Commentary | Keep Piedmont Play School at 401 Hampton

Piedmont Play School (PPS), a parent co-operative preschool, has served local families for over 75 years. In 1999, PPS families and donors funded and constructed 401 Hampton Road to serve as a permanent home for PPS.

The City of Piedmont now plans to end PPS’s use of the building that was constructed specifically for this beloved program. On July 31, 2025, Mark Becker (401 Hampton donor, designer and builder) wrote the City: “We firmly believe that the spirit of the agreement was for PPS to stay there in perpetuity.” Replacing PPS with another program both conflicts with the donor intent that built the Piedmont Play School building and risks weakening potential future
donors’ trust in the City.

As well, PPS’s beloved program needs so little – just four hours each weekday morning during the school year. The Piedmont Recreation Department (PRD) already has afternoon, evening, weekend, and summer use of 401 Hampton. Other city-owned spaces also are currently available: for example, several spaces at 358 Hillside Avenue, formerly filled by PRD preschool programs, currently sit unused.

The PPS community hopes to collaborate with the City to keep PPS in its home at 401 Hampton, and to continue supporting the PRD’s co-use of the building. That approach preserves a beloved, longstanding community preschool, honors donor intent, and keeps a public asset aligned with the purpose for which it was explicitly built.

We ask our community to support a collaborative resolution that will preserve the community treasure that is Piedmont Play School. Please contact the City Administrator and City Council to ask them to keep PPS in the home our community built for it.

Leave a Reply

The Exedra comments section is an essential part of the site. The goal of our comments policy is to help ensure it is a vibrant yet civil space. To participate, we ask that Exedra commenters please provide a first and last name. Please note that comments expressing congratulations or condolences may be published without full names. (View our full Comments Policy.)

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *