• Owner: Tristen Taylor
• Phone: (510) 848-3313
• Email:
• Neighborhood: Elmwood
• Zip: 94705
• License #: 010216686
• Capacity: 30
• Website: http://www.monteverdeschool.org/
• Bilingual:
• Ages: 2.9 - 5 years old

Hi I was just wondering if anyone had any recent reviews of monteverde preschool? thanks, ella

There aren't any postings about Monteverde within the past 2+ years, and I am wondering if someone could please write in about their current thoughts/feelings about the school. Specifically, how the current teachers are, and if anyone has any reservations about the school. Thank you very much. lauren

We are planning to send out son to Monteverde School next September, but are also second-guessing our decision because he is happy at his current preschool (though we aren't 100 percent satisfied). All of the positings on Monteverde are old. It seems like a fantastic school but could anyone give some current feedback, positive and/or negative?

I am seriously considering Monteverde Preschool for my son in September of 2005, at which time he'll be 3.3. The reviews in the archive are positive but are all quite dated -- I'd like to hear from parents who currently have kids there about your experiences with this school. Thanks! Diane
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Monteverde preschool is a fabulous, wonderful preschool with amazing, loving, skilled teachers.

My son is in his third year at Monteverde and we have had an excellent experience there. I can't recommend it highly enough for the following reasons.

There has been very low teacher turnover and the quality of the teachers is consistently high. The two owners of the school, Elaine and Tristen, run it very professionally. They and the other teachers combine the warmth that was my first requirement for a preschool (and I looked at many, many) with the creativity and energy that makes a school fun and interesting.

The physical site is very good as it combines both large indoor and outdoor spaces which allows for high energy children, like mine, to always have a place to run around. They also provide interesting art project every day. Some of my son's favorites have been taking apart old appliances donated by families (we gave an old TV), creating structures from tables of discarded stuff including wires, buttons, styrofoam, etc. He also loved a volcano project that went on for a week or two and included building big gooey volcanoes.

The children and their families are a diverse bunch, ethnically, socio-economically, and job-wise and combine to create a very warm, positive and caring community. Some of the family events are really fun. Last week was pyjama week in which the children are encouraged to wear their PJ's to school. As part of pyjama week, the school held a pancake breakfast on Thursday and many parents came in their pyjamas (or at least a robe over work clothes).

My son has made good friends at the school and my only sorrow is the graduates tend to go to a diverse group of public and private schools so I doubt any of his preschool friends will be with him in kindergarten.

I doubt you could find a better school for your daughter. I hope you enjoy your years at Monteverde as much as we have. Please feel free to email me if you have any further questions or specific concerns. April

With some reservation, I'd like to add my voice to the chorus about Monteverde School. Its certainly has a wonderful setting and is led by a creative, visionary staff. For most kids, especially those who are naturally attracted to the arts, its ideal. However...my son attended Monteverde for two unhappy years. He is not an easy child-- temperamental, sensitive to light and noise, needing structure and discipline. Monteverde was a bad fit for him.

It took a developmental psychologist to tell us that, and we immediately put him in a different school where he has done very well. In 20/20 hindsight, I wish I had changed schools right away.

The problem was that Monteverde never suggested that they didn't have the resources for my son-- rather, they blamed us (and him) for his unhappiness in various subtle and not so subtle ways. It was a very dispiriting experience that took us all a while to get over.

The lesson? The best of schools may not be the best for YOUR child. Be open to making a change if necessary. And look for a school that is willing to admit that they can't be all things to all children. JM

I can say a year later that I am still incredibly happy with our choice. Besides all the things that April mentioned, I can add that my daughter is blossoming in wonderful ways, some of which I have to attribute directly to the Monteverde staff and philosophy. (Some examples I can think of off-hand: she's become a wonderful story-teller, creating tales and telling them with intonation and emphasis that I know are a result of the time the students spend with Muriel, one of the teachers and a master storyteller. She's also incredibly adept at hill-climbing and negotiating difficult outdoor spaces to the point where she's keeping up with 7 year old boys; I don't think this would be the case if she didn't spend so much time in the "bongo", the outdoor hill/play area.) Feel free to email me with questions, as well.

