Hobbledehoy Preschool and Child Development Center

My son attended Hobbledehoy Montessori Preschool from age two up until transferring to kindergarten. I cannot even find the words to express how awesome all the teachers are at Hobbledehoy.
My son had some issues with wanting to attend school in the beginning and Ms. Linda helped so much with that. She has experience with child psychology and that definitely was a lifesaver.
Miss Kim was attending her last few years at college and it was a blessing to see her grow and interact with all of the children. I am proud of her for her dedication to her education and to the children.
Ms. Jennifer was amazing. She has a very no-​nonsense attitude with the children with her discipline. If you do this, these are the consequences. I absolutely loved her realistic expectations of the children and I could see the respect the children had for her. Especially my son and he’s a hard one to get through to!
Mrs. Zoie, the owner and director, is beyond amazing. Immediately after meeting her for the first time I just knew she loved what she did and was doing what she was born to do. Her passion for teaching and just interacting with the children was mind blowing. She has patience but also knows when to be firm with the children.
Now, Ms. Phu Pham. A truly AMAZING woman. She is the pre-​k teacher. Since entering kindergarten this year, my son had surpassed all expectations. Ms. Pham taught him the basics such as math and the alphabet, and now he is ahead in his class and has already learned how to read, and can add triple digit numbers with out any problems. Carrying, borrowing. He can do it all. I didn’t learn that until 1^st or 2^nd grade. And she is so dedicated to these children that it moved me emotionally more than once.
I will never be able to recommend Hobbledehoy enough. Aside from the potty training, amazing cultural celebrations, mobile library, gymnastics, yoga, spanish lessons, and mandatory quiet time, these teachers are the best you could ever ask for.
Thank you Miss Kim, Phu Pham, Linda, Jennifer, and Zoie. You have been amazing and we think of you every day and are so grateful to have had you in our lives!

This review is based on my own personal experience with this school. I recently moved to the Peninsula area from the east coast. My son (age 3.5) was only in this school for about a month and a half. This is because I withdrew him as soon as I could (once he was fully potty trained.)
I say this with the caveat that he was a part-​timer (only two days a week.) This is supposed to be a Montessori school, and is anything but. There were approximately 48 children in the class. It is ridiculously chaotic, in a bad way. Every time, I dropped off or picked up my son, I witnessed something that horrified me. If it was a one off, I would let it go, but it was two many times.
The «teachers» (who don’t minimally seem like teachers to me.) were yelling at the kids for things that toddlers just do. I saw a kid get off his cot at nap time, and one of the older teachers screamed at him just for that. I saw one of the teachers literally grabbing a child by the shoulders and PUSHING him out of circle time. This probably 3 year old child was told, «Don’t fight me on this!» as he was pushed. I saw kids being pulled by the upper arms multiple times very roughly when they could have as easily been taken by the hand in a gentle manner.
What made me immediately walk out the door with my child was that he was crying at drop-​off. The director took his hand because I thought she would comfort him. Instead, right in front of me, she sort of pushed him out the door into the playground, shut the door on him, and walked away (as he was HOWLING.) At that moment, I lost it and said «Did you actually just shut the door on my child as he was CRYING?» She panicked and said «Oh, one of the teachers is comforting him I’m sure.» I walked out into the playground to see him howling by himself. I ran over to him, and she told one of the teachers to go hold him at which point I said, «Do not touch him. We are done here.»
My son has been in pre-​school for a year on the east coast. NEVER have I seen an environment where such small children are yelled at, arms dragged etc. Frankly, I cannot image children learning anything in this awful chaos. I saw one of the «teachers» putting an audio tape on of a book and just flipping pages in a group of over 20 kids. You couldn’t even hear the tape over all the chaos, and on top of that she was yelling at the kids for NOT listening!!! They are between the ages of 2 – 5!!!
This is by NO MEANS a Montessori. Montessori’s are CALMING. They don’t yell and roughhouse for no reason. I think part of the problem is that they enroll too many children and they have incapable teachers (which the director/​owner just keeps around because she has had them forever). I did like one of the teachers quite a bit. She was younger and seemed to be hired more to do social media, so she was not there all the time. The other teachers are terrible. Very bad experience overall… I hope they learn from recent complaints and implement some level of change. I really do…

