History

Mulberry celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2018!

Founded in 1963 by members of the American Association of University Women, Mulberry’s creators wished to form a school that included parents as active participants in their child’s education.

Initially a one-room parent cooperative nursery school, Mulberry remained a preschool until 1980, at which time kindergarten was added. In subsequent years, the growing number of parents wanting a Mulberry education for their children resulted in the addition of junior kindergarten, followed by first through fifth grades. We now offer preschool classes for two-year-olds through pre-kinder and elementary grades from junior kindergarten through fifth grade.

After more than 40 years of leasing space from a church in San Jose, Mulberry School found a new home. In Fall 2006, we moved to our present location on Belgatos Road in Los Gatos. With a long-term lease at this spacious, child-friendly site, we consider this a permanent home. We have made many improvements since our arrival, including a new preschool yard, a school garden, an indoor performing arts stage, and child-friendly kitchens for cooking classes in preschool and elementary school grades.

Recognized for our unique, innovative educational program, Mulberry has long served as a training center for university students in early childhood and elementary education, and child development. Additionally, we were the first in the nation to become a Positive Discipline Level 3 Demonstration School and are one of the first schools to be certified as a Positive Discipline Association Lab School, reflecting our unique commitment to character development and teaching productive conflict resolution to even the youngest students. For years, our credentialed teachers and experienced staff have provided workshops and seminars to parents and educators. Well established as a school of excellence both in the academic program and parent education, Mulberry remains a community of lifelong learners.

Over the past five-and-a-half decades, we have grown from a single preschool class of 24 to a WASC and CAIS accredited school offering classes from preschool through elementary school while remaining committed to the vision of our school’s founders: to provide an education that nurtures the intellectual, social and emotional development of children, while encouraging the active participation of parents in their child’s school experience.