Welcome! 

 Tours for Fall 2024 enrollment will begin in March

You may join the waiting list to visit by clicking "Schedule a Visit" below. We regret that our waiting list is very long at this time.

Ready to Join? First, Schedule a Visit, then Apply

You must request a visit before applying.


About Us

Tree House Hollow Preschool is a small, non-profit,  environmentally-based preschool. The garden and play area offer wonderful places for children to explore and use their natural sense of wonder, and provide a unique and important learning environment. Driven by the strong belief in experiential, child-centered education, many activities are offered each day providing children with the opportunity to make choices, become independent thinkers and active learners. By observing the children’s interests, a developmentally appropriate and emergent curriculum unfolds, providing a rich and respectful learning environment.

By fostering a community where cooperation and peaceful conflict resolution are valued, Tree House Hollow supports children as they learn and grow. An emphasis is placed on instilling a reverence for Mother Earth by exploring nature through field trips, art, stories, songs and movement. These experiences give children a strong foundation in the natural world and a love of learning that will last a lifetime. With respect for ourselves and others, Tree House Hollow provides a magical, fun experience for preschoolers. Organic food is served up at the program with lots of love.

Tree House Hollow Preschool is a Non Profit, 501(c)(3) organization, Tax ID #56-2654669. Tree House Hollow Preschool is licensed by Community Care Licensing, State of California.  Creekside campus facility license #493006802 . Redwood campus facility license #493009022 . Our program is regularly inspected and observed by Community Care Licensing.

Program Options

Days Per Week

Pick 2, 3, 4 or 5 days per week.

Full or Half Days

Half Day only 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Full Day 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (minimum three days per week)

A.M. Care

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m., or

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Contract Care

1:00 p.m. – 5:00

2 -hour minimum & subject to availability

Campuses

12-15 children with 3 teachers, and co-op parent.

Redwood Campus is our site for 2 year olds and young 3s, opened in the Fall of 2015. It is located in a lovely vintage house that has been occupied by school programs for many years. Redwood Campus has a large open yard with plenty of areas for young children to explore.

Location: 565 Watertrough Road, Sebastopol

Mail: PO Box 28, Sebastopol, CA, 95473

Enter from Starlight Lane

16 children, with 3 teachers, and co-op parent.

Creekside Campus is our enchanting site for 3-5 year olds. Children from Redwood Campus will continue here and we welcome new friends every year as well. This campus is located at the back of Apple Blossom Elementary School, bordering a creek. Although we don’t have access to the creek, we get to enjoy the abundance of wildlife that resides there.

Location: 700 Watertrough Road, Sebastopol

Mail: PO Box 28, Sebastopol, CA 95473

Program

We enroll children 2 years old to 5 years old

Depending on our campus, we have up to 16 children each day. We have 2-3 fully qualified and experienced teachers. The Campus Director is also hands-on and available to shift from an administrative to teaching role as needed.

We find the small group size and mixed ages lend to a 'family like' atmosphere where helpfulness, manners, and cooperation are more naturally fostered.

We enjoy harvesting from the garden, preparing snack, going on nature walks and exploring the nature in our play spaces, cooperative games/projects, building, creating, story writing, and other activities specifically related to the current interest of the group.

We are an indoor/outdoor school (mostly), and require appropriate play clothing for all types of weather conditions. Our work is often messy so spare clothing is a must. We make snack each day, usually with the children, and it is available around 10:30. It is usually self-serve but also family style. Children are encouraged to pass things around and help each other.

We have a lot of experience and a deep understanding of child development. We are able to view naturally occurring conflicts as learning opportunities and are skilled at guiding children through the process of finding solutions to problems. We love to share our knowledge with parents, as this is a most important life skill.

We have a bottom-line expectation of physical and emotional safety for all.

For the kids who are interested, we offer opportunities to work on math, reading, and writing skills. About 1/3 of our children go on to Apple Blossom, about 1/3 to Waldorf-inspired schools, and about 1/3 split into private, charter, or home school programs. We find that we accommodate all of our families well, with our unique philosophy and practices.  Our philosophy is to approach academics THROUGH the children's play as it naturally arises! We do not focus on "school readiness skills"- that's what Kindergarten is for! Instead, our activities offer a multi-disciplinary approach to learning: finding colors in the garden, using our counting and measuring skills when cooking, having rich conversations and reading stories to promote literacy, etc. 

