Our History

LGSONS was founded in the spring of 1956 by Betty Peck, a long-time resident and kindergarten teacher from Saratoga. The school met for the first few years at Easterbrook Farm on Bainter Avenue.

It began with the philosophy that training parents in understanding children is education's most important job. Therefore, parents came to the farm school once a week with their child to observe and learn parenting skills.

Though the farm was subdivided long ago, the school continued to meet at Saratoga Springs in the fall and spring. In 1973, classes began to meet at the Little Red Schoolhouse at Lakeside School on Black Road during the winter months. Children still paint with mud, wade in the creek, and ride homemade stick horses through the woods during the fall and spring when classes utilize a variety of fantastic outdoor locations throughout the South Bay. Our Saturday classes were added in 1977 so that working parents could have an opportunity to participate in the school.

The needs of young children to choose their activities, explore the natural world and learn through first-hand experience and play are as real today as when Betty Peck began her program. Sixty-five years later, the philosophy has not changed, and the school is still associated with the Los Gatos - Saratoga Community Recreation and Education Department.