san_geronimo_valley_childcare_center
CHILDCARE: Margarette Krauss read a book to two toddlers in the San Geronimo Childcare Center on Tuesday. The preschool is now accepting children that are 18 months and older.   David Briggs

The brochure for the San Geronimo Childcare Center has a new, yellow sticker across its title announing that they are now accepting 18 month olds. The preschool and daycare center, established in 1962 and known as the San Geronimo Preschool until late last year, has been revamping and updating its services in an effort to boost lagging enrollment. The addition of 18-month-olds is the latest in a string of modifications that Sharon Dahme, the center’s director, hopes will enhance her play-centered programing. “We realized our preschool was beginning to fall through the cracks and we recognized from the internet—on both Facebook and Google—that we should change the name from ‘preschool’ to ‘childcare center,’” she said. Already, she has enrolled three new children into the toddler program. The center is also now enrolling full-time students, another change Ms. Dahme said was inspired by phone calls from working parents in search of childcare options. The center now has three age categories that range from 18 months to six years; about five families come from over the hill while the rest, about 20 families, are from the valley, Ms. Dahme said. There are four teachers on staff. The center, located on the premises of the San Geronimo Community Presbyterian Church—of which the preschool is a mission—was also renovated a few years ago. The multi-year redesign was overseen by Berkeley-based early childhood educator Louis Torelli, whose company, Spaces for Children, creates environments specifically for childcare programs. It split the classroom into two parts: a preschool facility and a toddler facility. The latter has natural lighting, various play stations, a full kitchen and bathroom, napping cots and a CD player that was playing the Lion King soundtrack during a recent afternoon lunch. (Acoustic Brazilian guitar and classical music is often played to help calm youngsters during nap time.) Rev. Kate Clayton said enrollment tends to ebb and flow. “It was solid earlier, with a waiting list and afterschool care, but more recently other preschools have sprung up,” she said. “I think the demographic has changed.” She said they’re interested in connecting with families in Nicasio who may lack childcare programs in their area. The center is funded through tuition and an annual pancake breakfast fundraiser each April.