Sunny Patch Preschool

As other reviewers have already indicated, Sunny Patch Preschool is fabulous! When my husband and I first started to search for a preschool for our son, we were worried that we weren't going to find a place that met both our expectations AND the personality of our son. Fortunately, our search led us to Sunny Patch. Ms. Jami's K-1 teaching background, combined with her Montessori training and her own creativity, result in a wonderfully balanced program where young students of all personalities and abilities thrive. She's caring, attentive, and fun. As a teacher myself, I really think Ms. Jami gets right to the heart of what preschool is all about. She does the things mentioned by others (themed lessons, progress reports, healthy snacks...), but she does more too! She provides a safe and nurturing environment that focuses heavily on play and socialization. Our son (age 4) is beginning to read, counts to 100, does simple addition and subtraction, and more. However, when we talk about Sunny Patch, he mostly shares the details of what he played with and with whom, what sort of stories he and his friends pretended or what new toy or game Ms. Jami brought out that day. For him, school is simply where he goes to have fun. The fact that he's learning along the way just comes naturally. Our son still has another year at Sunny Patch, and he's just as excited about it as we are!

For those of you looking for a checklist, this is the one we used when searching for our "dream" Preschool. Sunny Patch met everything on our list!

Safe, clean, and secure environment
Small teacher to student ratio
Warm and friendly staff
Stand-alone preschool (not a combo with daycare)
2 to 3 day program
Age-appropriate facilities (toys, seating, bathrooms, etc.)
Large play area (especially outdoor)
Print and language rich learning environment
Wide assortment of manipulatives
Visible evidence of play-based instruction and learning
Differentiated lessons
Open parent-teacher communication
A place our son would feel at home

There are not enough great things I can say about Sunny Patch Preschool. We LOVE it! The teachers are fantastic. Miss Jami and Miss Tracey are exceptional teachers. We were fortunate enough to get a spot at Sunny Patch mid-year and couldn’t be happier. I thought the transition was going to be tough for my little boy but they made the experience easy. He absolutely loves it. He can’t wait to get there every day. Each morning there is a question for the kids when they first walk in and each kid is asked the question by the teacher and they get to put their name in the yes column or no column. My son cannot wait for his question of the day. Miss Jami and Miss Tracey are so patient and know exactly what each child needs to excel at their absolute best. They are in constant communication with you on how your child is doing and give you reports during the year of things your child needs help with or is exceling in. Love this. It is so great to get a progress report so I know exactly what I should be helping my son work on at home. The community this school has is great. I can’t say enough other than this school is perfect for my son. I am more than confident that Sunny Patch Preschool will prepare my son to enter kindergarten in 2013.

My husband and I were fortunate to find Sunny Patch Preschool in its opening year! Our son, who is four, is pretty shy and suffered from separation anxiety. Ms. Jami welcomed him and was cognizant of his personality. My son has grown tremendously since August of 2011--he LOVES school and always wants to share and practice what he's learned! Ms. Jami knows EACH child so well that she is able to differentiate activities, lessons, and even snack-time. Her snack calendar is prepared a month in advance and always includes healthy and curricular-related snacks. For example, for B week, she will offer Banana Bread (and each child will bring their favorite Bear to share). Her activities are carefully planned, executed (as demonstrated by the AWESOME end-of-the-year journal) and most importantly, fun. Recently my four-year old son asked me, "Mommy, let's make a prediction before we read this book." My son LOVES to read and Ms. Jami fosters this love with a reading program that teaches word recognition and plot development. Ms. Jami, being a credentialed teacher and having years of K/1st grade experience, knows how to create and execute a rigorous and exciting curriculum. As a teacher myself, I appreciate her diagnostic test at the beginning of the year, a mid-year assessment, and a post-year conference--all catered to what your individual child's strengths and needs are. She is honest, caring, and credible. If you are a parent looking for the BEST preschool option for your child, look no further than Sunny Patch. We are lucky and excited for one more year with Ms. Jami!