By Susan Payne
There’s a lot of history to love at the reader-voted best preschool in Brentwood.
Brentwood Sunshine Preschool was founded in 1941 during World War II, a once standalone colonial Brentwood home converted into a school. While fathers were called to war, women needed childcare to bolster the economy and provide for their families.
To date, the school has had three family owners. The latest owners, siblings Alison, Erin and John Cornyn, inherited the school after their mother, Rita Cornyn, who dedicated 44 years of her life educating children at Sunshine, passed away in November of 2020.
“My mom loved to say, the most important thing to instill in children is a love for learning. If they have a love for learning, that will carry them on for years to come. We are honored to continue her legacy and be voted among readers with such high distinction,” said John Cornyn.
Sunshine Preschool works to foster a strong sense of self in its preschool-aged students by encouraging confidence and independence, self-expression, persistence and resilience, and social awareness and compassion. The school hosts 14 fulltime teachers, three administrators and welcomed educator Sophie Robertson as the head of schoolfive years ago.
“We have wonderful teachers and we’ve been fortunate to have generations of families that have trusted our care and curriculum,” John said.
Before settling in LA, John obtained a double master’s in special education and social work from Bank Street College and Columbia University in New York. After working in his respective fields for some time, he joined his mother at Sunshine in 2006.
As a fulltime teacher at Sunshine, he’s implemented enrichment activities to help children develop compassionate hearts and inclusivity as they take on the world.
“In my puppet shows, I include special needs characters, so kids can look outwardly and try to be more inclusive, but also introspectively, they can realize their own strengths and areas of need,” John said. “We also celebrate the rich diversity of many cultures through enrichment events like Diwali, the Lunar New Year or Dia De Los Muertos.”
Throughout the year, Sunshine works with Proyecto Pastoral, a nonprofit in Boyle Heights at Delores Mission. Sunshine helps raise contributions for the nonprofit and collects Thanksgiving meal donations for the families of that community. “My mom started the tradition of helping other schools, it’s become part of who we are. We will continue doing this for years to come,” John said.
