Since 2012 on Los Gatos Blvd

Small on purpose.

Thirty six children, three rooms and one garden. We have been asked to open a second site more than once. We keep saying no, because small is the whole point.

Book a tourMeet the teachers
A tidy, light filled classroom with child sized wooden chairs, a yellow table, shelves of toys and a chalkboard easel.

How it started.

Teresa opened the school in a converted house with one room of twelve kids and a lot of borrowed furniture. The garden came the next spring, dug by parents on a Saturday. The toddler room came three years later, once the waitlist got silly.

We are still in the same house. The walls are painted, the furniture is ours now, and a few of our first kids have come back as summer helpers. It still feels like somebody's home, which is what a two year old needs it to feel like.

Two small children playing in a sand pit with colourful plastic moulds and spades.
Sand play, one of the oldest traditions in early childhood.

Play-based, and why.

Young children learn by doing the thing, not by hearing about it. A kid who pours water between cups learns more about volume than any worksheet can show them. So we build the room and the day around play, then watch closely and nudge.

We stack our values like blocks, because that is how the kids would do it.

  • Kids lead, grown ups noticeWe follow their interests and write down what we see.
  • Outside is a classroomGarden time happens in drizzle too.
  • Feelings get wordsBig ones, small ones, the scary ones.
  • Real jobsWatering, setting tables, feeding the class fish.
  • Families are in on itOpen door, daily notes, two conferences a year.

What teachers get noticed for here.

Not tidy rooms or cute crafts. When we review a teacher's year, these are the questions.

  • Do kids go to them?

    When a child is hurt or upset, who do they run to? That tells us more than any observation form.

  • Are their notes useful?

    A good daily note tells a parent something they did not know. We read them all.

  • Did the room change?

    A room that looks the same in May as in September means nobody was following the kids.

Licence and the small print.

Licensed child care center, licence number 000000000 (placeholder for this demo). Our most recent inspection report is in a binder by the front door, and we will email it to you on request.

Want to see the rest of the school? Look at the three rooms or walk through a day.

Photo credits