Fremont Parents’ Nursery School

For over 60 years, Fremont Parents’ Nursery School has welcomed and served families with preschool children ages 2 years to 5 years throughout the Tri-City communities of Alameda County.
Through this partnership, a wonderful sense of community is created that nurtures all the families in the Co-op. Just as the children grow and flourish, so do the parents as they hone their parenting skills and form long lasting friendships with the other parents.

The school is situated on a wide expanse of land surrounded by trees, green grass and flowers. The
children thus have the ability to experience the change of the seasons, frolic in the leaves, pick flowers and twigs and incorporate these materials into their thoughtful, investigative play scenarios, pretend cooking projects or art designs, along with other loose part materials, strengthening their visual-spatial, mathematical and abstract thinking skills too. Parents frequently comment that the children also seem to exhibit better cooperation and conflict resolution skills, and show greater problem-solving ability, and motivation to learn and try new skills.

Part of the overall re-design in the outdoor environment was made possible through a generous grant from the LIIF Foundation, which enabled the school to replace the existing ground surface material under the climbing structure and swings, to incorporate a large sand area with a water feature and to build the garden arbor and planter boxes. To align the outdoor equipment towards a more natural theme, plastic tables and chairs were eliminated as were many of the plastic toys. The furniture was replaced with beautiful weatherproof wooden tables, benches, crates and boxes.

The staff researched plants that were native to the school’s area and installed a Sensory Garden for the children’s visual and tactile enjoyment. They also established a garden area for butterflies and recently received a Native Butterfly Habitat Plaque.

Recognizing the importance of providing children the much-needed opportunity to be immersed in the
wonder and mystery of the Natural World and the many opportunities for learning that entails, parents
enthusiastically contribute towards the stewardship of the environment through monthly maintenance
work days and in sharing new ideas to further enhance this beautiful setting.

In 2025, we expanded our classroom with a donation from two alumni families of an avocado tree. The tree was planted by an alumna, Crista, who grew it from a seed, starting 8 years ago. The sapling spent several years in a pot at our school, then was raised for several more years by a second alumna, Michelle. Now that the tree is 8 years old and needs ground, we have adopted the tree and will be cared for by the next many years of children and families at FPNS! We are also expanding our mud kitchen this year. Looking ahead to 2026, we will be continuing to expand our edible garden, adding back in butterfly spaces, and replacing our wooden raised beds with galvanized steel beds.

Learn more about this classroom on their certification page!