L'Academy Language Immersion Preschool San Mateo

This review is solely based on the visiting experience. Big deal breaker- there is no real outdoor playground. This place basically converted an underground garage into a playground. How could kids grow in an environment without the sun everyday?! They have a very tiny garden though-however I can't imagine how much outdoor time they would get from this. Second big concern: this school seems have a big teacher turnover rate. The director was changed to a different person within two weeks when we contacted the school vs when we visited. The classrooms were quiet as Death Valley when we visited. As an elementary school teacher I can tell you that a classroom for young kids isn't supposed to be as quiet as this. When it is, there is something wrong. Again this review is solely based on visiting experience. But I would never send my kiddo to a place like this.
Feb 5th, 2023

My kid has been going there for months and just left this place for a better environment. I felt like it is time for a review. He was getting sick once or twice literally every month. The facility inside is well lit and organized but however has no openable windows for positive airflow and no adequate HVAC system filtering the airs, thus the main suspect of him getting easily sick besides kids being kids! The main concern of this place and the worse was during the months my kid was there 90% of the directors and teachers are replaced and came and gone!!! This placed has gone thru 2 directors within months and all the teachers except the older teacher Fang Fang  were either quit or terminated without any notice to us parents!!! If the retention rate is so low and turn over rate of teachers are so ridiculously high, how can our kids adjust mentally and psychologically to the constant changes of teachers!!!Recently, our parents were given 1 day notice of a director leaving this place??? Seriously? If the directors and teachers were not happy, how can our kids be?? The upper management should pay attention on fixing and treating their most valuable assets (directors and teachers)better, otherwise this place is the worst place to send your kids to grow and learn!
Jan 13th, 2023

The facilities are clean and new, with beautiful montessori shelves and toys.  The teachers are warm and kind.   The children are happy and singing mandarin songs.  This place came highly reviewed.  You may want to know that the outdoor play area is a few feet from a cell phone tower, (there is a warning sign about the RF exposure, it says AT&T mobility, and the cell phone tower is listed on online cell tower maps).  I debated putting this on a yelp review because it is not a criticism of the school or the personnel but only an inconvenience of the location.  Parent to parent, I would want to know this information to make my own informed decision for my child.  I will say that I could not find any literature that demonstrated a risk to this, "there's no strong evidence that exposure to RF waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effect"- from cancer.org
Aug 25th, 2022

I recently had the opportunity to tour L'Academy with the Director, Betsy.  She was very welcoming and did an incredible job showing me the facility and explaining the program.  It was clear to me that she was passionate about keeping the school safe, clean and enriching for the kids.  She had great things to say about each teacher.  She took the time to answer all of my questions (which were many).  We had a great discussion around taking time to talk kids through hard feelings and situations.  I appreciated her dedication to making a positive environment for the kids.  I loved the security of the building.  The indoor space was open, bright and well organized, highlighting kids projects.  The outdoor space is a secure and gated portion of the parking lot, with the majority shaded.  The regional director was there helping due to teachers taking vacation - how wonderful to have that support.  Thank you for a great tour!
Jul 20th, 2022

Our 1.5 year old started at L'Academy San Mateo one month ago, and we are very satisfied with our experience at this center. L'Academy San Mateo checks all our boxes: language immersion, play-based learning, age-appropriate fun activities, caring and loving staff, quality interactions with teachers and peers. To our surprise and delight -- they even offer organic healthy meals & snacks prepared onsite! Additionally, this newly opened center is very clean, bright and airy, with brand new furniture and playground structures. We get a lot of updates of activities, meals, nap & diaper events throughout the day. The teachers are always willing to give us more updates at pickup / drop-off. The program director Farina is very warm and responsive to our questions. L'Academy also seems to be doing above and beyond to ensure a safe and pleasant environment for kids while our under-5 age group still couldn't get COVID vaccines. They offer free weekly onsite COVID testing, and we have yet to hear another childcare center that does the same. We are not hearing much chatter from our 1.5 yo on how his day went, but our boy is always so happy to be going to school. We look forward to his daily updates in the future -- in Mandarin Chinese! We'd also expect to send his younger sibling to L'Academy San Mateo when the time comes!
Apr 27th, 2022