Montessori Toddler Program near Daly City
A small, deliberately calm room for two- and three-year-olds — and potty training is not required to start, which rules a lot of families out elsewhere. Mills is about 3 miles from Daly City, at 1400 Hillside Blvd. in South San Francisco.
Why families here choose it
The honest pitch to a Daly City family is a short one: one campus, one method, ages two to eleven, and a price list you can read before you call.
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 toddler program at Mills actually is
Preschool I is most families' first experience of leaving a child anywhere, and the room is built for that rather than for academics. The work looks like pouring, scooping, carrying, buttoning and tidying. To an adult eye it looks like housework; what it is actually building is the ability to sequence a task, concentrate on it and finish it — the foundation everything later rests on. Separation is planned rather than endured: a predictable arrival routine, the same adults, the same shelf in the same place.
- Potty training is not a condition of entryPlenty of schools gate admission on toilet independence. We do not — at two, that mostly measures the parents.
- Practical life comes firstCarrying a tray without spilling demands the same control that reading and mathematics will later require, and transfers directly.
- Movement and language all morningNothing in the room asks a two-year-old to sit still for a lesson they did not choose.
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 toddler program 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 2–3
- Rates$1,100–$1,750 a month depending on days per week and length of day. 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 toddler program
- My child has never been away from me. Is two too young?Only you can answer that. What we can say is that the room is designed for this exact transition, with a settling-in period rather than a first full day thrown in at the deep end. Come and watch a drop-off before you decide.
- Can we start with mornings only?Yes, and many toddler families do, lengthening the day later. Morning is 9:00 to 12:00 and covers the full work cycle, which is where the learning is.
- Is the Montessori toddler program 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.