Community Preschool, Grace Cathedral, The

In the fall of 2005, Grace Cathedral began its work to establish a new child development center that would aim to fill a gap in the availability of high-quality preschool, and to serve families without the financial means to afford early education before their children enter public school. Because research indicates clear advantages for children enrolled in diverse preschool classroom settings, this new program would be built upon a balance of full-fee, partial-scholarship, and full scholarship families. It would strive to reflect local socio-economic variety and the many ethnicities, cultures, languages, and family structures around it, both drawing upon and supporting this key strength of San Francisco’s child population. In September of 2008, based on this vision, The Community Preschool, Grace Cathedral began its mission with an inaugural class of three and four year-old students and their families.