Lakeside Presbyterian Center For Children

LAKESIDE IS A TREASURE! I cannot say enough wonderful things about the school, Director, teachers, programs, and families. We came here based upon a friend’s recommendation and my two boys (and our family) love it!
I have witnessed my older son’s amazing transformation because of Lakeside. He is fundamentally a different boy and student. When he started at preschool, my son was very hesitant, cautious, and somewhat negative. Because of his supportive and loving Lakeside teachers, he is now confident, eager to learn, and really likes school (which, in my opinion, is the whole reason to attend preschool!). Lakeside also really prepared him for Kindergarten, where is he one of the top students in his class.
Lakeside has a ton of great things going for it:
INNOVATIVE DIRECTOR: Susan has been a terrific addition to Lakeside! She brings in-​depth preschool experience, administrative organization, and a drive for improvement. In her first years at Lakeside, the Preschool Enrichment Program (extended care) has really taken off (emphasizing art and movement), as well as staff-​development/​training. The school is very fortunate to have her at the helm and I expect Lakeside to get even better year over year.
WELCOMING COMMUNITY: Lakeside has a very supportive and involved parent community, which definitely makes city-​life less isolating and way more fun for families. In addition to my children making friends, I have really appreciated making friends of my own.
THE BEST TEACHERS: The teaching staff is really what makes Lakeside so great! They are very experienced (most have been there for 17+ years) and love teaching children. Teacher turnover is incredibly low because they really like being at Lakeside (and it shows). The teachers create an environment that is the perfect balance of structure and fun. They are knowledgeable, prepared, incredibly kind, and make learning enjoyable.
Don’t wait — book a tour now and get on the waiting list immediately! (I took my tour when my son was 6 months) Lakeside is in-​demand because it is the real deal for preschool. I was *very* surprised by the negative reviews of Lakeside. Last year, 60% of the school was returning families and I would guess that a large majority find Lakeside thru personal referrals. Seriously, would so many people return or refer others if it wasn’t a great school? Check it out for yourself — I promise that you will not regret it.

LPCC has been and continues to be an outstanding preschool for our children. Our son spent 3 years at Lakeside and was well prepared for Kindergarten. Our daughter is in her first year at Lakeside and after a very emotional first day of school has embraced Lakeside. She looks forward to going every day. The teachers do an excellent job in preparing the children. The teachers care tremendously for their students. I can not recommend Lakeside enough (& I do regularly to any parents we know who are looking for an excellent preschool)!!!

Lakeside came highly recommended by a family friend, and after touring the school when our older daughter was only 6 months old, we knew this was the school for our family.
We have been part of the Lakeside family for three years now and absolutely love everything about the program, teachers, administration, and parent community. Our older daughter attended for two years and is now a successful Kindergartner at a local parochial school. The teachers she had each of her two years (Miss Michele and Ms. Lupita for preschool and Ms. Katie for Pre-​K) were stellar, nurturing, and instrumental in her being incredibly prepared for Kindergarten. Our younger daughter is in the young preschool class this year with Ms. Kerry and Ms. Linda (who are both wonderful!) and is truly blossoming and enjoying her time in class.
We both work fulltime so it was essential to have an extended care program available to us as well as a fulltime preschool program. Lakeside offers many options for all families, whether you need 2-​days a week, 3, or 5.
The Preschool Enrichment Program (PEP, which is more than just an extended care program) is phenomenal. The Lakeside team has introduced so many fun elements to the PEP program, whether it’s the art studio, movement class (Zumba and Yoga!), and has the most caring wonderful staff available to supplement the kids’ school day.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Director Susan Hoganes. She is dedicated, caring, and truly loves her work. Susan, together with the entire staff at Lakeside are constantly working to improve upon an already solid program that has been a pillar of the SF community for 50 years. I appreciate their commitment to quality and excellence and always putting the child first.
I also appreciate the dedicated parents who help organize fun, educational, informative events throughout the year. Whether it is volunteering in the classroom, serving on the Parent Volunteer Organization, providing nutritional snacks, helping organize various holiday events, you can make a difference in your child’s experience at Lakeside.
All in all, we are proud to be part of the Lakeside community and highly recommend this program for anyone looking for a well-​balanced, nurturing, safe, fun environment to send your child to preschool.

My daughter is in her 2^nd year at Lakeside and I still cannot believe how much she has grown socially, academically, and creatively because of the wonderful teachers and staff. She always tells me enthusiastic stories about how she made a special Valentine’s Day gift for her grandpa, how she was the snack helper for the day, how she had a blast playing games with her teachers, how she saw a Chinese lion dancer, and how she planted seeds in a flower pot. She is absolutely loving her time here.
The staff is nurturing, caring, creative, and truly dedicated to every child and every family at Lakeside. I have never walked into Lakeside without receiving a warm welcome.
Lakeside parents are give the opportunity to volunteer in the classrooms at least 4 times a year, which allows them to step into their children’s school day and participate in all the enriching singing, crafts, laughter, and play that goes on every day at the school.
The parents volunteer organization works together with the schools staff to provide families with fun social events like whole-​school pumpkin patch trips and themed dances. Because of these events, there is a strong sense of community at Lakeside.
There is typically a waiting list for acceptance into Lakeside. That means it would be a good idea to plan ahead, but I promise you that it’ll truly be worth the wait!

We love Lakeside, and our boys do, too. Our twin boys are in their second year there before heading onto parochial school for kindgergarten (parochial school is a common post-​Lakeside destination). We have been very pleased with the teaching and the care given our boys; it is evident that all the administrators and teachers care very much for the students. This past year, the enrichment program has really stepped it up a notch with all sorts of cool movement and art activities and should be a compelling factor in choosing LPCC. Our favorite new component of the enrichment program is definitely «art studio»: our boys have come home telling us about various artists (Jackson Pollock, Yayoi Kusama, etc.) they’ve learned about and emulated the style of, and it is truly impressive to see how much a preschooler can be turned on to art. Also, I should note for parents of twins, it is possible to separate or keep your twins together, as there are 2 classes per «year.» We kept our boys together for the first year, as they acclimated to the new school, and now have them in separate classes for pre-​K.
All in all, we would heartily recommend LPCC as a wonderful preschool!

My son attended Lakeside for one year before we moved him to another Preschool (Stonestown YMCA). I felt like the teachers were just OK, they are a little older in general and I feel like they don’t really have a passion for teaching. I did think my son’s main teacher Ms. Kerry was happy to be with the kids and my son really liked her. A couple of the after school teachers were good, but they are not the ones providing the actual education part of the schooling. The other problem I had was the way they break up the day for all day students. In the morning you drop off the kids to the morning care class, at 8:30 they would then move into the preschool class. At noon they would eat lunch and then move to the after school class. That is not a lot of consistency for preschool age kids.

Both of my kids had the wonderful experience of attending Lakeside for a few years. The caring and attentive staff as well as the strong parent involvement are the key components to the success of the school. Lakeside also offers a first rate kindergarten program. It is truly is a hidden gem! Molly Wardell, Winnie Kwong and Jean Korn are amazing! My husband and I could not have been more happy with our choice.

High-​end preschool in terms of cost and solid foundation building for Kindergarten. Good connection between the church pastor and the kids. While we did not quite connect with many parents (Many were headed to private and we are public bound.) the teaching was SOLID SOLID SOLID. We have had one daughter go there and the second will begin next year. Ms. Michelle, Ms. Kerry and Ms. Jenny deserve kudos!