Small World Academy

Finally sending my youngest there, and have a few updates to report.
General update:
— At the time of this writing, there are about an equal number of boys and girls at the school. There are a good number of kids, and they are amazingly well behaved, as usual at Small World!
Cons:
— The dog is a definite con in our opinion. The dog appears to be well trained and great with the kids, but we just still don’t like dogs at school. The dog does have a ‘potty area’ in the back where the kids aren’t allowed to go, so that’s good.
Tips:
— I agree with the other reviewers that touring the school is difficult. I also do appreciate that Mr. Keith is keeping costs low for his families by not having extra staff around if he doesn’t need them. If you want to tour, ask him about the best time to come where you can see the kids in action but not disturb their day.

My daughter has been going to this preschool for more than 1.5 years and will graduate in 6 months here before she moves to Kinder garden. With 5 days a week 9:30am-5:45pm time in this place, I am pretty sure I have a good sense of this school and its benefits.
The Place
The school is a HUGE home that most kids love from the beginning to the end. As other say in this reviews, there is little to complain about this aspect. We came to this preschool from a family daycare, and we took our daughter to see the school. She was so excited about the playground that she didn’t want to leave the first day. You can view by yourself, and take your kid with you, if you make an appointment to see the school.
The Learning
My daughter knows the names of EVERYONE who is going, has gone and graduated last year, and those who have gone for some time. There are several activities that I like and greatly support. There are: Chinese classes each other week, show-​and-​tell every Friday, soccer playing each other week except in winter. Everyday I ask my daughter about the activities, and everyday they review numbers, write one student’s name, and read a story before nap time. There are field trips every month. So far, some of the places my daughter has gone to are: Happy Hollow in SJ, Monterey Aquarium, De Anza Planetarium, Safari run, just to name a few. They celebrate most of the holidays with activities like the Santa Claus visit, St Patrick’s date, Hallowing trick or treat, etc. My daughter loves all these activities which she relates greatly to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood cartoon from PBS. By the way, birthdays are just amazing there, which is something my daughter loves there.
Now that I am looking at Kinder gardens and Elementary schools, I found that most schools promote themselves as they encourage independence. Something this preschool is VERY good. My daughter is able to go potty on her own, wash her hands, put on shoes, sip her pants and jackets, and even bottoms. She even does not want help until she has tried a few times. Overall, I think my daughter is prepared for Kinder garden academically (she can count up to 40 just to say something), and more importantly in terms of abilities. I am a PhD in engineering and I definitely support the method and are happy with the output.
The owner
I have read some of the reviews here, and I see some discomfort about Mr Keith, who is the owner. What I have seen is that virtually EVERY kid I have seen in all this time loves him and enjoy the activities.
Often, we as parents confuse who is going to receive the care and attention. Mr Keith is a straight guy, which sometimes people find uncomfortable. I must tell you that I feel this way the first time. But, your kid is the one who should be comfortable and happy. And so far, I am pretty sure most of the kids are happy, and love him. My daughter often brings Mr Keith to our conversations and talks, which is a sign of happiness with him and the time she spends at preschool.
I see some complaints with reimbursements and administrative issues. Virtually no place offers reimbursements when you left a class half-​way, like swimming classes, or community center classes. I am pretty sure that administrative issues can be as rough as you want, in technically any place. So, my approach is to read carefully the administrative procedures and make a decision. Then, I just follow the guidelines and you won’t have any problem. In the end, you want to spend time discussing your kid’s progress and adventures in school rather than admin details.
The dog
I see a complaint about the dog by a parent who spend one day in the school. I see a lot of noise and concern that could have been resolved with slightly more time in the school I think. I have seen the dog since she was a poppy. It is true that German Shepherds are huge, but people tend to forget that this breed, together with Labrador, are the smartest dogs. They are highly trainable, and more importantly, they are PROTECTIVE with children by instinct. What I have seen when I pick up my daughter is that when the dog is just checking if I am not doing any harm to her. I guess this is what this is supposed to do. Based on what I have seen, no kid is afraid of the dog and most of them like the fact the dog is there.
Finally
I just think these things need to be said. I see people with one or no days at school reviewing this place. Honestly speaking, with so little interaction, the best of this place is just not able to surface. I strongly recommend this preschool. At least, give a try of a few weeks. You probably will see a huge difference from what you thought this was going to be. I felt this way when my daughter started going to this preschool

