Montecito Preschool

"I hope this review helps other parents with energetic kids. I signed up my son for Montecito, thinking it would be an amazing experience for him. They have animals and an incredible outdoor space that looks like paradise for toddlers. However, you need much more to provide quality time for the kids. The outdoor space is useless if it's not properly stimulated. After 5 minutes, the kids get bored of riding the bike, and their teachers just watch them from far away. My 2-year-old son is very energetic, and it got worse when his brother was born. They asked for an assessment, and the evaluator visited the daycare. She told us that my son's behavior was totally normal. Not happy with the results of the evaluation, they asked us for a second evaluation, this time in a different environment. That's when I realized this was getting crazy, and I asked for a private meeting with the director, Erin. She refused to meet with us twice! Honestly, her behavior as the director was very rude, unacceptable and very unprofessional. In the end, the assessment they recommended helped us realize that THEY are the problem with non-age-appropriate circle time and activities and a non-stimulating environment for smart kids. Forgot to mention that on the first day after summer vacations the teacher was pushing and asking about the assessment status, mentioning that he needed to come with a shadow in a non private space where other parents and my son could hear, it made me feel so bad and so unwelcome… this was a violation of my privacy and it is a huge liability issue."

"Very bad experience. I booked the center as summer backup care for my kids 2 months ago and they accepted the request. Then they cancelled within 2 weeks of the onboarding date without any notifications or emails, and noticed me the cancellation just after I sent my kid to the center."

"The campus is gorgeous. It has everything kids could play with outdoors: sandpits, slides, tires, tot lot, bikes, animals, and more. Montecito has been really helpful from day one. They helped us to navigate a difficult move where we didn't know when we'd find a place. They've also been patient and flexible when anything came up. The teacher/student ratios are fantastic, and Erin is the most responsive director you can find."

"My son has been going to Montecito Preschool for about 6 months now. My experience with this school has been very good. Teachers are very caring and considerate of my son's needs. He is happy there. The campus is beautiful with age appropriate play structures and a variety of activities for the little ones. The program is play based and encourages hands on learning. A friendly environment for the children indeed!!"

"We recently moved to Los Altos and put our son in the 5 year old program at Montecito. The 5 year old program has a wonderful student/teacher ratio with 8 students and 2 teachers. My son is really happy here and looks forward to going to school every morning. He loves his teachers and the year is off to a great start! The campus is adorable with gorgeous oak trees and a little red schoolhouse and they incorporate animals as part of the curriculum. The children get to interact with chickens, lizards, guinea pigs, fish, etc. and my son has even brought home 2 eggs so far from one of the chickens which he absolutely loved. Each classroom has their own play area with age appropriate toys and there's a big circular center for bikes and ride along toys. We couldn't be happier with our choice."