Moving to Berkeley Area in 3 Weeks, Need Preschool for 4 and 2 1/2 Year Olds

My 2 1/2 year old attends a wonderful preschool in North Berkeley and I believe they have openings. They are A Brighter Today, check out www.abrightertoday.org They are an integrated school that specializes in integrating kids that are medically fragile with typically developing kids. In addition to their regular dedicated highly qualified staff, they have a credentialed teacher (who also has a special ed cert) and a nurse on staff.

My son is their only fulltime medically fragile child (he has cerebral palsy and epilepsy but is rapidly developing) there is another disabled school-aged child that attends before and after school. The other 9 or so kids are typically developing. Their preschool program is very organized and interesting. Their ratios are 1:3. I would send my son here even if he didn't require nursing attention.

They have a business listing on mamasource as well.

Good luck and welcome to the Bay Area,
M.

This website is a great resource for all parenting things in Berkeley & the East Bay:

http://parents.berkeley.edu/

If you become a subscriber, you can also post your question there to get the latest information.

K.

My god daughter has gone to the Children's Education Center in Berkeley for the past 2 years. She is going to kindergarten in the fall. She has truly enjoyed her time there and they have prepared her well for kindergarten. The teachers are great!

N.
Alameda

I highly recommend Mustard Seed Preschool. Our older son (now 7.5yr) went there from the age of almost 3 & now our younger son, almost 3, goes there & has been since September. We LOVE it! It's a very loving & warm school that offers just the right amount of structure & freedom for our boys. There are 5 classrooms/age groups all named after Winnie the Pooh characters: Roo, the youngest starts at 18m, Piglets is 2-2.5 yr, Pooh Bears are 2.5-3 yr, Tiggers are 3-4yr & Kangas are the oldest & it's a true Pre-K. I might be a bit off on the age ranges. The school is on the premises of a church & 3 of the classes are in the bottom of it. They do sing some bible songs & celebrate the religious holidays but it's by no means rammed down their throats/fire & brimstone. Bascially, it's the value of treat others as you wish to be treated, be kind & considerate to our friends....that sort of thing. All the teachers are just great! Very warm, caring, loving & competant. The Kanga teacher is our main babysitter & has become a part of our family. Sadly, once our younger son hits her class, she won't be able to babysit for us. As long as your child isn't in their class, the teacher can sit for you. The cirriculum is wonderful as well. The kids are always stimualted, engaged & excited by the activities. They have a great playground that was re-done about 3 yrs ago now....lotsa ride-on toys, space for ball playing, sand area, a couple of climbing structures. They also offer music & gym free for all kids. They also offer karate, dance & I think they still offer French & Spanish for the 2 oldest classes all for a nominal fee. I could go on & on! I strongly suggest you call, set up an appt, to observe & get your kids on the list. They're also really to work w/you & your family if any problems arise. Example, our older son was a bit emotionally immature & had some impluse control isses & outburst while our younger son has a slight speech delay (Yeah, we got a couple of winners! JK!) & at times, instead of using his words he gets pushy. There was never any talk of the school not being the right fit for our boys. It's about working w/them & us to help fix the problem. Feel free to contact me directly if you want more info. Good luck & welcome to Berkeley! K., ____@____.com, ###-###-####

The Model School in Berkeley has a waiting list usually, but can sometimes accomodate. My two children went there and it is a good school. It is a bit cheaper than some schools. The average monthly cost for pre-school in the Bay Area is $1,000 each child (many schools are more).

I am a mother of 3 - two in preschool and one in private school and the costs are insane.

You can find many schools on the Berkeley Parents Network.

Good luck.