Summary

General Info

Question to director: Do you have any additional thoughts on what parents should consider when looking at your school? Is there any advice that you would like to provide to prospective parents?
Our curriculum is tailored to the developmental needs of the children we serve. We take our cues from the interest and abilities of our children.

Parent #1
Our son, whose in 1st grade now, attended Peter's Place for 2 years before we moved to the peninsula. He absolutely loved it and so did we. It was such a warm and loving environment for him. He felt so comfortable there from Day 1. He is such a caring individual and we feel that Peter's Place had lots to do with it. Thank you Peter's Place!!!

Parent #2
My two sons have thrived at this school. The teachers instill each child with a sense of self, a love of school and crucial conflict-resolution skills so that they are ready to head off to kindergarten.

Parent #3
Warm environment focused on social and emotionjal development of kids.

Parent #4
I feel so lucky that my daughters have been able to attend Peter's Place for so many reasons. The environment is clean, safe, developmentally appropriate and the teachers are simply outstanding. The small child to teacher ratio really lends itself to one-on-one attention when needed. The focus on developing social and self-reliant skills is exactly what kids need going into kindergaten. The parents are asked to be involved in the classroom, but we are certainly not over-taxed. They send out one fundraising letter a year, you are asked to support the school if you can, and that's it. The community is diverse, with a common theme of parents who care about their children's education. They assisted with the kindergarten application process, and more than one admissions director told us they felt that Peter's Place was the best preschool in the City. With the help of Peter's Place we were accepted at 4 out of the 5 private schools we applied to. I know that would not have happened if we were not at Peter's Place.

Parent #5
I cannot think of any area Peter's Place needs to improve. It is wonderful and we have been so happy.

Parent #6
The best part has been the wonderful families with whom we have formed friendships. While I agree with the school that it's important to have children connecting outside of school, I think there is a little too much pressure to have extra play dates. I think they sometimes forget that each family is doing the best they can to do what works for them and sometimes schedules just don't allow for those extra get-togethers, especially for families with multiple children. I fully appreciate and agree with their play-based philosophy, especially in this day and age where kids are being pushed to learn too much too fast. I think their emphasis on developing the social child is extremely important and serves the children well. The teachers at Peter's Place are loving and nurturing and I know that my child is safe and well-cared for while he is there.

Parent #7
Overall, we are very happy with PPNS. I only wish that there was a little more structure. The teachers are magnificent--highly devoted and enthusiastic. I will say that this year (compared to last year) is more structured--with small groups as I mentioned earlier, where the children are required to sit and engage in a specific activity. This has been great for my daughter.

Parent #8
The strengths are in it's socially based curriculum, variety of developmentally appropriate toys and activities, and it's AMAZING teachers.

School Philosophy & Day in the Life

School Philosophy and Mission

Mission Statement: In a warm and supportive setting, Peter's Place values the uniqueness of each child and his or her family. Peter's Place fosters a strong connection among children and teachers based on respect and a humane regard for others. We cultivate opportunities for engaging the mind, self-discovery and empowerment, which lead to an understanding of how to navigate the world with success. Our program is designed to foster each child's emotional, social, expressive, cognitive, and physical development:

Emotional
We believe that the emotions that children experience are complex. Therefore we sustain the quality of our listening, taking the time and making the effort to attend closely, understand and respond appropriately to children. We are empathetic, respectful and compassionate in our relationships with children. We do this to help children develop these positive traits and to resist the influences of hurtfulness, prejudice and hatred in this imperfect world.

Social
We define and respect each child as a unique individual who has been and continues to be influenced by their family life, the community in which they live, their cultural heritage and their experiences. Moreover, we value the contribution that each child and each family make to the diversity of our school community and the educational experience we provide. We support children in discovering who they are, developing self-respect and learning to respect others.

Expressive
We believe that children develop expressive skills when they are exposed to a variety of activities that foster language and literacy through meaningful experiences, that encourage communication with adults and other children and that allow for a range of answers and opinions. We believe that children benefit from daily opportunities for aesthetic and creative expression through dance, dramatic play, music and a variety of art media.

Cognitive
We believe that young children learn through play, exploration, and problem solving rather than relying on rote memorization. Therefore we assure that children feel supported and emotionally safe in trying out new opportunities for creative and cognitive growth. We value the learning process and progress toward greater maturity and mastery. We believe that children develop at different rates and that they learn in a variety of ways; we respect and respond to these differences.

Physical
We believe that children need daily opportunities to develop both fine and gross motor skills; therefore our schedule balances indoor and outdoor times, self-directed play with teacher-directed activities and allows for a variety of physical experiences.

Typical Day-In-The-Life At This School

The following is the basic structure of each class and is modified as needed:

As each child enters the classroom, he will be warmly welcomed by the teachers. He will be allowed to follow his/her interests during the free play segment of the day. During this time, children are fully engaged with open ended activities, playing either in the classroom or in the outside area with their peers. Teachers are readily available to give the social and emotional support that young children need when navigating through their world.

Meeting time is followed by clean-up and then circle time.

Following circle time, children transition to table top activities.

This is then followed by outside free play time and then the final story of the day.

The Pre-Kindergarten class provides a slightly more structured schedule featuring many (still play-based) activities designed to prepare the children for kindergarten.

Curriculum & Teaching Approach

Quality of Teaching

Home School Connection

Discipline, Health and Safety

Ages, Schedule & Tuition

Application & Admissions

Kindergarten Placement & Tips