Preschool near Dimond District with Openings for Fall 2021
Hello!
I am very last minute looking for a play based preschool for my 3 year old. Ideally located relatively near to Oakland's Dimond district. I'd love to find a place that has great outdoor space that is used often. It would be great if the program has an emphasis on teaching social and emotional skills, equity and participating in our community. Activities in cooking, dirt digging, music and drawing also a plus :)
If you know of a preschool that has openings? (or that is worth contacting to see if they have openings). I would love any feedback.
Thank you!
Aug 9, 2021
Parent Replies
The New School of Berkeley sounds perfect for you, though not the exact location you are looking for. They have openings.
Check out Lakeshore Children's Center.
Hi, our daughter just graduated to kindergarten but before that she was at Daisy Child Development Center, near Mills College. I highly recommend Daisy. It's a wonderful preschool with a huge outdoor space where the kids play often. (There are even goats and chickens!) The staff's endless patience and love really helped the kids learn social and emotional skills, too.
Have you looked at Oakland Montessori? Obviously they are Montessori, not play-based, but they may offer much of what you're looking for.
Check out Oakland Garden School. No idea if they have openings but it meets many of your criteria, including a beautiful outdoor space.
Please check http://www.sequoiakids.org/ and see if they have any openings. We absolutely loved it for our kid and it's set a very high bar for everything that's come after!
Our kids are grown now, so I hope you get a lot of more up-to-date responses, however...
There is a preschool located at the northeast end of Dimond Street, right next to the redwood grove in Dimond Avenue.
This has been a preschool for at least 30 years. It has gone through numerous changes of directorship, so I don't know who is operating it now.
If I were in your position, I would check out their program, simply because of location, location, location. Our son attended there when it was part of Oakland Montessori School. Our friends' son attended when it was A Child's World.
I would be curious to see what the program is like these days.
I sent my two kids to Blue Skies for Children, which is near Dimond. It's an amazing, wonderful school, that fits the bill you describe. I don't know if they have openings but you should check to find out.
My daughter was at Lakeshore Children's Center for 8 years of preschool, aftercare, and summer camps. They have a nice outdoor play area used multiple times daily, weather permitting. And when weather doesn't permit, they have a large indoor play space (the church social hall; LCC is operated non-denominationally by the Lakeshore Baptist Church)