Old Firehouse School

Old Firehouse School is a preschool in Lafayette, California, serving children up to five years old through full-day, year-round programs. The school was founded in Lafayette in 1996 by Dr. Dorothy Stewart and her husband, Bob Buhl, and now operates five California campuses, including locations in Walnut Creek, Mill Valley, and San Rafael. The Lafayette school holds a 5.00 rating from the families who have reviewed it.

The program draws on attachment theory and the Reggio Emilia approach, and is built on research and professional practice in child development. Classrooms are designed to keep children with the same caregivers, minimizing transitions, and each age group has its own focus: infant and toddler teachers build stable, rewarding relationships with each baby; the toddler and two-year-old program centers on trust, autonomy, and verbal skills; and the three's and four's emphasize initiative, language, thinking skills, and imaginative activities. Directors and teachers are described as skilled professionals who attend to the whole child - heart, mind, spirit, and body. Old Firehouse School has run for roughly 30 years and has been named a Top Winner of Parents Press Reader's Choice for Contra Costa County, along with repeated Bay Area Parent Readers Choice awards for Best Preschool in the East Bay. It hosts about 300 educators annually, some traveling from as far as Guatemala, to study its methods and facilities.

The Lafayette campus sits on Moraga Road, a short walk from Lafayette Creek and about a tenth of a mile from Mount Diablo Boulevard and Happy Valley Creek. Lafayette Elementary School and Don Tatzin Community Hall are both roughly two-tenths of a mile away.

Old Firehouse School's standing rests on its long record in Lafayette and the regard of the families it serves, reflected in a 5.00 rating and a run of Best Preschool recognitions in the East Bay.