Um, how have I not reviewed HDH yet?
It’s time for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
C. attended the ever so charming Hobbledehoy Montessori Preschool when we still lived in the Mountain View/​Palo Alto area. She would still attend if we hadn’t moved to the East Bay.
Tucked away on a side street off Rengstorff, this is by far the school with the «most bang for your buck», as the saying goes. Ms. Zoie and her staff are caring, compassionate, and have over 40 years combined experience in child development as well. Your children are in very good hands here.
We made a lot of friends at this school as well! Regarding one of the other reviews below, it’s amazing how awful some people can be. I feel sorry that Ms. Zoie and her staff have had to deal with this clearly unbalanced and terribly racist person.
Regarding HDH: like other schools, it might not be the perfect fit for your special little snowflake.
It’s certainly NOT the preschool at Stanford or PJCC. Nor does it purport or intend to be, either. HDH is a wonderful home away from home where your child is exposed to a variety of culture and amazing learning experiences. You won’t find webcams here, but here’s the thing. You WILL NOT need to worry about your child after you drop them off.
The staff is very communicative about everything, which is so important and provides peace of mind. There is no way that C. would have potty trained as quickly as she did without the support and caring of the staff at HDH.
I did quite a lot of research before we placed C. at HDH. We checked out all manner of preschools, including the above mentioned Stanford, PJCC, and others in the area.
However, for our family, none compared to HDH and we wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again. In fact, if we were still in the area, we would put our other daughter I. in their care with no questions asked.
HDH is also the perfect location if you are a Googler (we’re ex-​Googlers).
Thinking about childcare and preschools can be such a nerve wracking and irritating process, so if you’re on the fence about it, at least go meet with Ms. Zoie and tour the facility. If you like what you see, add yourself to the waiting list, because spots go fast.

Though I appreciated the homey setting, extra-​curriculars, and the fact that art was always available, the teachers are disgraceful.
Basic communication is lacking because one teacher can’t speak English, one sits and watches without doing anything, one has a mental disorder and one is always on her electronic device. The kids also lack communication because they also spend an hour of each day watching television. I’ve asked repeatedly for communication with me as a parent and am not kept informed because there is no substance. Specifically, I’ve asked what my child enjoys or what she does throughout the day and they cannot speak to it as they don’t pay enough attention. There are also instances where they can’t remember other kids names to reflect on who my daughter is friends with. I’ve asked how they handle behavior situations and they tell me nothing rational out based in any sort of Montessori teaching. Teachers have actually told me that they don’t believe in the Montessori method, they just have the right activities to reflect it. I’ve complained to the Director and she simply says don’t worry without any changes. And yet the Director has actively coached my daughter to tell me that my daughter likes her.
An incredibly sad issue is that communication is rough and rude to the children. I’ve walked into the school and seen teachers not only yelling at kids, but also ignoring them wailing and dragging them by their arms to time out. How is that permitted? They all have given in to chaos. A recent example last week was when a few girls were playing with a squares to make a jumping, hopscotch-​like game where a teacher was just yelling at them, ‘no, stop now, you shouldn’t do that’ without any explanation as to why they shouldn’t play such a game that seemed quite normal for kids. I’ve seen same teacher yelling during storytime as the only method to keep them entertained during her reading. Two teachers have admitted these issues about the others but they don’t do anything about it. The teachers do not seen to get along.
I only left my child in their care for too long because she had such an awful adjustment period and finally got used to the place. When I heard from departing people that my concerns were more than valid, I’ve withdrawn from this awful place. And would you believe that on a day where several parents learned of each other’s complaints, the Director did not stay to the end of the day to discuss with parents. Instead she sent an email saying, «sometimes things get a little crazy here… and your child is take care of above licensing needs». What an excuse and what an awful standard they hold. I hope they go out of business and you find an enriching environment for your child.

I would first like to say thank to Hobbledehoy for helping my daughter socialize, improve her language skills and potty training her. I understand that this daycare may not be a good fit for some families but it worked out for my family. I have worked with children for over 15 years as a daycare teacher and a pediatric nurse. Although I do not condone yelling at children their are times when I have needed to use a stern tone when children are a little rowdy.
My daughter looks forward to going to school and she does not seem afraid of any of the teachers. I can say that I have not interacted with Miss Phu that often but for the other teachers, Miss Kim, Miss Zoie and Miss Jennifer, my daughter and I have always be greeted kindly. I have enjoyed our time at Hobbledehoy and hope for the best for the teachers and the school.

Our son went to Hobbledehoy for close to 2 years and not once did he not look forward to going to school. He enjoyed his Tuff Tumblers and Yoga classes. The free play also helps the kids learn how to deal with peers of different ages. Having the same set of awesome teachers throughout made Hobbledehoy an extension of our home and we have made deep personal connections with them. We highly recommend Hobbledehoy.

My daughter went to Hobbledehoy Preschool from the ages of 2 –5. The environment at Hobbledehoy is child-​centered and focuses on age appropriate activities.
Low teacher turn over and the stability it provides was invaluable for my daughter. The nurture that was provided by Ms. Zoie (Director/​Owner) and her staff helped my child to blossom into a successful kindergartner!
I feel extremely grateful that my family found Hobbledehoy Preschool. We have and will highly recommend this school to others!

We have sent both our children to Hobbledehoy over the years. They both loved it! The staff is so caring, patient and experienced. You can tell they have been doing this for years, and they enjoy their jobs.
I highly recommend Hobbledehoy! It is a cozy, loving place that I’m sure your kids will love. We are very fortunate to have this preschool in our neighborhood!