Daisy Child Development Center

Daisy Child Development Center has an awesome program social and emotional development. We found this center through a Bananas referral and we’ve been so grateful. Our son Nico started in the toddler program, named the Star room and from day 1 he was engaged in the program. We were amazed how the teacher knew to work on his vocabulary by always engaging him with questions, what do you want to work on today? For a long time, he wanted to study the classroom pets (turtle and fish). He learned many animal names that lived on farms and around ponds from the school environment. He moved from a few words to sentences in months. Today, he’s a part of the Rainbow Room and recognizes alphabet letters and loves the calendar routine. Most important, he says he has friends at school. We are very happy at Daisy!

My daughter has been at Daisy’s since she turned 18 months in November, and it has been a wonderful experience!
When I started looking for childcare options for my daughter, I thought I would probably end up going with a nanny share since my daughter was the kid who would cry when I would leave her with friends. But I heard about Daisy’s from a friend in the neighborhood and thought I would check it out. I’m so glad I did!
From the beginning, my daughter loved Daisy’s and the wonderful teachers there. She now cheers when we pull up in the morning! We have been very impressed with all of the teachers we’ve encountered, and it’s obvious that Fey and Irfan care deeply about their students, teachers, and school. The facility is great – lots of great play areas for all ages and (indoor and outdoor) classroom pets ranging from chickens to turtles to fish. The teacher to student ratio is great (there are 5 – 6 kids in my daughters classroom, depending on the day, and usually 2 teachers), and my daughter always seems extremely happy to be there even at the end of the day. Daisy’s was also much more affordable than a lot of the other nanny shares and day cares I looked at, and even at the youngest age (classrooms age from 18 month-​TK) the kids are learning a lot but also having a lot of fun.
I’m a little puzzled by the bad reviews, and can only chalk them up to the fact that change is usually perceived as loss (even if the change isn’t bad), and it sounds like a lot of the poor reviews were coming from parents who were there when Daisy’s transferred ownership. I don’t at all agree with some of the negative things said about Fey and Irfan; they seem to be to be sincere, kind, and compassionate. I was put off at first by the requirement of parent involvement, but as it turns out the things they ask of us are usually pretty small and easy to do, and I’m glad to help out. I’m not sure what to make of the parents who were so turned off by being asked to put up Unilocal reviews. We all know the businesses can thrive or die because of Unilocal,so I’m happy to help report our experience to others.
Daisy’s has been great – so much better than I ever imagined a day care could be – and we’re so grateful that our daughter has gotten to spend some time there!

my son just started Daisy a few weeks ago and so far we are very happy with the way he is treated and how excited he is to go to Daisy for the day. I think the owners have huge hearts and really care about how the kids are feeling. the teachers are also very nice and warm. The day is a good mix of projects and free play so its not academic in nature, but clearly the kids have opportunity to learn and build social skills. They keep the facilities very clean and organized. There are plenty of rooms to play in and the yard space they have is terrific. So far, so great at Daisy!

My daughter has attended Daisy since she was 20 months old. At that time, she had significant developmental delays (motor and communication). Through a lot of kindness and commitment on the part of the staff and management, she’s really flourished. She just turned 4 and she’s completely caught up with other kids. She’s thriving and happy. I give the school a lot of credit for this. They worked well with me, and with the Regional Center.
My daughter is in the Cloud Room. Her teacher, Ghada, is amazing. The class only has seven kids right now, which is crazy, given the level of commitment, attention, and knowledge Ghada’s bringing to her teaching. It’s play-​based but there’s a definite curriculum. My daughter really likes learning her letters, Spanish words, etc. Most of all, she loves Ghada, who brings a sense of order and discipline within a framework of nurturing and kindness.
As mentioned in other reviews below, there was a bumpy patch with management a while back but things have been really smooth since Ghada took over the class. I hope that people will come out and see the school (and particularly Ghada’s teaching) for themselves.

