Kindergarten
From our very first meeting, we focus on your child as an individual human being and learner, listening and observing, adjusting and motivating each student to excel.
With two lead teachers in each classroom, we create a fun and engaging year for our earliest learners! We are committed to supporting students in their academic and social development and teaming with families to ensure a successful year for everyone. Our program is designed to foster independence, connections, and academic rigor.
As members of our Youngers Cluster (K-1st), Kindergarten students develop their identities as individuals, students, and community members. This strong intellectual and personal foundation empowers children to seek out and pursue ever-greater challenges, enthusiastically and persistently, throughout their years at PS1 and beyond.
Learn more about our independent Kindergarten through 6th-Grade learning arc.
Sign up for a tour.
Read about Kindergarten readiness.
See a sample K-1 (Youngers) schedule to learn more about their day.
Examples of Themes and Projects in the Youngers Cluster:
Seed Exploration
Taking Care Of Our Community
Our Family, Our Identity (CLICK HERE to read "We Are Friends")
Change-Makers
Mapping PS1
Balance In Nature
Designing Food Trucks (Menus Included!)
Small Moment Story-Writing
New Year, New Me
We Are Scientists
Insect Investigations
Hallmarks of Kindergarten at PS1:
The Program is:
- Open-ended and child-centered.
- Differentiated with no ceilings or limits. For example, we use the workshop model for Readers’ and Writers' Workshop. The goal of the model is to support learners to be active and engaged in their work at their development of understanding.
- Interdisciplinary. Subjects such as science, art, and writing are woven together to create a dynamic program.
- Creative and innovative. Students spend time each week with our five specialist teachers: Spanish, Art, Music, The Studio (a design and engineering STEAM workshop), Library, and Physical Education.
The Students are:
- Listened to, trusted, and valued as individuals and members of the PS1 community.
- Consistently expanding their comfort zones. For example, Youngers students collaborate with older students on curricular projects and special events. With social-emotional learning as a central tenant, the school environment provides a safety net for children to be willing to learn and take risks.
- Practicing cooperation and communication skills through project based learning.
The list below includes many of the feeder preschools of our current student body. We also admit students in grades above Kindergarten from local public and independent schools, along with students moving from outside of the Los Angeles area.
10th Street Preschool, Beverlywood Montessori Preschool, Blue Oak Creative Schoolhouse, Branches Atelier, Brella, Brentwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, Cassidy Preschool, Center for Early Education, CCUSD, Christopher Robin Preschool, Circle of Children Preschool, Couer D Alene Elementary (TK), Crestwood Hills Coop Nursery School, Culver City Christian School, Dig Childhood Center, Evergreen Community School, First Presbyterian Nursery School, First United Methodist Church Preschool, Fox Child Development Center, Free To Be Me Preschool, From the Heart Preschool and Enrichment Center, Gillybean Preschool, Glendale Montessori School, Goethe International Charter School (PK), Hedgerow Preschool, Hill & Dale, Home School / Pod, Kehillat Israel Preschool, Kigala Preschool, Knox Presbyterian Nursery School, Little Dolphins by the Sea, Little Village Nursery School, Logan Academy of Global Ecology, Manhattan Beach Preschool, Maple Tree Preschool, Methodist Preschool of Pacific Palisades, Montessori School of Manhattan Beach, Palisades Presbyterian Preschool, Palisades Preschool, Pine St. Child Development, Piper Preschool, Piper Preschool LA, Redwood Village Children’s Center, Santa Monica Family YMCA, Santa Monica Montessori, Sol Y Luna Montessori, Southern California Montessori, St. Martin of Tours (PK), Sunshine Preschool, Synapse Atelier, The Early Years Preschool, The First School, The Growing Place, The New School West, The Seed (now The Nest), Topanga Montessori, University Synagogue Early Childhood Learning Center (now Wilshire Blvd. Temple), Wagon Wheel School Malibu, Westside Neighborhood School (PK)