Learning Links Preschool

This child care center changed management in Feb 2014, from CCLC to Learning Links. The City of Mountain View retained ownership, most or all children stayed, and Learning Links retained most of the teachers. In fact, Learning Links retained the best teachers (IMO) and CCLC took the rest. Given that the change was incremental, you may want to read previous reviews (
…).
Pros: The city provides a large outdoor playground for the older children shaded by a beautiful oak tree. Almost all the teachers are wonderful, warm towards the children, thoughtful, enthusiastic — and this is really the key to a good day care center. The kids seem happy and engaged. Communication has improved since Learning Links took over; in particular each classroom received a laptop and teachers are responsive to email. Newsletters tend to be sent as PDFs which means they’re really annoying to read on a smart phone, you can’t search your email to look up a forgotten detail, or easily save a cute photo of your own child; but it’s a big step forward from CCLC which was just awful at electronic communication.
Cons: The management is friendly and their hearts are clearly in the right place, but they manage little beyond day-​to-​day operations. Response times to parent questions can take months; for example, it took over 3 months to post teacher bios, and the parent who asked was given no indication of the wait. Health safety is misguided, with less focus on nutrition and vaccination than bureaucratic «owie reports» for every little scuff and bump. I am concerned about sending infants here. After a child came to the center with whooping cough, the only policy change in response to parent concerns was to provide less information about vaccination rates than parents can find by navigating public state websites. The director has assured parents that risk to infants is low because their classroom is separate, which to me suggests she hasn’t thought much about this. Older children routinely enter the infant room as their parents drop off younger siblings, all children pass through the same entry and hallway, and it seems impossible to avoid interactions in a mixed age center. There is no on-​site kitchen, limiting options for snacks. While Learning Links upper management intends to improve snacks, until last month they were about 50% cookies, pastries, or bread, a far cry from USDA guidelines for young children. In 10 months of operation Learning Links has remained 2 or 3 teachers away from full staffing, which to me is explainable by poor advertising of open positions. The city didn’t provide much storage space which causes some logistical problems with storing toys and other supplies.
Our older son has been attending this center since Aug 2011 and our younger since June 2013. Our third will start after she’s had at least the first dose of most vaccinations.

We were impressed enough with the center to move our child from another center, starting soon. We like that they offer music and learning as part of their preschool program, unlike how CCLC handles these items. For extra-​curriculars, they offer Soccer Shots as well as a dance class.

It is a great center, friendly teachers and very good management. Our daughter has been there for more than 1.5 years and is very happy to go there. She loves it.
Pros:
— teachers know the children by name even when they are not in their class
— very open to parent suggestions
— very supportive when there are changes in the family e.g. another sibling
— music class is included in the tuition
— great part time schedule (9 – 3)
— facility is very nice and has a great playground with lots of shade
— very good atmosphere
Cons (and why it is not 5 stars):
— outdoors physical exercise could be more, they offer participation in dance classes and soccer programs (extra tuition) but that’s only 30 – 45 min a week. Dance classes are indoors.
— no school garden

I consider myself and my child lucky that we found Learning Links (formerly CCLC). I highly recommend this school.
Basics: facilities are clean, backyard abutting Rengstorff Park is sunny but with tree-​shaded area, well-​maintained equipment. Indoor equipment recently replaced/​brought in. The tuition is reasonable, and there are low-​income slots available.
The teachers, including Kirsten, Bianca, Kylii, Kristy and Wendy are excellent. Most were employed by CCLC and stayed on with the change in management, which is fortunate since the teachers along with the curriculum are truly what make the school excellent.
The activities are plentiful, varied, fun and spark curiosity in my child, for which I am the most grateful. She is joyfully reading and doing math at 5, and Learning Links deserves much of the credit. She is pumped for Kindergarten this fall. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye after nearly 3 years.

Our daughter started here in Jan. 2013, at age 7 months, when the daycare was run by CCLC. I noticed little change since Learning Links took over. Any changes, however, were for the better.
I love that they get involved with the community by visiting the Senior Center and participating in the Book Mobile.
I can’t express how grateful we are for all the teachers my daughter has had. The infants and toddlers teachers took care of her as if she was their family. There’s nothing more we could ask for!
We’re excited she is now with the bigger kids and outside time is in the large playground. That’s what attracted us to this daycare in the first place.

Our daughter has been at this school for 18 months now. The teachers are wonderful. I am always impressed by how neat and clean the facility and playground are. The new management has taken a turn for the better. Music classes included in curriculum. Optional dance and soccer. Highly recommend this school.