When the Los Alamos Branch of the American Association of University Women was organized in June 1950, it was one of the first study groups formed focused on learning about the development of the young child. As a result, in February of 1951, a playgroup was formed with children from one to five years of age. This class of fifteen children met in a public school kindergarten room on Saturday mornings with all mothers participating. The charge was ten cents per session for juice and supplies.  The playgroup grew and by 1959 had classes and teachers, assisted by mother helpers. In 1962 AAUW Playschool rented a two-classroom building from the public schools and in 1964 formed a separate board of directors, with one member providing liaison with the AAUW Board. Enrollment was then 145 children attending once or twice a week with fees of $1.45 per class. In 1968 Playschool moved into its present building, the vacant Little Forest Elementary School, renting it annually from the public schools.   Playschool initiated its first extended care classroom in 1978 in response to the need of a growing number of families with both parents working outside the home, while retaining a variety of parent helper, preschool classes. Over the years, the extended care program has grown with the needs of the community, adding a full summer program in 1981 and an after-kindergarten class that same fall.   Throughout these years Playschool was sponsored and directed by AAUW. In late summer of 1987, the Playschool Corporation met and voted to separate from AAUW and change Playschool’s name to Little Forest Playschool. Little Forest Playschool became a separate and independent corporation, retaining its status as a non-profit, parent cooperative preschool and childcare center. Since then, Little Forest Playschool has continued to grow with the community needs. In 2013, LFP became a part of a pilot program called FOCUS. We were one of 15 centers in NM to be involved in shaping the state's quality improvement rating system. We gained our 3 STAR in May 2014, 4 STAR in May 2015 and in June 2016 we gained our final and highest 5 STAR. We have maintained our 5 STAR status every year and we are the only 5 STAR school in Los Alamos and White Rock. In 2014, the half day preschool room was converted to an all-day 3-5 year old room. As things continued to change, we recognized the need for the younger age group. In 2016, we added 18 month olds. In 2017 we added 12 month olds. Finally, we opened our infant room in Jan 2020 and this completed our age groups (6 weeks thru 5 years old).