About us
At Free To Be Me Preschool in Mar Vista Los Angeles, each child is embraced as a unique individual, cared for and supported with the utmost respect and sensitivity. With a student: teacher ratio of 4.5:1, the children at FTBM are surrounded by wonderful, observant teachers who listen to and appreciate them.
Hours and
Days
Free To Be Me is open Monday through Friday. We offer a morning program from 9am to 12:30pm, an afternoon program from 1pm to 4pm and a full day from 9am to 4pm.
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Children may be enrolled 2, 3, 4 or 5 days a week. The school
is year round. We observe most LAUSD holidays; we close for
2 weeks for winter break, 2 weeks for spring break, 2 weeks for summer break and 2 days in October and March for parent/teacher conferences.
Our School
Our school is play-based, and most of our day is spent outdoors. Shaded by fruit trees, the children freely choose where they play. Each area is designed to foster creativity, imagination and problem solving. The children move at their own pace, from painting, to building in the sand pit, to jumping in the pillow room. All of their play is valued and acknowledged.


Our goals at Free to Be Me are for children to leave us with a true sense of themselves, high self-esteem, conflict resolution skills, and most importantly, strong communication skills—providing them with the tools they will need in kindergarten and beyond.
Our Program
Free To Be Me provides a safe, nurturing, child centered environment, where child’s individual needs are recognized and supported. Our teachers specialize in conflict resolution and peaceful communication so that each child’s feelings are validated and respected. All of our teachers have a passion for working with young children and are trained in our philosophy. Parent education is provided in order to support families and provide continuity for the use of the philosophy at home.
Free To Be Me offers a developmentally appropriate indoor/outdoor environment.
Our teachers create and implement a child-centered rhythm to each day.
The curriculum includes circle time and various age-appropriate activities such as:
open ended art, science, cooking, math, sewing, woodworking and language art plans. These plans are offered daily, however, children are free to participate in these activities
or engage in free play. Child led plans are also encouraged and supported.
Free to Be Me we accept children from from 2 years until they graduate to go to kindergarten. A maximum of 14 children are enrolled each day, with a 1 to 4.5
teacher-to-child ratio.
Organic Snack
Parents are invited to sign up to bring snack for the children. The school provides organic cows milk, almond milk, water, crackers and cereal but we ask our families to provide the bulk of the day’s snacks.
This is a great opportunity to prepare something with your child that she/he can share proudly with their friends. We ask that snacks are sugarfree and organic and include a protein, a starch and a fruit or vegetable.
Snack is available for the children to help themselves during the morning or afternoon; this fosters independence and healthy eating habits.
We are sensitive to any food allergies or restrictions and will always strategize with the family to accommodate a child’s special dietary needs.