Purposeful learning
Teacher-guided lessons are kept to roughly 20–30 minutes to match a young child’s attention and keep learning active.
Preschool and pre-K · Ages 2–5
BIG CURIOSITY. WARM GUIDANCE. STRONG STARTS.
Starbright balances purposeful teaching with play, creativity, movement, nourishing meals, and rest, so children build skills without losing the joy of being little.
- Campuses
- San Jose Campus + Campbell Campus
- School hours
- 7:30 AM–6:00 PM
- Classrooms
- Two teachers each
Our daughter loved every day of her experience at Starbright and day after day she would tell us on the way back: ‘Today was the best day ever...’
The Starbright difference
A whole day designed around how young children grow.
Play and movement
Educational toys, outdoor play, music, dance, and art give children many ways to practice new skills.
Meals made onsite
Each campus has an onsite kitchen and chef. Four meals are prepared daily and included in tuition.
Rest that restores
Children change into pajamas and rest in individual beds with linens while soft classical music plays.
Children have a daily nap in their pajamas and in small beds... again, big difference from other preschools where kids sleep on the floor in the sleeping bags with their shoes and clothes on.
Skills grow together.
Starbright’s curriculum intentionally connects thinking, creativity, physical confidence, and relationships. Progress in one area helps reinforce the others.
Cognitive
The confidence to ask why: language, early literacy, number sense, patterns, and spatial thinking.
See curriculum skills
- Listen to and understand spoken language and stories
- Recognize and write letters, a name, and simple words
- Recognize numbers, count objects, and compare quantities
- Practice simple addition and subtraction
- Sort, classify, measure, order, and recognize patterns
- Identify and construct geometric shapes
- Understand positions in space and sequences in time
- Make observations, draw conclusions, and take initiative in learning
Artistic
Daily opportunities to make, sing, move, imagine, and develop fine-motor control through the arts.
See curriculum skills
- Draw, paint, sculpt, and build representational forms
- Use paper, dough, clay, pencils, paint, and other art tools
- Explore line, texture, color, and intentional artistic choices
- Recognize music and respond to beat and tempo through movement
- Follow song lyrics and reproduce rhythms, melodies, and songs
- Use props, costumes, and scenery for dramatic play
- Create and repeat dance sequences
Physical
Strong, capable, growing bodies: motor practice woven through classroom projects, movement, and outdoor play.
See curriculum skills
- Build balance and body control while still and moving
- Strengthen locomotor and gross-motor skills
- Coordinate arms, hands, and feet
- Hold and use writing, drawing, and cutting tools
- Practice dressing and other fine-motor tasks
- Develop spatial and directional awareness
- Sustain active play that builds endurance and strength
Social-Emotional
Daily social-emotional learning helps children grow more independent, cooperative, attentive, and aware of others.
See curriculum skills
- Develop self-awareness, self-reliance, and confidence
- Extend attention and practice emotional regulation
- Understand others’ feelings and respond with empathy
- Cooperate and participate positively in a group
- Take responsibility and practice personal health and safety
- Build reciprocal, lasting friendships
Through your guidance in arts, music, theatre, socio-emotional learning, and academics, our child has flourished not just as a student but as a confident and compassionate individual.
The first weeks
Starting school for the first time.
The first goodbye is often harder for parents than for children, and we treat both with care. Teachers meet new students with patience, warm arms, and time. Cubbies get names, routines become familiar, and tears, when they come, are held kindly until they fade.
Children settle into the rhythm sooner than most parents expect. Soon they are telling their teachers about their weekend before their parents reach the door.
Ms. Sveta is so warm and welcoming, every morning for 4 months she hugged my son and held him when he cried at drop-offs upon starting school. She is a gem!
After only one week of getting used to new place and schedule, my little one, literally, ran to meet her teachers and classmates every single morning...
He loves going to this preschool, which to me speaks louder than words.
See the day, not just the syllabus
Learning has a rhythm.
A Starbright day moves between group lessons, learning games, educational toys, stories, art, daily music with live accompaniment, outdoor play, meals, and rest. Optional onsite enrichment lets families add focused activities without another drive across town.
Every book and toy has a home your child can see and reach, so students start, finish, and put away their own work. That's independence, built into the design of every classroom.
The school didn't just focus on academics, but also fostered creativity and life skills with cooking days, science experiments, recitals, tea parties, and even bagel days with parents — activities that created lasting memories and strengthened the bond between children and families.
Questions parents ask
Answers before you visit.
What ages does preschool serve?
Preschool starts at age 2, with classrooms grouped by age from the first year through TK and kindergarten. Each level builds on the one before it.
How do children adjust in the first weeks?
With patience, warm arms, and time. Teachers stay close through drop-offs, routines become familiar quickly, and children settle into the rhythm sooner than most parents expect.
How big are the classes?
Every classroom has two teachers. Across the school, classes average 18 students, about nine per teacher, so each child is known and looked after.
What does my child actually do all day?
Short 20 to 30 minute lessons alternate with learning games, stories, art, daily music with live accompaniment, outdoor play, four meals, and a real rest in real beds. The daily activities page walks through the whole rhythm.
How will I know how my child is doing?
You will see it daily: projects come home, and teachers greet you at drop-off and pickup and are always ready to talk. Teachers give each child individual attention and know exactly where they are growing.
Our family speaks another language at home. Will we fit in?
Yes. Starbright has always been a multilingual, multicultural community, a mirror of Silicon Valley itself. Instruction is in English, and parents from many backgrounds tell us they found a second family here.
If you are looking for great school with strong academical program and social skills, that's the place for you, no matter which language you speak at home.