Gan West

We joined the Gan West family this year for Nursery, and we couldn’t be happier. When we came for the school tour, I just knew this was where our daughter would thrive. As an interfaith family, we wanted our daughter to embrace one of our cultures in a fun, community manner, and our family feels welcome at every event. Our daughter loves her teachers and her friends, and we appreciate the weekly newsletter, photo albums and artwork the school sends out. I wish they had a K-​6; we’d sign up in a sec!

My son just finished his pre-​nursery year at Gan West and what a wonderful year it was. Gan West is a loving, community preschool that offers a tremendously nurturing and warm environment for little kids getting their first taste of school. Gan apparently means garden in Hebrew, so the school’s name is either «children’s garden, west» or is a cute play on words since the director and her family moved west from New York, i.e. «gone west.»
Speaking of the director, Sara Greisman is an absolute role model of a woman. She’s just so kind and smart and experienced, and she does a tremendous job of making everybody feel secure and loved (and by everybody I mean parents as well as kids!).
If you are at all attracted to buzzwords like Reggio Emilia, Montessori or Waldorf, you will find the best of all three approaches at this school. Much of the equipment in the play yard was built by parent volunteers with assistance from kids. Many pieces are made of natural materials, and it all encourages open-​ended, deeply creative thinking. You’ll see the kids intensely involved in their play at the solar-​powered water table or making music on the percussion instruments or just building something very important with the rugged outdoor blocks. They can also paint, climb, garden or just zoom around the tricycle track. Now, the location on busy Jefferson Blvd. is off-​putting at first, and parking is somewhat limited, but I promise, once you’re inside the school yard, the wonderful garden, the shade sails and the coziness of the family atmosphere are all you will see!
Meanwhile, the inside space provides a pervasive feeling of calm and peace. I absolutely love walking into Gan West classrooms. They are natural, simple, minimalist and clean without ever feeling spare, and they are generally decorated with a combination of student artwork, storybooks and nature collections like sprouting seeds and so forth.
Maybe it’s the garden atmosphere, but my then-​two-​and-​now-​three-​year-​old son absolutely bloomed at Gan West. They were so gentle with transition, and once he settled in, he was just thrilled to go to his school every day. He adored the teachers and made so many wonderful friends. Every time I picked him up he had something wonderful to tell me about a relationship he had developed that day («my friend Leo said…»), or something he had learned about «my emotions» or why it’s important to brush your teeth or how the rabbit that came to visit that day was «so soft, mom!» Heck, I can hear him right now in the room, humming «one, two, buckle my shoe,» the counting song he learned the week they explored the numbers one to five.
If you’re looking for a safe and very special nursery school for your little one, look no further than Gan West!

Our son graduated from Gan West last year, and we all of us were excited for our daughter to start in the fall, so we could be back at GW on a regular basis.
In the 3 years we’ve experienced GW, this school has grown, but it kept the small class size and individual attention to every child. The philosophy of treating each child like a seed that needs to be nurtured is evident throughout the school.
The teachers and the management are caring, responsive, and very creative in their approach to the curriculum. Every week there is something new in the classrooms, and the kids bring home innovative creations.
I also appreciate the level of communication we receive from the school: a weekly newsletter filled with pictures and an overview of the week. Who doesn’t love getting an peek at their kids mid-​play?
Perhaps best of all, GW attracts great kids and families, who have come together to form a wonderful community. We’ve made lifelong friends there, and look forward to making more!

The teachers are phenomenal and nurturing, the location is secure and convenient to Culver City, Playa Vista, Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey, Westchester, etc. A ton of variety in the lesson plans. It’s clear that lots of attention is placed on keeping the lessons relevant and very hands-​on. Gan West provides the perfect balance of academics appropriate to the age level with an emphasis on values and ethical behavior. And the small class size means each child gets lots of individualized attention. Couldn’t be happier with Gan West!

I love a lot of things about it, but best of all, every week, we get an email with a link to photos of our kids playing that week. The (150 or so) candid pictures are great, and I get to see my DD looking gleeful, concentrating deeply, playing with friends, dressing up, etc. And for example, yesterday when it was really really hot? They went outside earlier in the day, and played alphabet bingo (which they loved). There are two classes a little kids and a big kids.
The play yard has a beautiful little garden that the kids do all the work themselves (well, sometimes the parents help). They till the soil, grow the seedlings, plant the baby plants, water them, and eat the tomatoes and broccoli, draw the plants, pick them, and talk to them. The rest of the yard has big pots and tires filled with plants that the kids get to take care of an enjoy too.
Teachers are top notch. And when I talk to my kid’s teacher, she has real thoughtful insight into how she thinks and interacts with the other kids. For example, one time she said, «She plays mostly with that girl, but when she plays with that boy they seem to have a deeper conversation.»
Toys are mostly wood, and imagination inspiring.