About The Grove Preschool
Through love, encouragement, and Jewish values, the Kol Shofar Preschool prepares children to confidently and creatively meet the challenges of their generation.
We are a certified NAAEE school
The Grove Preschool is now a certified North American Association for Environmental Education Natural Start Alliance preschool. Natural Start Alliance recognizes preschools that promote environmental stewardship and offer opportunities for children to experience nature as a part of the preschool program. Nature Preschools allow children to learn in nature, about
nature, and for nature.
The preschool features spacious classrooms, plus expansive outdoor play areas open to a sprawling terrain of hills, fruit trees, and play areas. This unique outdoor-centered environment provides ample opportunities for exploration so young children can observe and learn with their five senses, while connecting socially and emotionally with their peers and the plants and animals that call the Marin Headlands their home.
The Grove Preschool Lunch Program
The Grove Preschool serves lunch three days a week for our children. Lunches are made on site by our Kol Shofar chef. They are organic, fresh, nutritious, and most importantly delicious.
Here is a sample menu.
Within our supportive network of families across the generations, Grove students and parents, will discover significant relationships of friendship and community. Every Friday morning, our community joins together to welcome Shabbat with Cantor Naomi Weiss and our music specialist. We encourage parents, special guests, and grandparents to join us for this community building ritual. We celebrate birthdays, special occasions, and holidays together. Our families experience moments of celebration, along with the profound joy and meaning that awakens each of us to a sense of belonging.
Friday Morning Shabbat
Katherine Barboni
Director of Early Childhood Education
Ms. Katherine Barboni leads The Grove Preschool as the Director of Early Childhood Education. She brings great leadership skills and experience from her previous position as Director of Early Childhood Education at San Francisco's Congregation Beth Sholom. She has also held positions as Director of the Moldovan Academy in San Francisco and Interim Director of the Rosenberg Early Childhood Center at the San Francisco JCC. She holds an MA in Education from Mills College and a Bachelor of Science from Wheelock College in Boston.
Ms. Barboni has shared, "I look forward to working with Congregation Kol Shofar and the broader Marin community to implement a curriculum and program that centers on Jewish values, exploring nature, and celebrating all of life's joys together. I believe that the earliest years of our lives shape us in many ways, and the work we do with young children is profoundly important…and that fosters the irrepressible curiosity and love children innately engender.”