The Good Earth School

The Good Earth School has been amazing for both of my daughters. We joined the school after a bad experience at another preschool. My oldest daughter loved TGES instantly. She adjusted so well. My youngest joined around 20 months old in the Oaks class and has also had an incredible experience.

I'm continually impressed by Gail and her team. All the teachers we've interacted with provide so much love for the children and the creative curriculum the teacher provide. I believe Gail and Alan really listen to the parents to provide the best possible experience for everyone. Any concern or question from parents is addressed fairly and openly by the administration.

The school has a wonderful community of parents. We love the summer picnics and community building events facilitated by the school and parents. We've made many wonderful friends from the community of parents at the school.

I'm truly so grateful for our experience at TGES and so thankful to all the teachers for their care for my children.

We feel so fortunate to be a part of The Good Earth School community and have had only wonderful experiences with teachers, students and parents over the 3 years our 2 kids have attended. From the moment we met Gail and Alan for a tour of the school, we could tell how much personal care they put into every aspect of running a top notch program and just got that gut feeling it was a special place (and that feeling remains 3 years later).

Since our kids have previously had challenges with transitions, it was especially important to us to find a place where they would feel safe and loved, in addition to an engaging educational setting. Not only were the staff completely open to our needs, but they were very empathetic toward our feelings as parents, so we really appreciated the understanding and extra support we received with setting up a transition plan which ended up making the start of the year much smoother than we expected. Our daughter jumped right into the routine immediately, much to our surprise, and although our son needed a few weeks to get to his comfort zone, he was given a lot of extra cuddle time and he formed close bonds with his teachers during that time.

The outdoor emphasis is a perfect fit for our kids who love to get outside and get dirty. They have blossomed in the safe, fun and enriching environment crafted by the incredibly kind and dedicated teachers and staff. They come home singing new songs, sharing details about their daily routine and talking nonstop about new best friends. It's easy to communicate with teachers through the Brightwheel app and we've really appreciated their flexibility when we've needed a late drop off or early pick up. There's a weekly email filled with updates about the curriculum and lots of adorable pictures taken throughout the week. The community events - family picnics, Trunk or Treat, Harvest Festival, teacher appreciation and one-off class gatherings - have given us a chance to develop deeper friendships and a sense of belonging within the community.

We are beyond grateful for the impact TGES has had on our daughter. I could not have designed a more enriching, caring and fun environment for her.

We could tell this place was special when, as we were touring the school, happy children beamed at Teacher Gail (who was giving the tour) and asked for hugs. The campus environment reflects the values of the school--creativity, environmental stewardship, social connection, and active play.

Our daughter adjusted quickly to her new school. Before she turned 2 years old, she had already learned important lessons on boundaries, including "space please" and "no thank you". She came home each day having learned new skills, songs, and phrases.

I credit her development to the fact that spends her days engrossed in activities that stimulate her entire brain--from hiking in the meadow, to making tortillas, to finding treasure in the sandbox. Each teacher we have encountered has been dedicated to the children's safety, development, and emotional well-being.

I also love how the school creates community for the families--the family picnics in the summertime have been some of our nicest experiences as a family.

TGES is a gem--I am so grateful to Gail, Alan, and the entire staff for the incredible learning environment and community they have built for our family and others.

TGES has been the biggest blessing for our family - they helped our son through a lot of transition. Gail and Alan were attentive to all of our questions during the transition. The whole TGES team show great patience in helping students adapt to a new setting and expectations. Our son thrived there under loving and guided support. The staff and teachers provide a strong community with incredible attention to the needs of each individual student. We could not have found a more apt space for our son to thrive and love learning. So lucky to have been a part of this incredible community and learning environment. Children at TGES are safe, nurtured, and engaged! 💕

If I could give The Good Earth School (TGES, to us) 6 stars I would do so in a heartbeat. We started when our kid was almost exactly 2yrs and were nervous about the transition - things were going well in a local home daycare setting and we wondered if we should stay in that familiar spot for a bit longer. We also sensed a readiness for more structure and stimulation so when we learned there was space at TGES we leapt at the chance and have never looked back.

The teachers, curriculum, community, and leadership have all been outstanding. We have felt fully supported through toddler rites of passage (nearly-painless potty-training!) and deeply appreciated the frequent, thoughtful, tailored communication from staff and management. The kids refer to everyone in their class as a "friend" and are taught to respect them, as well as the natural world. The teachers are clearly gifted and deeply loved by their pupils.

Our kid bounds into class in the morning eager to talk to all the "friends" and leaves every day chatty, muddy, and delighted. It's marvelous! What more could we ask for!

Our son has thrived at the good earth school. The teachers are extremely in tune with the different emotional needs the children and provide support at every level. We feel it is an extremely heathy environment from the nature walks right down the food provided. We are lucky to be a part of this special community that Gail and Alan have created

I have known Gail for over 5 years and we were part of her daycare for years until our son graduated.

