YMCA Bayview Hunters Point

San Francisco, California

The YMCA reclaimed an old school in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco to provide community resources including a new children’s center for preschool aged children. What they wanted was nothing less than to create a center as a place “to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities by enriching the lives of all people in spirit, mind and body. [The] preschool program will be a fundamental building block for all of our community programming. In the Early Child Development Center, we plan to incorporate aspects of the Reggio Emilia philosophy of child development into the spatial design and programs. We will encourage individuality, decision-making, understanding and respect for others. Our programs will be a combination of structured and free-time periods, a blend of small and large group activities, including many opportunities for self-directed learning.”