When the children at San Jose Day Nursery scamper around the center’s playground, they leap and bounce onto a dark rubber mulch that surrounds the equipment. It’s there to keep them from getting hurt. But what the youngsters don’t know is that they’re not the only ones who use it.
“The cats like to come in the middle of the night and use it for their litter boxes, so we’re constantly having to sift through and make sure it’s safe for the kids,” said Angela Gomez, who has been director of the downtown San Jose daycare center since 2021.
Children climb on the playground at San Jose Day Nursery in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
It’s a task that Gomez would rather her staff not need to do, and she hopes that Wish Book readers can help make that a reality. San Jose Day Nursery is asking for $50,000 to revamp its outdoor play area for the 112 children aged 6 weeks to 6 years old that use it every day.
Gomez would love to have the black rubber mulch replaced with a poured-in-place rubber surface like the one they have at the Guadalupe River Park’s Rotary PlayGarden and other modern playgrounds.
“If we could do some colors or a theme, that would be really cool,” she said.
While the playground equipment itself — installed during San Jose Day Nursery’s last major renovation in 2006 — is in good condition, other elements to the outdoor courtyard could use an update. Wooden picket fences surround the playground and a different play space for toddlers to provide older and younger kids with their own space.
Children climb on the playground at San Jose Day Nursery in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
“I would love to change the shape of the playground and remove some of these big boulders they have set in here that aren’t safe for the kids,” Gomez said. “If we could incorporate aspects back here that run with a theme so the kids can build their imaginations, that would be ideal.”
San Jose Day Nursery has been part of the community since 1916, occupying its current location on North 8th and Santa Clara streets since 1936. An old-fashioned swing sign out front of the Spanish Revival building belies the modern child education center inside, where children participate in age-appropriate hands-on learning experiences, critical thinking exercises and early literacy activities.
The outdoor areas –in addition to providing the energetic kids room to run, play and even pedal tricycles around imaginary tracks — are essential parts of the learning experience and development of motor skills.
Having an outdoor space that sparks their imaginations is a crucial part of that and has other benefits, too.
“When they’re busy and exploring and engaged, you’re not going to have the behaviors that are going to be disruptive,” Gomez said. “We want all the kids to have a chance to be engaged, indoors and outdoors.”
A fence is held together with caution tape at San Jose Day Nursery in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
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About half of the children at San Jose Day Nursery come from low-income families, and Enrollment Specialist Rhysie Montano said a sliding scale is offered to help parents pay the tuition.
“We get a lot of families that came back,” Montano said. “They definitely have good memories. They come back and they tell us they had a good time here.”
Clarissa Michel is one of those families. The 34-year-old, who works at nearby San Jose City Hall, attended San Jose Day Nursery when she was a child, as did her little brother and two of her cousins.
“We were just really happy with the experience,” said Michel, who still has her graduation photos from San Jose Day Nursery. “I vividly remember this backyard, playing here. It looks similar in certain areas, but it’s different with all the upgrades that have happened over the years.”
And the family tradition continues. Michel’s son, Santiago, who is nearly 2 years old, is now attending San Jose Day Nursery and her 4-year-old daughter, Brielle, graduated last year and is now in transitional kindergarten. Michel says she often extols the virtues of San Jose Day Nursery to her friends and co-workers with young children.
“They teach them real world attributes and things we sometimes forget about. There aren’t a lot of curriculums that work with something as simple as, say, gardening. But they learn to grow something and see how it’s made,” she said. “It’s definitely a hidden gem.”
Gomez, the director, said she sees San Jose Day Nursery as a place where children can get away from the day-to-day stress that many families experience.
“We want them to come here and have a space where they can be themselves, learn how to be good friends and learn how to be members of a community,” she said.
THE WISH BOOK SERIES
Wish Book is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News. Since 1983, Wish Book has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them.
WISH
Donations to San Jose Day Nursery will help revamp its outdoor play area for the 112 children aged 6 weeks to 6 years old that use it every day. Goal: $50,000
HOW TO GIVE
Donate at wishbook.mercurynews.com/donate or mail in this form.
ONLINE EXTRA
Read other Wish Book stories, view photos and video at wishbook.mercurynews.com.
