Windsor Preschool
Have you noticed a spectacular new building on Rengstorff? It fits perfectly into the neighborhood, yet it looks European, sleek and modern. It’s Windsor Preschool and they just opened in January. The architect was Bill Maston and his work is gorgeous and unique.
Shanam and Sahil, the founders/owners, are brother and sister team and they offered to show me around. Honestly, I was having so much fun taking photos, that I hardly wrote anything down, but if you take a look at my pictures, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.
The first thing that I absolutely have to say is: Have you ever heard of a preschool being built from the ground up? No. This place is unbelievable. The little restrooms are right there in the classroom, so the children don’t have to walk outside and down a hall. It was so cute, and pretty important since some of the kids are still being toilet-trained.
Everything is made from the greenest materials. Sahil was proudly pointing out some of the many details as he showed me around. The flooring is by Forbo, a company that is committed to health. No expense was spared and you really need to see it to believe it. Security is really important and the building was designed to keep those little children as safe as humanly possible. There are cameras everywhere, no one gets into the building, or playground, unless Sahil buzzes them in.
When Windsor School first opened in Sunnyvale, they had a waiting list of over 100 children. So the next time they opened a school, they made it a little bigger and better. The Mountain View location has plenty of openings right now and it’s right across the freeway from Google, Youtube, Intuit, Microsoft and LinkedIn. The Google Employee shuttle stops right in front of the school. Some parents drive their kids to Windsor, leave the car on Rengstorff, and take the shuttle to Google.
Sahil told me some of the many activities that Windsor does for their students. He wants them to understand that there’s a whole big world out there, not just their home and their preschool. They go on monthly field-trips, they get weekly presentations by the parents on culture, they’re involved in gymnastics, soccer, ballet, “Music Together” and the school puts on an annual picnic called the Windsor Games.
They're working on creating a covered botanical garden in the near future and I'm definitly going back to see it. And it's nice that they'll have an outdoor area for the children for rainy days.
While I was there, Reading Buddies, a program of Furry Friends, was happening. Two dogs, Hope and Oski, and their handlers, were in one of the classrooms. The children are encouraged to read to the dogs. It promotes literacy, and builds confidence and the dogs don’t really care that preschool kids don’t really know how to read very well yet. One of the two Furry Friends volunteers was Julie Smiley, of Central Business Association in Mountain View.
Sahil introduced me to his staff and told me how long each person has worked there. I was impressed at how low the turnover is for Windsor. The kids seemed so thrilled to be there and the love that the staff showed towards them made me feel like everyone was family. I guess that’s probably the goal, to send your children to a preschool that loves them as if they’re family. Please contact Windsor School for more information and a tour. The Mountain View school is located at 908 N. Rengstorff.
