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November 2023 by Benjamin Bethune
I have two daughters attending Peppertree School (a toddler and a baby). The baby room is set up so that the babies are engaged with the teachers, the other babies, and plenty of toys. The toddlers, meanwhile, are kept busy with a wide variety of activities - coloring with crayons, dancing, riding bikes and toy cars, teeter totter, slides, bubbles - and they also establish a consistent schedule that helps them get better rest during naptime. Most importantly, my wife and I feel fortunate to have our girls at a daycare with wonderful teachers who care about them and truly enjoy spending time with them.
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November 2023 by Michele Cassell
Discovering Peppertree Ranch House was a turning point for us. After visiting several impersonal, corporate daycares, we found our perfect match. Nestled in a quaint ranch house, this gem provides a structured yet incredibly heartfelt learning environment. It doesn't feel corporate or like a makeshift setup in someone’s personal home.With its focus on play-based learning and social-emotional development, Peppertree has been a nurturing haven for our girls since they were 5 months old. The importance of social-emotional learning cannot be overstated. Research consistently shows that fostering emotional intelligence in early childhood is crucial for building communication skills, resilience, empathy, and the ability to form healthy relationships—all foundational for lifelong success. Peppertree’s dedication to this research-backed approach has been evident in the growth and happiness of our children.
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November 2023 by Kristin L.
***Infant Room***This review is for the girls in the infant room Maria, Alice, & Patty. I'm not going to lie when I say I wasn't scared to drop off my four month old to day care. These three are everything you could ever ask for when looking for someone to watch over your baby. I always knew my son was in great care and they would watch him like he was their own. They made going back to work that much easier for me and I am just so grateful for them. You can tell they watch these babies because they enjoy it and love babies. I wish he could stay with them through out all of his daycare years! They deserve a raise :)
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November 2023 by Michele C.
As a parent, finding a school you can trust with your little ones is no small feat, and Peppertree Schools of Los Gatos has been an absolute gem for our family. We have two girls under two, and from the very beginning, the warmth and care from Miss Danna, the Director and Co-Owner, have made us feel like we're part of a big, caring family. The staff's loving and nurturing approach is evident in every interaction. They go above and beyond to ensure not only the educational but also the emotional and social development of our children. Communication is excellent, keeping us connected and involved in our girls' education and daily adventures. With its focus on play-based learning and social-emotional development, Peppertree has been a nurturing haven for our girls since they were five months old. The importance of social-emotional learning cannot be overstated. Research consistently shows that fostering emotional intelligence in early childhood is crucial for building communication skills, resilience, empathy, and the ability to form healthy relationships--all foundational for lifelong success. We are so grateful for the peace of mind that comes from knowing our girls are in the best hands.
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August 2023 by Camille D.
Where do I begin. My family and I were new to the Bay Area and were hearing mixed reviews about the Los Gatos area. We had some troubles as we began to look for preschools for my 2 grandchildren. It was quite a roller coaster ride. But when we first met Dana at the Ranch house. It was such a blessing . It felt as if everything was starting to fall into place and although is was a bumpy road we finally made it to were out kiddos were meant to be. The reason we chose pepper tree initially was because of Danas (the director) great structure but also her nurturing spirit. She has always been very hand on with both schools. As the kids progressed the main thing that always made me and mom feel safe about leaving my grandchildren is that without telling Dana or staff specific thing about the kids. They noticed o their own and took action. For example. One child is very potty shy and wanted extra privacy. Her teacher at the time always went the extra mile to make sure Calia was compfortable even without Calis being verbal about it. And that means everything to myself , mom and the kids. Thank You peppertree for providing a safe and fun learning enviremont.
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July 2023 by Oskar V.
