The weekend my family moved to Piedmont, the Bay Area announced shelter in place and the COVID-19 pandemic had just begun. I didn’t know where or how we would find our community. Our first year in Piedmont was a wash, with our kids still enrolled in Berkeley schools. The second year, my son was starting TK at Havens, and my middle daughter landed in a Piedmont preschool while we were on the waitlist for Piedmont Play School (PPS). While both schools offered a great education, it wasn’t until we walked through the doors of PPS that I finally felt it: Oh. This is our community. This is where we belong.
Two of my three children have now gone through PPS, and I say this without hesitation: it is by far the best preschool in Piedmont. What makes PPS magical isn’t an elaborate curriculum or a long list of “enrichment” add-ons. It’s the school’s whole-child approach to early education, where parents are welcomed as collaborators in their child’s development.
As a working parent, I didn’t often get the chance to participate in my children’s school day. The co-op model at PPS changed that. Each month, I was able to become part of the classroom, experiencing my child’s world alongside them. I watched PPS teachers gently help children navigate conflicts, invite shy kids into play, and set up activities that allowed every child to take the lead in their own way. I took those practices home. PPS didn’t just make my kids better prepared for elementary school; it made me a better parent.
And unlike other local preschools we attended, where activities were all pre-printed worksheets and every art project looked exactly the same, PPS lets kids create from their own imaginations: their ideas, their choices, their hands. Kids decide how to engage, what to explore, and how to express themselves, with expert and caring teachers nearby for support. So many preschools are essentially just daycares. The deeply thoughtful curriculum at PPS fulfills the true purpose of preschool, supporting each child’s full potential: social, emotional, and academic.
The indoor-outdoor flow is another part of the magic. So much of early childhood now is spent sitting at desks or tables, long before kids are ready. At PPS, the yard is a classroom too. Children develop motor skills, negotiate turn-taking, and practice all the social-emotional muscles that matter so much later on. My youngest, who did two full years at PPS, entered kindergarten with an ease that I hadn’t seen with my older two: she knew how to ask questions, how to join a group of friends, and how to advocate for herself.
PPS doesn’t just nurture children; it also quietly builds community for parents. Through our parent meetings, Director Michelle brought in child psychologists, nutritionists, and other child development experts to talk about what we were seeing in the classroom and at home. I still share advice from those experts with other parents.
Most importantly, PPS is a place where every child truly belongs. The teachers meet each student exactly where they are, and give them all a clear, consistent message: This is your school. You have a place here. That deep sense of belonging stays with them. My daughter still plays “school” at home, designing art projects for her siblings the way she once did for her classmates. She talks about wanting to be a teacher when she grows up, and I know those seeds were planted at PPS.
In a town that prides itself on educational excellence, Piedmont Play School is one of our greatest assets. It prepares children not just for school, but to become curious, confident, and kind humans. That is the kind of magic a community can’t afford to lose.