Director of Preschool

Come build a school with me.

My name is Luna Pecoraro. I am the founder of Bella Daycare — San Diego’s Italian-English daycare, loved by families with five-star reviews — and the creator of The Bella Method™. Now I am opening Bella Preschool in Pacific Beach: a licensed center for 70 children, from infants through pre-kindergarten. I am looking for a Director to help me build it from the very first day.

Let me be clear about something up front: this is not a job maintaining someone else’s program. This building has been a preschool before, but Bella is not a continuation of what came before it. It is a fresh start — a new license, a new team, new standards, and a culture built deliberately from day one. I am not interested in a school where children are managed. I want a school where children are known. The Director I hire will be the person who protects that promise every single day.

Why Bella is different

Everything we do rests on The Bella Method™, our framework for caring for and teaching young children:

• Bring positivity — fun, smiles, eye contact, excitement. We are playful and joyous, and we start every day by asking, “What can we do to bring joy into our childcare?”
• Empathy — every child feels safe, because we put ourselves in their shoes.
• Listening — active listening, confirming we understand each child’s desires and frustrations.
• Love — warmth and human connection. A hug has never hurt a child who is suffering.
• Aptitude — every child has a unique natural gift. We don’t dictate what it is. We celebrate it, encourage it, and reward it — kindness, humor, building, anything.

Academics matter here, and so does something more: we teach children to be good humans. Please and thank you. Patience. Empathy. Being ready to help when someone is hurt. Children will forget many of the lessons we teach, but they will never forget how we made them feel.

What you will do

• Lead the day-to-day operation of a 70-child licensed center: 10 infants and 60 toddlers and preschoolers.
• Hire, mentor, and keep a team of teachers who are patient, fun, positive, and understanding — and hold them, warmly and firmly, to the Bella standard.
• Own compliance with California Community Care Licensing (Title 22): ratios, files, health and safety, drills, and inspections.
• Be a trusted face for our families — tours, enrollment, daily communication, and the honest conversations that build a school’s reputation.
• Model The Bella Method in every interaction: kneel to a child’s level, listen, cheer them on.
• Partner directly with me on curriculum, culture, events, and enrollment growth. My door is always open — you will never lead alone.

Who you are

• Patient. Children do not develop on a schedule that is convenient for adults, and you would never hurry them.
• Fun and positive. You believe joy is a leadership strategy, not a distraction from one.
• Understanding. With children, with parents, and with the teachers you lead.
• A communicator. Clear, kind, honest, and respectful — with the team and with families.
• Here for the long term. We are building something meant to last. So is this role.

What you will need

• Qualification as a Child Care Center Director under California Title 22 — typically 12 core semester units in early childhood education plus 3 units in administration, with center teaching experience; or a Child Development Site Supervisor or Program Director Permit.
• Units in infant/toddler care are a plus (we proudly serve infants).
• Experience leading — or helping lead — a licensed childcare center or preschool.
• Criminal background clearance (Live Scan), TB clearance, current immunizations, pediatric CPR and First Aid, and mandated reporter training. We will help you complete any outstanding items after an offer.

Pay, schedule, and benefits

This is a full-time, on-site position, Monday through Friday, at our Pacific Beach campus (center hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.). Pay is $30.00 per hour, with a competitive benefits package. We believe children are cared for well only by adults who are cared for well — that is written into our objectives, and it starts with how we treat you.

“Children will forget many of the lessons we teach, but they will never forget how we made them feel.” — Luna

Pay: $30.00 per hour

Work Location: In person