Parent Testimonials

Village Playgarden’s Forest Kindergarten was the perfect space to send out 5-year-old son. The daily hiking and hours soaking in Mother Nature connected profoundly to our own family values of communing with nature and moving our bodies. We believe that our son grew exponentially from play-based learning, guided by the thoughtful and sensitive teachers. All the staff were great, from the administration to the teachers, assistant teachers, land staff, and the founders Kikanza and Geoff. As a family of color, we felt a great sense of community, love, and inclusivity. We highly recommend Forest Kindergarten for families who value nature, moving the body, play, and love.

— Audrey Capilla

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My son was at Village Playgarden for his kindergarten year. After years navigating some very serious health challenges, for him to be free to be out in nature was such a healing experience. He became so connected to the land and all the many creatures that inhabit it. He is now fiercely protective and respectful of our natural world and all its inhabitants down to the smallest bug. His time spent with Miss Ellie was such a gift, she is a very talented, respectful, and warm teacher and he allowed himself to unfold into the safety of her presence. I cannot imagine a better early childhood experience than what we experienced at Village Playgarden on this most sacred land in Altadena.

— Emma Gordon

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Our daughter attended Village Playgarden and we could not have been more pleased with the school. It was an amazing program. We saw her develop and mature in her self-confidence, physical strength and social emotional skills. The classrooms and walks and hikes are beautifully organized. As an outdoor, all-weather program, the classrooms also offer a cozy, secure, home-like environment. We only wish we had discovered the school sooner.

— Claudia Fucigna & Greg

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Our daughter attended Village Playgarden for four years, through kindergarten and 1st grade. We picked her up every day with a huge smile on her face and exuberant stories of all she experienced: a roaring stream, Red Tail Hawk sightings, fort building, art projects, magical crystals, and so many friends. We appreciated the balance of big physical activity with the quiet rhythm of Waldorf story time, circle time, and mealtime. The classrooms are a wonderful mix of warm wood structures, cozy rugs, and the natural world that the children move seamlessly in between. Her confidence grew through big adventures in Mother Nature while being nurtured by teachers who expertly build and hold space for children.

 — Kirsten Schaffer and Linda Kennedy

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There are no words to describe the wonderful feeling as a parent, of really knowing that your child is in the best possible place you could imagine for him/her to be. This is how we feel about Village Playgarden and the Forest Kindergarten program. As a family of two dads with adopted children, we feel incredibly at home and at ease in the Village Playgarden community, which is so diverse and so welcoming in so many ways.  At this very critical time in their development, the children learn how to not only enjoy and be comfortable in the elements, but most importantly learn how to be in community, and be active members in that community.  

— Ed and Rob Brachfeld-Strauss

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My family had the immense privilege of spending our two children’s early years in the Village Playgarden community in the classrooms for younger children ages 3 and 4, and in the Forest Kindergarten ages 4 to 6. The children have the opportunity to ground themselves in nature in a gentle way that inspires a rare fluency I’ve seen nowhere else. They connected with all the wonderful teachers at Village Playgarden who see this work as a calling and fully embody the noble responsibility of leading the class. My children have shown an early curiosity for nature, and as they have moved on to grade level schools, I can see in so many ways that they are carrying on the lessons they learned at Village Playgarden. They have forged lasting friendships which their classmates and developed a beautiful social buoyancy. We are forever grateful for our time in the village.

— Sarah Wright