Windsor Preschool Academy

Our son has been at Windsor for 6 months now and he loves it.
I visited many preschools in Mountain View/​Palo Alto and while some of them seemed good — I wasn’t blown away by any of them… until I visited Windsor. The vibe and energy of the teachers and kids was contagious and I knew I had to send my kid here.
It was a long wait to get in (that was the only problem with the whole experience). But I must say it was well worth the wait. Within a few weeks of joining Windsor we saw a lot of change in our son. In the last 6 months he has matured a lot. He has become more articulate and is also learning to control his emotions.
All the kids seem to really enjoy going to school here. They have something to look forward to each week. Thanks to the monthly schedule planned and executed by the director and teachers. They have multiple field trips which teach the kids about so much outside the classroom. As a parent of a 3 yr old I care more about how my son enjoys his childhood and learns to «love learning new things» more than bookish and academic knowledge only. The love of learning is the best gift for a child and he/​she wil pickup the rest. I feel this school does a very good job here.
The weekly community playdates makes it easy for a new parent/​child to get to know everyone. Parents can also come in to teach the kids once in a while which has led our son to learn about the cultures and countries of many of his classmates.
I have often consulted the teachers about any behavioral concerns and have received excellent advice from them — a true indication that these teachers are well experienced with child psychology as well. The school does a good job of retaining the teachers. Almost all other preschools that I toured had substitute teachers in atleast one class who seemed to not know the kids (and vice versa) as well.
Another plus for us is the extra enrichment classes onsite like gymnastics and soccer. For my son who just loves soccer this is a big win — I do not need to run around on weekends trying to find a good soccer class (and good luck finding one that has the same teacher and same set of friends each time).

we still remember the day we left our 2.5 year old at Windsor– McKinley after all the research, consultations for a good preschool in the area. He is 5 years now and we are happy beyond words for choosing Windsor as part of our son’s and our lives.
My approach while I was looking for a preschool isn’t JUST academics. I wanted my son to ENJOY his childhood while also developing his social, motor, and behavior skills. And glad to say, we found all at Windsor. Starting from their beautiful, well maintained home like facility, fantastic teachers including Nani (grand ma for so many kids for the past several years). Their unique programs like Reading dogs, trips to local bakery, fire station, dental office, zoo. grocery store, pet store makes Windsor unique from the many preschools in the area. It’s the passion (not just the business) they bring in every single day.
Windsor staff and administration is always there for us when we needed their support and assistance in terms of my son’s development skills. They are always creative in addressing any issues. At the end of the day, all kids to love to wake up in the morning and go to school. Windsor’s in-​house kids enrichment programs is a huge plus for the working families.
Any description is short for the staff and admins for their passion, creative ideas towards kids enrichment. My son goes to Mary now and looking forward for a great academic year ahead. Many times when i pick him up in the evening, he asks me to stop at McKinley facility to say hello to staff (especially Nani and «Sagil» [That’s what my son calls Mr Sahil]). I feel it gives him sense of community and belonging. To me, that explains how much he likes his school. Last but not the least, the parents group at Windsor is simply superb.
A big Thank you to Windsor for being part of our lives and wishing all the very best for the 2015 – 16 academic year and also for their new facility coming up soon.

When I was looking for a pre-​school for my daughter, I visited many, many pre-​schools in the mountain view and sunnyvale area and finally found Windsor — a hidden gem! My child started at Windsor when she was 2 years old and spent three wonderful years at Windsor — it is a fabulous combination of a home away from home with a really strong pre-​school education. Windsor provided my daughter with a solid foundation from both an academic and social perspective. Can’t ask for much more.
Some highlights for us:
**Passionate Director: Shanam is an exceptionally passionate director who has a background in child development and does all she can to make Windsor an amazing place. She takes feedback very seriously and works extremely hard to continuously improve the program.
**Warm environment with a strong, progressive curriculum: I admire how strongly child-​centered and hands-​on the curriculum is and how it often takes shape based on where the children take it. Thats not easy to implement — but hats off to the Windsor teachers for doing a great job with it.
To add to that, there is Nani, Shanam’s grandmother, whose presence is such a calm, wonderful experience for the little ones. She is 100 percent present with the kids, reading, listening, hugging, playing with them. I remember how nani would read together with my daughter for hours as a toddler. The fact that Nani is there because she wants to be, not because she is asked to be there, is meaningful!
**The communication booklet is wonderful. We love it and will treasure it for years to come! My daughter enjoyed hearing what the teachers wrote. The thrill that was shared by the teachers when she began reading at 3 was SO evident from the logs and it reiterated for us how much the teachers care!
**Excellent Leadership program: The elder kids visit the location with the younger kids once a week as a leader where they have a special role and responsibilities. It has worked great towards developing the concept of «leadership» in my little one.
Other wonderful aspects of the program:
— Home-​cooked nutritious lunches
— Great group size (not too big and not too small)
— Field trips (connected with the curriculum)
— Exposure to different cultures and languages

