Building Kidz

I’ve called various times in the day different days only to get a machine, left voice mails, filled out their online form, as has my husband. We got one email back saying they’d contact us, that was two weeks ago. You’d think they could return a phone call inquiring about childcare. The agency that referred me to them said they had availability in the late summer when we’ll need it, but I’m not sure I’d want to send my kid to a place this disorganized.

I have been sending my kids here for close to 2 years now. The teachers are like second moms to my kids. They are caring and nurturing. Miss Sam, Miss Naomi, Miss Samantha and Miss Jodi definitely have seen my kids grow and helped them develop along the way. Building Kidz is like a home away from home for my kids.
It gives me comfort knowing teachers care for my kids as if they are their own children. Not only that but BK has truly helped shape my kids and set a foundation for their future. They have developed socially as well as personally from their first year at BK and as a parent it is a great feeling to notice this progress daily. Keep up the good work BK staff. And I am definitely looking forward to see the progress yet to come as now two wonderful teachers have been named director and co-​director. Way to go Miss Samantha and Miss Jodi. You ladies deserve it.

My now nearly three year old started Building Kidz when he was nearly one. I can’t express what a wonderful feeling it is to be able to leave your children with someone you trust. The teachers always greet us with smiles and genuinely care. My son is now in the two– three year old class and is thriving. Each day that he attends I can see him socially and academically blossoming. The structure of the school allows for free play with his peers but also gives plenty of learning opportunities. He is learning Spanish, can count and learning his shapes and colors.
Unfortunately both of my children experienced multiple daycares before starting Building Kidz and I was worried about the transition, however my daughter is in TK with Ms. Sam and loves her. She is sweet, patient and full of energy. The teachers communicate when there is a concern or positive experience, they review the children’s progress and there is an open dialogue at all times. I truly believe that my children will better prepared for kindergarten because of their experiences at Building Kidz! Highly recommend :)

Let me start off by saying I pray that this review sees the front page. I find it strange that every review on the first page is years and years old. Hmmmm.
With that out of the way, let me tell you that I currently have my 4.5 year old son attending this San Mateo location. He has been here for just over a year. When he started, he had some speech issues and was not very social. We were thinking of putting him in speech classes but decided to see how he did at Building Kidz. The transformation was incredible! He is now one of the brightest and most social kids there and that is all due to the loving teachers and staff. Our son has worked with almost every teacher at this school and I don’t have one negative thing to say about any of them. They are engaged, caring and come up with a million different activities for the kids. This is not a «play all day» daycare/​preschool. They are preparing our kids for Kindergarten. My son is still 6 months away from Kinder and already reads sight words, adds and subtracts and can write the entire alphabet. I would love to say it’s because I am such a great parent but it is ALL because of Building Kids.
Please understand that the old reviews were for an old location and a completely different staff. I think of everyone here as family and they know it. Your child could not be in better hands! Go in and see for yourself. They also have dance and music classes daily and parents are treated to adorable recitals twice a year. My sister has also put both her children into BK San Mateo and loves them too!
Love, love, love this preschool!

My three year old currently attends Building Kidz in San Mateo. He has been there since 18 months. Very nice campus, with a performing arts stage. The children are exposed to variety, like music and dance! My son is happy everyday I pick him up. I receive a report of how well he’s doing daily and the types of things they worked on. My son has speech therapy, but is flourishing more and more with the help of Building Kidz school.

Let me start off by saying that I couldn’t ask for a better place for my child to go. I give them high marks for many different areas. One is academics they have a way of teaching that far exceeds any other school when my child left she was prepared for 1^st grade and she is currently in Kindergarten. Not only that the teachers and staff are wonderful and understanding and will work with your child any way he or she needs to be worked with. I will always recommend them to anyone that needs preschool for there child. Thank you Building Kidz for being a big influence in my childs life.

