Atherton · Licensed center

Playschool

What these mean, and where they come from

Large means the biggest quarter of Bay Area’s 439 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 76 to 312 children. Small is 8 to 30; medium is 31 to 75.

How they teach

Play-based

“Playschool Atherton is a play-based preschool serving the San Francisco Peninsula since 1998”In their words, July 2026.playschoolatherton.com

One of 82 Bay Area providers that describe a play-based approach, out of 164 that describe any approach at all.

Who cares for your child

Ratio not published

One staff is named on their site, with no start year given.

Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, a typical day, sick and biting policies.

What the state has found

Routine visits: 1 of 3 cited something

Bay Area centers: the state cites something at about 1 in 4 routine visits. Three visits are too few to read as a pattern.

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
September 11, 2025
On file
3 visits since June 2022 — 2 cited nothing
Most serious
No finding carrying a severity level in the last 24 months.

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.

Sep 2025 Licensing visit nothing cited
Jun 2024 Licensing visit 1 finding

Licensing visit · June 18, 2024

WD 101700(b) · Type B

(b) All licensed Child Care Centers operating in buildings constructed before January 1, 2010, shall test their water for lead pursuant to these written directives. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interview and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above by not completing lead testing by January 1, 2023 which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.

State report

Jun 2022 Licensing visit nothing cited

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

Calendar
School year
Schedule
three-day or five-day per week program options (the brand’s policy for all its schools)
Closed
Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Parent/Teacher Conferences days, Thanksgiving Holiday, Winter Vacation (Dec 21 - Jan 1), MLK Jr. Holiday, Presidents' Day, Spring Break (Apr 12-16), Memorial Day, plus teacher work days (the brand’s policy for all its schools)

Details

(650) 325-1623

Website
playschoolatherton.com
Address
150 Watkins Avenue
License
414000627, active
Ages they serve
children at least 2 years of age
Established
1998

Do you run Playschool? Shortlist has no tuition, ratios or policies for it, because the state does not publish that. Adding it is free and takes about ten minutes.

Add what is missing
Sources and dates

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

Who cares for your child

State record

Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.

A day here

Details