Preschool & childcare · Alameda County
The Canopy Tree
Shelter first. Everything else grows underneath it.
Ask about a placeIn formation · not yet enrolling
Shelter first. Everything else grows underneath it.
The canopy is the layer that makes the forest floor survivable. It takes the weather so that everything below it can grow. This centre is named for the part of the job nobody photographs: a child who feels safe enough to try something difficult.
Director — to be appointed
This centre is still choosing the person who will lead it. We would rather say that plainly than put a name here for the sake of it. If you have run a room, held a licence, or spent years doing this well and quietly, we would like to hear from you.
Talk to us about leading itNothing here is running yet. This is the day the centre is being built to have, written down so you can hold us to it.
It rained for three days, and the little plants on the forest floor had never seen rain before.
“Is it going to land on us?” they asked, all together, the way small things do.
High above them the canopy tree spread out her enormous arms until her leaves touched the leaves of the trees on either side, and then the three of them held on, and made a roof.
The rain came down hard. It drummed and drummed. Up in the roof it was loud and wet and the big leaves shook with it.
Down below, it was quiet. A drop came through here and there, which the little plants thought was very exciting. Mostly they just heard the drumming a long way off, like someone else’s weather.
So they got on with it. They grew. They unrolled a leaf each. One of them, who was braver than the others, put out a flower.
On the fourth day the sun came back, and the canopy opened her arms and let it through.
“Was it a bad storm?” the little plants asked.
“It was a very bad storm,” said the canopy tree. “You were busy. That was rather the idea.”
There is no opening date, and we would rather say that than invent one. The chip at the top of this page says “in formation” for exactly that reason. If you want to be told when there is real news, email us and we will tell you.
No, and this page does not suggest otherwise. Nothing here is an offer of care. If and when there is one, its number will be printed on this page — and not a day before.
It is being planned for infants through pre-kindergarten.
Not yet — there is no building to look round. When there is, you will be able to stand in it before you decide anything, which is the only way to judge one of these.
Email info@theopportunitytree.com. A person reads it.