At 2, my son was exceptionally shy and also had some developmental delays, so when I interviewed care providers, I came with an arsenal of childhood developmental knowledge and even an infant developmental specialist who helped me in my search. I was so impressed interviewing Gail. I actually cried when I got back to the car as I knew, without a doubt, she would do an exceptional job caring for my child. And she has.

I’ll never forget the moment when she told me, “it’s not enough that I love your son, my job is to also provide a safe and nurturing environment where your child grows”. I knew at that moment I had finally found the right place for him.

At first, it was a difficult transition for my child. Every day he had separation anxiety. I also had to come pull him in and out of school three days each week for his various therapy sessions. Gail and her staff were so accommodating and supportive of our family and my son’s needs. Truly, Gail believes more in providing my child the tools he needs to succeed than in the school's schedule. She accepted us with wide arms open, providing a supportive and loving environment and making every decision in what is in the best interest of my child’s needs.

I am so thankful for her compassion and love. Without a doubt she truly loved my child and was his biggest cheerleader. And now my son is a sweet, kind and prepared kindergartner who still runs into Gail's open arms whenever he sees her. We can't recommend her more highly. I not only found an amazing place for my child, I found an advocate, a supporter and a friend for myself.

Our almost-two year old has been at The Good Earth School since May 2018. We've been so excited to watch him grow and develop since he's been there. Gail and all the teachers are incredibly caring, and they consistently provide a huge range of activities for the kids and toddlers to explore. Similarly, the indoor/outdoor space is beautiful and really allows the kids to develop new skills and independence, within a safe and loving environment. We've also appreciated how willing they are to discuss and strategize the best way to support both our son and our family overall. We feel very lucky to have found this place.

We have known Gail and her team since our child was 4 months old. When we found out The Good Earth School was opening, it was a dream come true. Gail and the teachers have created a friendly, compassionate, and creative environment for the children to explore and develop new skills.

Our daughter started in the Toddler program and has since transitioned to the Transitioning Twos class. During her time in the Toddler Program she was figuring out her newly found independence. We saw a shift in what she was interested in doing at home without us realizing. She wanted to help set the table, play a more active role in bath time, help her baby brother, and spend every second outside, etc! Looking back, these new interests were all due to activities and opportunities presented by TGES.

Since joining the Transitioning Twos program, I've seen a major difference with how our daughter is playing both independently and with others. She's much more aware of her actions and how it relates to the larger group, helping prepare her for pre-school. I've been so impressed how through music the teachers are able to help the children problem solve or cope with feelings that they aren't yet able to articulate. What I love most is that they treat every experience as a learning opportunity for our kids.

TGES continues to exceed our expectations and we are so lucky to be part of the community.

This school sounded great so we were excited to apply and start talking with the program leads about starting our son in the Fall. We initially had a wonderful experience and excitedly followed up with Alan after our initial phone conversation, thanking him for his time. He told us that we should expect to hear back from him in March about if there was a spot open for our son or not. March then came and went with no follow up. My husband and I emailed him several times, inquiring about the status of things but never received any contact back. It wasn’t until a month later that I emailed the school directly before he ever got back to us, giving us some short response saying that they didn’t have room for him at this time but that they would follow up with us about his status on the waitlist if a spot opened up. We therefore secured other childcare but then reached out months later to see if he was still on the waitlist and about his chances of getting in for next Fall, especially because we had been told by some of our friends in the community that they had been offered a spot before we had (when they had applied well after and had no sibling legacies at the school). My husband and I therefore tried again to email and call several times with no success. My husband finally got through to Alan directly but was promptly hung up on twice. With absolutely no response, I finally went up to the school’s front office to ask if they could give me an update but when I did and asked to speak with Alan, he emailed me back stating that I had made his staff feel “unsafe” in showing up unannounced. Frustrating when if he had checked his emails, this contact would have never needed to happen in the first place and would have never been unannounced. Very unprofessional in their contact with prospective parents. Other parents have told me to beware of this as well so it sounds like it’s a pattern. Also, so unprofessional to be so poor at answering emails that your staff have to field complaints from prospective parents trying to make contact with you, with no success through any other means. Things sounded like such a good fit, that is until I was open about wanting to watch out for any developmental concerns that my son might have. When things take such a dramatic turn in his unwillingness to contact us back right after that, it feels like the only conclusion I can make is that they are not supportive of neurodiversity and of being a partner in watching out for the development of children who might be in their care. Very disappointing but good riddance.

I was so disheartened by our experience here. We put our daughter in to this preschool in early July after successful stays in both nanny shares and daycare. We knew our daughter had had initial transitional anxieties in new environments and may be experience some delays and sensory processing issues, of which we were very candid about with Gail, the owner and head teacher. We toured the preschool with her months before and she gave us a very different vision of what was to occur. This preschool is understaffed, overwhelmed, and is more concerned with filling a quota rather than nurturing the individual. Some kids are easy to transition and are ready to be an environment where circle time and snack time are mandatory, and If your kid gets overwhelmed at all in new environments and doesn't adjust to the program rapidly, beware. Every child is different but at such a precarious age, i regret putting my kid through the rigors if this place, even for a short time. Gail is one of the least patient and uncompassionate caregivers i have ever witnessed.