I love this place. My 2 yr old attends Daisy currently and my daughter graduated from here and is now in Kindergarten at SPES. They have been good to my kids and have been instrumental to their growth and development. The owners are very involved, present, and care a lot. The teachers who have cared for my kids — Nikki, Aja, Vickie, Elizabeth, Carla are just outstanding.
I wish they provided lunch and that they had earlier hours, but this is often the case with many other comparable development centers in the Oakland area. They do provide snacks and in the events that I’ve been running late or early, they have been reasonable and flexible. Do beware of the neighbor across the street — he has a problem if you park in front of his house and will confront you and/​or complain to the owners. He’s a real jerk.
So while this place isn’t perfect, I don’t think there is such a place out there that exists. So my conclusion is that Daisy is damn good and has been great for our children. It’s not for everybody but it certainly met our needs.

My son has been at Daisy since he was 18 months old, and is now 5 and in the fabulous TK program. He has received excellent care and play-​based education the entire time, and is thriving in his small, close-​knit TK class. The teachers are knowledgeable and caring — Miss Vickie and Aja are amazing, but even those not in charge of my son’s classroom support him as a person, and are invested in his development.
I’m a Stanford and Berkeley grad who was driven hard by over-​achieving parents, so I’m extra committed to letting my son learn by playing and connecting socially with other kids. He has done this in leaps and bounds in his years at Daisy, for which I am deeply grateful. We will miss the Daisy community when he goes to kindergarten in the fall.

Don’t let the negative reviews discourage you from enrolling your child at Daisy CDC. Every business has their bumpy roads. The important fact is that the owners/​director do listen to parents personally (one on one) and they are willing to take the time to listen to any concerns. Change does not happen overnight, but I can attest that they are making the changes to improve (even with the help of supportive volunteer parents). The owners have good intentions for the children and the staff they employ. That’s all that matters!
Also note that every parent that posted negative reviews did state that their children were happy and enjoyed their time while at Daisy! Again, a happy child is all that matters.
My child was in the Star Room and then transitioned to the Cloud Room. What I liked the most was the fact that the Cloud Room specifically has a very low student to teacher ratio. We viewed this as something very important to us given that our child has a speech delay and the teacher can give more attention to helping.
As a parent who has a child currently at Daisy: here are my top 5 likes about Daisy.
1. Teaching staff is warm, friendly, and loving.
2. The play environment is fun.
3. They give the children a variety of activities/​projects to choose from to explore (play time, cooking, painting, woodworking, yoga, exercise, nature exploration, songs, etc.)
4. A great community of parents.
5. Great communication — teachers and the director spend the time to talk if you make the effort. They don’t mind taking a few minutes to recap your child’s day.
If you are deciding on a daycare/​TK program, I would highly advise visiting/​touring Daisy CDC and also talking with parents who have their children enrolled here. It wouldn’t even hurt to ask the children attending too!

I am really happy with the love and attention my daughter gets at this school! The teachers are fantastic and the atmosphere is truly warm and adventurous!

This is a shout out to the teachers at Daisy.
While there’s been a lot of talk about the changes in administration and high turnover, I wanted to make sure the hard working teachers were given their dues. I have nothing but good things to say about the hands on educators they’ve had in the past and have today.
Nikkie, Annie, Lilly, Gedda, Ron, Asia, they’re all phenomenal and I’m so grateful for their love they’ve shown my son. I know I’m leaving people out (purely for time’s sake) — but I appreciate them all.
And the friends my son and I have made, I hope will last his lifetime.

My son has been attending to Daysi for almost two years, he started when he was 20 months old. We chose the school for its play base system and because it was highly recommended by other parents. I am glad we found this school for my son. I feel comfortable dropping my son there everyday because I know it is a safe place and I know the teachers and Director are supporting my son’s development in accordance to his readiness to learn new things. He progressively has been bringing home new projects done at school and recently has been taught to spell his name and as soon as he turns 4 he will be transfer to their pre– kindergarten program. I am looking forward for that.
The Galaxy room, where my son attends has Miss Niki, who is a great lead teacher and Ms. Fo and Ms. Lisbeth who very caring and loving teachers who attend the children’s needs promptly. I have no complains about this school. It is a safe place, has trained and loving teachers and the director/​owner Ms. Fey is very knowledgeable about child development and personally makes sure the kids are well taken care of.
I truly enjoy this place and would like to say THANK YOU! To the Daysi team, for watching, teaching and caring for my son!

