Windmill School is in the search for an Executive Director committed to growing and sustaining a platform for play-based learning while also fostering a deeply connected community.

For 60 years, Windmill School has been deeply woven into the fabric of the Portola Valley, CA community. As a nonprofit preschool and community center, Windmill provides play-based learning and open-ended exploration for children ages two to five, addresses the whole child by instilling a lifetime love of learning, and nurtures the whole family by providing a welcoming place for family education and community connection. After a successful capital campaign the Board purchased a property and built a new campus. Completed in 2018, it consists of three classrooms, an administration building, outdoor amphitheater and the LaureL Education Center. Set among redwood trees and gardens, it’s an idyllic environment to nurture children’s play and curiosity, and build strong community. Through its preschool and associated programming, Windmill is a highly sought after place for children and families.

As the organization looks toward the next phase of its evolution, it is poised for growth to face the changing landscape of early childhood education and to fully build out its family and community educational programming. In this newly created position, the Executive Director has overall responsibility for operations, finances, facilities, partnerships, student and parent recruiting, optimizing earned and contributed revenue streams, community programs, and all branding, communications and marketing. When the new campus was conceptualized the vision was to create spaces designed for community groups and individuals in Portola Valley, Woodside and the surrounding areas, whose use was consistent with Windmill’s mission. The Executive Director will oversee the growth of the LaureL Education Center, fulfilling the mission to build out robust programming for children, families and the community. The Education Director reports to the Executive Director and is responsible for curricular content, the child’s preschool experience, interactions with parents, and operates with a certain level of autonomy.

Windmill has an enrollment capacity of 100 students across three classrooms and a ‘caregiver and me’ toddler class, a team of 14 gifted educators with more than 80 years of collective teaching experience at Windmill, two administrative staff, and a 15-member board of directors. Windmill has graduated over 1000 young people to date. The operating budget for FY25 is $1.3M, of which tuition accounts for $1.12M. The school will raise approximately $100k in contributed revenue and draws $80k in interest income from reserves to balance the budget. For FY2025/26 the fundraising goal under the Executive Director will increase to $200k. The complete position description can be found here.

For additional information or to apply, please contact Lisa Grossman & Steven Oppenheim at info[at]moppenheim[dot]com.