History
In the summer of 1988, Mira, our director and founder, fled the Soviet Union, driven by the hope of building a better life for her family. She brought them to Boston, carrying with her more than just the weight of escape. Back in the USSR, she had spent a decade as a preschool teacher, deeply rooted in the Russian pedagogical tradition. Her classroom had been a model of excellence—so successful that it was used to train incoming teachers. Her lesson plans became the foundation for others, a blueprint for how to teach young minds.
When Mira arrived in the U.S., she didn’t waste time. Within a year, she founded Happy Child, starting with just an infant room and a small space for toddlers. It wasn’t much, but she had vision, grit, and a deep understanding of what children needed to thrive. Over the years, her relentless work earned Happy Child its glowing reputation. Here, babies as young as three months are cared for with love, and five-year-olds leave our doors ready to take on their first kindergarten classrooms with confidence.
What started as a small, intimate space blossomed into a thriving community—a tribe of 75 children and countless families who entrusted Mira and her team with the most important thing in their lives. Over 600 children have graduated from Happy Child since 1989, and now, many of those kids have grown up and brought their own children here, seeking the same care and love they once experienced.
The proverb holds true: the love you give finds its way back to you. Happy Child is living proof of that.
Introduction
Truth be told, these days everyone and their cousin seems to be opening a preschool. Private equity firms, corporate investors — they’ve all discovered that early education can turn a profit. Shiny logos go up overnight, and the buildings fill with bright furniture and buzzwords about learning. But fads rise fast, and they fade just as quickly.
What they don’t have is time. Time for generations of parents to tell their friends, coworkers, and neighbors, “You have to see this place.” Time for children who once toddled through our classrooms to return years later with children of their own. That’s how a real school grows — not from capital injections, but from trust freely given.
For more than 35 years, our story has been written by families who believed in us, one child at a time. That’s not a business strategy. That’s a Village.
Why Happy Child?
Picture this: you walk into a McDonald’s anywhere on the planet — New York, Paris, Beijing. The burger tastes exactly the same. That’s the point. It’s efficient, consistent, predictable. Every detail is engineered to remove surprise.
Now imagine that same logic applied to early education. Corporate preschools operate like franchises — standardized, scalable, designed to fit any child, anywhere. But children aren’t systems to be streamlined. They are wild, particular and full of contradictions. They need people who notice the small things — the hesitation before a hug, the pride behind a crayon drawing — and adjust instinctively.
Efficiency doesn’t raise a child. Connection does.
At Happy Child, we don’t mass-produce childhood. We build relationships. We grow through stories, scraped knees, and shared laughter. Ours is a place shaped not by investors, but by families — neighbors who told their friends, who told their friends, until a community formed around something real.
Because it truly does take a village to raise a child. And this is ours.
Philosophy
At the heart of our philosophy is a truth as old as humanity itself: play isn’t merely a rehearsal for life — it is life. Children, like all humans, are driven by instincts to explore, to discover, to carve out a sense of purpose within their world. In a time not so distant, survival depended on understanding and adapting to one’s environment; that drive is still alive today in the way children play. At Happy Child, we honor this primal urge with a curriculum rooted in the wisdom of Piaget and Montessori, Vagotsky and Steinberg, a curriculum that encourages both independence and community.
In this setting, the classroom is more than a learning space; it’s a miniature society. Through play—both solitary and shared—children develop essential skills: they learn to solve problems, to empathize, to navigate conflict, and to bounce back from setbacks. Just as adults thrive when trusted with both freedom and responsibility, children flourish when they’re given the space to chart their own paths. Play isn’t trivial; it’s the deepest, most instinctual form of self-directed learning. Through play, children test their limits, wrestle with new concepts, and forge bonds with others. Our role as educators is simple but profound: we provide the tools, the environment, and the trust, allowing children the freedom to experiment, to stumble, to succeed—all on their terms. In this world of discovery, each child is free to find their way, bolstered by a community that believes in their potential.
By embracing this philosophy, we believe that nurturing a child’s autonomy, curiosity, and connection to others goes far beyond academic success. It equips them to meet the challenges of the larger world with confidence, compassion, and a grounded sense of responsibility.
Curriculum overview
At Happy Child, we believe that play is more than just a pastime—it’s a powerful tool for growth. That’s why we embrace a play-based approach based on the developmental psychology of Jean Piaget and Maria Montessori. Children, like all humans, are wired for exploration and discovery, and play is how they make sense of the world around them. It teaches them how to navigate social dynamics, solve problems, and push their own boundaries. Play builds resilience; it’s how children learn to handle challenges and overcome obstacles, whether it’s figuring out how to stack blocks or navigating a disagreement with a friend. In a world that can be unpredictable and demanding, the skills kids gain through play help them adapt, connect, and thrive. It’s not just preparation for school, it’s preparation for life.
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