Editor Note: this preschool appears to be out of business as of October 2007, per letters received from several parents who had children enrolled at the school.

We are trying to find other families affected by the sudden ''closing'' of Whole Child Preschool on McGee, run by Ms. Kapri Willis.

We were informed by phone by another parent that the school was closed, but we found out that it wasn't. We hear that what happened was that there were more students enrolled than the license allowed, so our child was one not allowed to come back. But the owner/head teacher has not contacted us directly, despite repeated calls.

We cannot reach anyone involved in this school to get our (substantial) deposit back, and no one will return our calls.We are a low-income family, and this poses a great hardship for us.

Has anyone else had any luck? We don't even know an address for Ms. Willis, other than the school, in case we have to take this to small claims court. We sure hope we don't have to do this. Ms. Williss seemed like such a nice person. But we need the money now for a new preschool and necessities like groceries!

This has been handled in such an amazingly shifty way. Why couldn't Ms. Willis just call us and have us meet her to get a check? Because of the way it has been handled, we can't help but think we're going to have to fight to get our money back.

Any help from other families would be greatly appreciated. If you have information about the closing, Ms. Willis' address, or want to work with us to get everyone's money back, please let us know.

We are really upset by this!

When we didn't hear from Kapri we called the licensing agency that had closed her. They said that they didn't close her. They cited her. They had cited her four times in the last two months for having too many children. She has 14 kids when she was allowed 8. The agent told me that she had people working for her that were not fingerprinted. She did not have paper work on most of the children. Also, that these people who shouldn't have been working there were taking kids in their cars to a playground for most of the day or to another house.

We are also out a lot of money. This has put a great strain on us. We have to find a new place for our daughter and pay another deposit and month for preschool without any reimbursement/refund from Kapri.

My husband has been calling her daily asking for an explanation and refund. No reply!! Any suggestions??

We're considering Whole Child Preschool in Berkeley for our son. Anyone have current experiences with the preschool? Kapri seems great and I love the home-like school environment, the yard, the food, and the program seems wonderful. I'd love to hear from previous families or those currently enrolled. Thanks! laura

Ms. Willis, is preparing her to enter Kindergarten as a confident student. My son just completed Kindergarten and my daughter is learning everthing that he did his first two months of school. All of this being done in a loving and fun way. She doesn't feel pressure to complete work, but to explore and learn at her own pace. I just can't say enough about it. I wish my son had gone there. All the boys are very mellow. They may not all start out that way, but she provides the structure for them to settle into their being and go with the flow. Please contact me if you have any questions. divensurf

There are a few openings for 4-year olds at my son's preschool, Whole Child. The director/teacher Kapri Willis is absolutely amazing- very loving, energetic, accomodating, and wise. Each child has a special relationship with her. Social instruction & character development is coupled with well-paced kindergarten prep that centers on the fun of learning. My older son just started kindergarten at The Academy this year after graduating from Whole Child, and his overwhelming enthusiasm for school and very friendly manner with new play/classmates is a testimony of the two years he spent under Kapri's care.

The preschool itself is housed in a beautiful central Berkeley home, with a big redwood tree and wooden play structure out back. Preschool families are all very friendly and from diverse backgrounds. We look forward to new additions.

Contact: Kapri Willis, 510.830.5469