Horizon Community School is an early childhood education program that advances educational equity and social justice. We leverage public and private resources with Marin City expertise to prepare children for academic success.

At Marin Horizon School, DEI isn’t just a check box, it’s in the fabric of all we do. Horizon Community School was founded in 2017 as an initiative of Marin Horizon School’s commitment to DEI. Marin Horizon conducted a series of Marin City community meetings to address ongoing poor educational outcomes experienced in the community. Recognizing the lack of access to affordable preschool in the community, Marin Horizon pursued an innovative public private partnership with the Community Action Marin and initial support from the Marin Community Foundation. Now in its seventh year, Horizon Community School serves over 45 children ages 2 to 4, providing essential preparation for success wherever they matriculate for kindergarten and beyond.

HCS leadership includes Stevie Lee, Executive Director, and Angie Evans, Program Director. Stevie and Angie both grew up in Marin City, and were long-term Marin Horizon School educators. Their deep understanding of Marin City and their values of community, partnership, and collaboration are the elements that make HCS work.

The partnership honors the Marin Horizon School mission to make a difference in our community and the world, provides real-world experiences that promote collaboration and multicultural respect, and aligns with the school's overall strategic plan to build relationships outside of its immediate community.

The interaction among the campuses benefits all students as diverse learning environments promote higher student achievement and benefit all cultural groups.

HCS is an innovative partnership between Marin Horizon School and the Sausalito Marin City School District. Additional active community partners include First Five Marin, Marin Promise Partnership, Performing Stars of Marin, and Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church.

Open year-round, five days a week, and 35 hours per week, the HCS early childhood education program offers a Montessori-inspired, culturally relevant program led by passionate educators, mostly of color, many with deep ties to Marin City.

Students range from ages 2 to 4; student-teacher ratios are 1 to 8 for ages 3 to 5, and 1 to 4 for toddlers. The academic program includes circle time, music, play, naps, soccer, capoeira, and small group learning.

The HCS program also engages parents/caregivers during admissions interviews, back-to-school night, parent-teacher conferences, a series of evening parent empowerment workshops, and monthly trauma-informed professional development and coaching for teachers.

The admissions team will take the following information into consideration when making admissions decisions:

Are you a Marin City or Sausalito resident?

Do you have a history with Marin City?

Are you a Sausalito/Marin City School District Alum?

Do you currently work in Marin City?

Marin Horizon and HCS are funded separately.

100% of Horizon Community School expenses are covered by:

• State and public funding, available to qualifying families

• Major grants from foundations interested in educational equity

• Individual donors committed to supporting a launchpad for HCS students to realize their full potential.

In 2022, HCS became a California State Preschool Program (CSPP) for the Sausalito Marin City School District. Related public funds for this initial subcontract are projected to cover 60% of annual operating expenses.

Horizon Community School is a program of Marin Horizon, which provides administrative oversight and 501(c)3 status. The Board of Trustees for Marin Horizon is the governing board for HCS, and the Head of School for Marin Horizon School Bill Perrine oversees both programs.

Stevie Lee, Director of Diversity for Marin Horizon School, serves as the Executive Director for HCS. Angie Evans serves as the Program Director for HCS, managing a staff of 10 and the day-to-day operations of the school.

In September 2021, Horizon Community School moved from one portable building leased from the Marin City Community Services District into three classrooms leased from the Sausalito Marin City School District, at 630 Drake Avenue in Marin City.

Horizon Community School has received County planning approval to construct a more permanent campus on property leased from and adjacent to Marin City’s Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church. The new campus will house three new classrooms, an administrative building, and two new playgrounds. HCS broke ground on the new campus in Fall 2023 and plans to move into the new space in Fall 2024. The new facilities will serve up to 48 students.

A cornerstone of the Marin Horizon experience is fostering open-mindedness, understanding, compassion and inclusiveness among individuals and groups. Marin Horizon School is today a vibrant community of diverse families, faculty, and staff. And with the addition of our friends and families at the Horizon Community School, we have increased the diversity of both communities multifold.

The Marin Horizon and HCS students come together often to share celebrations like Halloween and Kwanzaa, to participate in buddy programs between Upper School and our youngest students, and for community service projects. Horizon Community School students also attend specialty classes at the Marin Horizon campus, such as P.E. and Spanish. In addition, faculty from Marin Horizon and HCS have joined forces for professional development sessions.

How does that impact our students? In a number of important and wonderful ways. When we bring the Marin Horizon and HCS students together (and because our Marin Horizon student body is already quite diverse), we are exposing students to experiences, perspectives, and ideas of people of different races and cultural groups, and we are preparing students for life in an increasingly complex and diverse society. Not only are students gaining the confidence and open-mindedness to interact with a diverse range of social groups, they are also forming a sense of their own identity, they are gaining an understanding, appreciation, and empathy for their peers, and they are learning to think more deeply, actively, and critically when they are presented with a diversity of viewpoints.

At Marin Horizon, we have always known that academic education by itself is not sufficient to prepare students for the world they will encounter after graduation. Becoming innovative, ethical thinkers and conscious leaders of the future requires direct exposure to diverse perspectives and life experiences firsthand.

HCS serves low-income Marin City and Sausalito families, and families with strong ties to Marin City, who cannot afford market-rate private preschool options. Last year’s enrollment was 47 students, ages 2 to 4 years, with a racial makeup as follows: 67% Black, 13% multiracial/other, 11% White, 5% Latino, 4% Asian. 90% of enrolled families are in the “very low” or “extremely low” income category (California HUD income limits).

• Public Private Partnership Provides Funding: In 2022, HCS became a California State Preschool Program (CSPP) for the Sausalito Marin City School District. Related public funds for this initial subcontract are projected to cover 60% of annual operating expenses.

• Early Intervention for Learning Issues: Specialists help identify health and learning issues, offering families diagnostic and therapeutic access that otherwise is not easily available. Parents are better able to advocate for their children’s needs when they enter kindergarten.

• Trauma-Informed Care Workshops & Training: Shawn Bryant, a veteran early childhood educator and founder of Oakland-based Teaching Excellence Center, leads culturally sensitive parent workshops and separate staff trainings designed to help students and families participate more fully.

• Community Partnerships Provide Enriching Experiences: HCS works closely with CalEd, the Marin Child Care Council, Marin Promise, Performing Stars of Marin, and the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

Well prepared for kindergarten, Horizon Community School graduates are able to choose from public, private and parochial schools in the Bay Area. Program Director Angie Evans maintains a close relationship with the teachers and administrators at MLK Academy in Marin City. Bridget Anderson, the school’s Placement Director, serves as an admissions counselor, maintaining relationships with public, parochial, and private schools in Marin, and working with families to help them navigate the admissions process. To date, HCS boasts 49 graduates and 17 full-ride scholarships to five different private and parochial schools.