About Us

Friends Nursery School was started in 1954 by a group of mothers from the Palo Alto Friends Meeting.  

They were looking for a program where children could learn social cooperation through play.  The mothers began their small program in the Friends Meeting House.  Their little school thrived!  

In 1969, Friends built a new Meeting House and converted the original Meeting House into an independent nursery school. Qualified early education teachers were hired to supplement and lead the parent cooperative.  

Over the years, through the help and support of our parents, staff, and donors, we have been able to completely renovate the yard, build a new climbing structure, refurbish the classrooms, address earthquake safety and build much needed storage for our supplies and toys.  

Most recently, in 2015, we renovated our front yard to include new trees, a picnic table and a natural play space for the children.

 

To this day, FNS is still a play-based preschool with a social-emotional focus.  Parents and staff work together to run the school, maintain the school building, fundraise for scholarships, and support teachers and parents.  The Friends Meeting continues to support FNS by allowing us to use the original Meeting House as our school.  Throughout the years we have maintained our close-knit community and continue to provide a quality preschool experience. It is this "mom and pop" feeling that makes Friends the wonderful school that it is!

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