Diverse daycare or preschool near Albany
Our daughter is 21 months old, and we need full time care beginning in August. She won't be two until late September, so it's looking like we may need to find a daycare rather than a preschool, but we're open to both. Our daughter is Black/biracial, so we are specifically looking for a daycare or preschool where she would have Black peers and teachers. I have seen other similar questions posed on BPN, but they seem to focus only on preschools and not daycares, so I thought I would ask more specifically. We're in Albany and are open to Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, or possibly Richmond depending on how far away. We would love any recommendations, and even better if you happen to know of somewhere that actually has a space available for a just-under-two year old.
As an aside, we are also open to joining a nanny share nearby for the time being until we find a great fit for a preschool/daycare. If anyone has a 2-ish year old and is opening to sharing their nanny or starting a nanny share, feel free to send a message. My partner works from home and is thrilled for the LO and I to be out of the house, so we would really prefer not to host a nanny share.
Thanks for any recs and leads!
Parent Replies
Hi there,
When we were looking for daycare for our daughter I found a really great place in Point Richmond called the Point Playhouse. The owner is a black woman. I found her really easy to chat with and was highly considering sending my daughter. We ended up going elsewhere because we weren't ready to commit to a daycare given our unpredictable work schedules at the time. I've linked the website. Good luck in your search! https://www.thepointplayhouse.com/
Hi,
We were in the same boat with our daughter and she started at The Good Earth School up in Kensington in February. Our friends daughter who is her best friend, has started a month before and absolutely loved it. They have an 18 month program as well as a 2's program and up until kindergarten. Its an outdoor play-based school run by a biracial couple and a very diverse staff of teachers: latino, black, etc. We have loved it and our daughter had a very smooth transition from being in a nanny share to full time at TGES. They have had a waiting list and are full but will be expanding and may have space in August. Gail and Alan are amazing and if you call to get more info and schedule a tour, they will answer all of your questions and explain their philosophy.
Wishing you luck!
My daughter is Black biracial and will be starting with Willow Tree in North Oakland next month. It might be too far from you but is run by two amazing Black women and I’m pretty sure they have an opening.