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[quote=Anonymous]While we went in with high hopes, we had a disappointing experience at Adas Israel.  Our son started when he was two years old.

We were very impressed with the school's leadership -- particularly director Noah Hichenberg, who has a PhD in early childhood education -- and were told great things about the Child Development director, Stephanie Slater.  Both were very accessible, warm and highly informed during our experience.

Alas, that caliber of professional did not translate to the classroom. Both of our son's teachers were first-time preschool teachers. Communication with parents was spotty; we got an email every 2-3 days from his teachers, and we'd get a phone call when he got injured at school. We felt the floater, substitute teachers were more qualified than the core teachers. In short, Adas felt like a glorified Jewish daycare, lacking intentional programming for child development, with teachers who were there for the paycheck rather than the love of teaching and being with toddlers.  The preschool is also quite expensive, at ~$20k per year for five-day-per-week, 8-5 care, for 9 months of the year.

That said, Adas does have some positive attributes, for sure. The head of the school and Child Development Director, Noah and Stephanie, are terrific. It's an extremely inclusive culture -- and the inclusivity is palpable. Diversity of discussed and encouraged. Class sizes are small, drop-off is laid back, and parents are able to arrive within a 30-minute window every day, as well as welcomed to hang out in the classroom for a few minutes before heading off to work. No potty training required, no Kosher food required (though the school is pareve). Uniquely, the school has an in-house child evaluation center with some of the city's best pediatric specialists on retainer. Security is strong -- doors are locked except during drop off, and there is security to get into the parking lot as well as into the school.

When our son started his next preschool, we realized the full extent of what we were missing. 
We are now at a school that is pro-active in letting parents know about programming in advance, where teachers are very experienced and clearly love young children, where teachers communicate with parents daily, and where the school hosts numerous back-to-school events for families to meet each other and identify common activities/needs in the first month of school.

I'm afraid the reputation of Adas of being hit-or-miss depending on teacher quality was our experience. [/quote]

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