Montessori Preschool near Excelsior
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 4 miles from Excelsior, at 1400 Hillside Blvd. in South San Francisco.
Why families here choose it
Parents driving in from Excelsior tend to have already toured somewhere closer. What sends them up the hill is usually the same discovery: the closer school ends at five.
The Excelsior is a short run north of us and one of the most family-dense neighborhoods in San Francisco — a lot of children, not many private early-years places. Parents here are often coming out of the SFUSD assignment process wanting a place they can simply accept, on a timetable they choose, without another round of it in two years.
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 Excelsior | About 4 miles |
| Getting here | South on Mission Street or San Jose Avenue to Hillside Boulevard. |
| Area | San Francisco |
| Local public district | San Francisco Unified 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 Excelsior 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 Excelsior 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 Excelsior?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 Excelsior more often lengthen the day than shorten the week, but both are offered.
- Do you have a campus in Excelsior?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 4 miles from Excelsior. Everything on this page is about that one school and the families who drive to it.
- How long does the drive from Excelsior really take?South on Mission Street or San Jose Avenue to Hillside Boulevard. 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 Excelsior?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.