About
San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop includes self-directed play, structured group times, and both indoor and outdoor exploration. Children take part in activities such as shadow tag, rope climbing, bug identification, hammering nails into wood, woodworking, animal care, sandbox and water play, and using a climbing structure, bikes, trikes and scooters, large blocks, ladders, and planks. Indoors, children use the block area, engage in dramatic role-playing and housekeeping, explore books, games and puzzles, work with manipulative toys, and join in writing, cooking, science, crafts and art activities, as well as group time and a zip-line area with space to build, run, and explore.
• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Morning program Monday–Friday, 8:45am–12:00pm with optional late pickup to 1:00pm; children attend between 1–5 mornings per week; afternoon program Monday–Friday, 12:00pm–3:30pm with extended afternoon program available 3:30pm–5:00pm
San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop is a not-for-profit, cooperative preschool, afternoon child care program, and education class for children aged 2 to 5 years old and their parents. The morning program follows a co-op model with required caregiver participation, where a caregiver attends school with the child one morning per week to volunteer, and all preschool families participate in day-to-day operations through work on school committees. The afternoon program is based on the same play-based, exploratory learning model but is staffed by professional educators exclusively, with no parental involvement required.
The program practices gentle separation for both parent and child and promotes non-violent conflict resolution. Children learn, grow and make friends through self-directed play and structured group times, while parents learn about their child and themselves and gain experience in age-appropriate activities, resolving conflicts, and handling childhood challenges. Cooperative group time is used as closure for the children to develop community and build on pre-K skills.
San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop opened on the San Marcos High School campus in 1959 and has a history spanning over 60 years serving the families of Goleta and Santa Barbara. It relocated to the Grace Gathering campus in 2016. Day-to-day operations are the responsibility of the members, and management of the school is the responsibility of a Board of Directors elected from the caregivers of the school.
The program is an extension of the Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) School of Extended Learning and is a SBCC-sponsored school. The lecture/lab instructor is provided by the Continuing Education division of SBCC, and the program is operated by caregivers under the supervision of a Director and Assistant Director educated in Early Childhood Education and Parent Education. The San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop is a non-profit 501(c)3, licensed, cooperative preschool and parent education class with California License #426215276.
The leadership team includes Suzy Granziera, Program Director, Co-op Morning Instructor and SBCC Parent Education Instructor; Amanda Gilbert, Assistant Director, Co-op Morning Instructor and SBCC Parent Education Instructor; and Krista Moore, Head Afternoon Care Teacher. Areas of exploration include a zip-line, woodworking, animal care, and large blocks, ladders, and planks, along with music classes from local artists and teachers and visits from community professionals such as dentists, fire fighters, and tow trucks. Caregivers in the cooperative morning program attend a weekly evening parent education class where a variety of parenting issues are discussed and speakers from the community share their expertise.
One parent described children as “busy and delighted in outdoor exploration... shadow tag, rope climbing, bug identification, hammering nails into wood,” and noted indoor activities such as “youth conversations over a nest display, stacking tall towers, and writing practice at tables with paperpads.” Another parent stated they were “delighted with how my kids WANT to go to school and are recieved with so much warmth, as if part of the family, from both the teachers and other parents.” A third parent said they “loved, loved, loved SMPCW” and that it “was fantastic for our daughters and for us as parents” and “so much richer an experience than paying and dropping off.”
Last updated July 10, 2026.
• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Morning program Monday–Friday, 8:45am–12:00pm with optional late pickup to 1:00pm; children attend between 1–5 mornings per week; afternoon program Monday–Friday, 12:00pm–3:30pm with extended afternoon program available 3:30pm–5:00pm
San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop is a not-for-profit, cooperative preschool, afternoon child care program, and education class for children aged 2 to 5 years old and their parents. The morning program follows a co-op model with required caregiver participation, where a caregiver attends school with the child one morning per week to volunteer, and all preschool families participate in day-to-day operations through work on school committees. The afternoon program is based on the same play-based, exploratory learning model but is staffed by professional educators exclusively, with no parental involvement required.
The program practices gentle separation for both parent and child and promotes non-violent conflict resolution. Children learn, grow and make friends through self-directed play and structured group times, while parents learn about their child and themselves and gain experience in age-appropriate activities, resolving conflicts, and handling childhood challenges. Cooperative group time is used as closure for the children to develop community and build on pre-K skills.
San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop opened on the San Marcos High School campus in 1959 and has a history spanning over 60 years serving the families of Goleta and Santa Barbara. It relocated to the Grace Gathering campus in 2016. Day-to-day operations are the responsibility of the members, and management of the school is the responsibility of a Board of Directors elected from the caregivers of the school.
The program is an extension of the Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) School of Extended Learning and is a SBCC-sponsored school. The lecture/lab instructor is provided by the Continuing Education division of SBCC, and the program is operated by caregivers under the supervision of a Director and Assistant Director educated in Early Childhood Education and Parent Education. The San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop is a non-profit 501(c)3, licensed, cooperative preschool and parent education class with California License #426215276.
The leadership team includes Suzy Granziera, Program Director, Co-op Morning Instructor and SBCC Parent Education Instructor; Amanda Gilbert, Assistant Director, Co-op Morning Instructor and SBCC Parent Education Instructor; and Krista Moore, Head Afternoon Care Teacher. Areas of exploration include a zip-line, woodworking, animal care, and large blocks, ladders, and planks, along with music classes from local artists and teachers and visits from community professionals such as dentists, fire fighters, and tow trucks. Caregivers in the cooperative morning program attend a weekly evening parent education class where a variety of parenting issues are discussed and speakers from the community share their expertise.
One parent described children as “busy and delighted in outdoor exploration... shadow tag, rope climbing, bug identification, hammering nails into wood,” and noted indoor activities such as “youth conversations over a nest display, stacking tall towers, and writing practice at tables with paperpads.” Another parent stated they were “delighted with how my kids WANT to go to school and are recieved with so much warmth, as if part of the family, from both the teachers and other parents.” A third parent said they “loved, loved, loved SMPCW” and that it “was fantastic for our daughters and for us as parents” and “so much richer an experience than paying and dropping off.”
Last updated July 10, 2026.
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