Welcome.

The Mission of Rocky Mountain Participation Nursery School is to provide an emotionally and physically safe real-world learning environment for parents and children, where each person’s experience is welcomed;

• Where respect for each person’s ideas is valued;
• where respect for the earth and for all sentient beings is practiced;
• Where conflict and disagreement are understood to be natural products of the learning experience and are brought into the open for clarification and resolution;
• Where communication of thoughts and feelings are encouraged as a means for learning about oneself and others;
• And where creativity of all kinds is nurtured.

 

About Us.

Rocky Mountain began in 1948 when it was known as Mission Cooperative Nursery School. It was located on Capp street and Potrero Avenue before it moved to its present location, Peixotto Playground, in the 1970’s. It is the park and its beautiful surroundings that led the co-op to be renamed “Rocky Mountain”.

Our commitment to community is ongoing as we provide a place for families to continue their understanding of connection to themselves, each other and the world.

We are a member of the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools – a group of cooperative nursery schools that shares ideas and opportunities and provides educational and organizational support. We are also affiliated with City College of San Francisco – our school is an ongoing Parent Education class and our Director is an Instructor in the Child Development and Family Studies Department. We rent our space from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and care for the grounds on a daily basis.

We continue to provide families with a supportive environment in this ever-changing world.

 

Programs.

 

There are two programs per day.

Morning Program
Director: Linda Mickelson
9:00 am to Noon

Afternoon Program
Director: Marie Miranda
Noon-3:00 pm

Morning Program

Rocky Mountain is a play-based program. When children play they are making sense of their world. Children’s play consists of active exploration of their environment. It also is filled with opportunities to make choices and large blocks of time to become truly engaged in their play. This means that children are learning and growing as they climb, draw, spin, swing, ride bikes, take hikes, jump, run, play with sand, build with blocks, read books, paint, work with playdough and clay, bead and garden. For example, playing with water is calming. It is also multi-sensory, leading to the understanding of volume, sinking and floating, math concepts of more/less, full/empty, and provides opportunities for language development and social interaction. The foundations for literacy, art, math, science and social relationships come from these hands-on experiences. This is true of all children’s play.

At Rocky Mountain, children are free to play inside or outside. They can ride bikes all day or for just a little time. They can paint or not. They can climb or swing. The choice is theirs to make. When this occurs, children learn that their decisions are valued and they are respected. They also gain an understanding of what they like and what they don’t. This leads to a solid foundation for a sense of self. In the preschool years, play is learning. The two occur simultaneously. The development that occurs during these years is so important that each child must be allowed to be 3 years and 4 years and 5 years. At Rocky Mountain, we cherish these years and all the wonder they continue to give the world.

Afternoon Program by Ann Marie Miranda, Director

I strive to create a safe and loving environment where the children can feel grounded and are able to do their work and play. My work is to help them sort out feelings, conflicts and issues that arise. By modeling how I want to be treated the children sense and learn how to respect themselves and each other. Empowering them to make choices and decisions: “Shall we go hiking today?” “Let’s vote!” Through gardening, hiking, and working with organic materials, children discover the earth as well as themselves. The afternoon program evolves and grows with the children’s ideas and their relationships with each other. Through reading, movement, and world music children learn to appreciate and understand the world around them. Everyone is welcome to visit and experience the program.

 

Applications.

Deadline: April 15th for Fall.

Applications are for the upcoming Fall admissions only and are available at school for pick up with a scheduled school visit.

Our application fee at this time is $30 and is subject to change. We try to make all decisions regarding acceptance by April 1st of the same year of admission. If you are interested in checking out Rocky Mountain for your child, please sign up for one of the informational meetings to be held Oct. 17 {now full}, Nov. 14 {now full}, and March 13 {now full}. Sign up for informational meetings will be available after Aug. 17.

Drop-in Visits

Once you have attended an informational meeting, please sign up for a drop-in visit.

During your drop-in visit you and your child may share our facility, join in on projects and enjoy snack with the children. We are a parent education based program where the working parents of the day are the teachers and guides for the children. As a drop-in parent your main focus and responsibility is to stay close to your child to keep them safe and observe their interactions and play. This is a great way for you to get to know all about Rocky Mountain and for us parents and children to get to know you.

During a drop-in visit, your child can participate fully in the school from 9am-12pm and you can get a sense of what a random day at Rocky Mountain is like. Drop-ins will run Tues.–Thurs. between Oct. 20 and Dec. 4, and again from Feb. 16 until May 7. There is one drop-in slot per day permitted.

Rocky Mountain Participation Nursery School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available o students at the school. It does not discriminate of the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

We have serious food allergies this year at Rocky Mountain.Please do not bring foods which contain : nuts, dairy, egg, or wheat/gluten to Rocky Mountain.

 

Tuition & Fees.

• Monthly dues are $150 per child for the morning program, and $15/day per child for the afternoon program.
• No sibling discounts are offered.
• Scholarships are available based on financial need.

 

Photos.

Our school is located near the Randall Museum, on 15th street near the tennis courts. The school is housed in the Peixotto Clubhouse built in the late 30’s and leased to us from Parks & Recreation. It is a beautiful property with a large grass area for the children to run, a garden, play structure and swings.