Merryhill Preschool

My son and daughter both attended Merryhill (at different times) from June 2022-January 2024. We experienced the Infant Room, Toddler B Room, and Beginner A Room. I learned almost of this information after my son had left and I pulled my daughter as soon as I found out. There is a lot of information here but if you're short on time, please know that this school currently employees one teacher who abused an infant -- there is a video of Ms. Megan aggressively "placing" an infant onto a Boppy pillow on the floor. Both licensing and corporate are aware of this issue and the school was given a citation for the incident. However, Ms. Megan still works at Merryhill. My daughter was in the infant room when this happened (in August 2023) but I did not learn about it until the end of December 2023.I personally heard Ms. Megan aggressively yelling at children outside on the playground for seemingly no good reason (no safety issues, etc.). My son also told me that she yelled at him, covered his head with a blanket, and took his blanket because he was being "too loud." He's three so take that with a grain of salt but he said many concerning things about Merryhill and specifically Ms. Megan (mostly after we pulled him). I personally witnessed other concerning things in the Intermediate Room, which I passed by everyday on the way to drop off or pickup my kids. Teachers Malika and Teara were often yelling, speaking harshly, and using aggressive body language. I have heard that Ms. Malika has a reputation for pinching children - current and former teachers said this but I didn't see it personally. The intermediate room teachers received a citation for "wrapping" up a three year old in a blanket at naptime. Further, the school has a policy against time out but the intermediate room teachers sometimes make children stand in front of the "blue wall" in the classroom to get around the no time out policy. I personally saw Ms. Teara aggressively use her body to block a sobbing toddler girl at the blue wall in the classroom. While my son was at Merryhill he said he was "scared of the blue wall." I was devastated to learn all of this because there are some wonderful teachers at the school. Ms. Arrianna in the Beginner room, Ms. LaBrea and Ms. Naomi in the toddler room, and Ms. Sophie, Ms. Jenny, and Ms. Rakaisha in the infant room are all kind and caring people.Ultimately, we pulled both of my children because we did not feel that they were safe at Merryhill and we were disappointed in the lack of quality control for teachers. If you're considering Merryhill, PLEASE check the California Department of Social Services Childcare Licensing website and look at all of the complaints and citations. They paint quite a picture of Merryhill.Update - the school was recently cited and penalized because a child got out of the playground gate and was found by strangers wandering around the parking lot. This new citation is also available on the licensing department's website.

My kid goes here Monday Wednesday and Friday. We chose them because they are accommodating for early drop off and late pickup. But the principal has teacher in service days on Fridays every couple of months but I still have to pay for the whole week? Ridiculous! Also close early for Christmas eve which is fine, but at noon? Can at least be 3pm. Also this past Christmas and new years fell on a Sunday and was observed the following Monday. Thats also fine. THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I HAVE IS THAT IM PAYING FOR FULL 3 DAYS WHEN MY KID IS GOING ONLY FOR TWO DAYS AT TIMES. Also voluntarily closing because of the stormy weather? I'm watching the news and its not even going to be that bad! STAY AWAY UNLESS YOU WANT TO GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY. Times already rough with inflation and everything else going on. Will be looking for a different school!

This preschool is completely unprofessional and completely unethical. Please do not send your kids here. They do not have the proper training and will leave your children without proper care and unsupervised. The staff doesn't care about the safety of the students and only looks at them as paychecks. Definitely do not recommend.

Our child has been at Merryhill for just over a year, which is a decision we made following months of research by reaching out to friends who have had their children there in the past. We are very pleased with all the staff and couldn't be happier. I would like to start with one of the most basic positives which is the hours of operation from 6:30 am to 6:00 pm. Being a household with two working parents, their availability is outstanding. There are multiple enrollment programs including Mon/Wed/Fri, Tue/Thu, and Mon - Fri which provides even more flexibility. Tammy, who is the principal, has been outstanding to deal with. The tuition, calendars, and daily reports are very informative and helpful to parents. Our child was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) 6 months ago and the principle was very instrumental in helping us understand the process of how to get our third-party agency to provide behavioral therapy (BT) in the classroom with our child. She provided me with all the paperwork and was able to fully answer all my questions as well as identify which paperwork I was responsible for and which the BT agency was responsible for. This whole process became so much easier thanks to her help. As our child became familiar with the routine of going to Merryhill every day, we really got to know the teachers/aids in the classroom. They have been terrific and have been so patient with our crying toddler at drop-off. Each child adjusts differently, but their patience is unending with our little one. Several teachers have really bonded with our family, and we can clearly see how much our child is loved and cared for every day. I have no concerns when dropping off our child every day. In addition, the school app makes it very convenient to communicate back and forth with the classroom, receive daily reports, pictures, be notified of important dates or events, meal and snack calendar plus the ability for parents to add notes about their child for the upcoming day. It is important to remember that being a staff member at a childcare facility is not an easy one. Parents should also play a crucial part in their role with the school. Get to know the teachers/aids, listen to them when they provide feedback and maybe bring in something for the classroom from time to time like batteries for the toys, art supplies, etc., and let the staff know how much you appreciate them. After all, they are taking care of the most precious gifts in your lives, your children. I hope that this review provides you with an honest perspective of the experience my family is having with Merryhill.

