History

Relocation to Present Site

In 1966, after 87 years of ups and downs due to financial and housing problems, the Association’s two remaining schools—the Phoebe A. Hearst School on Union Street and the Jane Lathrop Stanford School in Potrero Hill—were merged to form the Phoebe A. Hearst Preschool Learning Center. The preschool relocated to a newly constructed and specially designed building on its present site at Laguna and Ellis Streets under the leadership of Rhoda Kellogg. The new building was dedicated on April 28, 1966.

The new facility was designed by architect William B. Fox of Weihe, Frick and Kruse, with technical advice provided by Rhoda Kellogg. It was built with the financial support of many San Franciscans and charitable institutions, including Mrs. Hearst’s greatgranddaughter, Phoebe Hearst Cooke, the Hearst Foundation of New York and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation of California. Mrs. Cooke was instrumental in securing the funds needed to build the Phoebe A. Hearst Preschool Learning Center.