Children’s Corner

I just went on a tour and took my daughter back for a parent/​child visit. This is the school we love the most out of the 10+ schools that we visited, due to many reasons (and most of them the other reviewers have mentioned). To the one that gave 2 stars: all schools that we visited give group tour. Our initial thought was the same as how kids would react to strangers. Fact is, they could care less. None of them even paid attention. When we did our parent/​child visit, the kids were even eager to come and play with us. I think the staffs here are wonderful and will try to accommodate you the best they can.
Unfortunately, there is no space for our 2 year-​old daughter to join yet so we are on the waitlist

We love Children’s Corner. Staff turnover is extremely rare… this says a lot about the school. The teachers are gentle, calm, observant and nurturing. The office staff is wonderful, nice, pleasant and always helpful. The parents in our class are a wonderful group of people and so nice. The activities and programs our young ones engage in are fun, creative and educational, but not too rigorous or strict. Children should be allowed to explore, learn and play freely and that’s what Children’s Corner offers. We love it here.

We are so happy with this school! We enrolled our son in the Young Fives (Clark House) program this past August and he has absolutely thrived and has only been there a few months. He comes home telling us how much he loves school. There are only 8 kids in his class but it can go up to 12. They have 2 full time teachers and often times there is a 3^rd teacher helping out. This means the students get a ton of 1:1 attention. The teachers are absolutely passionate about what they do — it’s evident within 10 minutes of talking to them. The curriculum is extremely well-​rounded — Spanish, art, animals, sports, story-​telling (the kids, not just the teachers!), math, writing, etc. We feel so lucky to have found this program and have no doubt our child will be more than ready for Kindergarten when the time comes.

I love this place. I love the staff, I love the teachers, I love the families, I love the schedule, I love the flexibility, I love the curriculum, I love the location, I love that it goes all year round, etc etc.
(Incidentally, it’s the only preschool I know of where the kids aren’t constantly succumbing to whatever bug was being stewed in that week’s petrie dish of germs. No one is EVER sick, so see it is possible.)

Read other reviews and wanted to love this place, but I just met with a very flippant Membership Administrator. I want a preschool that is staffed by kind, considerate, compassionate, loving persons. I didn’t find the Children’s Corner Membership Administrator (JT) to be at all friendly. Basically, they have a wait-​list, and the administrator was only able to schedule a tour for a month from now. She said tours were being put-​off in the interest of the kids (end of one year/​beginning of another), but she also said that they only do group tours. My opinion is that nothing frightens kids like a group of more than six strangers coming into the room at once! FYI, children are not allowed on the tours (which is true with many preschools). Bottom line: if the administrators don’t seem warm and loving, I get concerned about who is choosing the teachers and what the hiring criteria are. Minus three stars for the gatekeeper; I’m providing two stars because I simply don’t know what lies beyond.

I wanted to update this as my son is now coming up to 3 ½ years at Children’s Corner and has been in three of the rooms. He has really blossomed this last year, especially with the Tues/​Thurs afternoon ‘Young Explorer’ program. They study art, science and nature and he can’t get enough of it. I love that he’s still running around outside every day (and comes home covered in sand!), doing art projects and having lots of story time. The children tackle pretty advanced concepts, but in such an age appropriate way that it isn’t stressful, it’s hands on and fun.

I looked at several other preschools and daycares in the area and selected Children’s Corner for several reasons:
1. Extremely low teacher and staff turnover, which says a lot about the type of programs they’re running, the way they hire and retain teachers, and overall management of the school. Some of the head teachers have been there for over 20 years.
2. The environment is very creative, child-​driven, warm and nurturing. My son has been there for over 2 years and each day we walk in and see new, interesting activities or projects, such as building volcanoes, having a Mud day, learning about different countries, and costumes for the characters from children’s books.
3. NAEYC-​accredited, which I didn’t initially think would matter, but looking back on the schools I toured, there was a very clear difference between those that are accredited and those that aren’t, especially in terms of teacher: student ratios, policies and procedures and other classroom and facility standards.
4. The teachers and staff. I mentioned this in #1, but the teachers and staff really make this place amazing. Each of them (and there are quite a few!) has taken the time to develop an individual relationship with my child, and learn about what he likes and doesn’t like. Many times they will mention something they thought because they know my child likes it as a way of starting off the day with him. All of them are very experienced with degrees in child development and have played a huge part in helping my child develop from a shy, scared toddler into a fun, playful, energetic preschooler who’s headed off to kindergarten in the fall.
5. Flexible schedules /​many schedule options. It actually gets a little confusing, because there are so many options, but basically you can do a 2-​, 3– or 5-​day a week schedule, for either mornings, early afternoons, late afternoons, or some combination. You can also purchase additional time and/​or do drop-​ins if there is availability.
We’re looking forward to sending our 2^nd there soon too.

All three of my children have attended Chrildren’s Corner for three years each. I have such a positive feeling about this place. The teachers are extremely caring and treat the children with love and respect. The kids love the curriculum and my two older children came out well prepared for kindergarten — both socially and accademically (my youngest is still there at this writing). The school very much believes in letting kids experiment, play, and get dirty. The daily art projects, experiments, circle time, and outdoor play give kids a nice balance of activities and let them explore so many aspects of the world in a safe environment. The classrooms are well geared to the kids’ developmental level. The equipment/​rooms aren’t shiny and new, but it is all safe and so much fun for the kids. I would recommend Children’s Corner completely.

I’m very pleased with Children’s Corner. The staff truly loves working with kids, and it shows in every aspect of the program — from projects to reading time to free play. There is very little turnover, which is a lot to be said about a school. A unique aspect of the school is that each classroom is able to have their own play yard, yet at times, the kids can mingle with other classrooms. I think it’s fantastic to have play structures that suit each group. Also, the amount of outdoor time is far more than other preschools that I have toured, and something is to be said with allowing kids to have FRESH AIR. My little one is very happy here, and I believe it was the right choice for our family.