I really loved this school. You get alerted on your phone everyday with pictures of your child and some info about what they learn that day or what they are that day. Super secured I know my child was safe there. You have to get buzzed in or have your own code to get through the door. The teachers were all amazing. I appreciate Miss Kim so much! I would definitely recommend friends and family.

I went to MerryHill in Stockton when I was a preschooler back in 1988, and I have so many fond memories! The staff was kind (except I absolutely hated nap time lol) now I wish I could have nap time at work. I remember on Halloween our instructor made witches Brew at the playground (I believe it was root beer and dry ice in a big cauldron) I was really impressed! We did so many fun arts and crafts I remember my favorite one was melting crayons and making a really cool picture with all the colors smeared. When I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks my preschool teachers had the class make me get well cards and it really cheered me up! I also enjoyed being picked to have a class job I got to be the line leader and the person to pass out the snacks, it made me feel responsible. I made some lovely friends and I loved the play structure and playing hide and go seek with my classmates. I'm now 40 and I still have flashbacks of the fun times there!

I don't recommend this school for anyone. In June, 2022, I enrolled my son in this school. I deposited first week tuition, extra activities tuition, and security fee. Unfortunately, before my son started his school, we had a family emergency and he couldn't start his school. I asked for refund nothing happened! Principal Tammy said it takes 10-15 days to process, after a month and half, my husband called; they said it takes 3-4 weeks to process. Today it has been 4 months, didn't get any refund yet! This school is all about money.

DO NOT SEND YOUR KID HERE. My son fell on his head 3 days in one week. Last fall was while he was eating in his seat and fell forward with the eating chair. Immediately went to pick up my son and asked for footage of what had happened. Tami did not want to provide the footage, as she "couldn't leave the desk". She said we'd Need to make an appointment to view the footage. Which I immediately emailed her so that we can schedule. The only reason I was/ still am frustrated is because how does my son fall 3 times in one week? The last fall was while he was eating and strapped in, seriously!? To which they basically blamed him since he moved to fast. He was about 6-8 months. We go in to look at footage she basically gives us a run around and how the school is great and they really look after their kids- not. Brings in the teacher who let him fall, who did the same as well. The teacher who let him fall explained that she didn't want this to happen again and was going to watch them more closely... seriously? After about 45 minutes of listening to them do nothing. Tammi pretends to look up the footage and says "oh the cameras are not working, they must be under maintenance". She knew the cameras did not work, she knew what she was doing. How do you advertise that the kids are always closely monitored via cameras and when my son fell it seems to not work? She then followed with "the floors are not that hard to where they would get hurt". For anyone who has a kid there, they are definitely not the same floors as other daycares who don't neglect their kids. As I told tammi, the first time was an accident, second time was "what's going on" and the third is just neglect. She argued it was not. All I have to say is be glad you guys do not have a lawsuit on your hands. DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE. YOU WILL ONLY HEAR HORROR STORIES FROM HERE. TAMI IS AWFUL AND RUDE. No real apologies were made and all she asked for was payment, after I had put a stop payment on the tuition. To when I responded that tuition should be the least of her worries, she waived the fee and took the deposit as the fee. SERIOUSLY THIS SCHOOL IS AWFUL. NEGLECT ALL AROUND. I am still so upset about this, I trusted them with my baby because of all the false promises they promised. As I said, they are lucky they don't have a lawsuit on their hands.

Let me begin by saying that we are grateful for our son's time here. The School was always clean and the hours are so flexible. He was there 3 times a week for four years and they were always willing to accommodate us if we were in a pinch and needed an extra day of childcare. We were always met with kindness and the school is a fun and safe atmosphere. However, after leaving I learned a few hard truths. The school stresses academics and curriculum and I do not feel as though my son's educational outcomes reflect this. In fact when being assessed for Kindergarten it was realized that he was far behind and did not get in to the parochial school we had applied to. We then went to another school where one month in we noticed a huge change, and in 6 months he had caught up to the necessary benchmarks. Additionally, I do have to make a full disclaimer and say that in the spring before we changed schools he was diagnosed as autistic. This can explain the above issue but can also lead to the matter that yes although I am the parent and fully responsible for my child's well being, as a first time mother I put some reliance on my child's teachers to indicate to me if something was concerning. One day they had a child psychologist observing another child there and she caught it, in one afternoon. So my only advice to the school may be to consider investing in some training to identify and assist special needs children. Overall I would say we had mostly positive experience but wanted to share my thoughts/ concerns.

This establishment is very unprofessional and above all doesn't follow covid guidelines. If you want your child to get sick, not prosperous be taken care of or anything in that nature, this is the school for you !