The Hill Preschool

The Hill Preschool provides nurturing childcare, high quality early education for young children and fosters community among their families. As non-profit cooperative, the Hill Preschool continues this mission, started in 1979.

At The Hill Preschool we make your child’s first educational experience positive and provide a solid foundation for a life of learning, personal growth and creativity. What began as a playgroup in a Capitol Hill basement in 1972, has become the premiere independent preschool of this historic Washington, D.C. neighborhood. Today, our school is a thriving parent-teacher cooperative that is incorporated and fully licensed by the District of Columbia.

Our philosophy is to combine both teacher and child-initiated activities. As these activities transpire our teachers look for “teachable moments,” they facilitate learning through these special opportunities. Through this personal instruction and participation children obtain personal growth and creative expression. You can read more about our approach by selecting this link.

Our staff combines child-development education, years of experience with patience, empathy and warmth that children need to thrive. All lead teachers have a Bachelor’s degree or a Child Development Association credential.

Our approach offers your child an experiential learning method that both delights and challenges. A classroom calendar, unique each month, establishes a theme on which daily activities are based. Teachers devote attention to all developmental areas: emotional, social, communication, motor and cognitive. Each day, through teacher language modeling and expansion techniques, your child will increase his vocabulary; learn skills for self-expression and develop her problem solving and conflict resolution skills. And while the program establishes goals for all the children, teachers pay close attention to individual needs and interests.