Nurturing Preschool Recommendations
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Anonymous
My daughter was there 6 years ago (so this isn't super recent) but we really loved it. Really child-focused, work as a team with parents to deal with issues, great at helping kids learn basic skills like - putting on and taking off their outdoor gear... They set the bar so high in terms of knowing and loving my kids, it was hard to go off to MCPS and the kindergarten business as usual. I credit the NP for instilling a lifelong (well, so far, anyway!  ) love of the outdoors. I am NOT an outdoorsy person by a long stretch, but I now see how incredibly calming it is to go for a walk in nature. If the kids are cranky, just go on a "hike" (these are always easy walks in the woods, to be honest), and they come out the other hand sort of re-set. They love turning over logs and pointing things out, and they challenge themselves with walking on logs and climbing trees and stuff. It's really really cool. And I am NOT a super eco-crunchy-bf forever-type mom. But it is seriously the best place for kids, and now I think I have a different relationship to nature as a result. Super insanely highly recommend.... so long as you don't need too much care, and if you do, you have a nanny/sitter who can help out - there are a LOT of days off.
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Anonymous
| I think NCRC is NW DC is the most nurturing place on earth. It’s truly an amazing, special place! |
Anonymous
Oh hi other Spring bilingual family! 👋😁 Also very happy SBMA but agreed. PreK is only 2 years, maybe 3 max so it probably makes more sense to move for an elementary school. |
Anonymous
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We liked the Hill Preschool (on the Hill, obviously) and really like Capitol Hill in terms of being a great place to raise kids. But agree that your question is too broad, OP. Would you really consider any neighborhood in DC and the Maryland or Virginia suburbs if you liked the preschool? It really feels like a backwards way to approach. Do you have a housing budget? Do you prefer a row house or a detached home? Do you want to be near restaurant and other commercial options or are you okay being in a more residential area? Etc. I just can't imagine making a PK the first criteria. Local public schools or proximity to a preferred private -- yes. But not preschools. There are lots of good, nurturing preschools in the area and most family-friendly neighborhoods (and even many family unfriendly neighborhoods) will have an option or two for you.
Oh, and I've also heard great things about the Audobon school. We looked into summer camp there but it didn't work out because of commute. |
Anonymous
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I highly recommend Waterfront Academy. My children go there and they have been loved and cared for by the teachers and staff. They have been flexible to meet the needs through the pandemic. They just moved to a great location. AND they go through middle school.
https://www.waterfrontacademy.org |
Anonymous
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I vote this for the dumbest thread ever. Would any parent NOT think their preschool was nurturing? And if they did not, would they keep their child there and recommend it?
There are thousands of children in thousands of preschools all over the DMV - I would posit that most parents would say that their preschool is nurturing. You want to pick a preschool that is close to where you live or work. One that you can easily afford. One that has openings up your child's age group. One that is nurturing for your child (who is different than every other child out there). |
Anonymous
thanks for your opinion and time, but that's not what the question was. and no, not all preschools are nurturing, just tour a few and you can see a huge difference. but thanks again. |
Anonymous
I had a child at GDS and I would NOT describe it as remotely nurturing. Very nice academics and cool programs but by far the least warm nurturing experience we had in early childhood education. We made a different choice for our younger child as a result. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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I would look into these schools:
NCRC River School St Columba’s Little Folks DCJCC School for Friends (not sure how they are doing now. Have had high teacher turnover! Used to have amazing teachers but note sure if current head is able to recruit great teachers) |
Anonymous
LOL I was thinking the same thing The flipside of this thread: "Labor camp-like preschool recommendations" |
Anonymous
I also hate this thread, and not just for the above reasons (but also +1). It's also just one of those threads where the OP thinks she's being open minded but is just being incredibly controlling. Of course she is not actually going to move to a neighborhood just for the preschool. What she's actually doing is just polling DCUM on preschools they like and then will instantly dismiss a bunch of them because they are in neighborhoods she would never consider living in. So she's asking people to provide her with names of preschools and descriptions of why they liked them even though she's almost certainly only going to look at a handful of the ones suggested on here. It's rude. We love our preschool but I don't work for OP and I'm not super invested in someone's preschool search when there's only like a 10% chance she will even look at our school beyond checking a map to see if it's in one of her desired neighborhoods, which you know she obviously has. |
Anonymous
| Temple Sinai Nursery School in CCDC is super warm and nurturing. There are a lot of neighborhood kids who aren’t Jewish that attend. My kids loved the school. All the teachers are fantastic. |