Montclair Community Play Center
Montclair Community Play Center (MCPC), 5815 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA 94611
About
Montclair Community Play Center offers a Preschool Summer Camp, a Turtle Summer Camp, and a Spring Toddler Playtime session. The program uses a play-based parents’ co-operative preschool model and includes a Spanish Enrichment program that incorporates Spanish culture, language, and songs.
• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Preschool Summer Camp in three 2-week sessions, Turtle Summer Camp in one 6-week Friday-only session, and a Spring Toddler Playtime session from Apr 13 through Jun 6
Montclair Community Play Center is a parents’ co-operative preschool established in 1933, and each year since then it has created community with up to 30 families. Its mission states that, working in community, it creates a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment in which children can learn to resolve conflict, build self-esteem and value diversity. The campus includes a nature area with chickens, two large outdoor play spaces, an all-weather outdoor art space, a large playroom, a stand-alone learning annex, and a snack area, and the site has a locked front gate for the security of the children.
The leadership team includes Director/Teacher Jolie McRae, Preschool Teacher Jamie Barret Riley, Preschool, Extended Day & Toddler Playtime Teacher Nick Ventresco, Spanish Enrichment Teacher Isabel Rodriguez, and Extended Day Teacher Simone Greenberg. Staff credentials include undergraduate and graduate degrees in fields such as dance, social science, and international development, along with Early Childhood Education and Preschool Administration coursework at institutions including UC Berkeley, Holy Names University, Merritt College, Saddleback College, and Bard College.
During the school year, Montclair Community Play Center operates as a parent cooperative, with parents working together to facilitate children’s development. For Preschool Summer Camp, one parent per family is asked to spend one day during the summer session assisting summer program teachers as a working parent, most often as the snack parent providing snacks for the 25 enrolled campers or, if needed, as a front-yard parent. For Turtle Summer Camp, one parent per family volunteers to work and bring snack one day during the summer session to help keep a very low student to teacher ratio. The organization welcomes all families regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, or national origin.
Parent and alumni testimonials describe experiences such as a shy child becoming a happy, confident child at the program, parents learning to live in the moment with their children, families attending for multiple consecutive years, and children carrying life lessons into grade school and the teenage years. Other testimonials highlight the program’s long history in play-based early childhood development, the importance of play-based education, and the sense of community and friendships formed among adults.
Last updated June 21, 2026.
• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Preschool Summer Camp in three 2-week sessions, Turtle Summer Camp in one 6-week Friday-only session, and a Spring Toddler Playtime session from Apr 13 through Jun 6
Montclair Community Play Center is a parents’ co-operative preschool established in 1933, and each year since then it has created community with up to 30 families. Its mission states that, working in community, it creates a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment in which children can learn to resolve conflict, build self-esteem and value diversity. The campus includes a nature area with chickens, two large outdoor play spaces, an all-weather outdoor art space, a large playroom, a stand-alone learning annex, and a snack area, and the site has a locked front gate for the security of the children.
The leadership team includes Director/Teacher Jolie McRae, Preschool Teacher Jamie Barret Riley, Preschool, Extended Day & Toddler Playtime Teacher Nick Ventresco, Spanish Enrichment Teacher Isabel Rodriguez, and Extended Day Teacher Simone Greenberg. Staff credentials include undergraduate and graduate degrees in fields such as dance, social science, and international development, along with Early Childhood Education and Preschool Administration coursework at institutions including UC Berkeley, Holy Names University, Merritt College, Saddleback College, and Bard College.
During the school year, Montclair Community Play Center operates as a parent cooperative, with parents working together to facilitate children’s development. For Preschool Summer Camp, one parent per family is asked to spend one day during the summer session assisting summer program teachers as a working parent, most often as the snack parent providing snacks for the 25 enrolled campers or, if needed, as a front-yard parent. For Turtle Summer Camp, one parent per family volunteers to work and bring snack one day during the summer session to help keep a very low student to teacher ratio. The organization welcomes all families regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, or national origin.
Parent and alumni testimonials describe experiences such as a shy child becoming a happy, confident child at the program, parents learning to live in the moment with their children, families attending for multiple consecutive years, and children carrying life lessons into grade school and the teenage years. Other testimonials highlight the program’s long history in play-based early childhood development, the importance of play-based education, and the sense of community and friendships formed among adults.
Last updated June 21, 2026.
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