Ok, I guess I am going to ask the same question everyone wants to know. I would love to find a good Preschool for my daughter. We moved from Florida where she had a great school that went from 9-3. I will be working here so I need a school full day, but I do not want to sacrifice her learning experience. Any suggestions or warnings would be greatly appreciated.
I have to preface by stating that I am a little biased. I am the chairperson of my children's preschool's Preschool Advisory Committee and have been very involved in the program the last year and a half. My daughter has been attending for the last three years, and my 2 1/2 year old has been going since he was 5 months old.
The program is Small Wonders Child Development Center at Campbell United Methodist church (by the YMCA on Republic Road). We offer a full- and part-time program for infants to pre-K. We have a total of 10 classrooms, each with a low teacher to child ratio.
The daily schedules are comprised of learning and play activities indoors and out, designed to stimulate social, cognitive and motor development. Even the infant room has activities such as sign language and music. The pre-K classes have field trips each month, to places like the zoo, the Discovery Center, and a pumpkin patch. Fridays are used as "enrichment" days, with activities such as dance, Stretch n Grow, Spanish, computers and Musikgarten.
Care is offered from 6:30 am to 6pm, with the "preschool" portion of the day running from 9am to 1pm. Flexible scheduling is offered, with four options: just preschool (9 to 1), preschool with "early birds" (early drop off as early as 6:30 am), preschool with "cat nappers" (late pickup as late as 3:30), or all-day. In addition, families can choose which days they would like to attend (based on availability).
Clearly, I think the program is great. I love our teachers and our directors, and my kids have learned so much. We are in the midst of parent and teacher surveys, and some of the comments include: (from parents) "I think the program is outstanding!" and "It makes me as a parent glad to know (my daughter) is having such fun learning. Thank you for giving her such a great start!" and (from teachers)"I'm very happy here. I hope I can stay for a long time." and "I love the positive environment and being with the children."
So, that's my 2 cents (or 2 dollars!) worth. Hope it's helpful! You can find out more about the program at www.campbellumc.org and by clicking on Ministries, then Small Wonders.