Eleanor E. Maccoby, Professor Emerita of Psychology, once described Bing Nursery School as "a national treasure." In 1966, Bing was constructed as a laboratory school with a grant from the National Science Foundation and a gift from Dr. Peter S. Bing and his mother, Mrs. Anna Bing Arnold. The mission of the school is three-fold: to be a model early childhood program serving children and families, to provide a laboratory where Stanford students can learn about child development, and to serve as a research environment in child development for Stanford faculty and graduate students.
Preceding the construction of Bing at its current location, the Department of Psychology had maintained a laboratory nursery school since 1949 at the Stanford Village housing complex (where SRI International is currently located). In the early 1960's the department added the Escondido Village Nursery School in a cottage across the street from Bing. When Bing finally opened in January 1966, the children from these previous schools became our first group of students.
More than 45 years after Bing Nursery School opened its doors, hundreds of studies have taken place at the school that have made the research and reputation of the school known world-wide. Thousands of children have graduated from the school, and currently five percent of the children enrolled in the school have parents who are Bing graduates.