As a parent, most you are reading these reviews in your research to find the right daycare/​preschool for you little one. I did the same. After careful screening and due diligence as well as compromise to our daily schedule and work/​home location, we decided on this preschool for our daughter to attend. Like the other reviews state, you can only view the site at nap time. This is because there is only one instructor on site.
All of the other reviews are correct, the converted home is huge and has a fantastic back yard to play in, nearly park like.
Where my issue came to be is when I was not told of the (then) 8 month old German Sheppard who «plays» with the children.
My daughter’s first and last day started the day after labor day and Mr. K was running a little late from the long weekend/​annual week long holiday. At that time I noticed the dog in the backyard. I failed to ask if it was staying in the center since it was never brought to my attention before. I figured he was running a bit behind and that the dog was to be penned or taken to another location. I was wrong.
We left our daughter for the day and returned to pick her up around 4pm. At that time, my wife arrived, she heard the dog barking and a loud «shut up!» According to Mr. K, that was directed at the dog, but who wants that language around your toddler? All of the kids were «playing» in the corner of the room since the dog was running circles in the room without a leash.
My daughter told me they were in the corner because they were scared of the dog.
Nonetheless, we brought her home and noticed her hives on her neck and arms. The dog had licked her several times and caused an allergic reaction.
The following day, my daughter asked me to ask Mr. K to not bring the dog to school. She was so animate about it, that she reminded me before we got in the car, in the car, as we got out of the car and as I was about to sign her in to school. That was certainly a sign from my daughter.
When asked about the dog, he said it was a fixture in his school and that he plans to keep it there. I asked why he didn’t not inform me of the dog, and why it wasn’t on site when we toured the month before. His simple reply, «The dog’s picture is on the birthday wall, and I don’t have to tell you.» He’s absolutely right about not having to tell us, but referring to the birthday wall??? After calling the state and county, non state sponsored preschools are allowed to have «pets». Though there is no formal definition of what a pet is, so it can be a hamster, or a pit bull. Nothing prevents the owner from having a pet unless an incident occurs.
After this conversation, I made the decision to unenroll her due to her allergies and for her safely as well as my piece of mind. The owner asked me to keep my daughter there for the rest of the week, so she can «get used to the dog». Her allergies won’t go away by being near the dog for an extended period of time, they will only get worse. Do you want to feed a kid peanuts if he or she is allergic? Will they eat their way out of the allergy? Come on!!! You are supposed to be licensed!
I certainly don’t want a rule to be made about the size/​type of pets allowed in daycare/​preschools to be named after my daughter.
He agreed, to part ways with a refund of the unearned portion of her tuition and said to that he would contact us after our check clears so he can reissue the refund. A week passed by with no contact. I then called. He now mentions he needs a doctors note. When then call the pediatrician to schedule an appointment and test, which takes quite a bit of effort during the work day. Finally we get a letter and arrange a meeting to get our refund. He then questions the authenticity of the letter, going to extra distance to ask for her medical record number and call to speak to the doctor. FYI, I have patient doctor rights covered under HIPPA — look it up!
What could have been solved by being upfront with me from the start, became a month long ordeal. Not only am I upset about the dog on the preschool site, but just owner’s shear attitude about the process, lack of compassion and communication.
I’m glad I made the choice not to continue here.
BTW, the owner claims that your non refundable deposit gets credited to the first month’s tuition, but he decided to keep the deposit and a day’s fee. Even though I questioned his math (I’m in finance) his check was for the deposit amount and a day’s tuition when he only earned the greater amount of a day’s tuition or the deposit. You techically owe me the difference, but what’s a few dollars amoung friends?

This is a fantastic school! The staff takes great care for all the students and they get them ready for kindergarten. My son loved this school!

I love this Place !!!
My son went here from April 2010 up until he was ready for Kindergarten in Aug 2012.
I did a lot of research before choosing this place. visited about 15 different pre schools, and this one was a clear choice over the others.
The first thing i liked about this school is its Principal and Owner Mr Keith is a very straight forward guy. He answered all my questions and he was not trying to sell his place as the best one .
The second thing that charmed me was the sheer amount of space this pre school has. Its a single family home fully converted into a preschool, with a huge back yard which they call a play ground. (its really no less than a playground). The house has 4 rooms and children move from one room to another depending on the activities designated for that room throughout the day. This is unlike most of the pre schools where the kids are confined a a big room for the entire day.
Mr K aslo takes the kids out for nature walks, soccer and monthly field trips. That is such a plus according to me.
I would highly recommend this place to everyone and so much so that my second one will be going here as soon as he turns 3 yrs :)

