Parents' Testimonials
August 2009
"I am a mother of three - two boys and one girl. My daughter did not attend Keystone, but we enrolled our boys at Keystone (both at 18 months old) - so we have been at Keystone about 3 1/2 years now.
Keystone offers long hours and takes children from 18 months to 6 years. As a mother, my biggest concerns are with the welfare and happiness of my children. I would pay any price to ensure their happiness and welfare. That I can say is something I have experienced at Keystone. My children feel safe and loved and the teachers are very caring. Second I want a school where my children will flourish, learn and have the ability to be creative. I am pleased and impressed by their progress and often surprised at the availability of activities. Besides all of the projects and art that come home, there are various events throughout the year such as: the Oakland Zoo (Zoo Mobile), the El Cerrito Fire Department, a Nature Company that brings various insects, holiday parades and activities, pizza parties, a holiday party, a summer swim party for all Keystone families and for the older class summer swimming lessons. These are some of the things that keep my children learning and excited about school. Our past experiences with other schools were not this fulfilling and had very few, if any, additional activities outside the regular schedule. There were complaints of children becoming bored and reluctant to attend school. By comparison, we were involved with another Montessori school in Berkeley for many years, as well. Although Keystone is at the top of the tuition bar and charges for extra curricular activities, such as music, dance and Chinese, other schools include these classes. It is difficult maintaining the tuition (with 3 kids) in addition to the extra charges and deposits required throughout the year. However, Keystone does not require that parents provide volunteer time annually (which in most schools is approximately 20 hours annually or the flip side is you are charged $10 per hour for any un-worked hour). Keystone is not run by the parents, which for me is a HUGE bonus, as it was always a disaster to watch the parents fight about control and the way in which all holidays and various facets of life will be taught or celebrated within the school. Instead all ethnic events/groups seem to be taught and celebrated so the children really do have a well rounded picture and are exposed to diversity starting at a young age. Lastly the schools/daycares my kids previously attended were rarely closed and only closed on major holidays, which allowed our family to take a vacation when we wanted and use our 2 or 3 weeks max of annual vacation time allotted in a way that was fun rather than spending it on childcare. Now we scramble to find care and/or split up our vacation days to provide care for our children, as Keystone is closed approximately 7 weeks of every year. If we find care, we still need to rack up the additional money to pay for it. It gets very challenging and limits our ability to take a meaningful vacation at a more appropriate time. Of course with the economy, companies are cutting unproductive workers; therefore it is a juggle between missing too much work and/or finding extra money to pay for additional childcare, if it is available. Of course every school has its positive and negatives and at the end of the day we find ways to deal with the things that don't fit well into our life. However we are most concerned about the happiness and well being of our children, as they spend so much of their time outside the home and what we want most is for them to be happy and nurtured."
-Kim Moppin
August 2009
"We started our oldest daughter, who is now going into the 2nd grade, at Keystone Montessori 4 years ago. We also have a younger daughter who has been at the school for 2 years. I feel very fortunate to have found a school with a staff that truly cares about the total development of our children. Keystone focuses on the whole child to help to develop our children socially, culturally, academically and emotionally. 4 years ago when my oldest daughter was 2 years old I noticed that the daycare she'd been attending since she was 10 months old was not cutting it anymore. I went on a mission to find a school that would keep my daughter engaged and her thirst for knowledge quenched. After looking over every school I could find in the area I'd narrowed it down to two schools. I almost picked the other school because it was a little cheaper but my husband went to look at the two finalists and although he is very dollar conscientious both he and I decided Keystone was worth the extra investment. It didn't make sense to try and save the extra few dollars a day it would cost to send our child to a better school - we'd rather cut out our daily coffee or eat out a less. Looking back on our decision I really feel like it was one of the best choices we could have made. Our older daughter started Kindergarten really well prepared and confident - which has made learning a continued joy for her rather than a struggle.
The curriculum at Keystone is Montessori based but also does a very good job of incorporating some traditional educational methods. Now that I've experienced it I really am a big supporter of this educational style for younger children. There are three age based classrooms at Keystone. Each room has "stations" where different activities are set up that allow the children to explore/play/learn which is the way that children learn best - by doing and touching. I think all the teachers at the school are great but I have to mention the teacher for the toddler room, Dawn. She is the perfect person to care for younger children. Dawn is so nurturing, a true angel (I'm still looking for her wings!). In addition to all the learning opportunities the children have at the school they also do a lot of great art projects, go on trips to the Berkeley ballet, get to work in the schools vegetable garden, and they love the play area complete with a big wooden play structure. The children are well supervised at all times. The teachers have amazing patience and help the children "use their words" to work through any conflicts they have. The class ratios also help maintain the teachers ability to properly work with and provide guidance to the children. The toddler's classroom 1:4 ratio, the transition class a 1:6 ratio, and a 1:8 ratio in the "big Kids" class. The teachers and the head of the school are wonderful. Linda and her husband built the school 20+ years ago. Linda puts a lot of heart and soul into making sure the educational experience at the school is built around nurturing and developing happy, healthy children. All the head teachers have University degrees + 2 years teachers training. It feels good knowing that you are leaving your child with people that have dedicated their careers to educating children. The school seems to attract a really nice diverse group of educationally focused families and although you are not required to help in the classroom families want to participate. The school allows the families to come and share information in the classroom with the children. The children have been fortunate to learn first hand about events such what a dentist does, a missionary trip to Africa, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, the presidential election, Black history month, and for Chinese New Year the school even had a real Chinese New Year parade dragon that the children carried down the street in celebration. We also have school sponsored pizza parties and potluck pool parties so the families can all get together. We have a great time watching our kids perform songs together at the Holiday Celebration for which each family contributes $25 and we have a pizza party and can invite as many of our friends and family to come watch a professional marionette show. I also have to mention the graduation ceremony is a camcorder must! The children really make us all proud. They sing songs in multiple languages and about different countries (the school offers Spanish, Mandarin and Music and Dance classes) and all the kids look so proud as they get their graduation certificates. It's a fitting end to the great beginning our children have been given at Keystone. I encourage everyone to look at all the choices out there like we did and compare what you get for your money. If Keystone fits your budget and your schedule I recommend it without reservation."
-Latondra Goode
July 2009
"We have been part of the Keystone family since my oldest son started in the toddler room in 2005. Now my younger son just moved to the Snowy Egrets classroom, a move he had been dreaming of and anxiously awaiting. While both of my kids had sort of a rough transition, the loving, caring, nurturing teachers helped them both get through the separation anxiety, get involved in the classroom and ultimately develop friendships that we hope will last beyond their preschool years. My boys have very different personalities and while I believe no school is perfect for every child, Keystone has come through for both my very outgoing son as well as my very reserved one. They have both grown in their social and academic skills, blossomed into confident children and generally have become avid learners. While the number of vacation days is very challenging, I honestly believe that the teachers deserve to get time off and refuel. Over the 4 years that we have been at Keystone, I have seen Linda, the director, try to engage the parent community more and more, whether it be trying to setup a babysitting co-op over spring break to take some of the burden off of working parents or organize social activites such as a schoolwide pool party at the end of summer, because she recognizes that more and more families want to feel a greater sense of community. It's hard for working families to find the time to get to know other school families but if everybody puts in the effort, I know the community will continue to grow stronger. Our closest friends now are families we met when my older son was at Keystone. While no school is perfect, we feel very lucky to have found Keystone and would recommend it to anybody looking for an academically challenging, socially engaging and generally fun school with flexible hours, great teachers and amazing families."
-Kelly Scribner