Leesburg preschool- Destiny School of the Arts

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know anything about the Destiny School of the Arts in Leesburg. We are relocating there and I am interested in hearing any experiences with their preschool.
Thanks. Any other suggestions would also be welcome.

[Anonymous]

Destiny preschool while once a good place is under new direction. My kids went there going on 3 years but after a new director came in, she kicked my children out of the only school they have known because she had an unpleasant interaction with me. I was the second family to be threatened in the 3 weeks she has been there. How horrible for the kids. There are to many preschools out there that put children first I would not recommend.

[Anonymous]

We love Destiny School of The Arts! My son entered the 3s program for the 2014/2015 school year when the school moved into their gorgeous new home and came under new direction. He has thrived! He was an extremely young 3 with late development of his speaking skills. His speech took off within a month of enrollment. In addtion to being terrific educators, with planned curriculum, we have found all of the teachers and staff to be extremely loving and affectionate. The use of movement, dance, and art to encourage learning has been so fantastic that we've continued our son's enrollment in DSOA's summer camps and look forward to the upcoming 2015/16 school year. He is excited to attend school every day. An added bonus: DSOA has kiss-n-drop carpool. So if I want to drop him off or pick-up in my pj's, I can! This is especially convenient when you have other little ones (still in car seats) that need to stay in the car.

[Anonymous]

Director is terrible, choose a different preschool based on this. She is not capible of running a school and with it being family ran there is no holding her accountable.

[Anonymous]

We are absolutely delighted with Destiny. Our daughter absolutely loves her school, her teachers, and her classmates. We are especially impressed with the commitment and care that the staff shows every child.

[Anonymous]

Stay away. It is unprofessional and their curriculum seems to be something they made up on their own, not a licensed school and it shows. I would choose public school or Montessori.

[Anonymous]

My daughter goes there, and it has been the best school ever for her. The new director has been there for about 18 months, and has turned the school into an incredibly professional educational institution. I am very familiar with local schools in the area and Destiny School of the Arts is one of the best.

[Anonymous]

We are very impressed. Our daughter, who just turned 4, came into Destiny with a very limited vocabulary and significant issues with shyness. She is now a bubbly, happy little girl who laughs, sings, talks (and talks and talks). She has developed meaningful relationships with her peers and with her teachers. We have discovered amazing artistic talent since she has been exposed to so many creative and unusual art projects, not normally introduced to such young children.

[Anonymous]

My daughter has been attending Destiny School of the Arts for 3 years now, and I couldn't be happier with her progress and development. She has grown academically, socially, and artistically. The strong emphasis on kindness and individualized academic instruction has been most impressive to me. My daughter is given the chance to create beautiful art and music, work in the garden and explore the grounds, and learn Spanish among other things. I have also been wowed by the attentive, kind, and responsive teachers and staff.

[Anonymous]

We have two kids there for 2 years now that absolutely love it. I'd encourage people doing research to check out things like Facebook, yelp, etc - anyplace that does not have anonymous posting. Hard to tell if you have 3 negative reviews or one vindictive parent trolling. You can also go to the school and meet the teachers, staff and be put in touch with parents of actual students. In short make an informed decision. The reviews here do not marry up at all to our experience and interactions.

This school offers a lot - personal attention bc of small class sizes, great teachers, combination of movement, languages and art. My kids are thriving there. We highly recommend. Our kids are staying there instead of the overcrowded local public schools.

[Anonymous]

We do! We are so grateful for a school focused on giving kids the absolute best in teachers, academics, creativity, and environment. In addition to beautiful and inviting classrooms, Destiny routinely provides outdoor exploration unlike any other school in our area. Our son can’t wait to get to school every day and is always filled with excitement to share and demonstrate the incredible things he learns (even basketball, volleyball, the names of the bones in the body!). When plant science was taught this year, he was outdoors with his hands in the school garden learning about germination. The small classroom size has enabled our son to not only excel in core academics, but learn to read music, play piano by ear, and paint like Monet, Pollack, and many others. The level of genuine passion for children and learning is felt every day at Destiny. With out a doubt, this school is having a positive impact on our son that will be felt for a lifetime! We do not know how we lucked into finding this gem of school right here in our town. Highly recommend! Amazing!

[Anonymous]

Stay away. The administration of the school is totally unprofessional with the lack of experience as administrators in full display. No set curriculum. It is almost as if the school is a “hobby” of the owners rather than being a fully functional educational institution. Very high turnover in teachers is never a good sign. And it appears to be administratively top heavy. A Director, a principal, and administrative deans for a school of less than 200 students seems a bit much.