Gan Ilan Preschool

Early Childhood Education and Parent Guidebook

Early Childhood Education

Gan Ilan Parent Handbook

Gan Ilan early childhood programs provide a holistic family experience, integrating the child, family, school, and Temple Isaiah community. The temple preschool is located on a secure campus with beautiful trees and a variety of outdoor play spaces for children. In our preschool’s safe and nurturing environment, children are encouraged to grow cognitively, socially, emotionally, and spiritually, fostering a love for learning and independence through preschool activities and explorations.

We cultivate imagination, curiosity, and self-esteem through rich, exploratory curricula that promote respectful social relationships. Through our play based, child directed curriculum, we emphasize the beauty of Jewish tradition, music, art, holiday celebrations, and rituals, enriching children’s understanding of Jewish values on a daily basis. Children are exposed to Hebrew organically through learning some prayers and songs in Hebrew, peers and teachers who speak Hebrew, as well as children’s books available in Hebrew. Students are supported by wonderful, fully qualified teachers who encourage them to excel and grow their skills and imagination.

Please call the preschool office at (925) 284-8453 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to schedule a tour. Preschool tours are for adults only, to give you the time to focus on the classrooms and program philosophy with the director and discuss any questions you may have regarding our school.

Recognizing each child as a unique individual with their own developmental timeline, we celebrate and accommodate diverse learning styles in our curriculum design. Our play-based approach, led by great teachers, is dynamic, emergent, and intricately intertwined with Jewish customs and values, allowing students to excel and grow their skills and imagination. Gan Ilan preschool works to have lower than average ratios of teachers to students to allow for high quality interactions between children and teachers as well as with families. We invite you to explore our preschool’s educational philosophy and curriculum, reach out with any inquiries, and schedule a visit to experience Gan Ilan preschool firsthand. To schedule a tour, click here for availability and scheduling!

We believe in the interconnectedness of our children’s lives and encourage open dialogue among families, teachers, Temple clergy, and community members.

Meet Our Staff

Please call the preschool office at (925) 284-8453 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to schedule a tour. Preschool tours are for adults only, to give you the time to focus on the classrooms and program philosophy with the director and discuss any questions you may have regarding our school.

Meet Our Directors and Main Admins!

Courtney Ludlow, Director of Early Childhood Education
(925) 284-8453
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Schedule a Tour

Vera Gordon, ECE Administrative Coordinator
(925) 284-8453
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Director of Student Support
(925) 284-8453
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

More About Our Teachers, Clergy and Specialists

Classroom Teachers
Our experienced and dedicated staff are caring and compassionate educators.  They create a warm and nurturing environment for the children as they encourage them to explore, learn, develop independence and friendships. Gan Ilan prides itself with low teacher/child ratios which allow the teachers to develop deep relationships with each child.  All of the Gan Ilan staff possess their undergraduate degrees as well as early childhood units.  Some teachers also have earned their masters degrees and/or teaching credentials.  Working collaboratively, the Gan Ilan staff strive to provide the best program possible for their students and their families.

Clergy
Gan Ilan is fortunate to have our wonderful Clergy integrated into our preschool. Classroom teams pair with a clergy person to set up special visits throughout the school year.

Outdoor Education and Gardening
All classes spend time in the garden with their teachers, working, playing, and enjoying our beautiful space. Using the garden as a teaching tool, the Jewish calendar is incorporated into the gardening classes and biblical crops are planted so they can be harvested for our Jewish holidays.

Music
Music is central to the learning in our school and each class meets with our music specialist once per week.

Program and Philosophy

Our Program and Philosophy

Gan Ilan’s program operates Monday through Friday from 8:00am until 5:00pm.

We offer three schedules to meet various needs:
1. Part day from 9am -1pm
2. Extended day 8:30am-3:30pm
3. Full day 8am – 5pm.

Every program includes a snack and lunch time with meals provided by parents. Those staying until 3:30pm or 5pm should pack an additional snack for the afternoon. Classrooms are separated by age and follow a flexible flow of the day that accommodates for the needs of each age group.

Learning Through Play and Nature

Children learn everywhere and all the time. They see, hear, smell, and touch things all at the same time. At Gan Ilan, we believe developmentally appropriate play is instrumental in each child’s development. Play fosters communication, expression, and reasoning. Play brings children into contact with multiple stimuli that strengthen their development of categorization, generalization, and conceptual acquisition skills. What do our students really do and learn outdoors? They observe, ask questions, figure things out, explore, discover, and play. They practice balancing, build and construct, use their imagination, take risks, learn about science, nature, and more. Choosing to hang from a tree branch, plant seeds in the garden, jump over a log, dig in the sand, squish in the mud, or follow the garden path - the children learn about themselves, their decisions, and what to do in new settings.

Jewish Curriculum

How does a Jewish curriculum fit in with the play-based approach of our preschool? Because the Jewish holidays are based on the ebb and flow of the natural world, Judaism forms the basis for our explorations and is a springboard for ideas. The Jewish calendar can be seen as a parade of holidays, one after another. Our approach will reflect the natural flow and rhythm of days and weeks that our tradition is based on. We might look out the window and observe changes that take place in the fall. While learning the blessings for apples and honey for the Jewish New Year, we would compare the kinds of apples, the colors, the sizes, the names; we could take a trip to pick apples from the trees and write a book about it, complete with children’s illustrations and quotes. Each week we will bake our own challah and delight in the warm smell of baking bread. We will learn the blessing over grape juice and perhaps study fruits that grow on vines. We root our days and weeks with blessings and songs, where our own ideas and expressions grow.

2026-2027 Ongoing Tot Shabbat Schedule

Tot Shabbat
Monthly on Saturdays in the Adult Lounge followed by social time on the playground
Experience the joy of Tot Shabbat with Temple Isaiah - Your Jewish Neighborhood in Lafayette, CA each month. Geared toward families with children 0-5 years old, Tot Shabbat is an interactive and friendly Shabbat Experience led by our clergy. Enjoy activities, music and prayer with other young families, followed by bagels and schmooze on the playground. This experience is free of charge and open to the public. Click here to learn more about Tot Shabbat and to sign up. Click here to subscribe to our Tot Shabbat email newsletter.

Upcoming Tot Shabbat Dates:
Saturday, November 14
Saturday, December 12
Saturday, January 23
Saturday, February 27
Saturday, March 20
Saturday, April 24
Saturday, May 22
Saturday, June 12

Interested in being Involved?

Get Involved

The Parent Association (PA) is comprised of parents at the preschool who are dedicated to supporting the preschool director and the school.

The Gan Ilan Fundraiser is another wonderful way to get involved, and it requires the help of the entire parent body.

Parent Communication
Parents and staff can communicate regularly through the brightwheel app. Parents are encouraged to discuss any questions or concerns with teachers or the Director as they arise. Parents are welcome to set up an appointment with your child’s teachers or the Director at any time. Additional ways we communicate with each other are: the weekly newsletter, class parent bulletin board, hallway and door notices, and children’s mailboxes and/or cubbies.