A little school with a big heart
Tucked behind a cheerful, brightly painted fence on the border of Hercules, A Little World has been exactly what its name promises: a whole world of learning, scaled to a child.
Independent. Family-owned. Deeply local.
A Little World Montessori is a non-religious Montessori school serving families in Rodeo, Hercules, Pinole, and Crockett. We are not a chain, and we're proud of it — decisions here are made by educators who know your child, not by a head office.
Our center is lovingly prepared for early childhood education: classrooms open into one another, artwork climbs the walls, a hand-painted tree grows right across the main room, and the garden belongs to the children. They learn to pour, sort, count, read, plant, sing, and care for each other, and our animal friends.
We are a Montessori learning community where care and education are the same thing — full-day care for working families, delivered with love from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Learn · Grow · Belong
Three little words on our logo — and the measure of every single day.
Learn
Real Montessori materials, Montessori Teachers, and a curriculum that spans practical life, sensorial work, language, mathematics, and world cultures.
Grow
Independence grows one buttoned coat and one poured pitcher at a time. We give children the time, space, and trust to do it themselves.
Belong
Mixed ages, many cultures, one community. Families celebrate together here — from Chinese New Year to Cinco de Mayo.
Samudra De Alwis
"Every child arrives whole. Our job is to keep them that way."
Samudra leads A Little World personally and visibly — you'll find her in the classrooms, at the gate at pickup, and on the phone with every family who inquires. She believes the first years shape everything that follows, and that the surest way to honor them is simple: know each child deeply, prepare a beautiful environment, and then trust the child.
When you schedule a tour, it's Samudra who calls you back, Samudra who walks you through the classrooms, and Samudra who tailors a tuition plan to your family's needs.
Nature is part of the faculty
Montessori classrooms extend outdoors, and ours truly does. Children dig in the garden and shoot hoops on a play yard made for little bodies and big imaginations.
- Play yard with slides, playhouse, basketball hoop, and climbing structures.
- Garden beds the children plant, water, and harvest through the seasons.
- Our Tortoise and Bunny teach gentleness better than any lesson could.
- Field trips to Tilden Regional Park and beyond — nature walks, farms, and local adventures.