La Petite Academy

After moving away from the Exton area, we tried 3 different «schools» in Delaware County, ranging from $ 900/​month to $ 1600/​month. A year and half later, we brought my child back here to finish out Pre-​k and we drive 30 minutes each way. This school is truly the best environment we’ve found for the following reasons:
1) They truly do treat each child as an individual, and more importantly, VALUE the strengths and work to improve the weaknesses of your child. With LPA I had regular detailed conversations with my child’s pre-​K teacher about my child’s progress and my child’s confidence improved immensely with her guidance. She had more insight into my child’s personality than all the other teachers at the 3 other «schools» combined. The other schools I tried either paid lip service to that or didn’t bother hiding the fact that they weren’t interested in actually helping your child develop and were just babysitters paid to teach your kid to write their letters.
2) LPA’s program has more than routine, it has structure. They also focus on building the emotional and social skills of the kids, with the AMAZING pre-​k teacher focusing on easing the transition to kindergarten. Every other school I tried expected that the kids automatically met all social and emotional expectations and if they did not, they were punished.
3) The teachers at LPA are engaged with the children. They play with them and observe them and proactively get involved to re-​direct as part of their child development practices. Two out of three of the other schools we attended did not do this.
4) The teachers at LPA are warm and loving. At LPA, the teachers, many of whom have been there for YEARS, love these kids. All the kids. They don’t show favorites. They hug, they kiss, they playfully engage. You would think that any school who caters to toddlers and pre-​k kids would hire teachers like this, right? Wrong, at least not the three other schools we tried where teachers were no more than cordial, some even surly.
I couldn’t ask for better care for my child. My child thrived and blossomed while attending preschool and then pre-​K here. My child’s time here has been so successful that we’ll continue here with their extended day kindergarten program.