Our son has been attending Daisy for the last 10 months and he is thriving both socially and developmentally. I am constantly amazed by the varied, topical and interesting activities organized by the kind, capable director, Fey, and wonderful, attentive teachers. My son recently came home talking about the upcoming lunar eclipse in such detail that I had to research it to be able to add to the conversation!
He’s a very active 3.5 year-​old who benefits from playtime in the incredible ‘big yard’ as well as their weekly neighborhood walks which always culminate in an adorable race, most recently in Halloween costumes) to tire them out before nap time (a video of this and more are available in multiple posts to a private Facebook site for parents). Additionally I’ve noticed his focus and attention span have been improving through carpentry and creative crafts projects that come home with almost daily.
The curriculum also includes experiments to grow, cook, taste and learn about food; mural painting; learning about and how to care for animals; how to safely use tools to build and create; how to care for your body (yoga/​dance/​etc.) and tons of creative and imaginative play (dress-​up, play-​kitchen etc.) My son is in a classroom of mixed ages (3 – 5) and he’s learned so much from the big kids while also figuring out how to be helpful to the littler ones. I appreciate the mix of practical and play-​based activities.
When we drop him off, our son runs to hug his teachers and waves at us over his shoulder. On more than one occasion he’s also asked us to come back later when we come to pick him up. On the weekends, when we turn into a particular street he know leads to school, he asks excitedly if he’s going to ‘Daisy school?’. We’re thrilled with Daisy and the way our son is cared for as well as challenged with new activities. I only wish they also had a daycare for our infant!

I have been affiliated with Daisy for over 8 years. My nine year old started attending Daisy right before he turned two. He moved from the Star room to the Rainbow room before entering kindergarten. My five year old was in the Star room, then Cloud, and now he is in Transitional Kindergarten with Ms. Vickie. My long journey with Daisy includes the time with the former owner (Eva) and the current owners (Fey and Ifran).
Daisy has, and continues to be, absolutely wonderful for my family! We picked Daisy because it is child-​centered and play based. A play based education allows students to develop their executive function and learn the very important skills of conflict resolution, problem-​solving, and finding and using ones voice. The teachers have and continue to be excellent at supporting students to grow intellectually and socially. The quality of teachers have been consistent my entire 8 years at Daisy. My own parenting skills grew as I picked up tips watching the teachers guide, nurture, and educate the Daisy children.
When the new owners took over, I will admit I was worried. Eva and her daughter Joana were amazing educators; how could anyone take their place? Luckily, qualities that I appreciated about Eva and Joana are qualities I found in Fey and Ifran. I have always found Fey and Ifran to be warm, good listeners, responsive, and understanding of the students developmental needs. Fey, in fact, has done many things to improve both the physical structures and curricular program of Daisy: The big yard now has 1) A safer play structure, 2) Two new structures that provide needed shade, and 3) A water fountain.
Fey and Ifran have also improved the curricular program. Fey started the Transitional Kindergarten program with Ms. Vickie (one of the best teachers you will ever ever ever meet). The TK program includes physical education and Spanish. The pre-​schoolers also have access to more sports and small mini-​classes taught by teachers (carpentry, for example). These were not part of the curricular program before Fey and Ifran became the owners/​Directors. I was not aware that the music program is no longer offered, but I have faith that Fey and Ifran will bring it back if there is demand.
It seems that most of the complaints have been associated with communication. I’m sure that Fey and Ifran can do better – most people can. I’ve never had any issues with communication.
My recommendation is that you visit the school. You’ll either feel the magic or you won’t. We felt the magic 8 years ago and still do. My children loved and still love Daisy. The parents are amazing and kind. The community is vibrant.
A visit to the school will give you way better information than Unilocal reviews. Without a doubt, Daisy deserves a visit and consideration. It’s a special little place in Oakland. Go check it out.

