S F Kids Preschool Experience

We had a mixed experience with this daycare. Our son was there for about eight months, and for the first four months, he (and we) were very happy with it, and our biggest complaints would have been 1) that he was often very dirty when he came home (not to the point where we were concerned, but he could have been kept cleaner) 2) that there was not a lot of structured learning going on and 3) that it was a little wild and chaotic there. Still, he liked it, the teachers there were very caring, and it was just fine as a daycare.
In the last few months he was there, it seemed like he was picking up bad habits from a few of the older kids, and that he was sometime emotionally worn out after coming home. My theory is that the overall dynamic inside the school deteriorated due to the makeup of the kids there. It was getting our son stressed out, and the older kids were not acting as good role models — and our son, at 3.5 was going to imitate them good or bad.
If you’re looking at this in September 2009 or later, the group of kids there will have changed (the oldest at the time of this writing were poised to move on to kindergarden) and I would again recommend it as a daycare. If you’re looking for structured learning, there are much better options. If you need a place to watch your child several days a week, this place is flexible and the teachers are caring and nice.
I also wanted to note that because I only gave three weeks notice instead of the required four weeks, my deposit was not returned. I am not changing my «star» rating because of this situation, but I do recommend that you negotiate the lowest possible deposit in case this happens to you.