My kids no longer attend Building Kidz (they go to elementary school in Menlo Park now), but someone recently emailed me to ask me for a reference.
So, I just wanted to update my review and say that both of my children were very happy and well taken care of at Building Kidz from 14 weeks old until they started kindergarten.

We had 2 boys attending the summer camp and they both loved it. The school is all about the kids. The ratio of teachers to kids are great.
The older kids got a taste of a little of everything, from music to spanish to performing on stage. My oldest is shy and it was so touching to see him have the courage to be on stage… this has so much to do with the encouragements of the teachers around him.

This place is great. We moved our son and daughter into building Kidz when we moved to the peninsula from SF, and saw a dramatic difference in this place compared to the day care we used in the city. the directors are constantly available, cordial, and engaging with us and our children. The teachers truly care about our children, and it shows in our children’s learning.

My kids attend the Building Kidz location in South San Francisco, but we’ve had a couple of teachers transition from the San Mateo location and I just want to say that my 2 children have learned so much at Building Kidz. As a part of their program, they learned thier alphabeth, numbers, math, reading, writing, performing arts, computers and how to be good kids. The teachers are great and teach them what is write from wrong as if they were their own children. One of my kids has graduated from Building Kidz and went to kingdergarden and when she started kingergarden, they tested her and she was at an advanced level in math and english. I’ve been so impressed with Building Kidz and recommend it to all mjy friends.

My son Reice has been at the school for 3 months now and he goes 2 days a week. It’s been a hard transition for him as he has some separation anxiety. He is usually greated warmly but many days I have to leave him crying. Luckily there is always a teacher there to comfort him or bring him to the window so he can watch me leave, which I really appreciate.
On top of that I feel like the staff as a whole, especially Ms. Bianca, are a warm, loving, kind, and caring group of teachers. Ms Bianca clearly understands my son as a person, who his friends are, and what he needs in terms of encouragement to eat his lunch or go to the bathroom. But what really struck me was the day that Reice took his favorite blankie and toy out to the play yard and they could not be found at pick up time. Ms. Bianca had to call another staff member to cover her class while she spent a good 7 minutes looking all over, with Reice, for his stuff. At the end she realized it had been thrown over the fence of the property outside and had landed on the pathway there. (not an easy task to retrieve either is my guess) In my mind that was above and beyond the call of duty and I will forever be grateful for her to helping us find our lost treasures.
This summer has been lots of fun with dancing to music, crazy hair day, and baking muffins. We look forward to the educational piece picking up again in the Fall as Reice is a bit behind in his writing skills. That being said I’m confident that he will be encouraged to learn and catch up in no time with his peers based on the involvement of the teachers there.
I’m so very glad we found this school!

My 2 ½ year old son has been attending Building Kidz since January 2011, and I could not be happier with my decision to enroll him there. He loves to go to school every day, and often doesn’t want to leave when I pick him up. The teachers are very loving and attentive, and both the academic and performance arts programs are very good. My son loves to sing and dance now, and already counts to 10 and recognizes letters and numbers with ease. His behavior and social skills have also improved dramatically… he now shares with other kids and is throwing less tantrums. I have also been impressed with all the performance recitals, special additional activities that are planned throughout the year, and the themed weeks that are organized throughout the summer. I highly recommend Building Kidz!

Both my kids have attended both the South San Francisco School and the San Mateo School. My son started at 4 years of age and my daughter as an infant, she is now 3. They love going and they love their teachers which always puts me and my husband at ease.
They have loved all their teachers. They discipline appropriately and teach the children manners. My son was very well prepared for kindergarten I think he was even ahead of some of his fellow classmates.
The best part has been the performing arts, absolutely impressed with every show. They have given both my children a confidence that is incredible and a sense of accomplishment.
My son now is able to perform anything in front of large groups of people without flinching. I give Building Kidz all the credit for helping him be a confident child with a great sense of accomplishment!

Staff is pretty cool! It shows they care.