There isn’t a whole lot more I can say about Daisy’s downward spiral that hasn’t already been said by other recent reviewers. From the lack of communication skills of the owners, to the lack of curriculum, I agree with it all. Actually, I will add that I found the dismantling of the Kinderboost program particularly upsetting, given my son should’ve started Kinderboost this fall. The Kinderboost teacher, Miss Vickie, is now heading up the brand new TK class, so Kinderboost essentially got kicked to the curb. The owners decided sending worksheets to the other classrooms in place of spending several hours a day with the amazing Miss Vickie was an appropriate substitute. It’s not. To add insult to injury, I saw recruitment emails for the TK class in early January 2015. To me, that indicates the creation of a TK class was in the works for quite some time. Failing to let parents know the Kinderboost program as they knew it would be defunct is unacceptable! This did not become common knowledge until around August after upset parents demanded a meeting with the owner and were filled in at that time. The news spread by word of mouth from parent to parent as opposed to getting an email, letter, phone call or SOMETHING from the owners. Had I known the changes that were coming, I would’ve moved my son to another school long ago.
Yes, Daisy is more affordable than some other schools in the area (though I wouldn’t exactly call Daisy a school). However, the school my 4 year old son now attends, as well as others I toured, are giving the kids and parents a lot more for their money. Daisy became a disorganized mess under the current ownership and in my opinion, a glorified babysitting service.
I was hesitant to post this review because there are a few really great teachers still working at Daisy, despite so many leaving. However, the ineptitude of the owners overshadows that. A horde of families have left Daisy in the past few months. Clearly, the request for positive Unilocal and BPN reviews to get out of monthly parental involvement coincides with the exodus. I saw the request on the sign in/​out binder, which another reviewer photographed, and thought it was very telling and in very poor taste.

My wife and I are very proud and happy to have our son attending Daisy. Since he started at Daisy over a year ago, we have experienced nothing but a caring, nurturing, and personally attentive staff to his needs. I cannot respond to the criticisms leveled against the school, but my/​our interactions with Fey and Irfan have been about helping our son as much as possible. We have appreciated that tremendously. Karla and Rosa of the Star room have and continue to be excellent teachers who first worked with our son and continue to keep him engaged even though he has moved onto Rainbow. I believe there is always room for improvement, but we have been very happy with our overall experience at DCDC.

I enrolled my daughter in this «school» in the beginning of June and it was definitely the wrong choice. We only stayed for 3.5 months because after some time, it became very clear that they had zero curriculum in place. All this place is, is a day care center… it is not a pre-​school. I feel like i was misled during my tour to believe that they were preparing the children for school. The sad reality is that it is one giant recess all day long. We then met with the director and teachers who stated that they were getting ready to put a program into place, but it was clear that they were not very organized and didn’t really know what they were doing.
Once we made the decision to look for a new school, it became very clear very quickly that Daisy is in desperate need of a a director who has credentials in Early Childhood Education. The current owners do not have these credentials and don’t seem to want to take the advice from the teachers who actually know what it takes to run a school.

I want to express my gratitude and love for this school. My son has been attending for 6 months and I have seen a lot of growth and development in him since going to Daisy. The teachers seem passionate and involved, and the directors are doing their best to improve the school
In many ways.
I have read some of the negative reviews and cannot speak to how the school was before. I did visit the school over a year prior to enrolling my son, I have to say I was less impressed on my first visit and more impressed on my second visit. Kaisan was older the second visit and immediately loved the play yard, complete with climbing walls, train table, bikes, bowling, sand box, painting and much more. The children have so many great choices
I love that the school has chickens, ducks and a garden. The children get to do carpentry projects as well as art and lots of other fun things. It’s a free play, Childs choice learning style and I really like that. Some of the other schools I looked at felt very rigid and I prefer Daisy’s style.
Some of the negative reviews I read complained about certain programs being canceled. I think those parents should consider volunteering once or twice a month to bring the elements they want to see. Daisy is the most affordable preschool of its caliber available, with a massive amount of space and a lot of potential. I am also attracted to the element of flexible parental involvement, because I am a busy working parent, and my schedule doesn’t permit for some of the more expensive, short day co-​ops. I value parental involvement and think it should be enjoyable and voluntary. I recently did a gardening project with the kids and it was very fun for everyone. Choose something you really enjoy and find the time in your schedule to bring it to the school.
One improvement I could see is more clear communication to parents and a more active, more organized parental involvement program. I would also like to see some parent potlucks/​gatherings to meet more of the parents of children my son loves to play with.

