Preschools

[Anonymous]

Looking into private preschools. From personal experience, what would you recommend? Teacher-led or pure play based?

[Anonymous]

All schools and children have unique personalities. You should check them out and see which one feels like the best fit for your child.

[Anonymous]

The best advice I ever got was you should be able to get there by foot and stroller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best advice I ever got was you should be able to get there by foot and stroller.

I would say bus plus under 5 minute walk is great too. Then they can walk with you and you don't have to worry about the stroller.

[Anonymous]

For preschool, don't think of it as childcare. Think of it as practice school. We thought a mix of play and inspiration was an ideal combo. There is plenty of time for academics later and in their free time.

[Anonymous]

The majority of preschools have a mix of teacher-led activities and play based activities in a structured setting (formal curriculum). The biggest differential would be child-led activities in an unstructured setting (Montessori school).

[Anonymous]

Ditto to what others said. Look at those within a close distance to you, and tour them - you may not know what you want or don't want, or which program type bed fits your kid - until you see it.

As an unconnected family whose kids went to a "TT" preschool, pick the school that fits your family best, not necessarily the one that is coveted by the masses.

Be aware that many of the "TT" programs are stuffed to the gills with siblings and legacies, almost all of whom will get priority for the open K/ongoing spots - the schools sometimes brag about their exmissions statistics, without noting the high percentages of siblings and legacies.

At my children's preschool, there was a (different) school each year that was not going to accept any other kids (except URM) because there were already so many siblings or legacies to admit.

Also, some people at play-based preschools will be tutoring their kids to get that academic element in, if their end desire is a private ongoing school. Plenty of us who didn't do it, but it adds an element of crazy in that you may not be expecting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Be aware that many of the "TT" programs are stuffed to the gills with siblings and legacies, almost all of whom will get priority for the open K/ongoing spots - the schools sometimes brag about their exmissions statistics, without noting the high percentages of siblings and legacies.

At my children's preschool, there was a (different) school each year that was not going to accept any other kids (except URM) because there were already so many siblings or legacies to admit.

I've been told that at most schools the sibling/legacy process is separate from the regular pool process and that a specific preschool's concentration in one won't affect someone's chances in the other.

[Anonymous]

Many preschools have gone downhill since 3-K and pre-K (public) have become common- the private preschools do not have as many applications or ability to choose their classes. We went through 3s and 4s with our second child and it was way different at the same preschool as their sibling went. There were problem kids (ok, maybe a consequence of the pandemic) both years that took up a lot of the teachers' time. From what I can tell, the gold standard in the Upper East is Garden House (we didnt go there), traditional and does very well with the reading and writing and it shows up in the exmissions.

[Anonymous]

Is a 2s program necessary if you're ultimately interested in private k? can we just do 3s and 4s? I notice most of the feeder schools start at 2...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is a 2s program necessary if you're ultimately interested in private k? can we just do 3s and 4s? I notice most of the feeder schools start at 2...

It's hard enough to get a spot in a good pre-school if you apply at the beginning, so you may not got the preschool you wanted. Not the end of the world, but also the school and teachers will have less history with your child and your family. Their recommendation is important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is a 2s program necessary if you're ultimately interested in private k? can we just do 3s and 4s? I notice most of the feeder schools start at 2...

The process starts earlier with pre-nursery classes (under 2) that build up to preschool. It is easier for a child to assimilate into a classroom setting and pass the assessment if they have prior experience.

[Anonymous]

I would say no given how easy it is to get into many programs today. The reason the schools have more 2s programs now is because they had to go to the younger market to offset the losses to public 3-K and pre-K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say no given how easy it is to get into many programs today. The reason the schools have more 2s programs now is because they had to go to the younger market to offset the losses to public 3-K and pre-K.

Many private schools have their own nursery division that compete with preschools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ditto to what others said. Look at those within a close distance to you, and tour them - you may not know what you want or don't want, or which program type bed fits your kid - until you see it.

As an unconnected family whose kids went to a "TT" preschool, pick the school that fits your family best, not necessarily the one that is coveted by the masses.

Be aware that many of the "TT" programs are stuffed to the gills with siblings and legacies, almost all of whom will get priority for the open K/ongoing spots - the schools sometimes brag about their exmissions statistics, without noting the high percentages of siblings and legacies.

At my children's preschool, there was a (different) school each year that was not going to accept any other kids (except URM) because there were already so many siblings or legacies to admit.

Also, some people at play-based preschools will be tutoring their kids to get that academic element in, if their end desire is a private ongoing school. Plenty of us who didn't do it, but it adds an element of crazy in that you may not be expecting.

Interesting. One of the preschools I was looking at is Madison Avenue Presbyterian, which is Reggio. It seemed very different than a more traditional preschool, like Garden House as mentioned by another poster. Ultimately, I'd like to apply to schools like HM, Trinity, Riverdale, etc, down the road. Would I need to supplement the Reggio preschool with more academics? I thought they learn their numbers and letters through play, rather than drills and worksheets.