I liked Big city Montesorri school. Very LOW turnover. Lots of great learning and play mixed together. Perfect hours for a working couple.

I didn't have any friends or family who had children as small as mine, so what I did is scout my new area. Anytime I went some where I would make note of the preschool and then get their info and make an appt to view the school. I would have some questions ready to ask and feel it out. I also went to Babycenter.com to find out more info: like what kinds of questions to ask, what to look for, etc. But mainly it was a gut feeling.

Honestly, for us, the first element was proximity to our house. We live one block from Miraloma Co-Op. When we first applied, there wasn't a spot for our son, then a year later, we got in. While we were waiting, I found a very small preschool attached to a church and it was on a bus line that went past our house (we only had one car at that time). I had been HomeParenting for three years and had a new baby at that time, so pretty much if they kept the oldest boy alive for the time he was there, that's all I asked. The co-op thing was overwhelming at first, but by the time our third boy was there, we knew what to expect. AND it was great training to move our involvement to the elementary school. If you have a choice, I'd say look at the Co-Op preschools near your house first. They are usually less expensive than other options, too, because the parents do all the work to keep the school running. (Janitorial, maintenance, etc)

I first looked at schools that my friends told me about. I wish GreatSchools was around when I was looking for preschools. I think looked at schools that would work with my schedule (I work full time). Then, I visited the schools and you can just "feel" what's right my child. I figured that I would depend alot on the teachers and administrator on feedback from the day and about my child, it was important that I felt like I could have a good rapport with the teachers and staff.