Gateway Child Development Center

Our 17 month son has been here in the infant program for three months. So far, I just love it. Overall the staff is very attentive and professional. Our son’s teacher is very vigilant about his feeding times and diaper changing times which I love. I also love the fact that they have video cameras and all the classrooms which I can watch on my iPhone. The tot report system is just plain awesome! We used to have him in another daycare where we had to call to find out how he was doing and if he was eating ok, it seems so old school in comparison!
Since we have started, they have already made several improvements to the daycare which tells us that they are always looking for ways to improve. They have restructured the infant classrooms so that there is a larger play area and they are now restructuring all the classrooms such that children are grouped together closely by age, which makes a lot of sense.
I’ll update my review once he is in the toddler classroom next summer.

Inconsiderate of their customers, just out for the funds. We shoveled out very large amounts of money for our child being there for a total of 4 days. They have no consideration if your child is ill. Our toddler had to take almost a full month off (I noticed they let parents drop off their kids even when they have snot running down their noses) you are still paying very large sums of money for nothing, and risking your child getting very sick.

We love this day care and feel so fortunate to have found this place for our daughter.
Our daughter has been at this day care since she was 5 months old and is turning 2 next month. The teachers are all very caring and friendly and my husband and I have the utmost trust in them providing the best care for our daughter. They all know her name as well as our names and greet us everyday even if we’re not their primary student. We always feel at home and comfortable when we drop off and pick her up.
Our daughter tends to be very cautious and shy, but she is very attached to the teachers and we think that says a lot as to how much love and care they provide on a daily basis.
They have a very clean no-​shoe environment in the infant room, and cameras in each rooms that allows us to check up on the kids during the day.
There’s also an online application called a Tot Report where they log all the diaper changes, meals and naps so you know exactly what the baby’s schedule is during the day. They also call you right away if they need to reach you, and post pictures of your kid having fun.
They periodically have fire drills, teacher training days and have a very structured curriculum and staff development plans as well.
All the kids grow up together which is also nice. It definitely feels more like a school than a day care. We look forward to our daughter completing all the way up to preschool here. Definitely recommended!

Infant care in the SF and Penninsula area can be difficult to find due to lack of affordable spaces and long wait lists. High quality infant care can be even more difficult to find. I started touring infant care facilities when I was around 6 months pregnant with my son. I visited at least 5 different child a centers, all of which had excellent online ratings or were recommended through a parents list serve in the town where we live. From the first time we visited Gateway, my husband and I both decided it was our first choice.
The facilities were clean and safe and well lit with plenty of natural light, with good security at the front door. The staff were attentive and interested in the infants, and all had received certification for child care. The cribs and toys seemed high quality. We decided right away that it was our first choice.
We waited about eight months for a space to open up, which seemed reasonable given the is a high demand for good child care. Jean was very helpful and thorough throughout the application process. And our son’s primary care giver is really fantastic. She listened carefully when we met before he started, and took notes about his daily eating and sleeping routines. and she helped him learn to take naps in his crib, and he’s always happy when we drop him off and pick him.
I feel very comfortable leaving our son at Gateway every day, and think he’s happy to spend his day with caring teachers and other infants close to him in age. I’m looking forward to watching him grow into the toddler and preschool programs, as I know that the YMCA, and especially Gateway, takes child development seriously and trust he will have plenty of high quality learning opportunities as he grows.

When i was pregnant with my son, we started looking as soon as possible for a child care center. We had very specific ideas about what we wanted and they included a larger facility that was very organized and clean with a lot of enrichment where he could thrive and grow.
After touring s e v e r a l places… this was our first choice (and that includes similarly run facilities in the city where i would have received a discount through my employer) and we put our name on the wait list. After the delivery and getting settled phase, Jeanne called me to verify that i was still waiting for a spot– yes please! She gave me a good estimate on when they would have an opening and we were very lucky and got a spot right when we needed it and have been very happy.
The infant rooms are run with 1 primary teacher caring for 4 children. ages of the children range from 3 months to 2 years in the infant room and then the kids transition to the toddler room and then to preschool. We bring his food every day– and while that can be a chore sometimes, i think it ends up being a smart thing with food allergies being unknown during the time that kids are learning to eat regular food. We also provide his diapers and wipes, sheets for the cribs that they have there, and toothbrush for him to brush his teeth. He has a very nice sized cabinet that we can store things in to make it easy.
The kids are all on their own schedule and the teachers are ridiculously accommodating in terms of how you want your child’s day structured.
He gets dropped off in the morning with no crying, then gets music time, art time, story time, playing outside time, naps, food, hugs and kisses and he is one extremely happy kiddo when i pick him up in the evening.
The staff keeps me updated using an app on the ipads in the rooms, so i can see when he eats, sleeps, pees, poops– you name it — and they can send pictures and notes that way too — i love the pictures. there are also video cameras in the rooms if you want to see real time.
They are huge on cleanliness and hand washing — good habits start early! and in case any other children are sick they will post notices immediately… in my case he’s only been sick one time since starting and it was more than a year after he started — i think that’s fantastic! We are also updated at parent teacher conferences twice or more a year. they can show you what they are working on with the kids and are available for any questions or concerns you have.
As he approaches the 2 year old transition mark, he’s been starting to spend time with the older kids and playing in the older play area where he adores rolling around on a tricycle (they provide helmets too!). and i know that they will do whatever else they can to make sure that the transition to the next class is as easy for him as possible.
We are really happy with Gateway Childcare Center and he loves it too. He will be staying there until he starts kindergarten because i totally trust that he’s getting the very best care…

