KEY’s Wonderland School

**This review is based on a parent tour. My child does NOT attend this school.**
I have been doing tours of neighborhood preschools (Ktown, Hancock Park, Hollywood) for the better part of 2011. It’s been an exhausting process but being that I only have one baby I wanted to make sure I felt good about his first experience in school.
My child is half Korean and is currently being taken care of by my mom. She speaks to him in Korean and my hubs and I speak to him in English. I’d like to make sure that he continues to learn Korean so I decided to look into Korean preschools.
This school is an import from a franchise of schools in Korea. They tout themselves as being different from Korean preschools in Ktown because of their special curriculum, classes, and field trips. The director told me that they have a special curriculum they use. They also hire outside teachers to come in and teach music, dance, arts, etc. The children go on field trip on every first Friday of the month and they have many shows and things for parents to attend. As with most Korean preschools, they serve a hot lunch everyday. They serve both Korean and American foods and the director told me that they try to use mostly organic foods. Depending on the class, instruction may be in English or Korean. They have both Korean-​speaking teachers and non-​Korean teachers.
While everything the director told me seemed impressive, the thing I didn’t like about this place was just how small it was. The preschool is in a converted house and classrooms have been fashioned out of former rooms and hallways. The classroom for the 2 yr old kids was so small that we literally couldn’t walk through it without having to sidestep chairs and tables. I think it must have been a closet at some point. I couldn’t imagine my 2 yr old sitting in that claustrophobic room for the majority of his day. I’m not even sure how the kids would fit in that room for naps. There was NO way 6 – 8 cots would have fit in that space.
The tuition is higher than most Korean preschools — $ 1050. They also ask for a registration fee (I forgot how much this was) and the last month’s tuition at the time of enrollment. But honestly, it wasn’t the tuition that turned me off of this place. It’s just how cramped it is. And they have so many kids there! Preschool should involve lots of play. I don’t know how kids at this school would do that when they don’t have any space to do so.