Any preschools not requiring masks?

Check out Keystone Montessori in El Cerrito. Masking is optional and I would say about half the kids mask and half don't.

We've been living for 8 years in Switzerland and just moved back to the Bay Area and I have to say it is completely outrageous to witness the mask requirements on toddlers and preschoolers in this region. Our kids will go to East Bay German International School and they are not requiring masks on preschoolers. Hope you can find something! <3, another pro science pro vax family!

Berkeley Little School on Hopkins is a great school. They are currently following guidelines that recommend the use of mask. Leaving the choice to parents. From what I've noticed some kids come in with mask and others do not. Same with parents. 

Give them a call I'm sure they can answer any questions. 

www.berkeleylittleschool.com&nbsp;

My husband is an MD who has been working on the pandemic since day one. He was VERY pro mask for at least 18 months,  but now he and his team are questioning (and studies show how not effective they are). But we can’t really say that out loud.  Ultimately, masks are the physical sign that we care. I’ll continue to wearing mine,  but I don’t think it’s good for our kids (there are fungal infections emerging due to chemical compounds in mask + bacteria. There’s also issues with masks amongst younger kids when it comes to speech delays, since children first and foremost learn by reading mouths and facial expressions). 
 

We are in the same boat as you for preschool, elementary and middle school (our elementary and middle schoolers will suck it up for another year and wear the masks).  At this point, we laughed and said that we might have to join a religion and enroll religious school. Not our cup of tea; however, my sister-in-law who is Jewish is sending her kids to a Catholic school . That’s due to the regulations and she met a few other Jewish families who did the same thing. We are not the homeschooling types but we might be joining the ranks of families who have had to quit their jobs to do the pod learning. 

If you find a mask optional pre-school in the area, I’d love to know. We personally aren’t going to play the religion card (yet) but separation of church and state can work in your favor (if the school independently chooses not to require masks. Also, keep in mind, any religious school that takes public funding has to abide by the rules of the state). 
 

It can seem like it, but you’re not alone and your thinking is becoming more common as we learn more. 

Not sure if they have room, but Magnolia Children’s.

Hi there! Provax/proscience/pro-mask-choice family here. We have a 4 year old and looked for a mask choice school for our daughter also. We are currently at Step One and they are still masking outside! As of a couple of weeks ago, there were still spots at Hearts Leap North (mask choice outside), Vila Nova (mask choice outside), and the Berkeley School (considering mask choice outside). This has been so frustrating considering our highly vaxxed community and that in the face of surges, we've seen no increase in hospitalization. I highly encourage you to advocate a policy change to your administration and am sending along some resources and my petition:

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/unmask-outdoors?fbclid=IwAR3Q_0xl0B…

I am writing because there is a lot of information and discussion about our children's learning environments in the midst of covid. Because we are lucky to live in a highly vaccinated/low hospitalization community, I am advocating for [your school] to consider unmasking outdoors. I understand that our community is deeply divided on this issue and so I am putting this information out there in case you are interested and in an effort to ensure that our school policies are evidence-driven.  Recent articles:https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm3087"Hayek et al. investigated whether older and vaccinated household members reduced the risk of infection to younger children who are as yet ineligible for vaccination. Regardless of household size, parental vaccination substantially reduced the risk of children up to 12 years old becoming infected. This indirect effect will protect children from risk of severe disease and reduce the propagation of transmission chains." https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italian-study-shows-ventilation-can-cut-school-covid-cases-by-82-2022-03-22/"COVID infections were steeply lower in the 316 classrooms that had mechanical ventilation systems, with the reduction in cases more marked according to the strength of the systems."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/briefing/covid-risks-poll-americans.html 

“Many liberals feel deep anxiety about Covid’s effects on children — even though the flu kills more children in a typical year and car crashes kill about five times as many. Long Covid, similarly, appears to be rare in both children and vaccinated people."