The teachers and staff here are amazing! My one and three year old love all of the teachers. They are always smiling, patient and attentive to our little ones. Our kids are very happy there and I would recommend the school to other families.

I have one child at the Infant Care Center and another who grew up attending Building Kidz until recently. My daughters have always been treated with the utmost care and loved as part of the family at Building Kidz. My oldest attended from 6 months until almost 3 and half and loved her experience. She learned to walk, talk and socialized in the caring environment and attribute her bubbly and well adjusted personality in part to the adoring staff. My youngest has just started at Building Kidz in the Infant Care Center and though we chose to move our oldest, we were welcomed back and my little 6 month old is getting the best possible care. I have always appreciated the Director for wanting to talk through issues and discuss what can be done to better the care and education of the children attending Building Kidz.
I agree that the layout may not be the most appropriate for some families and children but it does promote a homogeneous experience for the children and promotes socialization across age groups which is just as important for a well adjusted child as socialization within their age group. In addition, this is something that is unique to Building Kidz.
Overall, I believe that this is a clean, well managed, loving environment for all children and that I have had nothing but wonderful care from all who have worked here.

horrible place, took my kids out within days.
the kids are constantly yelled at or ignored.
several classes are often together, outside, in meals, in larger activities, and the providers talk a lot among themselves. i didn’t see one personal interaction provider-​child.
the kids are treated like soldiers. they must walk in line with a rope, otherwise they are yelled at. meals are done with constant yelling — not to eat before they are allowed, yell thank you before they start, then they must all get up at once, get their faces and hands cleaned violently with wipes and leave in line to the next activity.
i saw negligence in the infant center. babies were put as punishment in a crib, and were told it’s a punishment.
the music and dance classes were good. the external teachers are happy, kids-​loving and do a great job. but that’s 1 day a week. the other providers didn’t even smile to the kids, only in talks among themselves.

I couldn’t be any happier. My son has been attending Building Kidz since he was 4 months old. Miss Ki was his caretaker (what a wonderful woman) she even helped him while learning to walk. and self feed (Miss Ki, I will always be grateful for all your love and patience to baby Winfred). Now, now my son is 23 months he is on his second group, toddlers, his current teacher is Miss Samantha, my son loves her too, he brings home lots of projects, it is fun to see how my little one develops.
Thank you Building Kids. All the staff is super nice, supportive, and caring. The best place to trust your «little treasures»

Our son has been attending Building Kidz for about 8 months now, and we’re very happy so far. There are a lot of kids there, but they are grouped into smaller classrooms so it isn’t just a big zoo. Besides, we were looking for more social interaction for our son, so I like that he has lots of kids to meet.
The teachers are very friendly and patient, and my son has never been scared or hesitant to go to school. The kids learn to read, sing, and play instruments, the prices are reasonable, and the talent shows that they put on are priceless.

My daughter has been attending Building Kidz since late 2006. She absolutely loves this place, and her mother and I have no major concerns here.
Now just three years old, my daughter is completely potty-​trained, mostly by BK’s efforts, for which we are thankful. She has a passion for singing and dancing, fueled no doubt by the arts instruction that is a part of the curriculum here. She brings home lots of arts projects and knows her shapes, colors, numbers and letters.
I have read the other reviews here and wonder if the other reviewers were in the same facility. I wouldn’t characterize it as a «zoo». Yes, it is noisy sometimes, but what do you expect when dozens of children are present? And I defy anyone to show me a diaper room that doesn’t stink a bit. After all, they’re not trimming roses in there. Finally, the infants and 24 month olds are not combined in the same space.
Yes, there is room for improvement here. I have seen staff bicker with one another about mundane things (breaks, who is going to diaper change this kid, etc.). There had been some turnover issues, but staff is now stable and morale is good. The owner, who has two other facilities in San Mateo county, is always willing to sit down and discuss issues of concern.
Our second child is on the way and we expect to enroll him/​her here as well.