Playwise Preschool Academy

I cannot say enough to praise this preschool. I toured many preschool's before I decided to enroll my daughter here, and by far this had the best, most experienced teachers. Ms. Barrie Moen and her team of teachers know how to help kids grow and learn while having so much fun. My daughter came home everyday all year long chattering about friends and love of her teachers. She grew so much and came out of her shell. We also have Playwise to thank for helping us catch early a few small developmental delays that we quickly learned was related to a need for glasses! We got that corrected and she continued to thrive! We are excited to send her to 4 weeks of summer camp this year and send her to Pre- K with them this September! We love Playwise!

Playwise is fabulous! My oldest son attended playwise for two years and I look forward to my youngest attending as well. The transition to Kindergarten was great. He was extremely well prepared and he is a leader both socially and academically. He built confidence and made sone great friends. The owner, Mrs. Barry Moen, is truely passionate about what she does and it shows in every aspect of playwise. Their "learning through play" aproach is wonderful. I'm so glad we didn't choose one of the large preschool chains. Tony M

This preschool is absolutely top-notch. My children learned so much at Playwise. The academics are extremely strong and the curriculum is so much fun for the kids. The owner, Ms. Barrie is very knowledgable and experienced in teaching as well as all of the other teachers at the school. My son was well prepared for kindergarten after being in the T-K class. I only wish my daughter could be in the T-K class, but we are moving out of town. We will miss Playwise very much. I am so happy that I chose Playwise for my kids and I highly recommend!

When we moved to the area a year and a half ago I was lost in regards to schooling for my two daughters. My oldest would start kindergarten in the fall, and I needed them both to start some kind of school to be prepared for the coming school year. It was a difficult discussion because I didn't know where to start, and wanted the best for my children. I spoke with a trusted friend and teacher about preschools. She recommended Playwise Preschool as she had done some extensive searching herself. In fact, for the new school year she was going to move her preschooler to Playwise. My first visit to Playwise calmed my inner turmoil. The owner, Mrs. Barrie Moen, took the time to explain how her school worked and was very straight forward. She also suggested that I check out other schools and gave me a list of things to look for and questions to ask. I did check out a couple of other schools, but honestly I had already made up my mind. That summer my girls attended every available summer camp. When fall came it was a very easy transition for my preschooler to attend Playwise for the new school year and my Kindergartener was prepared for her new adventure.This is our second full year in Playwise and we couldn't be happier. We love all of the teachers and my preschooler has learned so much. I was thinking of returning to work full time, but I have decided to go with some part time work so that we can stay at Playwise instead of moving to a daycare. I highly recommend Playwise Preschool.

We didn't have the best experience at Playwise. We only made it 3 days before the director informed me that my son was not adjusting well, that he was screaming and crying more often than not. She didn't provide any information as to what was triggering his meltdowns. Per the policy, I was not allowed to stay and help him transition and help the teachers identify what was wrong. She said they were doing everything they could to try and help him, but again, didn't provide specific information. We walked in on the last day and my son started crying. Instead of validating his feeling or trying to identify what was upsetting him, she asked "Where is your smile? We work with a smile here!" I try hard to teach my son emotional competence and I didn't appreciate him being told he needed to smile, even though something was clearly wrong. I had a favorable impression of the teachers, but I don't think this place is the right fit for anyone with a child who may need a little extra TLC and patience.

Playwise Preschool Academy is impressive in the fact that the director hires very good teachers. HOWEVER.... the director is another issue entirely. The turnover rate of those teachers is incredible to say the least. Last year all but one teacher resigned due to conflicts with the director, who tries to control every aspect of their teaching styles. Our teacher in particular was terrific, but the director wanted to hold her back from teaching things such as sight words and writing on lined paper, and didn't approve of her giving the kids worksheets to prepare for kindergarten. When the teacher came back to school after recovering from surgery - ONE WEEK before graduation - all the parents were flabbergasted to receive an email from the director saying that she fired the teacher on the spot. The kids would not be allowed to say goodbye to her, and she would not be permitted to attend graduation. The level of unprofessionalism was incredible, and the lack of concern for the kids was astounding. The children all ADORED their teacher, and some were left with a feeling of abandonment. During the last week, left without a teacher, the kids had the director as their substitute. My daughter came home from school the day before graduation, took off her panties, and said, "Miss ... (the director) wiped me today, and look what happened." They were covered in poop. She told me that she wiped her once and walked out of the bathroom. When confronted, she denied that she had even wiped her (like my 4-year-old would make that up and stick her name specifically in there just for fun).Another teacher informed us that the director was in the kitchen area of the school right before the graduation saying, "I just can't wait for this F***ING graduation to be over with!"She is obviously not there for concern over the children, just for the growth of her business. There was not one parent left happy after this year at Playwise.

We have been a very happy Playwise family since they started, almost 10 years ago. Loving, caring, compassionate, loyal, health and safety conscious, with high expectations for learning was our experience, with all our 4 children. The teachers are all amazing and my children were all very prepared for elementary school. Playwise has a developmentally appropriate curriculum that meets the needs of all learning styles for young children. My children love learning and are confident leaders in their classes now - thanks to a good early childhood foundation. (I do know of the teacher incident referred to in another review- However, we do not share those opinions of the director or staff of the school and understand completely that sometimes making hard decisions is needed and the director always had the children as her main, first priority. All the families enrolled that year with siblings have continued their loyalty, support, kind words and praise and re-enrolled.)