HeadsUp! Montessori Preschool, Palo Alto Campus

Feb 7th, 2023

We have been at this school for a few years now. Have had 3 kids there. As others have written, management is horrible! Chuck the "president" is a very unpleasant person. Kim the director is not much better. There were some good teachers, which is why we stayed but they have left in large numbers. Most saying it is because of pay and how management is treating them. It is clear that the staff are afraid of Chuck and Kim. Our kids were doing well, but now that their staff have left, there are many families looking for another option. Inexperienced head teachers are being brought in and it is not looking good. They use scare tactics and time outs to get the kids to behave all while "normalizing"  behaviors so that everyone fit in this little nice quite and well behaved box. Have to say, although sadly because it was a nice place pre-covid, don't go here. At least until Chuck leaves.
Jul 24th, 2022

I would not recommend this school for the following reasons:1. The management of this school (the director and the president) only care about their business but not the students. They would never admit any fault even when the management and teachers clearly had problems (e.g. when 70% of kids in the same class got sick in the same week). They are always cold and defensive on any complaint filed by the parents, and it seems protecting the school was their only job and it was not their responsibility to protect the kids.2. Some teachers we saw were great, but there are also some very inexperienced head teachers who are not properly trained and barely know how to deal with kids, especially active kids. I have heard some experienced and good teachers are leaving due to the low salary, so this is going to get worse over time.I saw many reviews complaining about the management at this school and we have the same feeling about it. This has been a badly managed school and it seems nothing has changed since many years ago. Any parent should really think twice before considering to send their kid to this school, unless you think you will be lucky enough to never deal with the management.
Jun 3rd, 2022

Our kids went to the school a couple of years ago, and it was really a great place. I saw lots of the bad reviews are from people who don't have kids there. I do think the staff are sometimes not as warm-appearing as many other places, but once you know them they are quite friendly
Oct 9th, 2020

Our child joined Heads Up at the age of 3.5 - we are leaving after 2 wonderful years to go to public school because I guess that's what you do in Palo Alto :shrug: This has been a great program for our son - we joined with the intention of exposing him to some basic structure (they have a daily circle time, weekly sharing day, regular art/spanish/mandarin/music lessons, plenty of outside play with basketball, sandpits, next door Greer park excursions, etc) before jumping off to a more academic program like Stratford/Challenger but we stuck around for the second year because the Montessori program really worked for our kid - the core concept of mixed age groups and your kid being able to learn leadership by modeling for the younger ones or teaching them and on the flip side always having something to look forward to from the older kids really really resonated with our son - he really took to it and has made a ton of friends of all ages I love their birthday circle style, their person of the day (kids get so thrilled when they get their shot!) concept and other various special events like Soup Night, back to school night, Fathers Day, Mothers Day etc Big events like Christmas performances, Lunar New Year performances, Pot luck etc are also a great forum for your child to get some confidence And even the Montessori aspect of children focusing on jobs isn't too strict, they definitely try to adhere to it but its not militant and kids have plenty of freedom - so it really depends on your child They have had some excellent teachers - and there's a very seamless tie up with the across-the-hall Emerson school if your child is more academically inclined I think you'll be quite impressed by their annual academic evaluations too - especially considering the children are just preschool age when as a parent all you really care about is if they're happy and engaged and not so much about their "academic" progress but its quite cool to see their growth in those areas too Another pleasant surprise is the diverse family population here - that combined with very affordable pricing in Palo Alto makes this such a great option No school is perfect and Heads Up is far from it (a bit of undesirable teacher churn) but overall the program really works - and of course, what matters is whether the program is perfect for your child or not - which it was in our case. So yes, there is a little bit of "YMMV" but I would strongly consider this program if you want to expose your child to a diverse, dynamic and supportive learning environment Huge kudos to how they have stepped up during the pandemic too - after a few initial hiccups they put together an excellent, predictable and functional schedule which really helped all the kids stay engaged in these terrible times! Give it a shot - and if it doesn't work out, there's a ton of options in the nearby Palo Alto area anyway I cannot thank Heads Up enough - our son really needed a balance and he found it here - the joy of seeing your child happily learning is something truly wonderful - I wish the place all the best in the coming years
Aug 29th, 2020