LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Fair Oaks Preschool (Photos – Elizabeth Schenck)
Fair Oaks Preschool changed our lives.
By Denise Robb
We were older first-time parents and I had just finished my Ph.D. and was on the job market. I graduated and gave birth in the same month. When my son was 7 months old, I was lucky enough to land a full-time tenure track job as a professor. We had been on waiting lists for day care since I was pregnant. We had a few options but when we met with Elizabeth Schenk at Fair Oaks, we knew we were home. They were located at the Unitarian Church in Pasadena where we got married. They were so warm and loving. I was nervous and hesitant about leaving my very young son with anyone, but Elizabeth showed us around and discussed their philosophy for allowing children to play and of course while playing, they learn. My son spent the first few years of his life there making friends that we still have to this day. At that time, the junior minister of the church sent her children there as well.
I felt so lucky and blessed to have found Fair Oaks Preschool. It was never more evident than one day when my son was about 3 or 4 years old and I had stupidly packed celery for lunch. One of the teachers at Fair Oaks just happened to also be a paramedic. She saved his life. She was very humble about it but I have never forgotten what she did, applying the Heimlich in the perfect way the celery popped out of his mouth. Every teacher was trained and certified and I felt so comfortable leaving my son with them. He learned to read, became potty trained, became socially gregarious and athletic at his Fair Oaks home.
We are devastated that they have not yet been able to find a new location. I can’t imagine a world without Fair Oaks Preschool.
> Editor’s note: Fair Oaks Preschool lost its lease.
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