Tree House Hollow's Adventure Day Program (for our older Creekside students) ensures that most of our students, who attend 3 or more days, have one full class day in nature. In transportation provided by the school, we take a weekly field trip to one of the many wonderful regional parks offered in our county. We spend the day immersed in nature, led by the children to wherever the adventure calls them. 




Riding in the van together, with one of the teachers cruising on the roof! ;) 

Summer Camp 

Tree House Hollow offers a summer camp program of two four-week sessions during the summer time. The summer program varies slightly from our school year program. We are 100% outside in our play gardens (except for rest time). We plan themes for the kids to immerse in for the week and the Creekside camp goes on several field trips. 

Please reference our Calendar for summer sessions dates for the current year. 

Camp runs from 9-1. We offer early care and aftercare until 5:00 in the summer based on whether there is enough demand each year. 

Philosophy

Vision Statement

Our Vision is to provide a safe, quality preschool program that emphasizes a connection to nature and respect for all living things. We strive to accomplish this through a joyful, play-based curriculum that recognizes and appreciates the unique personality of each child. A spirit of caring and community will prevail.

Foundation

The basis of our preschool’s philosophy is the belief that children are innately social, curious, and active learners. Our teachers recognize the value of role modeling and the importance of observing, expanding upon interests, and knowing when to step in or step back. Materials and activities that engage the child, and allow them to explore freely, are essential.

We also understand that a connection to nature is one of the most important gifts we can give children growing up in such a technological era. We strive to establish strong foundations to last a lifetime. In addition to a love of nature, we encourage compassion, tolerance, self-expression, creativity, resourcefulness, and responsibility.

We draw from philosophies that include Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, Nature Based, and some Montessori. This approach makes our preschool unique.

Risky play is a natural part of children’s play and something we embrace in our program. Children naturally seek out play that provides opportunities for challenges, testing limits, exploring boundaries and learning about injury risk. Activities such as climbing, wrestling, sliding, balancing, jumping from heights and hanging upside down can be considered as risky. As children scaffold new skills: try and fail, then try again; they learn how to master new challenges which helps them throughout life in new challenges such as learning to read or tie your shoes.  The feelings associated with such accomplishments and experiences are immeasurable. Our teachers are trained in performing risk- benefit analysis so we can ensure that our play spaces are ripe for risk but devoid of hazards. We get to know each child's development so we can best support where they are, and where they are progressing to.

Setting

The garden and indoor/outdoor play areas offer wonderful places for children to explore and use their natural sense of wonder. They provide a unique and important learning environment. Driven by our strong belief in experiential, child-centered education, and universal values, many activities are offered each day providing children with the opportunity to make choices, become independent thinkers and active learners. By observing the children’s interests, a developmentally appropriate and emergent curriculum unfolds, providing a rich and respectful learning environment.

Family Participation

Monthly Activities

We require all families to give at least 2 hours a month service to our school. The more involved you are in your child’s school, the deeper and richer the experience will be for all! We have 4 general areas of participation and ask that you choose at least one.

Parent education meetings are held several times a year at each campus. These meetings are free to you and provide valuable insights into child development. They also fulfill our goal of working together as a parent/teacher team and being on the same page. You must plan to send at least one member of your household to each meeting with the exception of missing one meeting per school year as we understand that schedule conflicts happen. These meetings are a service to you and do not count for parent hours. 

Co-op

We offer a parent co-op opportunity at both of our campuses. Parents who would like to sign up for this would work one day each week in the classroom from 8:45–1:15.

There is a $100 discount per month for families who participate in this way. Our co-op option allows parents and children to experience school together for one of their school days and emphasizes the community aspect of our program.

Staff take on a mentoring role and help guide parents in learning positive discipline and other skills in communication, setting safe and practical boundaries, and much more.