I’m very sad to write this, but I wanted other parents out there to understand our experience at this childcare center, and the results that we are now dealing with, due to their lack of expertise. The 2 stars mostly come from my sons first experience in the STAR room, which is the classroom for children ages 18mos — 2.5. This classroom was a good experience for him, and he was in a calm, nurturing environment. But that all changed, when he was moved to the bigger/​preschool age class, where they basically let the kids run around like wild animals. This caused my son to start learning very physical ways of expressing himself, and we are now doing damage control as result. I do not appreciate my son having learned these things, and I believe that Daisy management should have trained and supported their teachers better, to be able to nurture the preschool age children better. Instead, many teachers have recently left Daisy, to work elsewhere. As other have already commented, most of the reviews on here are NOT up to date, so please refer to the current reviews. The change in ownership is the main issue that has caused Daisy to not be what it once was, I imagine. The owners are not trained in early childhood education, nor are they willing to hire a trained director. I think this is an insult to teachers everywhere, and a big red flag for any parents considering putting their child in the care of this daycare/​preschool.

So, it looks like there haven’t been many reviews of Daisy in the last 2.5 years, I guess I’ll say a few things.
This review is partly about our experience and our children’s experiences — we have had two kids there over a span of years — but I thought I’d share suggestions for parents who are considering Daisy:
(1) Take any strong reviews posted near this one (late-​September 2015) with a grain of salt, as the school’s management now appears to be trying some small-​scale bribery to get good reviews posted. A sign recently appeared on the parent sign-​in/​sign-​out booklet saying «put an endorsement for Daisy on Unilocal and Berkeley Parents Network, and it will count as your monthly chore.» (Parents at Daisy are required, each month, to either complete a «chore» or opt to pay a fine/​fee instead — not huge $$ but not trivial either.) I don’t know how strong an incentive this particular «deal» is for parents in general, but still: reader, beware!
2) Realize that the information on the school’s website (as of this date) is stunningly inaccurate, effectively erasing key changes in Daisy’s recent history. For instance:
a) The About page, in the very first paragraph, says «Led by Director Eva Barahona, …». Not true! Eva WAS the director, and her family owned Daisy for many, many years. Eva was an excellent teacher and director with deep expertise and extensive experience, and a lot of what was great about daisy in those years flowed from Eva and her very stable staff. But in 2013 the school was sold to new owners Fey (wife) and Irfan (husband), who have minimal background or experience, and have proven quite weak in important skill areas like communication and organization.
b) The Teachers and Staff page lists Joanna P. Lamnouar as the Curriculum Administrator. Also not true! Joanna WAS the curriculum administrator, and her role was crucial. She really understood young children and the complex ideas and practices that make up a progressive, play-​based curriculum. She helped teachers develop and enact that understanding, and was a huge contributor to making the structure and essence of the school live up to its mission. However, Joanna left the school not long after the new owners took over, and there has been no equivalent staff position at the school since then.
c) Of the 16 people listed on the Teachers and Staff page overall, 9 of them (more than half!) are no longer at Daisy. This includes:
— The two music teachers listed, who used to visit and perform/​play with groups of Daisy kids at regular intervals, have not been part of Daisy’s program for quite some time.
— Two of the classroom teachers (Annie Liu, Lily Gaitan) listed are now working at other preschools in the area.
— 5 others no longer work at Daisy for other reasons.
d) The Daisy Community page mentions a «monthly Parents Meeting, which we strongly encourage our parents to attend.» There is no such thing. Since the new owners took over ~2.5 years ago, I recall exactly two official meetings with parents. In both cases, these happened because of the urging and organizing efforts of concerned groups of parents.
(3) Do your homework by talking to parents whose children have RECENTLY been at Daisy. Include parents who have chosen to stay as well as parents who have chosen to leave. In the same vein, pay attention to the dates on parent testimonials here (or BPN, or Next Door, etc.): The nature of what Daisy is and how it is run has changed substantially since Spring/​Summer 2013.
(4) Find out (if you can) what exactly the background and qualifications are of the teachers and the owners/​directors, as well as how administrative decision-​making is done. We parents had consistently understood Fey to be the director for some time, but at the most recent parent meeting Irfan referred to himself and himself only as the owner/​director, and every statement he made about decisions regarding the school began with «I» (not «we»), with no indication Fey (who remained almost completely silent during the meeting) was involved at all.
(5) Spend time talking to Fey and Irfan in person, since they are intent on running the school themselves, with no plans to hire a more experienced director, or even to replace the office assistant they once had. In particular, if Irfan remains heavily involved in directorial decisions or day-​to-​day activities with kids, decide how you feel about that. (I personally find him self-​important, condescending, and a poor listener whose own voice takes up way too much space in any «conversation» he engages in.)
I’m putting 2 stars because the fact that my children generally enjoyed their time at Daisy, having good friends and warm relationships with particular teachers (though almost all are now gone), has rapidly been eclipsed by huge teacher turnover and serious problems I see with the school’s leadership. If something changes to get the school on a different and better trajectory, I would reconsider this.

