Mission of First School
The mission of First School is to provide quality early childhood education and care for our community’s preschoolers. We offer a safe, clean and nurturing environment for children ages 2 – 6 years old. We are a small center of mixed ages, providing the opportunity for children to grow and learn from one another as well as nurturing their individual strengths. With a 5 -1 student-teacher ratio, our fully qualified teachers are able to cater to the individual needs of each child in a caring and structured environment.
We focus on social relations education and appropriate play-based academic learning with experiences to provide developmentally appropriate achievements as part of the preparation for kindergarten. With guided learning activities we strive for whole child development, providing students with knowledge of the world around them, as well as how to get along with others, and a solid academic base when moving on from our program. Our activities focus on making friends, literacy (learning their letters, growing their vocabulary), math (numbers from 1 – 20), science, and many other topics of importance for preparing kids to thrive in the 21st century.
Many families have had their children and their children’s children attending First School as a family tradition. While we are housed in Palo Alto in the First United Methodist Church building, we operate as a non-profit preschool, overseen by a Board of Directors. Our children come from many cultures and religions. Along with many small businesses, we are grappling with post-pandemic worker shortages and increasing costs as we work to fulfill our mission of providing high-quality child care. We invite you to read through our website, check out our Yelp and Facebook pages and call for a tour if you think your child might benefit from the environment and experiences we provide.
Contact us by email at info@firstschool.org or by phone at 650-321-3871. Our highly rated new Director will be glad to assist you.