I visited Gateway Child Care Centre yesterday for basic school tour. On upon our arrival we were asked to wait for 5 minutes for someone to show us around. The centre looked nice and we were excited to see everything. After some wait a women walked out– does not greet us or introduces herself. Just tells us that the centre has no openings for infant or toddler program. We were taken aback because we found her very cold and rude.
I still kept little hope… Thinking that if I like the tour I will put my son’s name in the waiting list. And asked the lady that we still wanna take the tour… She took us out finally but was very rude whole time. The centre was neat and clean but I didn’t see any child happy. Even the staff taking care of the children looked bored. There was just lot of negative vibe in the whole place
Another bad point about this place was that they do not provide meals to the kids. Hence the parent has to provide for it or you can hire their food service for another extra $ 130 for meals and snacks
After the tour I asked the lady for her name… her name was Gene and asked her position in school… she was the associate director.
The centre looked hygienic but really poor staff and service.
The only positive point about the whole place was the parking. As the centre is situated in the industrial neighborhood… so there are lot of parking spots around the centre.
Hence seeing the staff and their inappropriate rude behavior we have decided not to put our child’s name in the waiting list also.

I’m super happy with this school. This is the third school that our daughter goes to, and after Mills Montessori, this is very refreshing experience.

I love Gateway, from teachers, administrative staffs, to installations. I’m really happy with the whole experience and I wanted to share it with parents looking for a safe and nurturing place for their children. You can get involved as much or as little as you want, they are always coordinating something to increase the sense of family and community.
I also wanted to share an experience that really amused me once. One day I was dropping my son in the middle of the day after a doctor’s appointment, while at the same time one of the teachers fainted. I was so surprised by the immediate respond everyone had; I think the kids didn’t even notice it. The administrative staff immediately jumped out of their offices to help the teachers while the paramedics arrived in less that 5 minutes. After seeing how well organized and how calmed they remained during that stressful period I felt really good about choosing Gateway for my son.

Other parents would understand that putting your child’s care in someone else’s hands is a very, very, scary thing. You have to trust that they are going to take care of them like you would.
I felt very comfortable at Gateway the first time I went for a tour. I felt even better about the place the second time with my husband. Today was my daughter’s first day. I still felt at ease. It also helped that she didn’t cry her head off when I left.
What I also love about this daycare? They use an app called the TOT report and you receive a text or email when they eat, sleep, and even poop. My daughter’s teacher is so awesome as she sent me a picture of her playing with toys. I didn’t even ask for that and she sent it to put me at ease. They also have a webcam so you can catch glimpses of your kid for crazy, paranoid parents like me!
So far so good… I hope to update my review with more postive things and more stars!

My kids have been in all three classrooms, infant, toddler, and pre-​k.
I’ve been very happy with the quality of the care, and the environment.
My kids love their teachers.

I think my previous comments still apply and I encourage anyone interested to read them, however the rating was too harsh as it does not correctly reflect on the quality of the teachers on staff. Marisela, Jenny and several others are really good to get the most out of the children.
The management is the real problem. You can read further below…

Our 4 year old daughter has attended Gateway since she was 5 months old and we couldn’t be more pleased. The teachers are attentive, caring and patient. The children gets lots of fresh air playing in the outdoor play area and clean cots to sleep on at naptime. The children do lots of hands on art projects which we really like. The curriculum is emailed to the parents each week. There is also a pre-​K pull out with a separate curriculum for the older preschool children who will be attending Kindergarten the following year. The Center offers additional activities (at additional cost) such as the Tumble Bus and Soccer Shots, and even offers a hot lunch option for toddlers and preschoolers twice a week (also at additional cost). There is a share library where children can check out books which also includes infant books. This daycare center is part of the Peninsula Family YMCA and tuition costs also include a family membership to the YMCA in San Mateo. Our infant daughter also attends the center and is very happy there. There have been some recent staffing changes over the last few weeks at the Center and I am waiting to see how/​if the changes impact the children and the teachers.