Montessori Preschool near Colma
Preschool II is where the method does its most visible work: children choose their own tasks, stay with them as long as they hold, and start reading and calculating because they wanted to. Mills is about 2 miles from Colma, at 1400 Hillside Blvd. in South San Francisco.
Why families here choose it
Families from Colma usually arrive with the same two questions: how long is the day, and what happens after kindergarten. The answers are 7:30 am to 6:00 pm, and fifth grade.
Colma is effectively next door — close enough that a forgotten lunchbox is a ten-minute problem rather than a disaster. Families here are often choosing between the Jefferson district schools and a private Montessori program that runs from age two straight through to fifth grade.
What Montessori preschool at Mills actually is
These are the years Montessori was designed around. A three- or four-year-old in a prepared classroom is in the middle of what Montessori called the absorbent mind — language, order and fine motor control are all arriving at once, and the room is arranged so a child can chase whichever of them has their attention today. Reading usually appears not as a lesson but as a sudden realization, somewhere in the fourth year, that the sandpaper letters they have been tracing make words.
- The uninterrupted work cycleA long morning block with no bell cutting it in half. A four-year-old who is deep in something is left in it — protecting concentration is the single most Montessori thing a school does.
- Concrete before abstractChildren hold the golden beads before they meet the number. Mathematics starts in the hands, which is why the abstract version comes easily later.
- Mixed ages, on purposeA three-year-old watching a four-year-old is getting a lesson no adult can give as well. The four-year-old explaining it is learning it twice.
The details that decide it
| Our campus | 1400 Hillside Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080 |
| Distance from Colma | About 2 miles |
| Getting here | A short run along Hillside Boulevard or Mission Street. |
| Area | San Mateo County |
| Local public district | Jefferson Elementary School District |
| Ages served | Two through fifth grade |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 7:30 am – 6:00 pm |
| Enrollment | Open year-round, subject to availability |
Distance is approximate and measured in a straight line. The honest test is to drive it once at drop-off time — book a tour and you will.
What Montessori preschool costs
From Colma the drive is short enough that a morning-only place is genuinely practical — plenty of families this close start there and lengthen the day once their child has settled.
- AgesAges 3–4
- Rates$1,200 morning · $1,400 full day · $1,750 extended full day, monthly. Every fee is on the tuition page.
- SchedulesMorning, full day, or extended full day 7:30 am to 6:00 pm — three, four or five days a week.
- EnrollmentOpen year-round, subject to availability, with a one-time $200 new-student fee.
What Colma families ask about Montessori preschool
- Is this the same as pre-K at an ordinary preschool?The hours look similar; the day does not. No whole-class instruction to keep up with, no craft everybody makes the same way, and no timetable chopping the morning into twenty-minute pieces.
- Will my child be ready for kindergarten?We do not publish attainment claims about our own children — we have not measured it. What the year is actually for is the readiness that transfers: choosing work, staying with it and finishing it without being chased.
- Is the Montessori preschool different for families traveling from Colma?No — there is one program and one campus. What changes with distance is the schedule that suits you: families driving further usually choose the extended full day so they are not fighting the peak twice a day.
- Can we come part-time?Yes. Three, four or five days a week, and morning, full day or extended full day. Families driving from Colma more often lengthen the day than shorten the week, but both are offered.
- Do you have a campus in Colma?No — and we would rather be straightforward about it. Mills Montessori has a single campus at 1400 Hillside Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080, about 2 miles from Colma. Everything on this page is about that one school and the families who drive to it.
- How long does the drive from Colma really take?A short run along Hillside Boulevard or Mission Street. We will not pretend to know your morning — the useful thing is to drive it once at drop-off time. Book a tour for 8:45 am and you will find out on the way in.
- Do you give priority to families from Colma?No. Enrollment is open year-round and offered in the order places come free, regardless of which town you are driving from.
Montessori Preschool in other areas
Come and watch a morning
Tours run mid-morning during the work cycle, year-round, by appointment.