Montessori Preschool near Daly City
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 3 miles from Daly City, at 1400 Hillside Blvd. in South San Francisco.
Why families here choose it
Most Montessori schools within reach of Daly City stop at kindergarten. Mills goes through fifth grade, so the method has time to finish what it started and you are not running a second school search when your child is five.
Daly City is the largest city in San Mateo County and sends us a steady stream of families, particularly from the Westlake and Serramonte sides which are closest to the school. The extended day to 6:00 pm matters here: plenty of Daly City parents commute into San Francisco rather than down the Peninsula.
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 Daly City | About 3 miles |
| Getting here | Along Hillside Boulevard, or down Mission Street and John Daly Boulevard. |
| 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 Daly City 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 Daly City 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 Daly City?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 start mid-year?Yes. Enrollment is open all year, subject to availability, so families move to us when a childcare arrangement changes rather than waiting for September.
- What happens after kindergarten if we come from Daly City?The same school. Mills runs through fifth grade, so the kindergarten year is not the exit — which is the main reason families take on a drive at all rather than enrolling somewhere closer that finishes at five.
- We are in the Jefferson Elementary School District. Does that affect enrollment?No. Mills is a private school and enrollment has nothing to do with district boundaries. The district matters only in that it is your free alternative, and it is a fair thing to weigh — we have written an honest comparison with California TK that argues both sides.
- How do we actually see the school from Daly City?Tours run mid-morning, during the work cycle, year-round and by appointment. Twenty minutes at the back of a working classroom answers more than any page can. Book a morning or call the office.
Come and watch a morning
Tours run mid-morning during the work cycle, year-round, by appointment.