 Background info:-0-5 year olds have very low susceptibility to covid because they have lower ace2 receptor expression (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2766522) -face masking in schools are not associated with lower incidence or transmission of covid (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4046809)-masks impair dental health- masks encourage open mouth breathing which reduces saliva production in turn resulting in dental decay. This sets into motion a lifelong pattern whereby excess oral bacteria cause cavities.-many countries have chosen not to mask children so as not to disrupt children's highly sensitive developmental, learning, and social environments and those countries have seen no higher levels of transmission (https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/COVID-19-in-children-and-the-role-of-school-settings-in-transmission-first-update_1.pdf) 

Unfortunately you won't find anywhere that can guarantee they won't require masks in the upcoming school year. Preschools must follow the mandates from the state. The closest you will get is a preschool that states they won't mask children unless required by law. We are happy at our location (east bay) and they only mask when required by the state - and even then, in the most recent ~6 week mandate in May, they "extended our child grace" when mask mandates came back. Feel free to reach out if you have questions or would like the name of our preschool. For anyone interested, this is a very useful resource: www.urgencyofnormal.com/&nbsp;

I haven’t run into preschools in the coastal East Bay area. I would definitely avoid Berkeley because they tend to have stricter restrictions, which I personally am a fan of.  You might need to look into the San Ramon / Tri-Valley area to find what you’re looking for. 
 

I’m assuming you 4 y/o is already vaccinated?  With the newest Omicron variants starting to surge, I’d be very nervous about sending a preschooler to a school without COVID safeguards, especially as repeated reinfections have shown to increase long COVID risks.  
 

Regardless from all the research I’ve published, masking for kids does provide a modest reduction in transmission. here is lay person summary at WebMD: Link to article

If you can swing the commute, you might look at preschools in Marin. In general, the county has been less susceptible to the more ideologically driven and less scientifically defensible measures during the pandemic. 

UC berkeley ECEP requires them indoors only and all classrooms have outdoor yards attached where most kids spend the day. Indoors they can’t mask when eating or sleeping so basically they are mostly not masked. 
Many have been advocating to drop the mask policy altogether for the youngest 2-5yo now that the community can be vaccinated. Furthermore at age 2 especially the masking often leads to extreme touching of the face and objects in the classroom which is much worse, and if you compound that with speech delays and masking going on for the entirety of early childhood for some kids is devastating!! 

-anti-masking for language development / pro science and pro vax fam.

People who disagree should take a trip to Europe to understand what reasonable public health policies look like!

L’Academy in Kensington is mask optional.

Our kid had a problem with masks at the start of the pandemic, we went to see the ophthalmologist and mentioned they had seen an increase in stye because of masks (kids touching masks that touch eyes and bring dirt in). Once the mask mandate for preschools was lifted, the eye problem immediately improved in our kid. I am so relieved because they were already considering eye surgery for a 3 year old!

I wish I had a school to recommend but sadly am in the same position, reaching out to show support and know that you are not alone. I've watched my now 6 year old son who has a speech articulation delay lose so much ground during this. We need to have him in school for social reasons but I cry often wondering if we are doing him more harm because of the layers that separate him from being able to communicate clearly with teachers and peers. Professionally in my work with young children I just cringe at the long long waits for things like early intervention and therapy appointments. Sadly think we will be seeing the impact of this on development for a long, long time. You received some great suggestions and I hope you find what is best for your child and family!

Us too. If you get any good recommendations for maskless school for 5 yr old I’d be interested as well. 

Arbor Preschool in Berkeley and Oakland is mask optional indoors and out. They support mask wearing for families who request it but the vast majority of students are mask-free throughout the day. All of their staff and families are vaccinated and their students are in the process of doing the same. 

In Albany, outside only with no masks, but super tiny so not sure about the admissions process? Our friend's kid goes there and they love the teacher: https://www.berkeleyparentsnetwork.org/recommend/preschool/redwoodgarden