Kindergarten Readiness Programs in Hell's Kitchen

RoseHill Montessori is truly special. The teachers come from wonderfully diverse backgrounds, yet share a common thread — they are deeply caring, remarkably hands-on, and endlessly creative. The arts and crafts program is simply the best we've seen — creative and simple, using nature and household objects in fun ways. Every day there are 3-4 new stations with teachers at the tables working actively with the children. This is the opposite of unsupervised dramatic play! The outdoor situation exceeded our expectations. Coming from a preschool with neighborhood walking trips every few days, we thought we'd miss that — we don't. They have two private outdoor spaces so the kids get meaningful time outside every single day, even between bouts of rain. It's a quintessential Montessori experience combined with NYC artistic energy. The mix of warmth, imagination, and intentional learning makes it such a stimulating place for our little one. She loves it. Thank you, Craig and Robert!

Preschool of the Arts @ Gramercy Park is a wonderful early learning center with caring teachers and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. The programs are creative, engaging, and well-structured, helping children build confidence and skills through play and art. Safe environment and excellent communication with parents. Highly recommended.

Our kid went to My Little Village for two years and just really blossomed while there. Very soon after she got there, the teachers let us know both explicitly and implicitly how hard they were trying to get to know her as a whole human being and, by the end of that first year, they had shown us so much of what she needed and was capable of that we might not have known otherwise. It is also very much a family business in a wonderful way, in that every staff member gets to know each child, and the staff seems to interface with each other in productive, caring, cooperative ways, which creates a great environment for the kids. An unexpected added perq is the community that grows around the school, with lots of nurturance from the staff and especially from Mandy and Amy. We were so grateful to form a loving, caring bubble of parents and kids that revolve around MLV. The activities are varied and stimulating, and the graduation events are truly moving. Since our kid has graduated, she's been invited back for events for recent alumni, and she counts several of her MLV buddies (now distributed at different schools) to be dear, dear friends. That level of emotional security and engagement for these very young humans is really what helps them to thrive, but they also receive a lot of well planned intellectual and especially artistic and musical stimulation. We really feel our kid thrived in her years at MLV and that we thrived there along with her.

The best

Playgarden played such a beautiful and critical role in the development and connectedness of our friends and family. We had a full playground membership for years with our first child, and he met so many friends there that came to be lifelong connections. My daughter went to Playgarden Prep and thrived — looking forward to everyday. They both took classes there, and the recitals are some of our absolute favorite moments and memories. The staff is unbelievably attentive, full of life, fun and engaging. Even though my kids are older now, they still see Playgarden as such a loving place that shaped them. Can’t even express how much this experience has meant to us and would highly recommend it.