The place is a well kept secret. There’s very little about it on the internet. Most people who enroll find out about it through word of mouth. What makes this preschool stand apart is that it deservedly won an award for most inclusive curriculum design. No performative inclusion here. Their curriculum is very thoughtfully put together, resulting in a genuine, nurturing environment where children can learn about people and cultures from all around the world. In doing so children learn to love themselves and what makes them unique. They ask you about your values and what values you are trying to instill in your children, and they partner with you to extend your home parenting into their classroom and continue that education outside of the home. The school really does want you to feel included and welcome from day one. Before the first day of preschool, they have a party for new and returning families to meet and mingle, and they send your children handmade welcome cards with photos of their teachers. Teachers offer to meet personally with your children a week before preschool starts, so your children can become familiar with them, thereby reducing their first day jitters. Each child gets a cubby for their belongings at the preschool, with their name placed overhead, in a placard lovingly hand decorated by a graduating student. It’s heartwarming. The classroom is also designed in collaboration with child therapist consultants to ensure that the environment is set up to stimulate and hone the children’s five senses and physical development, simply by navigating the rooms and interacting with everything in them. They redesign the layout frequently to keep the environment ideal and up to date with current needs. The staff has extensive years of experience and degrees in early education, and they advocate fiercely for the children and their families. They will connect you with the right resources, and work with you to obtain whatever extra support your kids may need. They will work with your schedule so that you get childcare at hours that work for you. The kids learn to bake and cook in a multitude of cuisines. They are exposed to new foods on a regular basis. They learn about nature firsthand, as they go outside a lot, more so in the Covid era. They have gardening activities often. They learn various languages, even sign language, from their multilingual teachers. There’s plenty of science, reading, art and craft group activities as well. This preschool gets the children Kindergarten ready AND help parents prepare for Kindergarten applications. A boon for any parent unsure of what to look for, what’s the difference (public vs charter vs private), where to start, and what to expect as your child nears Kindergarten. It all seems to start from the top which shapes everything all the way down. The director, Brooke, was the lead teacher for about 10+ years and developed the curriculum. She lets her firsthand knowledge of early education and her families influence her decisions. The result is a preschool that is highly trustworthy, refreshingly transparent, uniquely inclusive, and extraordinarily effective for the children and families. She hires new teachers that can best serve the families and fit into the community. She informs the families about everything going on, and will go on, in the preschool and often polls us or asks for our input before making a decision that will affect all of us. Where other preschools are administration or business centric - that is, centered around its own interests - this preschool is very much child, family, and community centric. The lunch menu is gourmet, all natural, and made on site in a commercial kitchen shared with the Cathedral School for Boys, a private all-boys elementary school which is also on the same campus. And I do mean gourmet. They let the kids take leftovers home in compostable takeout boxes. I never ate so well in preschool at their age. Infrequently even today, that’s how good it is. Parents also get a copy of the menu at the beginning of each month, so you can see what delicious meals they’re putting in their bellies. The school provides so many social events and parenting workshops for parents and guardians. Pre Covid there were field trips around the city and the Bay. There was camping. Today there’s still localized field trips, family dinners, parent parties, and opportunities to form social groups, at least once every other month. The preschool puts in a lot to give families here a strong sense of community. The campus is beautiful, as the preschool is on Grace Cathedral grounds. Across the street is Huntington Park which has a playground and many neighborhood dogs for kids to meet. Grace Cathedral and the Cathedral School for Boys are generous to this preschool and its families. We get presents from the students, groceries, reserved seats to concerts and plays at Grace Cathedral. It’s lovely.