The best compliment for Mr Keith and Small World Academy comes from my son– «I love and miss Small World Academy so much. Can I please go back to Mr Keith…».
When my son was 3 we had moved to the bay area and the minute I walked into Small World I knew this was the right fit for him. The playground is superb and the facility is impeccable. True, there aren’t too many people helping Mr Keith but he single-​handedly does a fabulous job of disciplining the kids and making sure they are independent. I used to worry that he is sometimes a bit too firm with the kids but they love him, its very obvious, and respect him too.
The field trips every month soccer and chinese every week, nature walks were awesome. The Christmas play and the graduation ceremony were 2 events that were memorable. The kids’ performance along with their enthusiasm was a pleasure to watch.
The kids did play and draw a lot. I personally would have liked to see a tad bit more tracing and reading especially when they got closer to stepping into Kinder.
I would definitely recommend Small world to any parent who is looking for a fun, clean and nurturing environment where your kids can have a blast!

Mr. Keith is awesome! A male teacher is exactly what our son needed to change his attitiude. Our son has been in 5 different daycares and he hated each of them. Mr. Keith really cares about the kids, he attends b-​day parties, takes them on awesome filed trips and is very giving. Our son was there for only a few months, and we saw a drastic change in his behavior for the posititve. I wish our son started when he was 3. I would definately recommend this place!

We have only been at Small World Academy for 4 months, but what a big difference we have seen in our boy. We love Small World Academy, and Keith Haden has been a great pre-​K teacher for my son. Over the last year, we had tried several different pre-K’s and non of them seemed to fit my sons particular temperment. We love that he takes the children out on field trips, including Monterey Bay Aquarium just recently. We just had a terrific graduation ceremony, and my son seemed to really enjoy school which was completely different from his last experiences. We honestly wish we would have started him at Small World Academy sooner… but he’s off to Kindergarten now and better prepared thanks the Mr. Keith and Small World Academy.

I enrolled my daughter at Small World Academy, and just as my son was excited everyday to go my daughter is the same. She is part time and every morning she asks, «Do I go to school today?»
She has made friends quickly and always talks about the her friends at school. My son had the past week off from school and looked forward to seeing Mr. Keith when it was time to pick his sister up. Mr. Keith made such an impact on my son that after being out of Small World for two years my son still likes to see Mr. Keith and the school.
I am very satisfied with the environment of the school and am happy to my daughter so excited about going.

My child has been going to Small World Academy for about a year and has been enjoying it. It is a smaller preschool so my son gets more attention and guidance from the teacher. I appreciate that the teacher has been teaching my son to be more independent and pushing him to do a lot on his own. I also like that the school really focuses on preparing the children for kindergarten.

My son went here for a year before kindergarten. He loved it. I feel this place is what preschool should be… learning…and PLAY! Huge playground… water fun days in the summer. Soccer days at the park 2 times a month. Monthly field trips to awesome places. Mr. Keith is a great teacher… and a guy… rare for a preschool teacher. Good role model for the little turkeys.
When we were looking for a preschool I took my son with me to check them out. Since we had just moved from the East coast I really wanted him to be comfortable. He cried a little the first day but after that. never again. He would cry everyday at daycare before this.
He’s now finishing kindergarten and I’m so happy. He’s doing well and was prepared and ready for kindergarten.
**bonus, Mr. Keith has you pack your lunch. This was a deal sealer for us… I think this helps the kids to feel comfy and you get to bring a cool lunch box!**

I recently received word that the Pre-​K Academy is now known as the Small World Academy. The school now also accepts children who are three (3) years old and fully potty-​trained. The new web address is also

My son absolutely loves this school! That’s saying a lot because my son came from a Montessori school where he was absolutely unhappy! Every single day was a fight to get him into the car. But now, he’s perfectly happy with going to school … He loves the «park» (which is the school’s backyard/​playground) which is HUGE! He loves the interaction with the other kids, the field trips and Mr. Keith! I’m impressed that he knows all his classmates’ names. when he was at the Montessori school, he hardly knew any of the children’s names despite the fact he spent 8 hours there M-​F.
In the end, if you’re asking for my opinion: send your kid to the Pre-​K Academy! My son loves it there!