Our Story
THE WAY WAY BACK
Our founder, Crystal Free, began her career by working in Admissions at Brentwood School. It was during this experience that she saw a need for quality preschools in Los Angeles. She came home one day with an idea and drew floorplans on a napkin… literally. A year and a half later, in 2009, Cassidy Preschool opened in Santa Monica. Leaving Cassidy in 2013, the vision continued as Piper and opened in January 2014. We now have four campuses… Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Manhattan Beach.
We’ve seen how friends become family and how a preschool is the perfect setting to make more. Whether it’s to grab a coffee, schedule a play date, or plan a vacation, community is at our core. As a new parent or a parent of many, Piper is a place to share worries, seek advice, and celebrate the wins. The decision to share these intimate years of your child’s life with us isn’t taken lightly. We’re humbled by your trust and can’t wait for your family to join ours.
LESSONS IN DEDICATION
We’ve been at it since 2009… and for a few of us, even back to the 70’s. In building Piper, every detail was a decision. Furniture, lighting, materials, paint color, music, and even baseboards. Everything was intentional… but not just in effort to make it look beautiful. When you walk into a space that has been thought about, you feel differently. When you walk in our doors, we want you to feel at home.
As for what we do, we offer programming for parents, babies, toddlers, through Pre-K (TK), and even a few alumni options in the works. During the early years, children will explore all aspects of learning. You’re probably seeing that now… testing limits, asking questions, and interrogating the universe. In the end, our goal for children is to develop a healthy sense of self, confidence with others, and to graduate with their heads held high.
We’re also here for you in this journey. Whether its understanding how your child learns, providing opportunities for you to make some parent-friends, or just make life easier by providing a workspace while yoru child is at school, we’ve got you.
To ensure this, we’ve created a very specific and supportive environment for our faculty and teachers. We want their experience at Piper to be just as special as yours. We hire our peeps at competitive private school salaries, provide 100% health care coverage, a 401K plan, ongoing professional development, paid vacation, paid holidays, free parking, birthday breakfasts, Tuesday luncheons, a dedicated computer room, and arguably the most important… a home away from home.
We’re pretty biased, but come see what we do. We think you’ll love it.
The Four Agreements
We also try to live by four very basic principles found in a book called The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. While it isn’t always easy, we expect it of ourselves and encourage it from others. These are the four principles that have carried us through some tough times… and made the good times even better.
BE IMPECCABLE
WITH YOUR WORD
Speak with integrity. Mean what you say, say what you mean, and don’t gossip. Secrets don’t make friends.
DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
Ask questions, dig a little deeper, and express what you really want. Communicate as clearly as possible. Check your ego at the door.
DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY
Don’t worry about things you can’t control. Let it ride, take the high road, and stay positive.
ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
No matter what you do, where you are, or who you know… just do your best. Do what’s right, and you’ll never be in the wrong.