Local Preschool Academy Wins Praise from Parents, Smiles from Kids

Just about everything in Bonnie Saar’s cozy, Craftsman-style cottage has a dual purpose: the spatula doubles as an art tool; the dining room each day becomes the “pre-K room;” and her 4-year-old son’s bedroom — his pint-sized bed neatly made up and tucked away in the corner by 8 a.m. — becomes a classroom.

This homey atmosphere for a child’s first learning experience is one of many qualities that attract parents to .

“No kid seems anonymous there,” said Mitch Ashley, whose son, Jeremy, attended the academy for a year and will be a kindergartner this fall.

Ashley’s wife, Jane, added: “[Bonnie] walks to the door each morning and greets each kid like he was her own. That really boosted [Jeremy’s] confidence a huge amount.”

Bonnie’s Premier Daycare Academy recently won two Reader’s Choice awards from Alameda-based Parents’ Press — for Best Family Child Care Center and Best Nonreligious Preschool in the East Bay. The awards were given based on an online poll and an abbreviated ballot published this spring in an issue of Parents’ Press.

Saar has been running the academy out of her Garcia Avenue home for the past year. She says the cozy environment she’s created for her students has a purpose.

“It is my mission to create this whole warm atmosphere that’s conducive to learning,” said Saar, “and also to make sure [the students] are fully prepared for kindergarten.”

During a recent visit to the school, Saar showed off her four students’ smarts as they put away games in preparation for art time.

“Watch this,” she said, turning to the children. “I’m looking for the number three,” she called out, looking up at a line of numbers from “1” to “112” circling the walls of the room.

“Is this a three?” she asked the 4- to 5-year-olds, pointing to the number “97.”

“No,” they said in unison. “It’s ‘97,’” one student said. Saar quizzed the kids on several more two- and three-digit numbers, then led them off to the living room to make play dough figures.

Saar, 45, is bubbly and energetic. She dresses each day in a green gingham apron adorned with an embroidered daisy, the official academy logo.

Saar is a Berkeley native and has been working with children for nearly two decades. She was director of Smiles Day School in Montclair for 15 years and oversaw Davis Street Family Resource Center’s four daycare centers for about a year before deciding to open her own business.

Rose Padilla Johnson, executive director of Davis Street, called Saar “a wonderful person” and praised her focus on melding quality teaching with a home environment.

“You can’t always find someone with her education and background and heart providing that service,” she said.

“Learn and Play in Perfect Balance”

Saar studied child development and elementary education at San Francisco State University. She earned her teaching credential there and holds a Child Development Program Director permit from the State of California, which requires specialized education in early childhood learning.

At the daycare academy, Saar uses a developmental interaction approach to learning, which manifests itself as “ample teacher-led activities and ample free play time,” Saar said.

The morning at Bonnie’s is dominated by a rotation of activities, including art, outdoor play, group learning and sharing, and a “concept” lesson — part of a weeklong theme in the areas of, for example, science and world cultures.

After lunch, children have a group game or hear a story, nap, play and do an activity to reinforce the morning’s concept.

Saar is highly organized, posting the daily schedule on her website and handing parents a schedule of the weekly concept lessons at the beginning of the year. Parents said they appreciated Saar’s planning skills.

“There’s nothing really random about what she does,” said Mitch Ashley. “She always has lots of really engaging activities for the kids.”

Saar’s organization and attention to detail are obvious around her home/daycare center. A laminated page posted above the kitchen sink lists the monthly snack schedule, including cantaloupe, broccoli spears, trail mix and strawberries. Emergency disaster supplies are packed neatly near the back door (and Saar says each classroom has a first aid kit).

Every toy and activity is smartly packed into individual, labeled plastic boxes. (And after finishing play on a recent morning, students packed their toys just as neatly back into the boxes, and then put them in their proper place.)

“If I can get my hands on something quickly, I can give these guys more attention,” Saar said.

The daycare academy takes a maximum of 12 children at a time, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 1-to-6. Two other teachers, besides Saar, come in to help when needed.

Saar sends out a monthly newsletter and assesses each of her students three times a year, including areas such as social skills, recognition of letters and numbers, and fine and gross motor skills, according to parent Jane Ashley.

“It’s like, wow, she’s really paying attention to all of these things,” Ashley said.

Parents said their children made big strides at the academy in reading, writing and other basic skills.

“In the almost-year he’s been going there, he’s really learned a lot,” said Melisa Di Tano of her 4-year-old son Octavio. “He’s writing his name; he can write any letter; he’s starting to be able to read,” she said.

Di Tano also said she appreciated the fact that Saar encourages children to learn at their own pace.

Code of Kindness

Besides academics and fun, Saar said she focuses on helping children learn to be social creatures.

“There’s a lot of time devoted to just how to talk to another human being,” she said.

Part of that is teaching what Saar calls the “code of kindness.”

The results were on display as two of her students, intensely working on their play dough projects, began a back-and-forth that could have easily ended in a fight or tears.

“Where’s the heart stamper?” asked 4-year-old Silas.

“The heart stamper? Right here,” answered 5-year-old Ella, stamping a new red heart out of her flattened dough and looking like she had no intention of giving up the mold.

“Can I have it when you’re done?” asked Silas. “I want to make lots of hearts.”

Ella punched out a few more hearts and then handed the mold to Silas. Harmony reigned.

Perhaps the most important thing about Bonnie’s Premier Daycare Academy is that her students seem to love it. During the recent visit, all four children were engaged, smiley and eager for each new activity.

“He loves it there,” Jewel Khu said of her son Silas. “It makes me happy to know he’s in good company.”

For more information, check our for Bonnie's, including parent reviews. You can find the tuition schedule here.

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