Menlo Park · Licensed center
City of Menlo Park-Menlo Children's Ctr-Preschool
- Medium play-based center, licensed for 72 children.
What these mean, and where they come from
Medium means the middle half of Bay Area’s 439 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 31 to 75 children. Small is 8 to 30; large is 76 to 312.
How they teach
Play-based
“A play-based learning environment that nurtures growth and discovery”In their words, July 2026.menlopark.gov
One of 82 Bay Area providers that describe a play-based approach, out of 164 that describe any approach at all.
What it costs
$2,493 a month for a toddler
Lower than 11 of 16 Bay Area providers that publish a full-time toddler price.
Lower than 26 of 36 Bay Area providers that publish a full-time preschool price.
City of Menlo Park-Menlo Children's Ctr-PreschoolMost Bay Area prices (middle 80%)
Scale $1,000 to $4,000 a month. Bay Area prices as of September 29, 2026. Half-day (morning) $1,125 to $1,363 a month. Prices from their website, July 2026.
Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: ratios and staff, sick and biting policies.
What the state has found
Routine visits: 3 of 5 cited something
Bay Area centers: the state cites something at about 1 in 4 routine visits.
From California CDSS Community Care Licensing’s published reports, last checked September 25, 2026.
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — California CDSS Community Care Licensing
- Last visit
- February 9, 2026
- On file
- 5 visits since April 2022 — 2 cited nothing · 2 complaint investigations
- Most serious
- Type A —
101170(e)(1): Criminal Record Clearance: All individuals subject to a criminal record review pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 1596.871 shall prior to working, residing or volunteering in a licensed facility: (1) Obtain a California clearance or a criminal record exemption as required by the Department This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interviews, Observations, and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above, as there is an individual who is not fringerprint cleared, which poses an immediate health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
· February 12, 2024
California CDSS publishes the full investigation narrative for a complaint, including its disposition, and classifies a citation Type A — an immediate risk to a child — or Type B.
Jun 2024 Licensing visit 2 findings
Licensing visit · June 18, 2024
CCR 101429(a)(2)(B) · Type B
(B) Staff shall physically check on sleeping infant(s) every 15 minutes and document the following: This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interview and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in 4 out of 4 children who were below 24 months did not have infant sleeping logs conducted nor completed which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
CCR 101229.1(b) · Type B
(b) The person who brings the child to, and removes the child from, the center shall sign the child in/out. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in 5 sign in sheets were missing signatures throughout the month which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
Mar 2024 Licensing visit 1 finding
Licensing visit · March 4, 2024
101700.3(b)(1) · Type B
101700.3 California Lead Action Level at Child Care Centers (b)(1) A result with values of 5.5 ppb or greater shall be deemed an Action Level Exceedance. This requirement was not met as evidenced by: Based on results received from the certified water samplers, the facility exceeded 5.5 ppb of lead in their water source in faucets A, G, and H. This pose a potential health, safety, or personal rights risk to persons in care.
Feb 2024 Licensing visit 1 finding
Licensing visit · February 12, 2024
CCR 101170(e)(1) · Type A
101170(e)(1): Criminal Record Clearance: All individuals subject to a criminal record review pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 1596.871 shall prior to working, residing or volunteering in a licensed facility: (1) Obtain a California clearance or a criminal record exemption as required by the Department This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interviews, Observations, and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above, as there is an individual who is not fringerprint cleared, which poses an immediate health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
Feb 2024 Complaint Unsubstantiated
Complaint · February 6, 2024
Unsubstantiated
ALLEGATION(S): Facility is operating out of ratio. Facility director is not available during hours of operation. INVESTIGATION FINDINGS: On April 16th, 2024 at approximately 9am, Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Tapia-Mandujano conducted an unnounced inspection to report the investigation findings for the above allegations. Complaint was received by the Department on February 6th, 2024. LPA met with Director, S.C. and explained the purpose of the visit. Present during inspection was Director and seven other staff caring for a total of 9 toddlers and 22 preschool age children for a total of 31 children in the facility. Facility is operating within teacher child ratio at this day. All staff present at this time have fingerprint clearance and are associated. During today’s visit, LPA conducted a health and safety inspection. LPA received an updated copy of children's roster and a copy of Designation of Facility Responsibility (LIC 308). Page 2 continued... Unsubstantiated Estimated Days of Completion:
Individual employees are shown by initials. The state’s report, linked above, names them in full.
How the comparison is built
Routine visits: across Bay Area centers, the state cites something at about 1 in 4 routine visits (2,260 visits).
A day here
- Outdoors
- Classroom outings around campus with outdoor nature and community exploration
- Hours
- 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
- Schedule
- full-day, half-day
Details
- Website
- menlopark.gov
- Address
- 801 Laurel Street
- License
- 414002020, active
- Ages they serve
- 18 months to 5 years (pre-kindergarten)
- Ownership
- Government-runSource: ccld.dss.ca.gov
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Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.
How they teach
- Approach — Checked July 2026 menlopark.gov
What it costs
- Toddler, Preschool, Second price — Checked July 2026 menlopark.gov
State record
Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.
The state’s licensing transparency data reports 1 complaint-related visit(s) to this facility, while 1 complaint investigation report(s) are published on the transparency portal. State complaint counts: substantiated=0, inconclusive=0, unsubstantiated=2, unfounded=CONFIDENTIAL, Type A citations=0, Type B citations=0. The state publishes no further detail for the difference.
A day here
- Outdoors, Hours, Schedule — Checked July 2026 menlopark.gov
Details
- Phone, Address, License — Checked July 2026 ccld.dss.ca.gov
- Website, Ages they serve — Checked July 2026 menlopark.gov
- Ownership — Checked September 2026 ccld.dss.ca.gov