About
Bonny Doon Community Preschool is described as a safe, child-centered learning environment in a preschool classroom. The program is based on a philosophy that young children learn most effectively in a play-centered environment, with self-initiated play as the core of children’s learning. Preschool-aged children are described as active, sensory learners who are given multiple opportunities for self-chosen exploration, investigation, social interaction, and problem solving, with an emphasis on process over the products they may create.
• Ages: 3–5 years old
The stated mission of Bonny Doon Community Preschool is to provide a high quality enrichment program for local preschool children and their families. The program is described as a cooperative effort by families and staff to raise happy, healthy, compassionate, and socially confident children. It brings together families and teachers from a variety of cultures, traditions, and family styles, and encourages open discussion of social issues with the expectation that together they will deepen their understanding and acceptance of lifestyles and cultures different from their own. The environment is described as anti-bias and carefully planned to encourage discovery, independence, social interaction, and for children to help themselves, help others, take initiative, and become increasingly independent. Play is described as a way for children to imitate, explore, test ideas, acquire information, draw conclusions, and work through internal and interpersonal conflicts.
The leadership team includes Jennifer Koski as Director/Master Teacher, Max Hoff as Lead Teacher, and Laura Carelli as Teacher. Jennifer Koski earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Child Development at Mills College in Oakland and became a California Mentor Teacher in 2009, which enables her to provide a site for students studying early childhood education at Cabrillo College to complete their practicum at the school under her tutelage; she states that this is her nineteenth year at Bonny Doon Community Preschool. Max Hoff began working with young children more than thirty years ago as an environmental education intern at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills and at Camp Joy in Boulder Creek, began taking early childhood education courses online in 2009, was a student teacher at the Cabrillo College Children’s Center, worked as an aide at the Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center, and held a classroom teaching position at the Children’s Center of San Lorenzo Valley from April 2010 to May 2012; he states that he is starting his eleventh year as a classroom teacher at Bonny Doon Community Preschool. Laura Carelli studied visual arts and studio practices at The Evergreen State College and received a BA, worked as an Intervention Specialist for Oakland Unified School District in a preschool classroom for children with moderate-severe autism, is a certified 500-hour Yoga Alliance instructor, trained and worked as a director in the Timbernook program (a play-based nature program for young children), and worked for a nomadic, non-profit outdoor education program for homeschool families in the Silicon Valley, South Bay, and Santa Cruz as an outdoor educator, registrar, program coordinator, and co-director in charge of programs.
The program states that it is based on a continually growing knowledge base of child development and appropriate practices as recommended by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Last updated January 23, 2026.
• Ages: 3–5 years old
The stated mission of Bonny Doon Community Preschool is to provide a high quality enrichment program for local preschool children and their families. The program is described as a cooperative effort by families and staff to raise happy, healthy, compassionate, and socially confident children. It brings together families and teachers from a variety of cultures, traditions, and family styles, and encourages open discussion of social issues with the expectation that together they will deepen their understanding and acceptance of lifestyles and cultures different from their own. The environment is described as anti-bias and carefully planned to encourage discovery, independence, social interaction, and for children to help themselves, help others, take initiative, and become increasingly independent. Play is described as a way for children to imitate, explore, test ideas, acquire information, draw conclusions, and work through internal and interpersonal conflicts.
The leadership team includes Jennifer Koski as Director/Master Teacher, Max Hoff as Lead Teacher, and Laura Carelli as Teacher. Jennifer Koski earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Child Development at Mills College in Oakland and became a California Mentor Teacher in 2009, which enables her to provide a site for students studying early childhood education at Cabrillo College to complete their practicum at the school under her tutelage; she states that this is her nineteenth year at Bonny Doon Community Preschool. Max Hoff began working with young children more than thirty years ago as an environmental education intern at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills and at Camp Joy in Boulder Creek, began taking early childhood education courses online in 2009, was a student teacher at the Cabrillo College Children’s Center, worked as an aide at the Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center, and held a classroom teaching position at the Children’s Center of San Lorenzo Valley from April 2010 to May 2012; he states that he is starting his eleventh year as a classroom teacher at Bonny Doon Community Preschool. Laura Carelli studied visual arts and studio practices at The Evergreen State College and received a BA, worked as an Intervention Specialist for Oakland Unified School District in a preschool classroom for children with moderate-severe autism, is a certified 500-hour Yoga Alliance instructor, trained and worked as a director in the Timbernook program (a play-based nature program for young children), and worked for a nomadic, non-profit outdoor education program for homeschool families in the Silicon Valley, South Bay, and Santa Cruz as an outdoor educator, registrar, program coordinator, and co-director in charge of programs.
The program states that it is based on a continually growing knowledge base of child development and appropriate practices as recommended by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Last updated January 23, 2026.
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