Merryhill Preschool

It is cool So hellll yeah

After being here from the Toddler Room through the Beginner Room and now to the Intermediate Room, I give a five-star endorsement of Merryhill Danbrook.

Teachers
The teachers here are awesome. They are bright and positive all the time. I've never seen anyone with an off-day. They are excited to receive your child in the mornings and even after long days, they are happy to help the kids pack up and go.

In the Toddler Room, they have daily forms that keeps track of their schedule: when they ate, when they drank, when they peed, when they pooped. It's extremely detailed. In the Beginner and Intermediate rooms, they write a one-pager on what the class learned, whether they played outside.

From time to time, there'll be happy "Merry-grams" when your kid was extra special that day. And as with daycare, there are times when they issue "Ouch Reports" for when your kid (inevitably) gets hurt.

Security
Safety was my top priority. And the fact that the structure is brick with a heavy self-shutting door behind a number-pad is a huge plus. Every family gets a different number and the door unlocks only if you dial in your PIN.

The place is surrounded by green fences and the principal has TV monitors for the several cameras on the premises.

Learning
Merryhill Danbrook is the Harvard of North Natomas pre-schools. They sing songs... they read books. They teach kids how to clean up. They do potty-training the way you want to do it. They get kids to nap. They get kids to be friends. They get kids to not be afraid of things. And most surprisingly, they get kids to communicate.

For example, my kid is great at telling me when I've offended her and tells me I ought to "Say [I'm] sorry."

They hand out these 3-page report cards in the Beginner Room evaluating their skill level and write 1 paragraph notes on the overall observations that aren't captured by their "grades." Merryhill takes learning more seriously than I thought possible for kids that young.

Of course, all this curriculum comes at a cost. Once-per-month... usually on a day that coincides with a holiday... there will be a day where they don't have school so teachers can prepare. The trade-off is a fair given all the work they put in.

Administration
Christine is still the principal and she still runs a tight-ship. She's a straight-shooter who is flexible.

For fundraising, they run school events and parents' night outs and what-not. I think the school is administered very well.

The Cost
The price tag seemed quite high at first. But when you breakdown their hours, it's quite reasonable.

They open from 6:30am to 6:00pm. I generally get my kid there at 8:30 and pick her up at 5:00 = 8.5 hours. They charge $67/day (the rate varies depending on the age of your child), and that comes out to less than $8/hr to watch, teach and care for my kid.

If you can swing it, and if North Natomas isn't out of your way for a morning commute... and you want your kids to go to the best preschool in the area, then you owe it to yourself to consider Merryhill Danbrook.