The Lake School

We’ve sent two of our kids to The Lake School. We’ve had a wonderful experience. Our two children are different, but both of them loved The Lake School. The teachers, staff, and other parents were very friendly. There was a nice balance of inside/​outside activities. We felt the play-​based approached encouraged our children to view learning as fun. Highly recommended.

I wanted to look for a preschool close to my work and this preschool fits the location. I called for a tour and spoke with Jaynese Davis. I told her my daughter has a speech delay and was wondering how she would fit into the school. She told me there are a few kids on site that has similar issues, but I felt as I was talking to her she was not interested in us. She did take down my address and said she would send me information regarding the school. It’s been 3 weeks and I have not heard from them. According to the reviews, this school would be great for those kiddos without any developmental delays.
I did not pursue this further as I feel my daughter would not be accepted in this kind of environment.

The Lake School is safe, fun, loving, stimulating, and supportive of each child and all parents. I appreciate parent conferences, where parents have the opportunity to meet with both teachers and receive detailed reports of social and cognitive progress. The director is wonderful. She has been involved since the school opened. The father of my son’s classmate was in the founding class over 30 years ago.
The school is fairly diverse and sincerely welcomes families of all types. I feel completely comfortable as a gay «older» mom. We have met close friends at The Lake School and expect to stay in touch for many years to come.

I love-​love this place. I got my kid into Mills two years ago (which is super hard BTW) and that school was twice as expensive and not as good. I have something to compare this school to and my experience at The Lake School has been fabulous.
My kid is always doing really neat things. Her art projects are great and they have tons of cute animals she can play with at the school.
Someone made the comment that a lot of the parents are rich snobs. I am really offended by that post.
The parents are lovely and the involvement at the school is at the level you want it to be. I am very grateful for the parents who greatly contribute and they make the school a better place. At the same time, I am a full-​time working mom who travels and they are not judgmental that I can’t offer my time like others.
My kid is not exactly easy and they have been patient and kind. The teachers have provided us some really great advice on how to handle a «strong willed» child. The school’s delivery has been kind, helpful and informative.
Someone made the comment about the cost and it being expensive. I did not pick Lake School based on cost. I went here based on the outstanding recommendations from my neighborhood. However, I am a finance professional, and ran a huge spreadsheet of a lot of preschools in the neighborhood. This location was the most reasonable.

I would agree that the times that are available for kids to attend are a little tough to match. Bottom line though is that the vast majority of us either have a parent or a full-​time caregiver watching your child so it is a pretty easy place to get to/​from in the times available. I’d also say that we have a 4 y-​o there in the afternoon and a 2 y-​o at home and we’ve been able to get everyone the nap/​rest time needed to avert craziness.
That said, I’ve been to the school a bunch of times and seen what they do and how they care for the kids. Everything has been great. Good play based activities — indoor and outdoor — and a very appropriate amount of supervision (let kids try to work it out themselves then step in if necessary). My 4 y-​o also spent two years at Mills pre-​school — the activities at the Lake school are pretty much on par with Mills and the people are nicer. Seems like they have deep bench of people to help out if someone’s sick.
Also, we did a bunch of evaluation of costs and the Lake School is at or below the cost of most all. All things considered, we’re very happy there and will be sending the little one there when she’s ready.

When I bought a house in the Peralta Heights neighborhood a friend gushed «you can send your daughter to the Lake School!» I was super happy because I can see the school out my window, and it’s really cute.
But the problem is, I can’t go enroll my kids. This school does not cater to working people… it’s 550 a month, and you can only send your kid for three hours a day (in the morning or the afternoon, but not both). In other words, this school is only for people with very flexible schedules and enough money to employ a nanny (in addition to forking over 550 a month), have a grandparent working for free, or be a stay at home mom or dad.
I’ve been walking by on my way to work for many years now. and it’s been my experience that patrons of this establishement who attend here are both unfriendly and thoughtless. They double park, drive like maniacs, and do not know how to exchange basic pleasantries with the locals (me). Sometimes an entire coven of mothers is circled around on the sidewalk gossiping and won’t budge — I have to walk out into the street to get by.
I have to admit it chafes me to be see these star-​bellied sneeches enjoying themselves, not having to have a job, and treating everyone else like nothings. I’m sure as individuals, these are nice people who just want to do right by their children, but as a group, they rub me the wrong way.