Desert Spring Children's Center

Desert Spring Children's Center is a daycare and preschool in Tucson, AZ, serving children ages 18 months through 5 years old in a non-profit setting near the University of Arizona. The school enrolls approximately 60 children a day and guides its program with the Reggio Emilia approach, drawing on Reggio, Waldorf, and Montessori philosophies to build a play-based, developmentally appropriate, and child-centered curriculum. Desert Spring holds a 4.7 rating based on 15 reviews, and families commonly describe the staff as a second family, noting that children often ask to stay longer at the end of the day.

Founded in August 1987 by Sara VanSlyke and Jan Kincaid to serve the university and downtown area of Tucson, Desert Spring began as a collaborative, compassionate community of families and educators and has continued in that tradition. The school is a Quality First participant with a four-star rating. Sara led the school as director until her retirement in 2021, after Jan's passing in 2001, and current director Hypatia Luna, who joined that year, brings more than twenty years of experience in education along with Montessori training and a background in Reggio-inspired practice. Hypatia holds a BA in Art History and a California Clear Credential, and her child is a Desert Spring alum. The teaching staff is committed to ongoing professional growth through Reggio workshops, college courses, and additional professional development, and the program intentionally includes children of all abilities, cultures, ethnicities, genders, and gender identities. Children learn by doing through hands-on projects, gardening, water play, and other explorations using a wide range of materials and media, with teachers serving as partners and guides rather than directors of the activity. The center is currently enrolling for the 2026-2027 school year, beginning August 3, 2026.

The school sits on East Speedway Boulevard in central Tucson, within a short walk of the University of Arizona's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. The Postal History Foundation is about two-tenths of a mile away, and the Arizona History Museum is roughly three-tenths of a mile from the school.

Families enrolling at Desert Spring consistently describe the staff's warmth, the open and clean classrooms, and a curriculum that lets children learn through curiosity, play, and exploration rather than simply being told the answers. As one of the long-standing Reggio-inspired preschools near the University of Arizona, Desert Spring has shaped early childhood education in Tucson for nearly four decades.