The Little School
The Little School is a private non-profit preschool founded to provide young children in San Francisco with a developmental, child-centered preschool experience. The Little School is committed to providing individualized, quality attention to children, parents, and staff. As an institution, we are committed to helping each part of our community grow in their ability to communicate and respect one another.
The Little School recognizes three pillars as our guiding principles: inclusion, diversity, and high quality early childhood education.
Little School was founded by Leslie Roffman and Tim Treadway, current director and teacher, in 1984 to provide individualized, quality attention to children, families and staff. They wanted to create an enriching, supportive environment where everyone thrives and families and teachers learn as much as the children.
The program grew quickly—from 12 children in 1984 to over 100 in 1990. During those founding years, key staff came on board, most of whom are with us today. Through partnership and experience, the basic building blocks of our philosophy, curriculum and structure came into focus. Our inclusive approach evolved from being interested in and committed to serving children with special needs to realizing that all children deserve to have their strengths celebrated and gain support for their challenges.