Founded in 2001, our Brighton school is the quintessential preschool.
The Brighton location is a beautiful preschool designed with children and families in mind with light and airy classrooms, child-sized bathrooms, and an adjacent green space/play area. The school is also across Soldiers’ Field Road from Artesani playground and water park, as well as down the street from Smith playground and playing fields and the new Harvard Science complex. We are very happy to be in this lovely space and invite you to come visit us!
To learn more about our Brighton location, fill out the inquiry form below!
Our Director
Denise Barcelo
Brighton Director Denise Barcelo is a New York City native. She is the only child of two immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic. They owned their own business in the neighborhood in which she grew up, a bakery where she spent much of her time as a child and, later, during her first working years up until her early twenties. She began her college education, with a major in fine arts, while working part time as a gymnastics coach. It was then that she discovered her passion for teaching and her gift for communicating with young children. Although she loved art, it was something she enjoyed doing for herself but not necessarily as a career choice. She was happiest at the gymnastics center and decided to put her education on hold to work full time and explore teaching.
She soon turned her part time job into a full time job, which later grew from gymnastics coach to lead teacher in the toddler and preschool program. In 2007, she took a position as an assistant to the Director of Admissions at a preschool on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. While there, she had the opportunity to not only gain an understanding of what goes into running a successful preschool, but also to assist in the classrooms. She knew education was her true calling. She returned to school that year and attended evening classes while continuing to work full-time. In December 2009, she received a degree in Childhood Education with a concentration in Psychology. In March 2010, Denise relocated to Boston. That summer, she found Pine Village Preschool and it was love at first sight! She became the Pre-K teacher at the Kendall Square location, where she stayed for two years. She moved into the position of Director at our Brighton location in August 2012.
Denise has never in her life loved a job the way she has come to love working at Pine Village. The sense of community here among the staff, families and children is one of the many things that sets Pine Village schools apart and is what she hopes to help create in Brighton as well. Aside from this, the Spanish Immersion component is another attribute that makes Pine Village such a wonderful environment for young children. She believes that knowing another language gives children many advantages in life, including being exposed to another culture. It was very important to Denise’s parents to raise her in a bilingual environment, and they chose to each speak to her in one language. Her father spoke to her only in English, while her mother only in Spanish. This arrangement still defines how she communicates with her parents, and has helped her maintain her fluency in the Spanish language and the connection to her culture. “I cannot begin to name the countless number of benefits being bilingual has had on my life,” she says. “I am excited to share my love of the Spanish language and culture with your children.”
Denise believes working with children is magical. Their creativity, their openness and the way their eyes sparkle as they discover and explore the world is her inspiration. Her philosophies on education stem from nurturing that creativity and openness. She finds it inspiring and fulfilling to be part of a team that shares the belief that early education is about discovery, getting your hands dirty and making learning just plain fun. The joy flowing through the rooms at Pine Village is contagious and she is honored to be tasked with sharing this energy with the Brighton school.
