Our Journey

Rock Rose began in 2006 as a small study group of parents and teachers committed to helping their children develop. Recognizing the need to reach more children, the group became a nonprofit parent-child program in Escondido and a parent co-op kindergarten in Ramona. Wanting a more permanent location, we located a building in Fallbrook with a room and outside play area — The Hilltop Center. We opened our doors in 2009 for our first preschool and parent-child classes in The Friendly Village. 

During the summer of 2013, we moved our location to The Creekside Plaza in Fallbrook. This new location gave the children more outdoor space and a charming place to call their school. At this time, we began to incorporate more LifeWays elements into the program and shifted from a preschool to a combined preschool and kindergarten for children aged 2 - 6 years old. We planted a garden and modified aspects of outdoor kindergarten programs to build a program, creating a rhythm of long outside days and long inside days. 

We also extended our day to include preparing lunch and having naps at school. In the fall of 2021 we  started a recreational outdoor nature camp program, Gum Tree Nature Camp, where we spend the entire day outdoors in public parks, or on private lands on farms, gardens or far afield hikes. 

Our mission is to provide an early childhood program that embodies a play-based and developmentally appropriate method of educating the child through their head, heart, and hands.

Our vision is of a thriving, well-supported, inclusive program that cultivates each child’s capacity to think clearly, feel compassionately, and act purposefully in the world.

Waldorf education comes from within the teachers and the community. It is not about buildings or certain materials or even activities your child does. It lives in the teachers, the families, and the heart of how we see each developing child. We are grateful to be working together with you all to bring this rich education to your children. 

We are in the process of converting a residential facility into a commercial building that can be licensed for a preschool  Once complete, we will reopen as a licensed early childhood center here again in Fallbrook.