Marine Park Campus, Santa Monica

The patio has a large overhang that provides plenty of shade with soft flooring to support developing motor skills. A small nursery gym for crawling and cruising is part of this safe, active play environment. Our backyard is surrounded by beautiful trumpet vines and has a sandbox with an interactive water feature for our young explorers. In each of our outdoor spaces, teachers add an abundance of curricular materials to explore, such as board books, materials that stack, nestle, hide and add delight to their learning and day. Indoors, our infant/toddler classroom has a dedicated nap room and kitchen.

Children have an opportunity to be the youngest, the oldest, and the in-betweens. The younger children have peer models, and the older children look back and pace their growth and see how they learned. They say things like “I couldn’t do that last year, but now I can” or “I’ll support you.”

The central courtyard is the heart of the school; it brings our community together for connections and conversations through events and every day passing by.

An art installation donated to the campus highlights the bond between child, family, and community.

Unique to each of our play-yards is a Sandyfalls Rock - a sand and water feature which promotes sensory development and offers child-initiated activities. Cascading water invites pouring, mixing, floating, and draining small toys and other objects from the environment. Sand promotes digging, burying, building, and sculpting. Sand and water play is a critical sensory experience for children’s healthy development.

Our young preschool play yard is situated under the canopy of a magnificent Magnolia tree. A climbing structure, two water features, and an abundance of nature and garden boxes all contribute to our learning and play! Preschooler’s big ideas and imaginations are fostered through two climbing structures, a sandbox, and an herb and vegetable garden