$100 Discount for Multiple Children
Classes for Everyone
Our days at Downtown Prep are filled with fun, games, music, art, Spanish, hands on learning, and outdoor exploring. We feel lucky to be located in the heart of the city of trees.
We believe children learn best through experience. Those experiences may be going to a museum, walking to the Basque block to tour buildings and taste Basque food, having a tour of Metro Station and then riding a bus around town, cooling off in the fountain on the Grove on a hot day, or visiting the Capitol or the Post Office for a tour. It may consist of having Community Helpers visit the school to tell the children about their jobs, or having the Reptile Zoo come give us a lesson on snakes and alligators. The lessons may be as simple as engineering with marshmallows and toothpicks, or building volcanos with baking soda and vinegar.
Some of our best lessons are taught through service. We focus on taking care of ourselves, our Earth, and others. Your preschooler will learn how, and use all methods of recycling, reducing, and reusing. We have an urban garden that we start from seed in the spring, and harvest in the fall. We have drives for food, coats, and toys, and learn about why we are doing them at the same time. We pick up litter or rake leaves when needed. We talk about oral hygiene, exercise, and healthy diets as a way to keep our own bodies healthy. No matter how we learn, or what we are learning, it will be fun!
We do not have a kitchen to cook food on site, so all children's lunches should be brought from home. We do have a microwave for heating food. In preschool we have a rotating calendar for children to bring in snack. It works out to each child supplying snack about once a month. The rotating calendar is for morning snack. The school provides the afternoon snack.
Every child will receive a Downtown Prep water bottle labeled with their name. These will be kept at school to eliminate the need for you to remember to bring it back each day. We use all washable plates, bowls, and utensils so there is no need to bring in paper products on your snack day.
What's Included?
Ones and Twos:
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Wipes
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Snacks
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Personal crib and sheets
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Small size for personal attention
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Sleep and eating schedule
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A directory of CPR/ First Aid certified babysitters
Preschool:
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Play Based Learning
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Free field trips and experiences
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Small class sizes
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Fully vaccinated staff
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Individualized learning
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1/3rd of the day outdoors
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A directory of CPR/ First Aid certified babysitters
Our nursery is a room filled with love. Our nursery teachers love the babies they care for like their own. They spend their days singing with, reading too, and playing on the floor with the babies.
When our babies begin the journey to Kindergarten in this room they begin as infants. We always follow parent's wishes when it comes to nap schedules, feeds, pacifiers, when to start solids, etc.
Our teachers are amazing at getting the babies on a great schedule if you allow. As infants your baby will go on walks every day to get fresh air. As they grown they will play in parks, on our playground, and go on short walks. We are here to help you every step of the way! When your baby is two they will graduate to their first preschool class. The nursery has a maximum of 6 babies and two teachers.
Hours and Rates:
M-F 8am-6pm $1300
Once your baby is two they will graduate into the preschool portion of our school. This is a big step for toddlers and one that they are ready for by the age of two.
This classroom focuses mostly on social emotion health, sensory, and imaginary play. Children make huge growth in independence during this year. They learn to hang up their coats and bags, how to get their lunch boxes at lunch time, clear the table when they are done, and start to put their own shoes on. This is the year that potty training takes place. We do not initiate potty training but when you are ready, we are here to fully support your efforts.
By the end of this year children have formed bonds with other children, and learned to share, communicate their feelings, and also begin to recognize letters, numbers, shapes, and their names.
Our 2/3s nap for 1-2 hours per day.
Hours and Rates:
M-F 8am-6pm- $1200
M-F 9am-3pm- $1100
As children enter our 3/4s classroom they are ready to begin focusing on academic growth alongside social emotional growth. Children of this age still have trouble sharing, some still have separation anxiety at drop off, and may need reminders to use their words and express what they are feeling.
However children make such growth during this year. They make buddies, attend each others birthday parties, go on play dates, etc.
In this class we really start focusing on learning our letters and numbers by sight and sound or value. We work on patterns, rhyming, and the science behind many things around us.
They work on fine motor skills, and tripod strength needed for cutting and writing.
Our school's philosophy is to always make learning fun! Just ask any one of our students and they will tell you, we always have fun!
To enroll in this class children must be potty trained.
Children in this class do not take naps but do have quiet story time after lunch recess.
Hours and Rates:
8am-6pm- $1200
9am-3pm- $1100
The last year of our school is Pre-K. From day one of this class we are preparing your child to be more than ready to enter Kindergarten the following fall. This doesn't mean that we don't have fun. All of our learning is done in fun ways using games, songs, manipulatives, and other out of the box methods.
In their last year children will master letter recognition, sounds, and penmanship, they will learn addition and subtraction to 20, counting to 100, skip counting, rhymes, syllables, shapes, patterns, sentence structure and much more.
When we aren't learning traditional skills we are out on daily adventures! You will find our class riding the bus to Eagle Rock Park, MK Nature Center, walking to the Grove, JUMP, the Capitol, CW Moore, just to name a few. We learn about our city hands on.
The year ends with an adorable graduation celebration. Children are welcome to continue school through the summer leading up to Kindergarten.
Hours and Rates:
8am-6pm- $1200
9am-3pm- $1100
* We fully understand that there are some children who are very mature and academically ahead for their age, and others who may need to be with younger kids to fit in best. If your child fits into one of these categories, we ask that you schedule a day for your child to spend a day at our school. Our teachers can often tell after just a short time if your child needs to be in a classroom outside of the age guidelines we have set.
Let's Work Together
If you are in need of excellent childcare but need a break on tuition, we can help each other. If you are available to come in the last hour of operation to clean and sanitize, your child's tuition will be reduced by 15%. You may pass this discount on to anyone of your choosing. If you are available M-F from 5-6 or 6-7, please email us for more information.