About us
Our Leadership
Family Owned Since 1984
Leah Rosenthal-Kambic, Director, Co-Owner
Leah started at Kid Time in 1998 as a teacher's aide. She took on the role of Director in 2001 and later became part owner in 2012. As of January 2018, she officially became the owner of Kid Time. Her love is working with children, staff and parents. Nothing makes her happier than to problem solve with adults to make things smoother and easier with the children!
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She obtained a BA from UC Berkeley in 2005 in Social Welfare, and brings what she learned into this "helping" profession. She brings a positive attitude and a hardworking ethic to Kid Time daily, and enjoys providing support for her staff on a daily basis. Her goal is to make Kid Time as consistent and harmonious as possible and to keep the stress levels low for the hardworking teachers! Leah is a hands-on owner and works with the children regularly, often changing diapers and reading stories right along with the teachers. In her tenure at Kid Time she has done every individual job at the school, which gives her the perspective to understand the staff and to meet their needs.
She met Justin, her future husband in 1996 and in 2011 she had her first baby, Griffin. Leah was thrilled to be able to introduce her son to her school and counts herself lucky to have been there day in and day out watching him grow and to be a part of the Kid Time Community in a whole new way. She looks forward to the future and watching her "second baby", Kid Time continue to grow and thrive.
Jessica, Multi-Site Coordinator, Co-Owner
Jessica started with Kid Time when her youngest of three kids was in first grade and he is now in his 30's, so that should tell you she has been around the Kid Time block! She has done every job at school from aide to cook to teacher, and she is best known for being our Pre-K maven and creating our entire Ruff dog curriculum from scratch.
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Her title these days is Multi-Site Coordinator, and she goes from site to site to hep ensure consistency, the philosophy is being met everywhere, and that all new Kid Time teachers receive proper training to uphold our Kid Time standards.
She is everyone's mom, everyone's "Mia" (don't call her grandma even though she has six grandchildren!) and is a huge source of support to all who work with and around her. She is also the co-owner of Kid Time...while we were expanding way back in 2012, she helped keep us afloat by investing some of her retirement in Kid Time, making her an owner. This lady is amazing and we are so lucky to have her!
Kirsti, Admin Manager/Unicorn
Miss Kirsti is known to all as our Unicorn, the lady who knows what you need before you need it, and everyone's biggest cheerleader. Kirsti has been with us since 2006 when she started out as a teacher's aide. Her first day of work was eventful; she had to assist Mr Steve in washing a child in the sink after a major blowout diaper! The fact that she came back the next day speaks volumes of her character!
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Kirsti is married to a wonderful man who is a teacher at College Park, and has a son in Middle School. What many don't know about Kirsti is that she grew up performing, both dance and singing and she has a BEAUTIFUL singing voice! When she's not at work you will find her seeing musicals and shows, hanging out with her family and practicing her singing.
Kirsti is also a warrior mom, as her son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 6 years old. If you ever have questions about Diabetes not only is she an expert but her son has his own instructional Youtube channel teaching other kids how to administer insulin! She truly is a gem and we are so lucky she found us!
Our Child-Centered Philosophy
Respecting where each child is in their development.
Kid Time makes decisions based on the individual needs of each child rather than the convenience of the adults involved.
In addition to having developmentally appropriate curriculum all the way from 2 years old to 6, our Pre-K offers kindergarten readiness in all areas: Social-Emotional, Physical, and Academic. Our three classes are broken up based on developmental readiness, rather than calendar age.
Here are some examples of what our Child-Centered Philosophy looks like:
We do not have scheduled "potty times", when a child has to go, they are taken individually.
Not all children are required to nap; we have a "non-nap" group for those who have grown out of their naps to do quiet activities.
We encourage healthy eating but we do not say they have to "clean their plate".
Teachers encourage and teach problem solving at every level, and help the children to work out conflicts individually.
The children go outside in cold, hot and sometimes sprinkling rain! Their need to run and move does not go away with weather changes, so we bundle up and take them out when they need it!
We believe in developmentally appropriate curriculum, and do not expect long periods of sitting or quiet.
Kid Time is an inclusive environment to all kinds of families, and are always learning ways to make people feel welcome and a part of our community.
“Sitting still and being quiet is not a marketable job skill."
Our play-based environment
We believe in children being allowed to be children.
Children need room to move, and often even during a project if the children need to run, we will take a break and do a quick run! Our environments are curated for children with lots of energy, and also for children who prefer more individual play.
Our curriculum allows for worm digging, body painting, bug catching, and many kinds of messy creatively based art projects. There is something for everyone in our environments.
Community
Kid Time prides ourselves on being a community for our staff and families. We offer many opportunities for people to meet and spend time together, which results in families having connections that can last a lifetime.
Picnics, Potlucks, Ooey Gooey Night, Kid Time Campout, Cinco de Mayo, Baby Olympics and more. Each site has their own events, and Camping is for everyone! Many opportunities for bonding with other parents. We love seeing you find your people!
Readiness
While Kid Time is a play based curriculum, do not be confused…they are learning every day through play and hands on activities!
Our children are well prepared for Kindergarten in our Pre-K classes and we do full evaluations for parents to know where they are academically, social/emotionally and physically before graduating.
Many parents have expressed concern with the decision of pulling their children from preschool early to enter TK at the district level at 4. Here is a video we created to make our case for staying at preschool for pre-kindergarten.
Parent Coaching
Miss Leah began a Parent Coaching business in 2022 called Parent Time. She uses her unique knowledge of early childhood, her emotional IQ and ability to ground even the most anxious parent to help families.
Her goal is to lessen the overall stress level of your family, and topics can include anything that is on your mind. Programs are tailored to YOUR needs, hence the name Parent Time…it’s all about you over here!
