Our Philosophy

Our philosophy is based on the belief that children learn best when exposed to a challenging environment that offers a variety of meaningful hands-on activities and experiences. We believe that preschool children should be allowed to explore their surroundings in order to develop a good sense of problem solving and decision-making. The preschool curriculum, arrangement of furniture and space reflect the interests and needs of the children enrolled in our childcare center. It is very important to meet the basic needs of children such as safety, nourishment and rest for them to be able to achieve proper levels of development. We strive to challenge children’s creativity and to be aware and respectful of their emotional needs and to support and facilitate their social development by providing opportunities for children to build positive self-esteem. We welcome and respect the diversity of cultures and encourage every member of our preschool to share their culture with us. We are facilitators of children’s development fostering their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development for life long learning.

What Makes Us So Special?

  • We have a highly motivated professional staff that cares about your child.
  • We have a warm, well designed (built to be a school) environment that encourages independence and free choice.  Our outside space is a continuous learning environment designed to meet the developmental needs of children.
  • The entire program encourages independence and freedom of choice with guided activities.
  • A structured day is designed to enhance the physical, intellectual, social and emotional development of each child.

Difference between Day Care and Preschool

Very often the question is asked “What is the difference between day care and preschool?” from parents trying to figure out what would be the best program for their children. The answer is simple, but complicated at the same time. The simple part of the answer is that children 0-5 are constantly learning; therefore, care and education for young children are intertwined, so there should be no difference between the two programs. The complicated part of the answer lays on the issue of quality. A quality preschool or day care center program provides both care and education for young children with teachers who are knowledgeable in the field of Child Development, loving and dedicated professionals to their duties of providing the optimal environment  and activities for children to grow and develop the essential skills for learning.  So when parents are trying to decide on the best type of program for their children, quality should be the deciding factor.

Alan and Cristiane Foster – Owners/Administrators

Edgewater Preschool is a family-run business, owned and operated by Alan and Cristiane Foster  (husband and wife) and their wonderful staff. The couple has two daughters who have attended Edgewater; their girls (with the help of the school’s parents and staff) have assisted Alan and Cristiane by maintaining the focus on their mission of providing a quality childcare and educational program.
Cristiane has been in the field of teaching since 1986. She has earned her BA in Physical Education, an AA in Early Childhood Education and completed a Master’s Program in Education with Emphasis in Early Childhood at CSULB.
Alan, who is a retired BMX racer, now works part time in the bicycle industry and shares his wife’s passion for teaching young children. Alan has learned the importance of providing a quality environment for children and their families and he serves as the bookkeeper, marketing, IT and the fix-it guy

They are also the proud owners of another school in Orange, CA www.cvpreschool.com

School History

In the 70s this area was being developed by the Whaley family. This school was built so a grandchild could have a preschool in the area to attend; the building was built with the intention of being a preschool with all classrooms facing the outside yard. Over the last 40 years the school has gone through a few owners and the name has been Los Altos Preschool and Woods-Edgewater Preschool (that we know of). The logo of the two children sitting was hand drawn by one of the parents in the early years. Alan and Cristiane purchased the school from Betty Woods when she retired in December of 2001 and have had a blast being owners ever since.

Parent Testimonials

"his preschool did a good job… they did a really good job."

Just a quick hello. The other day Everett said something about “My real school, Edgewater” and made me realize again how fortunate we were to have spend 3 years as […]

Parent Survey comments

A few responses when we asked “What do you like about our program?” I like the class sizes, I like that the kids interact with kids outside of their class. […]

"are all so loving and warm"

This one is from a family who had to move out of the area. I’ve been meaning to write you and say that — and I (and the boys!) *really* […]