Opened in the fall of 2004 by founders Dorothy Stewart and Bob Buhl, Old Firehouse School in Mill Valley is an offshoot of the original preschool the couple established in Lafayette in 1996. Amy Baker became the school's program director in 2007.
Old Firehouse School's philosophy is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, which was started in Italy after World War II as a new way to educate young children. The approach is based on a series of beliefs, including: that children must have some control over the direction of their learning; that children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing and hearing; that children must establish and explore relationships with other children and the material items around them; and that children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.