The Language Garden Community Preschool

Amazing staff, wonderful curriculum and reasonable tuition.
A very intimate learning environment, this Reggio-​inspired community program avails itself to student needs while directing knowledge acquirement through hands on experience and child-​driven learning.
Just look around the campus — students are smiling, running and playing while their daily improvement is tangible upon each return. Everyone from the teachers to the administrators to the interns to the child development staff takes the time to learn each student, encouraging their strengths and building on their weaknesses.
Located behind the «Onion» Church in North Hills, this unassuming campus is very rustic — it’s actually heaven for children. They are given freedom to explore nature, well taking part in gardening activities and conversations and friendship developed through the salt of the earth. This environment is definitely not for every child — or parent — but those with the fortitude to attend TLG are well rewarded.

I toured this preschool today and I fell in love with it! The facility is extremely clean with a warming atmosphere. Toys are wooden and plenty of arts and crafts for the kids.
But, that is not what stood out the most to me… it was the fact that the children feel comfortable enough to walk up to me and say, «Hola, como estas?» (Hello, how are you?) As a parent, I want my daughter not only to able to practice a second language at school, but also at home. The staff makes this possible by also making it a learning experience for the parents as well. They show that as a family, you are being accepted into a community and with the proper foundation the children will thrive. They listed out many events for all of us to participate and how we can give back to others around us.
Seeing these kids speech spanish is quite inspirational and is even pushing me to pick it up myself! This is where my daughter is going to attend and I look forward to growing with her.

We enrolled our daughter when she turned 2. A year later we couldn’t be more happy. Their philosophy includes a ton of outdoor play, rain or shine, and we love that (although it was scary at first). Beyond anything else, our primary reason for enrollment was the Spanish immersion. I am a fluent Spanish speaker and my wife is not. Since I work most of the day, we realized our daughter was not getting enough exposure to Spanish… and therefore would not be a fluent Spanish speaker if we didn’t do something quick — in her early years. The school has been a great way to supplement her Spanish and I have seen a noted difference in her fluency (at only 3x a week at this point).
We’d highly recommend this preschool for their teaching philosophy, attention to the children, and spanish immersion.

We made the decision to send both our children to The Language Garden Community Preschool based on both the philosophy (Reggio-​Emilia based) and the Spanish-​language immersion aspect. My daughter entered when she was almost 4 years-​old and my son shortly after he turned 2. As it turned out, this was the best decision we could have made. We were already raising them bilingual in Spanish (which is actually harder than it sounds, despite the fact that we’re in LA!), but to have this reinforced at school has made all the difference. Our children thrived with the hands-​on, project-​based learning and warm, caring environment. If you’re looking for an academic setting that includes worksheets and rote learning, this is not the place for you. If, however, what you seek is for your children to develop a true love of knowledge and discovery all while learning Spanish, look no further.
Our daughter has since graduated from The Language Garden and is now continuing her bilingual education at a public elementary school. It is clear that the foundation she received at The Language Garden has set her up for success, as now, just two months into kindergarten, she is reading and writing and loving school. As parents who have been a part of this school’s community for several years, we couldn’t be happier with our experience here. The sense of family and community that the school offers is something that’s often hard to come by in this large city, but it’s something we’ve found at The Language Garden.

PARENTS BEWARE…
I paid the schools $ 150.00 registration fee in June 2014. A few days after paying the fee I received a letter stating there was no room and my son would be placed on the waiting list with an estimated start date in the fall. When the fall finally came around the school told me they still did not have room until the winter. Now at this point my son has been on this schools list for over 90 days. I explained to the school in June that I was not able to stay home during the day so I really needed to get my son in school. The school told me my son may be able to start in July because they should have a few openings but we needed to hurry and get the paperwork in and the registration fee paid. I rushed and got all the paperwork submitted and the fee paid in less than a day. After being wait-​listed for over 90 days I finally got my son into a full-​time preschool that had room. When I called the language garden and asked for the refund they told me no they do not do refunds for registration fees. I explained that they (The Language Garden) never let my son start and if i left it to them he would have been on their list indefinitely. The worst part is the school has accepted a few children that applied after my son. SCAM
–I filed a complaint with the States Office of the Attorney General and the States Department of social services which overseas daycares and preschools in California.
To sum this up: This school is a scam
1. They entice you to apply and pay $ 150.00
2. They wait-​list your child after you pay and in some cases your child is wait-​listed forever
3. When you finally get your child placed elsewhere they tell you you cant get a refund.
4. Children that applied after your child has been accepted.
5. They do all this to keep your money rather than tell you your child has not been accepted.

I am a first-​time mom to a funny, quick learning and precocious 18-​month old. I found The Language Garden School on
and started attending Saturday play dates as a way to meet other moms/​parents while enhancing my son’s love of music, learning and language skills. This was the BEST decision I made. The school offers a great «green or natural» and familial atmosphere and Teacher Yessy or Ms. Yessy, as I lovingly call her, was very inviting. She was eager to work with my family and keep me abreast on events at that school while I make a decision when we’re able to enroll. I’ve lost count on how many people I’ve bragged to about the school’s learning and welcoming environment. I’ve even shared my «love story», if you will, with a journalist and reporter! As soon as I am able to work out scheduling, I will be sure to enroll my toddler.

My daughter has been attending The Language Garden for over a year now. We are very happy with the school. When I heard about the schools Spanish immersion I was very interested as we are an English speaking family and I wished I had a second language to offer my children. Growing up in California I think it is such an advantage to have a child who is able to speak and understand Spanish. Originally I was just looking for her to attend part time but after seeing how well she was picking up the Spanish we decided to enroll her 5 days a week and really take advantage of the immersion idea. She loves the teachers and all the fun projects they do with them. It is a very special, one of a kind school.

My son has been enjoying his time at The Language Garden, his vocabulary is expanding and his social skills are improving. I am very happy with my choice especially because he is growing up in a bilingual home and I want him to speak Spanish and the school really helps. Miss Patty is phenomenal, caring and attentive.

This school is absoluetly lovely. My daughter attended for a year before we moved out of the area and she loved it. The teachers are kind and give each child the special attention that they need. The classroom activity centers offer the children various options for self directed learning and I love the Reggio inspired environment. The outdoor classroom was super important to us because our daughter likes to be outside in nature and the kids are always exploring different things in the garden and surrounding grassy areas. Not to mention the organic vegetable garden that the children plant and care for daily! As one of the only bilingual preschool programs in the valley it is a gem for those of us that are committed to raising dual language children. Immersion programs are the best way and I was pleased to find something in my area to reinforce the language exposure that we were giving my daughter at home. I would highly recommend this school.