Montessori Preschool near Potrero Hill
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 6 miles from Potrero Hill, at 1400 Hillside Blvd. in South San Francisco.
Why families here choose it
The practical case from Potrero Hill is unglamorous — a published price list, a day that covers a working day, and a program that does not evict your child at kindergarten.
Potrero Hill has a clean shot down 280, which is a very different experience from crossing the city east to west — the freeway does the work and the exits at the county line are quiet in the morning. The families we see from the hill are usually weighing an SFUSD assignment they did not choose against something they can simply accept, and want the answer settled for more than one year at a time.
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 Potrero Hill | About 6 miles |
| Getting here | South on 280 to the Brisbane exits, then across. |
| 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
At about 6 miles from Potrero Hill, most families choose a full or extended day rather than making the drive twice for a half day.
- 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 Potrero Hill 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 Potrero Hill?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.
- Is there a summer option?Yes — three optional summer sessions, enrolled separately from the school year. Some families from further out use a summer session as the trial run before committing to the drive in September.
- How is tuition actually paid?Annual tuition is based on a 180-day school year. You can pay it in one payment for a 5% discount, or in ten installments. Every rate and every fee is on the tuition page.
- Can we come part-time?Yes. Three, four or five days a week, and morning, full day or extended full day. Families driving from Potrero Hill more often lengthen the day than shorten the week, but both are offered.
- Do you have a campus in Potrero Hill?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 6 miles from Potrero Hill. Everything on this page is about that one school and the families who drive to it.
Montessori Preschool in other areas
Come and watch a morning
Tours run mid-morning during the work cycle, year-round, by appointment.