Our philosophy is based on the belief that children learn best when exposed to a challenging environment that offers a variety of meaningful hands-on activities and experiences. We believe that preschool children should be allowed to explore their surroundings in order to develop a good sense of problem solving and decision-making. The preschool curriculum, arrangement of furniture and space reflect the interests and needs of the children enrolled in our childcare center. It is very important to meet the basic needs of children such as safety, nourishment and rest for them to be able to achieve proper levels of development. We strive to challenge children’s creativity and to be aware and respectful of their emotional needs and to support and facilitate their social development by providing opportunities for children to build positive self-esteem. We welcome and respect the diversity of cultures and encourage every member of our preschool to share their culture with us. We are facilitators of children’s development fostering their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development for life long learning.

Very often the question is asked “What is the difference between day care and preschool?” from parents trying to figure out what would be the best program for their children. The answer is simple, but complicated at the same time. The simple part of the answer is that children 0-5 are constantly learning; therefore, care and education for young children are intertwined, so there should be no difference between the two programs. The complicated part of the answer lays on the issue of quality. A quality preschool or day care center program provides both care and education for young children with teachers who are knowledgeable in the field of Child Development, loving and dedicated professionals to their duties of providing the optimal environment  and activities for children to grow and develop the essential skills for learning.  So when parents are trying to decide on the best type of program for their children, quality should be the deciding factor.

In the 70s this area was being developed by the Whaley family. This school was built so a grandchild could have a preschool in the area to attend; the building was built with the intention of being a preschool with all classrooms facing the outside yard. Over the last 40 years the school has gone through a few owners and the name has been Los Altos Preschool and Woods-Edgewater Preschool (that we know of). The logo of the two children sitting was hand drawn by one of the parents in the early years. Alan and Cristiane purchased the school from Betty Woods when she retired in December of 2001 and have had a blast being owners ever since.