Will you help us sustain the magic of the ECC and start something new?

Our beloved preschool, The Berkeley School- Early Childhood Center (ECC), is suddenly being shut down. Teachers and families are left with nowhere to go for the 2026-27 school year, with many preschools already fully enrolled for the fall. Our hearts are broken with the news. We are not alone. In the two weeks since the news, the outpour of grief, love, and support from current and former families and teachers has been astounding. Many have shared gratitude for the expertise and magic that ECC teachers bring to their lives and the home away from home the ECC has been to so many. The ECC has always been more than a school, it is a community of educators and families who imagine, make mistakes, learn, struggle, wonder, play, and grow together.

Sam and Kirstie, two ECC teachers, intend to bring that magic, whimsy, and high quality care and competence that families know and love from the ECC. So from this grief and love, and with this foundation, we are growing something new: Moon Pop Play Studios and Preschool.

Moon Pop Play Studios and Preschool is opening in North Berkeley for the 2026-27 school year. It has the charm and family-feel of a home daycare and the child development and early childhood education expertise of a child care center preschool. We are committed to a mixed educational pedagogical approach that centers and is informed by the children it serves. It draws from our knowledge of Reggio-Emilia, Montessori, Play & process-based inquiry, emergent curriculum, and relationship-centered educational pedagogies. Other values and pedagogies that inform our approach are trauma-informed and community-centered practice and abolitionist teaching. We will serve up to 12 children with a teacher:child ratio of 1:6 or better. Our program day will run from 8:30a-5:30p year-round with some holiday and seasonal breaks.

Moon Pop Play Studios & Preschool will embody the affirmations that our current and past preschool students say every morning:

I am Kind

I am Curious

I am Powerful

I am a Helper

I Try My Best

I am Enough

Moon Pop Play Studios and Preschool will grow with our children. In the first year Moon Pop Play Studios & Preschool will be a full day mixed age preschool. As our first cohort of Moon Pop preschoolers age into public Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten in the 2027-28 school year, we will accommodate them with an afternoon TK/Kindergarten and extended day program. We will continue to offer full day care for any children that are not yet eligible for TK. In our third year we will transition fully to an afternoon TK/Kindergarten and extended day program.

Will you join us as a Founding Family?

A Founding Family can:

Donate money- donations to help us cover start-up costs and subsidize benefits for our teachers.

Give in-kind donations- more will be added as planning progresses

Spread the word about Moon Pop Play Studios & Preschool- here’s our flyer!

Donate expertise/time- do you know anything about landscaping or native plant gardening and want to lend a hand? Or maybe you're an engineer who wants to build us a wind tunnel…

Enroll your child! :)- fill out an interest form here for more information

Your monetary contribution will support:

Indoor/outdoor durables: outdoor sensory tables, indoor tables and stools, a mud kitchen, sand box

Materials for light exploration: light table, projector, overhead projector

Light Landscaping costs: native plants, soil/compost for the garden

Subsidizing health care costs for teachers- as such as small business, health care plans are often cost prohibitive. Donating will help ensure all employees have subsidized health care.

Subsidizing paid time off for summer break while the school stays open- this will allow us to bring in specialty teachers and highly qualified substitute teachers to run summer camps at no additional cost to families. Most preschool teachers get 1-2 weeks of summer vacation so schools can provide the year-round care families need. We believe that teachers deserve adequate time to nourish themselves so that they can stay fresh, innovative, and responsive in the classroom.

The landscape of childcare in California is changing with Transitional Kindergarten in public schools, leading to many preschools, like the ECC, closing. While we are all for free quality education for 4-year olds, the closing of preschools has impacted the amount of spots available to younger preschool children. This is especially true for the families that were enrolled at the ECC for this coming school year. Moon Pop Play Studios & Preschool sets out to fill this gap in care in the 2026-27 school year. Please help us create and sustain this new childcare chapter with your donation.

$12,000 covers 8 weeks of a specialist teacher’s summer camp for the whole class

$6,000 subsidizes 4 weeks of teaching

$3,000 subsidizes 2 weeks of a teaching

$1,500 covers 1 week of a specialist teacher’s summer camp for the whole class

$700 subsidizes a teacher’s healthcare for one month

$350 gets us supplies to build 2 tables

$250 gets us a new light panel for light exploration

$200 gets us a Tuff Tray table for sensory exploration

$100 gets us a used projector for light exploration

$20 gets us 2 bags of compost for our garden

We can’t wait for our first cohort of Moon Pop Preschoolers to start this fall. Thank you for being a part of making that happen!

With gratitude and excitement,

Kirstie, Sam, and the Moon Pop Preschoolers