Providence Nursery School vs. Annandale Coop Preschool

[Anonymous]

Any insights into either Providence Nursery School or Annandale Coop Preschool? We attended open houses for both schools and are having a hard time choosing between the two.

[Anonymous]

Our kids attended Providence Nursery School, and it was a wonderful experience for them. The teachers were so kind and nurturing, we loved the play-based philosophy, and we enjoyed the parent involvement. For context, this was several years ago (pre-pandemic), so I can't speak to current practices, but it looks like a lot of the same staff are still there, which is great! Highly recommend PNS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids attended Providence Nursery School, and it was a wonderful experience for them. The teachers were so kind and nurturing, we loved the play-based philosophy, and we enjoyed the parent involvement. For context, this was several years ago (pre-pandemic), so I can't speak to current practices, but it looks like a lot of the same staff are still there, which is great! Highly recommend PNS!

OP here. Thank you. It's good to hear you had a very positive experience. Did you find the lack of a professional director a concern at all? One difference between the two schools is that at Annandale Coop they have a director with a background in early childhood education who is managing the teachers.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you. It's good to hear you had a very positive experience. Did you find the lack of a professional director a concern at all? One difference between the two schools is that at Annandale Coop they have a director with a background in early childhood education who is managing the teachers.

No, we really didn’t have any concerns about not having a director. We didn’t think about it, honestly, because it was our one and only preschool experience, and the school functioned well. There was a veteran teacher who served as a staff rep/advisor to the parent board, and the board seemed competent, grounded in precedent, and well-run (even as board members cycled off when their kids aged out). I can imagine how that setup could go sour with the wrong people, but that wasn’t our experience; there really was a spirit of camaraderie and cooperation among the families. We were all invested in making it a happy place for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here. Thank you. It's good to hear you had a very positive experience. Did you find the lack of a professional director a concern at all? One difference between the two schools is that at Annandale Coop they have a director with a background in early childhood education who is managing the teachers.

No, we really didn’t have any concerns about not having a director. We didn’t think about it, honestly, because it was our one and only preschool experience, and the school functioned well. There was a veteran teacher who served as a staff rep/advisor to the parent board, and the board seemed competent, grounded in precedent, and well-run (even as board members cycled off when their kids aged out). I can imagine how that setup could go sour with the wrong people, but that wasn’t our experience; there really was a spirit of camaraderie and cooperation among the families. We were all invested in making it a happy place for our kids.

OP here. Thank you so much for your response. We had a great feeling about PNS at the open house, and it's so good to hear that your experience supports the feeling we got while talking to teachers and parents.