Our daughter was at Peppertree's infant program for 4 months. Although we're thankful for some of the daily staff that was kind and caring, we had an overall bad experience because management does not communicate, does not want to work together with parents, and has a contract that contains some ridiculous rules.1) Peppertree has a two week transition where you bring your child and yourself in for an hour or so each day and then take your child home again rather than leaving them behind. My wife and I both have a full-time job and this was a terrible experience for us. On top of working our jobs, we had to take full-time care of our child as well as spend time at a day care.This may have been somewhat OK if it was actually communicated to us ahead of time, but it was neither mentioned during the tour nor in any emails that we got. Yes, the website does state "New families should plan to spend a few hours in the first two weeks introducing their child..." but it's missing the part where you have to provide full-time care for you child at home in addition to spending those few hours with your child in daycare.We only found out about this transition the actual day we thought was going to be our first day.Half-way through the transition I kindly asked the director, Dana, if there is any way we can accelerate the transition but she told me "no.. it has to be a group decision... see you tomorrow". She did not even consider it at all and I was surprised and confused and I just went home and we ended up continuing the transition even though our daughter had no issues being in a new environment.We also tried to confirm that it will be like this for two weeks to which we got the response: "at least".None of our friends who are with other day cares went through anything like this.2) Withdrawal from Peppertree takes 60 to 90 days so you're locked in for very long. This because the "60 day notice" only starts on the first day of the following month. Most other day cares require only 14 days notice so we did feel scammed when we learned how unusual this long notice is. Yes, it's all in the contract that signed, but we were also first-time parents who didn't know better back then. 60-90 days notice does not work for anyone who wants to change to another day care or preschool, especially since spots at other schools may open up only last minute. It also does not work for people who unexpectedly have to move house or lose their job and no longer need child care.The contract also mentions "You can utilize the application month as much or as little as needed.". First of all, know that Peppertree takes a one-month deposit when you sign up and will apply it to the very last month rather than the very first. This is unusual and illogical. But the sentence here is also saying that on top of that, you don't have to stay the last month even though you paid for it, since 'you are free to throw as much or as little of your money out of the window as needed'. Ridiculous.The whole business model feels like they lock you in by misrepresenting and overselling themselves via their website and during the tour, and then make it extremely hard to get out.3) While our baby was enrolled at Peppertree we learned that they just got two citations by the state, one for "8 out of 8 staff files were missing documentation of immunizations" and one for "facility did not complete sleeping logs for infants in care". Whether you think those rules make sense to have or not, they are the law and we expect better from a place that takes care of children.4). Management seems disorganized from not being able to answer half of the emails or calls, to not being able to keep account of how much we owed them. The office looks messy. They send the monthly calendar when half the month is already over. The clock right above the signing in binders was off by 20 minutes for weeks/months. We did not even attempt to ask for receipts for tax saving purposes (Dependent Car
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May 2023 by Mina S.
Refused to give us our deposit back! And sent me a cease and desist letter telling me to take this review down!
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May 2023 by Joseph H.
Refused to give deposit back! We started off with two days per week then reduced it down to drop in... after a couple months of being enrolled (on a drop in basis) and not using their services we gave 60 days notice and now they are refusing to give the deposit back! Now we are dealing with small claims court. It's a mess. AVOID THIS PLACE!!!
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April 2023 by Erika Vanecek
My youngest has attended Peppertree ranch house for about 18 months now through the 1 and 2 y.o. programs. We love it here. They have some really nice play spaces on the property and class rooms are updated nicely. We have loved all of our teachers so far. Plus they open earlier than most childcares nearby.
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May 2022 by Taryn R.
Let me start by saying I've worked in childcare most of my life, started when I was 12 and have continued through adulthood! When it came to finding a school for my children I was beyond critical of every location I've visited. I not only have a check list of things I want for my children but I have to feel a trust and bond with the teachers and staff caring for my children. I have two children, in both of their locations. The teachers are beyond amazing! They have all been at these locations for year. That in itself speaks volumes! The amount of time put into the facility and activities for children is truly incredible. The community, communication and friendliness of these facilities is unmatched! You truly can't go wrong sending your children here! As sad as I am that my oldest is aging out and ready to go to kindergarten, I'm thrilled my youngest will soon be ready to go and enjoy this program!
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August 2021 by Payal G.
This is my first review ever on the yelp. The wonderful experience we had at the Peppertree school couldn't stop me to write here.Ms Danna (Director of School) is an awesome personality. Her main purpose of this school is to create a place for our kids where they can blossom, grow and develop. At the time of touring the school, she was so interested to understand the personality/behaviour of our son which then she communicated that to the class teachers. Never had that experience where school puts such an effort on knowing the kids while touring the school.Ms Shruti and Ms. Marisol (from room 5) are awesome teachers. They always look calm and happy with kids.They always welcome questions from the parents.The school ambience itself is so welcoming. They have nice/cute playgrounds with sand play areas, vegetable beds, kids toys. The class rooms are of good size and looks clean and bright.Today is the last day for our son at their Ranch branch and he is going to join their 'Cottage House' branch from next week. There also we had a wonderful experience while touring with Ms Chitvan.We strongly recommend Peppertree schools. We are looking forward to join the Cottage House branch.
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June 2021 by Chris P.
We could not have been happier with our time at Peppertree. We started our daughter in the infant room when she was ~5 months old in the summer of 2020. Given the pandemic and putting a child in daycare for the first time we were nervous, but it was immediately clear the love and care she received was so much higher than a distracted parent trying to work from home while caring for an infant. She would get so excited at drop off and to see Maria, Patty, Patricia, and Marisol in the infant room. As she transitioned to the toddler room it was the same, so much joy at drop off, clearly so happy at pick-up, so much outdoor play time, always coming home with art, and clearly making friends. There was a period where all our daughter would say is "Danna," the owner/director's name.They take health and safety seriously. They were able to stay open through the entire pandemic, where so many of our friends were one by one saying "yeah daycare is closed for 2 weeks for quarantine. One of the teachers/families of a child got COVID." That never happened at Peppertree and there were no cases at the center.We moved out of the Bay Area and sadly had to leave Peppertree after only a year. We had the option to move several months sooner than we did but we stayed until the last moment so we could stay at Peppertree as long as possible. I would highly recommend Peppertree.
