I'm Howard Wu, an attorney and preschool owner
For over a decade I’ve been a lawyer and a preschool owner. My background in the law has helped our preschools stand firm against Community Care Licensing when they have overstepped
I now help California childcare providers with licensing, legal, and operational issues.
I graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2010. In 2012, my wife and I opened Aspen Leaf Preschool in San Diego. We opened our second location 2016, and our third and fourth locations in 2020.
For over ten years I worked as a civil litigation attorney while also co-owning the preschools. My wife, a long-time preschool teacher and expert in early childhood education, led the preschools, and I handled legal and administrative matters like payroll and insurance.
A few years ago I created a guide on how to appeal Type A and Type B licensing citations, with templates and example appeals. I hoped my “Licensing Appeal Kit” would help childcare providers appeal licensing citations more often and more confidently.
I didn’t expect things to expand the way they have. A lot of folks have used the materials to write and submit their own appeals, but most people who connect with me ask for help with licensing issues (appeals, applications, administrative hearings, complaint investigations, day-to-day issues), but also have questions about employment law, contracts, insurance, lawsuits, subpoenas, expelling families, enrollment and marketing, or to talk about what can be done about the effect UTK has had on enrollment.
I’m still just one person, and my wife and I still run our preschools, so I’ve given some new structure for the different ways I can help.
Free licensing and appeal resources
I’m making the guides, templates, and articles in my Licensing Appeal Kit free for anyone to read and use.
The A.I. General Counsel for childcare providers
To help more providers while also saving myself more time, I’ve built an AI-powered associate (the Preschool AI Associate, or “Paia”).
It’s available 24/7, and is better than Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude because it draws from my knowledge database and I personally review and approve or revise every response it sends.
It’s currently in public beta. Click below to read more and request access to the beta.
Advocating for change
Licensing and Title 22 need reform. Maybe I'm tilting at windmills, but I'm trying.
More coming soon
TourTheSchool
TourTheSchool was an unexpected project that emerged from our directors’ request for an online booking platform for school tours.
With TourTheSchool, you’ll get more tours, because more families will sign-up when they can book a tour in seconds on line. You’ll see fewer tour no-shows, because we send automatic email and text message reminders the day before and day-of. With more tours and fewer no-shows, you’ll enroll more kids.
You’ll also save hours every month, with no more back-and-forth emails and phone calls to schedule every tour.
Email me
Need to ask me something? Get in touch!
Consultations
Schedule a one-time consultation below to discuss anything.
© 2026 Howard Wu, Esq.. All rights reserved.
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