Little Bear School

Hey I’m only ten but me and my brother went here and it’s awesome. great teachers at least when I was there great amount of play and whatnot so it’s awesome send your kid here it’s awesome

We are so happy with Little Bear School. The teachers and administrators make it such a welcoming place for both the kids and the parents. My son enjoys school every single day and is learning great tools for interacting with peers which is really helping his relationship with his little brother. I looked at a lot of pre-​K options and I knew this was right for my son when I came to the parent tour night. Turns out my instincts were correct. I love the focus on the enjoyment of learning at this age… it’s just such a wonderful preschool and I’ll be sending my younger son here too when he is ready.

Loved this place. My son went there for a year. The staff all have a pretty hipster vibe (lots of tattoos and piercings among a pretty diverse staff), so frankly, I felt pretty comfortable there. They openly state that theirs is a «play-​based» education, which I wanted for my son. (I’m an educator myself, and I think that students need to play and exercise much more than they currently do.)
Visit the school to see how you like it and how comfortable you are – a visit will give a good sense of what to expect. I especially liked the monthly themes – planets one month, dinosaurs the next, etc. The place is large and has lots of interesting toys and events.
I just asked my son what he liked best about Little Bear: «Toys. They had lots of toys. And they were always nice.»
I also met some interesting parents, people we’ve stayed in touch with over the years.

We love everything about the school so does our daughter. Every teacher at the school is loving, caring, fun and artistic. Our daughter was a shy little girl when she first started but now she is very social and outgoing and happy all the time. We can’t be any happier with the school.
In response to the 1 star review, it was a bummer to hear what happened to the reviewer’s son. But I just want to respond to the comment regarding private school readiness. We got accepted by all the private schools we applied. It is a play-​based preschool but it is amazing how much kids can learn from playing. But to us, the most important thing is that she learned how to deal with conflicts with her peers. It gives us confidence that she has the social skills to enter the next phase of her life.

We love Little Bear School! My son is currently in his first full year there. We switched from another preschool mid year last year. The previous school was rigidly structured and trying to get my almost 3 year old to read and sing the words perfectly on cue. I am a full-​time public school teacher and was totally uncomfortable with that kind of high-​pressure learning environment. And my son was so upset all the time.
Now he’s pretty deliriously happy, and he’s learning a ton. But he’s making a lot of choices about what he’s learning and when he’s learning it. That’s not an easy environment to structure but the teachers at Little Bear make it happen. As a working parent, I don’t spend much time at school but I have observed the following. They have high expectations for student interactions and behavior while also totally understanding child development – which can be pretty uneven and isn’t ever linear. They offer them opportunities to do so many different types of learning and growing AND space to be kids.
I have really appreciated their flexibility with our family as well. I am a working single mother. My son switches between my house and his father’s house but often ends up at my mother’s house too. The 8am to 6pm school day is pretty excellent for me but no one makes a stink when another parent drops him off at 10 and picks him up at 3. And the teachers are great about providing extra papers for all involved and being friendly and welcoming to our funky family. There are lots of ways for parents to be involved but I haven’t felt any excessive pressure to do too much.

My second child is soon graduating from Little Bear School. We will miss it!
LBS is a family business. The staff has almost no turnover: several staff members ATTENDED LBS as children, others are parents of alumni. Because of the continuity, the staff know my children better than a lot of my family does.
Both of my kids thrived there and learned everything from pre-​literacy skills to the names of the 3 dwarf planets. The year is organized into theme months like dinosaurs, music, space, etc, that guide the curriculum, activities, reading materials, and field trips. Kids play hard and get dirty. They create and experiment; participate in weekly yoga, gymnastics, and dance classes; they get to know the school’s many pets. The community is intimate, engaged, and full of great people we feel honored to have met. It’s a down-​to-​earth community and the atmosphere appears relaxed, even chaotic. However, if you chaperone a field trip you’ll see what a well-​oiled, perfected machine is running the school.
No school is perfect. And it isn’t for everyone: it’s a large, vibrant school that can overwhelm kids who are used to quiet calm.

