came from the teachers at Fox & Bear. I would get pics daily, so got to see my little one grow even while he was away during my work days. There were so many activities which they adapted for all ages - art, crafts, outdoor play, soccer, dress-up, games, puzzles plus some multi-cultural holiday fun throughout the year. And, when the pandemic hit, they adapted a space to allow for the "bigger" kids to be in virtual class from Fox & Bear (kindergarten for our lil' one), so I could work from home and not be so distracted. That was a massive mental health saver for our family! Beyond all noted above, there's a special touch that Olga provides. Some due to her education in young child development and learning, but more just because of her heart. She loved my boy like a son and truly became a part of our family over the ~5 years she cared for him. She still remembers him on his birthday and, although we've moved away from the Bay Area, she still reaches out to check in. She's simply a beautiful person inside and out who will put her all into ensuring little ones will thrive while in her care, as well as far after they've moved onto to big kid school.

Our son has been in Little Ducklings for 2 years, and we couldn't recommend it more highly. Paty…read moreand Jaime meet each child where they are, and then help them blossom into the best version of themselves. We feel like we've found not just an incredible learning environment, but another family. Paty and Jaime care about the kids like their own, and you see that reflected in the love the kids have for each other as well. Paty and Jaime have really crafted a very special, supportive, nurturing environment and community. We also love the focus they have on making learning fun. Paty adheres to a curriculum, but follows the kids' interests to keep them engaged, and works elements of the curriculum in to everything they do. Truly play-based learning! We also love the enrichment classes they have. Our little one has been teaching us songs and yoga poses he's learned from some of the specialist teachers.

My twins were at Little Ducklings Day school for the past year, and they loved their time there…read more Paty and staff are wonderful. They give lots of love and attention to each child. Paty has an excellent curriculum that teaches letters, numbers, etc. My favorite part though was that my twins were always bringing home beautiful art projects they had done at school. The school is clean and welcoming, with a nice play area in the back yard. My twins made lasting friendships there. I highly recommend!

Our daughter recently started at BIM. I am originally from Japan so I was looking for a full…read morejapanese immersion school and I have so far been impressed. BIM does an excellent job at incorporating traditional Montessori teaching methods with japanese language and culture. The children not only learn the language, they also get to experience the culture including holidays and other traditions. The educational team is excellent, a group of teachers who pride themselves on being warm and loving while encouraging the children to grow at their own pace. We have another baby on the waiting list, make sure to sign up early as it can take a while for your space to open up.

I had the great honor of working at BIM as an office admin and co-teacher for 3 years. Even though…read moreI had tons of teaching experience and ECE units under my belt when I started, BIM was the first and only Montessori program I worked at. I learned so much about the Montessori method from my fellow co-teachers and was always inspired by their hard work and dedication to their craft. Japanese is my second language that will no doubt deteriorate if I stop using it, so being able to use it daily in various situations at my place of work was also a huge benefit for me. The BIM community as a whole is extremely tight-knit and supportive. I had never felt so loved and appreciated by the families I worked for before BIM, and it was heartening to witness new bonds and friendships being formed among everyone firsthand. Of course, I really miss the kids most of all and the funny things they would say and do, but feel very lucky and privileged to have 3 years' worth of fond memories with them. BIM, iroiro arigato! Mata ne!

I can't say enough good things about my family's experience at the New School. Its wonderful…read moreteachers take the work of creating a loving, safe, child-centric environment seriously, providing just the right balance of support and independence for kids as they discover themselves, their peers, and the world around them. The New School is great environment for working parents, with hours that reflect the reality of the work day, camps on days when public schools are closed, and a delightful summer program full of field trips, swimming, and ample play. We also really loved how the New School eased our transition to kindergarten by giving my child a familiar place with his longtime friends to go every afternoon. The fact that BUSD buses kids there from many elementary schools was a huge convenience, especially given the intense demand for afterschool care in Berkeley.

Amazing after-school for our 6 year old. Wonderful community, excellent teachers and care-givers,…read moreand a lovely place.

Step One School is truly a school of happiness! Choosing it for our son was one of the best…read moredecisions we've made. Now in his second year, he started at age three as a shy and cautious child who spoke very little. His teachers surrounded him with love and care, helping him feel safe and confident. It's no surprise that many of the staff spend their entire careers at this school--it's a special place. This year, our son is thriving! He's speaking more clearly, counting, and making friends. Watching him grow in such a welcoming and nurturing environment is amazing. From drawing to music and even playing guitar, he loves every moment of school and looks forward to going every day. We couldn't be happier with Step One!

Step One School is a magical place! Our family feels so grateful to be part of this warm, welcoming…read morecommunity. Every teacher is loving, supportive, and kind. My favorite part of the school yard is the organic garden, but our oldest son most enjoys playing in the little stream of water that runs down the hillside. He is thriving, asking us to play Stevie Wonder songs at home, just like he dances to at school.

I applied for Child care here 2 years ago , I have watched families that are new join time after…read moretime again yet I have not gotten a call back since I applied 2 years ago . why is the question ? I believe they pick and choose who they want to come from family that pay to family that need assistance are not really welcome. I called today to ask were my name was on the list only to be told to hold for the the director getting on the phone stated she was listening and that she had no space and I should contact bananas to ima take your number down , to I'll call you back when all I wanted to know was were my son was on the list after two years . It's outrageous how Berkeley private schools treat there residents . I really regret moving here and I can't wait to move . Thanks

We were lucky enough to get a spot for our child here and the staff and parent community are top…read moretier. I continue to be impressed by the care our family received from this institution. Kid #2 starts next year and we are so excited to have another child go through this school.