About The Grove Preschool
Through love, encouragement, and Jewish values, The Grove Preschool prepares children to confidently and creatively meet the challenges of their generation.
We are a certified NAAEE school
The Grove Preschool is part of the 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.
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
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.
She is thrilled to be able to implement a curriculum and program that centers on Jewish values, exploring nature, and celebrating all of life's joys together. She believes that the earliest years of our lives shape us in many ways, and the work we do with young children is profoundly important. Katherine lives in Marin County with her husband and their two young daughters.
Liza Monge Artavia
Assistant Director of Early Childhood Education
Liza Monge leads The Grove Preschool as the Assistant Director of Early Childhood Education. She has been in the field working as a teacher and mentor in Jewish Preschools for 10 years. She holds a MA in Early Childhood Education from University of Arizona Global Campus, was part of the cohort for Jewish Early Childhood Education Leadership Institute in San Francisco. She is also a certified Forest and Nature based teacher through ERAFANS (Easter Region Association of Forest and Nature School.)
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She is so happy to spend her days among the trees and critters who call our beautiful campus home. Liza loves working with children because it takes her back to her roots, growing up in Costa Rica, where she enjoyed a nature rich environment and wants every child to have those same opportunities to connect with nature, learn to love it and care for it. Liza resides in Marin County.
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