This is a tough review to write. Our daughter attended Daisy for two years, and there was a time we really loved it there. Over time we watched the wheels slowly come off and finally we had to leave. We became part of a large exodus of students this year when it became clear management was not up to the task of running a preschool.
First the good. We have loved lots of our teachers, and there are still some great teachers there. The other parents were warm and community oriented, and we made some great friendships. The location and facility are good too (we live just down the street which was super convenient).
Now the bad. There has been a prodigious turnover in teachers. We had some wonderful teachers in my daughter’s classroom, but they all now teach at other preschools. There are some great teachers left in other classrooms, but I wouldn’t hold out hope that they’ll stay much longer.
The problems at Daisy rest with the owners Fey and Irfan, who also direct the school. The parents tried to get together and ask for some concrete changes to Daisy management, but after a difficult parent/​management meeting it became clear nothing would change. Here are some of the issues that were discussed in that meeting.
We asked that the owners to improve communication with parents. Teachers had left without notification to parents, there were changes to the school calendar without proper notification, there were changes to important curriculum without notice to parents, and Irfan has taken on directing duties at Daisy, without any notice that this was happening. At our meeting Irfan introduced himself as the owner/​director, and Fey, who we had always been led to believe was the director, was not introduced at all and said very little at the meeting. A change in director is a big deal, and we were shocked. We asked for better communication going forward. Irfan said that they would not hire administrative staff (he said he wanted to put his staff resources only into teachers), but that he would try to do better with communication. Five days later we learned that our daughter’s favorite teacher had left Daisy when we ran into her outside school. She said she had given management 30 days notice, but the parents had heard nothing from management. That was the moment we decided to leave Daisy.
We also addressed issues of curriculum at Daisy. Management had changed the popular Kinderboost program, which used to bring four-​year-​olds to separate room for several hours a day to work on pre-​k like activities (with Vickie, a great teacher). We learned, not directly from management, that Kinderboost had been changed so that the kids would no longer go to learn with Vickie. Instead, worksheets would be sent to each classroom and the four-​year-​olds could work on Kinderboost material if they want to.
There used to be popular music class. They had two musicians that would come in and play music with the kids, my daughter loved it (and still remembers it). We were never told that they had canceled that program by management. When parents asked what had happened, we were told that they had canceled music because the kids weren’t interested. Management assured us that the kids could still participate in «self-​directed music and dance.»
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. We went from loving Daisy, to feeling that maybe it will get better, to a real sense of unease, to having to find a new preschool for our daughter. It’s a shame and I really do hope that Daisy changes management and thrives again. I’ll take down this review if that happens.

I love this school! Both of my boys attended Daisy, my oldest for two years and youngest for three years.
The staff has very little turnover and communicates openly with the parents regarding the progress of the children’s development.
As a dual working household we needed a school staffed from 7:30 — 6:00. Usually we don’t use the full time, but often it comes in handy.
We also appreciate the hot breakfast and healthy snacks.
As a working mother I worried about being away from my children, but it really takes a village to raise healthy children and I trust the Daisy community.