How Elan Preschool Turned Personalized Learning Into a 40-Year Legacy

Tears are often part of a child’s first week at preschool. At Elan Preschool, Milpitas, California, Brad Mathews highlights that the emotional pattern eventually changes in a way that still catches parents off guard.

“It’s not unusual for the kids to cry because they don’t want to leave,” he says. This emotional attachment has become a reflection of what has defined the family-run preschool for nearly four decades. Today, Elan Preschool prides itself for an environment built around the idea that children thrive when they are treated as whole individuals instead of standardized learners.

Founded in 1987 by Mathews’ mother, Candy, after she struggled to find a befitting preschool for her youngest child, Elan Preschool began modestly as a home daycare with six children. Yet, Mathews highlights that the philosophy behind it was ambitious from the very beginning. His mother, who had previously served as a founding faculty member at Delphian School, believed early education should adapt to the needs of the child rather than forcing the child to adapt to the system.

“She spent several years developing a curriculum and a reading program and really honing in on it,” He explains. “After several years of development and implementation, she had something that was absolutely fantastic.”

Now, Elan Preschool champions a model where competency-based learning stands at the forefront. Studies show that high-quality early childhood education is associated with better school readiness for young children. Mathews also points out that individualized learning has also accelerated across the education sector, particularly following the pandemic-era disruptions, which he believes exposed how differently children absorb information and develop.

In Mathews’ view, Elan Preschool anticipated much of that conversation years earlier. “Kids aren’t widgets,” he says. “Each kid gains abilities and skills at their own pace, and they have to master that before they move on to the next thing.”

The preschool, Mathews notes, implements that mindset through its “Ability Checklists.” Within that framework, children aren’t forced to align with rigid benchmark systems tied strictly to age. Instead, Elan tracks progress across reading, writing, math, indoor and outdoor physical skills, social-emotional development, and home-life competencies.

The preschool acknowledges that every child progresses differently, so teachers are encouraged to work directly at their individual level. “One kid might still be working on balance beam skills, another might be working on reading, another on math level three,” he says. “You try to meet them directly at that level.”

Elan moves away from the cadence of highly pressurized educational environments that prioritize metrics over childhood itself. Still, academic development remains pivotal to the school’s identity. Mathews explains, “We are a very fun place to be, and we really want that play balance in there because as kids gain these abilities, they need to go out and use them in real life.”

That balance has become increasingly important in an education landscape often split between purely play-based approaches and heavily academic programs. Mathews believes Elan intentionally avoids labelling itself at either extreme.

The continuity of that culture has also remained intact. Elan’s current director, Elizabeth Padilla, has spent more than two decades at the school and was personally trained by Mathews’ mother. Hiring decisions, he adds, are approached with extraordinary care to preserve the school’s ethos and instructional consistency. “She’s incredibly picky about finding the right people who fit our culture. You need teachers who can really assimilate how to deliver this program,” he says.

Maintaining that legacy became especially personal for Mathews and his family during the pandemic years, when staffing shortages and other pressures disrupted much of the childcare industry. He stepped deeper into operations during that period, helping stabilize enrollment and staffing while carrying forward the work his mother built. “It took me about six months to realize it needed a lot more attention. I had to climb the learning curve of how to run a preschool,” he says.

The school eventually returned to full enrollment, but Mathews adds that some of the strongest validation came from families who initially left. According to him, some pursued free universal pre-K programs, others were drawn toward larger private institutions offering pathways into competitive elementary schools, and many returned.”They could see the difference,” he says. “They realized it was the right environment for their child.”

Nearly 40 years after its founding, Mathews and his brother carry their mother’s work forward as advocates for a model they believe should travel far beyond the walls of a single preschool. “This is a model that should be everywhere,” he says. “The concept is the same whether it’s a two-year-old or a 17-year-old. The individual moves at their own pace, and they truly get it before moving on.”