The Pleasanton Planning Commission has approved a bid by Genius Kids to open a second preschool and daycare facility in the Vintage Hills Shopping Center, which will be the school's second location in the city.
Genius Kids, or GK as it is called, opened its first center last year at 5698 Stoneridge Drive.
GK will also be the second preschool in the shopping center. Little Flowers Montessori, which has a number of toddler, preschool, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten centers in the East Bay, offers full-day and half-day programs for 2-6 year olds, has been operating here for the past two years.
GK plans to operate an accelerated learning preschool and daycare facility at the Vintage Hills Center, focusing on an academic curriculum comprising music and movement, yoga, phonics, reading and comprehension, mathematics and critical thinking.
The school expects to have a total enrollment of 120 children at any one time, ranging from 2 to 12 years old. The students will be served by a staff of 11 instructors and administrators.
The daycare/preschool center will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with after-school programs held from 1 to 6:30 p.m. weekdays. The school also will hold weekend student enrichment programs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
GK will operate up to three vans to pick up its after-school students from local schools. Parents will be dropping off students between 7 and 10:30 a.m. and picking them up between 2 and 7 p.m.
School representatives told planners that since the school is located at the far south end of the shopping center (on the Palomino Drive side), traffic during drop-off and pick-up times should not interfere with shoppers at the center's other businesses, which include New Leaf Community Markets, a restaurant and other retailers.
GK plans to construct an outdoor, fenced-in play area behind its school, replacing part of existing play areas with artificial turf, rubber padding and play structures. Little Flowers Montessori has a similar play area near its school.