Caring teachers but that’s about it. If you want your child to be ready for a private school don’t send them here.
My sons front tooth was knocked out by a substitute teacher who got away with hiding it from all the teachers even though he had blood on his shirt and pants. No one even called to tell us about it. On top of that, he had my son wash out his mouth and the tooth went down the drain. We then got 4different stories about how it happened. To this day i have no idea what really happened to my child. To make matters even better They had this guy teaching the next day because they were short staffed. My son was having nightmares until we pulled him from the school. I was beyond disappointed.

There may seem like a lot of days off, but most of them are much needed to prep the school and staff or just regular holidays. What it really boils down to is that the teachers are all great when it comes to the children. They’re very compassionate, patient and caring. My 4 year old knows how to share and respect her peers on top of learning days of the week, reading & writing.
They also have extra activities such as dance, gymnastics and yoga. My daughter always shows off her yoga positions! In addition, they also go to field trip as far as Oakland zoo, Chabot space museum & Lawrence hall of science.
Also having a parking lot takes off some stress during drop off &pick up time. I’m confident to know that as a parent, we chose the right school and that my child is well cared for. I can’t wait to bring my next child here!

Our son is a graduate of Little Bear and now our daughter is experiencing her first year at Little Bear. From day one we’ve appreciated and loved the school.
The admissions process is very simple and straight-​forward. After hearing horror stories about preschool admissions we were so pleased to learn that this was not the case at Little Bear.
All the teachers are great and real personalities. It’s obvious that they enjoy their work and the kids. Many have long connections with each other and are even graduates of Little Bear. It feels like a great teacher community.
I love the school grounds. The outdoor play area is vast. It’s always hard to peel our kids away at pickup, in fact, because they’re having such a great time. The indoor space is big and offers a great combination of separate and communal areas for the three classes. The classroom we’re most familiar with is a great space with tons of books, games, craft supplies, an aquarium and terrarium, loft space, and open space. It’s slightly shabby but in a way that is preschool appropriate :)
We’ve appreciated the parent community. Our children have been able to make lots of friends and we’ve been pleased to make many great friends with other parents. We didn’t go into this expecting that to happen and we are pleased to have made so many friends as a result. The parent community organizes potlucks, camping trips, and other social activities which makes it easy to opt in or out on the social stuff.
I believe that the price is lower than or competitive with most San Francisco preschools.
There are school holidays, it’s always a bit of a hassle but it’s a necessary evil. They generally align them with the public or private school holidays. They also offer on-​site fee-​based childcare to cover those days.
The hours are from 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM which is great for working parents.

Now that my daughter has moved on to CAIS, I miss Little Bear! Ever wish you had extended family around that would get to know and love your kid, care for her with love, and teach her stuff? That’s little bear. Lotsa hugging and laughing and yes. chaos…the sort kids love! They also don’t nickel and dime ya all over the place. Need to bring your kid in at 8 am, no extra charge. Can’t pick up until 6, no extra charge. That sure isn’t our life anymore!
Have some extra time and want to hang out with your kid and her friends or read a story? You are welcome to at little bear. Want to observe for a while, you won’t get any dirty looks from teachers. Instead, you will get warm greetings and often you will hear stories about your kid.
Having the kind of morning where it’s best to go slow and take some cuddle time and show up at Little Bear at ten? No problem. Want a school where your kid will get to participate in yoga, tumbling and dance at no extra cost? Little Bear has it. Feeling worried about your parenting or your child’s development, talk to Adam or Betsy and they will set you straight. Having one of those mornings where you wish you could stuff a sock in your darling child’s mouth? Teacher Michelle understands and she’s glad to step in.
My daughter came to little bear for her first pre-​school experience. It was incredibly positive. She learned about planets and countries and dinasauers. She did, as the teachers promised she would though I was doubtful, end up knowing how to write her name and draw faces by the end of her first year. I don’t know how they did it but they did it. They also helped develop her social skills and her confidence as well as her capacity for empathy.
Don’t let the big class size fool you. There are 4 to five adults in each of those big classes and all the employees, teachers and admin are involved with the kids. Trust me, they will know your child, they will genuinely care about your child and they will enjoy your child. They will help your child see herself or himself through their eyes and that will be a good thing. They are endlessly patient-​seriously! These folks love their work and they are like a family, in fact some of them are family. This originally started as a family day care and it still has that flavor-​just bigger.
As far as this costing as much as any preschool? Bull! I have the check stubs to prove it. Let me repeat, no charge for early morning drop off or late pick up up to 6pm. Do they ask for 25 bucks to pay the bus for a class trip? Yeah. Big deal.
Man, I miss little bear.