I had the same experience as Lisa N. I contacted this school through several emails and also left a voicemail expressing interest in enrolling my daughter in this school. I did not receive ANY response to my numerous inquiries. The school director should have the decency to respond to people. Just very poor business practices. I have since enrolled my daughter in another school where I can reach the director instantly.

The first thing that struck me about Windsor was their beautiful facilities. On the outside, it looks like the best-​maintained house on the street in a convenient and lively part of Sunnyvale. Once you are inside, everything is so naturally bright, clean, and spacious — unlike a lot of grungy preschools in the area. I can tell a lot of effort has been put into designing the interior. There are sun catchers, prisms, and colored bottles in front of windows to refract color across the rooms. Play areas are naturally themed, with wooden blocks, corn husk dolls, logs for climbing, rocks for building, etc.
Additionally, there is a sense of community at this school, including their second location down the block — for both the children and the parents — and I really appreciate how the school makes an effort to create traditions. As a big kid myself, I always get a kick at the yearly fall festivals where someone in the school community, parents included, gets recruited to put on the giant purple dinosaur costume for the kids and become the most important person in the world for 15 minutes. (Have I ever done it myself? No comment.)
In the end, my favorite thing would have to be the creative curriculum. Last time I dropped in, the preschoolers were busily constructing the city of «MountainView-​SanFrancisco» from recycled materials. The ‘city’ took up half a room and had a hospital (‘for both people and pets!’), a police station (‘to catch bad guys so they don’t ruin the houses!’), and even a factory that made bubble wrap (‘for popping!’). How is that not adorable?
I wish I attended a preschool like this when I was young, but I am happy the kiddos do!

Windsor has been an absolute godsend for our family.
Our son has been attending Windsor for half days for 3 ½ years (since he was 18 months old).
Originally we checked out Windsor due to its proximity to our home. We immediately fell in love with the place and Ms. Shanam who runs the Mary facility. (Shanam is Berkeley educated with an emphasis on early childhood development. And it shows — she is continually updating the school’s approaches, her communication with families and the enrichment for the kids. A brighter, more caring and dedicated early childhood educator you will be hard pressed to find).
Windsor is the best of all worlds:
1) a safe comfortable, homelike environment
2) offering tremendous enrichment opportunities — my son sings songs in english, spanish, hindi and mandarin (often times not even realizing it is a «foreign» language)
3) yet the learning balances among child self-​exploration with just the right amount of structure (but far short of a rigid, drill-​heavy academia)
The best part is the outcome — we have a child that is balanced, well-​adjusted, bright, curious, engaged, healthy and more than ready to transition to kindergarten later this year. Windsor has been instrumental to his development and an integral part of our family as a result.
We will miss Windsor, the teachers, other children and families! I highly recommend Windsor to parents with pre-​school age children.

Windsor Academy is a wonderful educational experience for your little ones! The teachers are spectacular and you can count on them to be prepared, knowledgeable, and welcoming to all!
Miss Shanam is a special gem and I couldn’t be happier to have her at Windsor. The kids love her and she’s just the sweetest.

Awesome! Amazing!
— Follows a progressive curriculum (play based, whole child development)
— Very personal
e.g. Detailed daily reports for each child. Tons of email communication
— Very creative classes
— e.g. Hatch silkworms, nurture them to adulthood, talk about life stages, body parts, making of silk.
— e.g. Reading dogs come to school so kids can read to them. Kids get confident about their reading skills, get over their fear of dogs, while playing with the animals
— e.g. Different languages spoken thru out the day by teachers to kids. Better than having a «language class». Context sensitive.
— Great field trips
— e.g. Local pizza place to learn how and to make their own pizza
— e.g. Local coffee place to learn how coffee is made and served
— e.g. Local police station to see what it looks like, turn on the siren and flash the lights of a police car
— e.g. Visit and demo from the fire fighters with their trucks, equipment
— Great enrichment classes (some for extra fee)
e.g. Music — drums, piano, violin, singing
e.g. Language (2 – 3 different languages spoken thru out the day, in conjunction with English)
e.g. PhysEd — Gymnastics, Karate