Ecole Claire Fontaine

Bienvenue à l’Ecole Claire Fontaine

For more than thirty years, Ecole Claire Fontaine (ECF) has offered a distinctive, multilingual early education experience for Venice families. Designed for curious children ages 2 to 7, our beautiful garden-inspired campuses engage every sense: French and Spanish echo across the grounds, organic snacks and lunches are enjoyed al fresco, art and science come alive in our cozy ateliers and outdoor classrooms. These hallmarks set our program apart and have earned us the “Best of the Westside” preschool designation year after year.

Our Locations & Programs

Located in the heart of Venice, our three garden campuses provide a nurturing environment for children at every stage of growth – from preschool to Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten. All of our campuses offer:

Flexible hours: full day (8:30am – 6pm), morning (8:30am – 1:30pm), or afternoon care (1:30pm – 6pm) is available, as well as full week or multi-day schedules
Delicious meals: organic breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, and afternoon goûter are served to all students
An unparalleled curriculum: outdoor play is balanced with topical ateliers and workshops spanning artistic, scientific, and sensory domains led by local experts

Our Approach

At ECF, we nurture the innate wisdom of children, honoring their presence and voices. Together children and faculty discover gardens, oceans and cosmos, taking cues from the remarkable connectivity that vibrates through all things. Living in art and nature, ECF infuses a creative spirit into an emergent curriculum that morphs annually with the interests of children.

ECF students exercise their strategic thinking through Architecture Atelier, Construction & Building, Chess, a bountiful Botanical Nature and Science Lab, Astronomy, Mathematics and Oceanography. Imaginations and fine motor skills are stretched by Embroidery, Graphic Design, Kirigami, Painting, and Writing with Printing & Cursive. Spiritual and emotional centers are exercised, along with gross motor skills, through Mindfulness, Yoga and Conflict Management. Oratory and olfactory senses are bathed in the sounds of Choir, Piano and Berimbau, along with the smells of simmering jam and sautéing aromatics. We invite you to browse our magazines to learn more.

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Language. At Ecole Claire Fontaine, we communicate through many languages to deepen our dialogue and neurological capacities – French, English, Spanish, Russian and Arabic, the language of mathematics. Using their native language only, teachers speak to the children using the OPOL Method – One Person, One Language. Children absorb the languages, deepening cultural awareness, fluency and neurological capacities. Each language plants a root within the child — the more roots fostered, the stronger and more grounded their tree becomes.

Nature. Intrinsic to the pedagogy of Ecole Claire Fontaine is ensconcing the children in the beauty and importance of the elements of nature, and their remarkable place among it all. Exploring, imagining and playing in the gardens is a part of every child’s day. Faculty are ready to assist and guide, while also honoring the inherent capacity of children to discover new ways of co-existing and creating with their friends. As the children live through the changes in nature around them, they transform in harmony with seasons of growth and rest. We welcome the experimentation, the blossoming before our eyes, as it is not that we know our children once and forever but rather they unfold. In ECF’s gardens, surrounded by leaves, seeds that are planted firmly in the ground blossom into flowers with faces as varied as our children. With an international family and teacher base, we learn from, and are sensitive to, cultures other than our own, particularly the culture of children.

Holistic Development. At Ecole Claire Fontaine, children discover the beauty of art, mathematics, and language through creative, tactile experiences that inspire curiosity and delight, including:

As it relates to managing a new life at school, these articles offer insight and approaches to prepare:

• Transitioning & Separating
• Tips for Bathroom Independence
• Spring Changes
• The Dreaded Lice
• Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease
• Seasonal Shifts