After looking at a number of schools last spring, our 2 and a half year old daughter started at Monteverde preschool in September and we've been extremely happy (thrilled, actually) with our choice. She loves to go to school and hates to leave; we feel 100% comfortable leaving her there.

Nobody on the parents list had anything to say about Monteverde when I asked last year, and we didn't know anyone who had their kids there, but we went with our gut, and in a lot of ways we feel like we found a hidden treasure.

What really made the decision for us last Spring was that we had very positive feelings about the teachers (2 of which are also the directors), and they haven't disappointed us--they're warm, wonderful, responsible, communicative, creative women. Other advantages: large outdoor and indoor spaces, a relatively diverse set of students, a good mix of structured and unstructured activities, lots of books and art projects as well as physical play, lots of different options for schedules, close to campus, and reasonable (i.e. less than many others) tuition. (To be honest, there were other schools that we looked at that were better than Monteverde in terms of specific features--e.g. one school had a nicer outdoor play area--but no other school that was as good all-around, in terms of aspects that were important to us.)

Monteverde takes kids from 2 and a half to 5. I think about ten of the kids will be moving on to kindergarten next September so there will definitely be open slots. (Though last year all the slots were filled well before summer; we were on a waiting list.) The school is located in St. John's on College (about a ten minute walk south of campus), but isn't associated with St. John's; they just rent the space. Phone is 848-3313. Judy

March 1998

My son, now 4, has been at Monteverde since he was 2yrs 8months and we've been very pleased with the school. Our older child was in a smaller childcare arrangement for three years that we loved (Animal Crackers) but it was inconveniently located for us so I decided to start over again researching pre-schools for my son that were close to our home. Of the dozen or so places I looked (the second dozen since I'd done the same the first time through), Monteverde was hands down my favorite. Here are some of the reasons.

1) Despite its larger size (20-24 children ages 2-5), the atmosphere is as warm and supportive as our earlier experience. I prefer schools in which children of different ages are mixed to those in which children are divided by age and it has turned out that our son has been playing with older children quite a bit recently.

2) There is very little staff turnover, partly because many of the staff have also had their children in the school so are likely to be there for at least the three years that their children are there. The staff are well qualified, have teaching credentials, and are consistent in their belief in and implementation of the developmental approach to pre-school care that we prefer. In addition, they all seem to genuinely enjoy small children. The school has creative art projects daily and weekly dance instruction. Children sometimes cook their own snack, and there are many other fun traditions such as regular tea parties to which parents are invited, an annual pancake breaksfast, pyjama week where children and teachers are encouraged to wear their pyjamas all day, an evening dance performance and potluck, etc.

3) The physical location and layout are great. There is ample indoor space which was critical this winter with all the rain as well as a good outdoor area with plenty of room for bike riding and sand play. Also, it's a wonderfully central location for those living on the South side of campus as it is in the St. John's Community Center on College and Forest.

4) The school really is racially diverse, both the children and the teachers. This is something that few preschools seem to actually achieve although they all talk about it. Although this was not one of the most important criteria for us, it's been added bonus.

5) Opportunities for parent involvement include sharing a skill (such as one dad who came in and did African drumming with the children), board membership, workdays, newsletter, etc. but there is no pressure to be be super involved if you don't want to. Also, parents are welcome to hang around whenever they want and in the morning, there are usually one to several parents in the school reading to children or just hanging around to be with their child.

6) Tristen and Elaine, the two founders and owners of the school, are both wonderful to deal with. They set up formal annual meetings with parents to discuss the child's development at which parents receive a written report and have the opportunity to discuss the child with two teachers. After the more informal experience with our first child where we had to initiate a meeting if we wanted to discuss our child, we found this a welcome vestige of Tristen and Elaine's elementary school training.

7) Finally, another big advantage is the school's flexibility regarding schedule. They have three pickup times, 12:30, 3:30, or 5:30, and some children come for a couple days while some are there for all five. Fees are adjusted accordingly. Our son attends four days until 3:30. April