My daughter has been at this school for the last two years and I am going to miss it now that she has moved on to kindergarten. The teachers here are creative, personable and caring. My daughter has really flourished in this environment and I couldn’t be happier.
I agree that some of the holidays here were sometimes challenging for our family but they often offered care for those days off at an additional charge. It worked well for our family plus I think that it’s important for teachers to get breaks during the school year in order to combat burnout and have time to develop new and fresh ideas to keep all those kids occupied and engaged. So, we managed those sometimes random days off to have happy and enthusiastic teachers.
The teachers here are truly awesome. And, yes, I agree that the facility isn’t that shiny and new, but it’s safe, clean and very colorful. There is also an abundance of games, toys, puzzles and activities.
The curriculum is balanced in that it focuses on creative arts and PLAY, but it’s also academic. The kids learn about subjects like the planets and Native American culture, but they also do really creative art projects. My favorite is the Dinorama. The school also offers yoga, tumbling and dance as part of the regular program (i.e. no extra cost). The kids also get plenty of time to play during the day.
The community of parents here is also great. Our family has made great friends here through the various potlucks and camping trips arranged by the school and parents.
I highly recommend Little Bear School.

I saw this low star rating for Little Bear and just wanted to chime in. I think it’s great school. I love the teachers and so does my daughter. There are many wonderful families who are very happy with it. There are many good reviews on Savvy
. I think the people who are not happy with the teachers must just have some personality conflict for whatever reason. So visit and decide for yourself. It is worth looking at.
I think they have it all there — one of the biggest play areas I’ve seen in a preschool with nice play structure, yoga, tumbling, dance, field trips, parking lot, flexible schedule. The registration process is easy and unstressful. It’s first come first serve.
The facility is not shiny and new, but the kids don’t care about that. They have a great time with caring teachers and learn a lot. There are a few holidays that don’t coincide with the SFUSD schedule, but childcare is offered on those days and I feel the tuition is a bargain compared to what you get at other preschools. We looked at lots of schools before deciding on this one. So it doesn’t really bother me much. I just factor that into the cost of the tuition and it still seems like a good deal to me.

I have two kids at Little Bear School; one who is about to graduate, and one who just started. This is a lovely school with very caring teachers, and, yes, some flaws too. The family members who run the school are well educated in child development and very well qualified. Justus and his wife Betsey are two of the finest child-​educators I have known. The facility is large and airy, with bright colors and wonderful toys, and many small animals in vivariums. The play yards (multiple) are large and well-​kept.
The biggest bummer is the that the schedule has too many holidays. I find it irritating to pay an extra charge above and beyond the tuition to have my kids in school on «holidays». Little Bear School claims that they have the same number of regular school days as the SF public schools, but I couldn’t speak to that.
One of my favorite things about Little Bear is the monthly «themes» for learning; outer space, dinosaurs, music, (etc.) that frame the curriculum. It is astonishing to have your 3 year-​old come home and list the eight planets of the solar system and then go on to explain why Pluto is no longer on the list, or why a pterodactyl is NOT a dinosaur. They have dance, they have yoga, and they have tumbling. It is a fun and lovely place to be, and the community of families is great. I am really glad my kids are there.