Recent Experience with Grand Lake and/or Child Unique Montessori?

My son has been in one of the primary classes at Grand Lake Montessori for a year, and we love it. I am a school social worker and our family is biracial, so we were looking for a diverse school with well-trained teachers with strong social-emotional skills. GLM has been great for that. We aren't familiar with the Brown Cottage classes (where your child would start) but do plan to send our daughter there when she's old enough. 

My son's teachers seem to know him well and to work with him in a caring way while also respecting his autonomy and supporting his growth. He comes home with new language for resolving conflict and expressing his needs; the school also potty trained him at two and a half!  He is 3 but seems to be learning pre-k skills because they are integrated into classroom activities he's interested in. There is relatively low staff turnover; there is a new director, and one of my son's three teachers is new, but his lead teacher has been teaching at GLM for more than twenty years, and the other teacher for at least five. And there is a strong community. 

With regard to your commute - there are a couple families in my son's class who live in Alameda.  We live in Oakland but are considering Alameda ourselves and would do the drive if needed, but of course the feasibility of that depends on each family's specific schedule. Good luck with your decision!

My 3.5 year old has been at GLM for almost 2 years and we will be starting my younger one there this summer when he is 18 months. I thinks it's a well run school with good communication and community building. I wish there weren't so many days off. Feel free to message me if you have any other specific questions I can help with.