BEWARE! If you are a working parent, stay away from this preschool. I am so disappointed by the wasted year my son spent at this preschool. As we participated in transition over the summer, I was told the hours available could be until 5pm if need be. I planned on staying until 3 and napping there. After being shown the nap room and how it works, I signed up. A few days before school started when I had a pick- up schedule organized, I was told that it was being eliminated because not enough parents signed up. What? I never realized this was even an option. Two other parents out of our small class of 10 kids wanted this nap time as well. I was told it wasn't worth it for them to pay a teacher to watch my son, but they could bring him into the library with older kids and keep him in a stroller. No thank you. Not only is that not acceptable to keep your word on what you sold me on for the integrity of the school, but it is illegal. Nobody in the whole preschool takes a nap? Since I've taken my son out and toured other schools, all of the kids nap and there is a designated nap/rest time for all the kids in the whole school. Probably because it is the LAW. I ended up having to hire a new nanny (since I had now given away mine) and pay another salary on top of preschool.
And as far as communication with parents, the teachers are miserable. I was actually told that if there was a problem, they are not allowed to talk to me. Crazy! I am a teacher and of course that is an integral part of the job, communication with parents. Once in awhile we received a newsletter at the end of the week, if we were lucky. Rarely a picture. They don't have any kind of potty training program in place, any encouragement of social interaction or conflict resolution. My advice for potty training from the teacher was, "put it off as long as possible". I thing that was the worst advice ever. On the bright side, those teachers can tell a good Jewish holiday story and put glitter on a hand print. Personally, I'm looking for more than a glorified babysitter. I want the teachers to interact with the kids in the classroom and on the playground, teach them basic skills to help them grow as little people. These teachers were very lazy and more interested in socializing amongst themselves and doing art projects. I never saw the teachers try to engage with any kids on the yard, but I did see them on their phones. God forbid they got their hands dirty with a diaper, oh no, they bring in designated diaper floaters for that. I was in class once and watched the teacher threaten a little girl with going to the principals office if she didn't stay still in her spot, on the carpet, against the wall. Poor girl was wiggly and laying down because they were asked to sit like soldiers for over 15 minutes watching each other do a task one at a time, on a rainy day. Hello teacher, maybe she is wiggly because she is still 2 and I doubt she understands that going to the principals office is a bad thing. Thank goodness my son is at a new school and it's a different world. The teachers really interact with the kids and are teaching them to play with each other and to use polite words. We are with teachers that are skilled with early childhood and can help guide me if I have a question. It's amazing. My son has grown so much in the past month. I am so regretful taking him to Judea and wasting that crucial, growing year. read more