First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton

Our child was in the pre-​K program and thrived. We were please with the balance of structure and play. Our child was excited to go to class and we were very pleased how quickly he excelled. He has some development challenges and the staff understood the issue and effective accommodate him and his style of active learning. The staff is very professional and loving. We signed him up when we were new to the community after hearing strong recommendations from people we met. Their positive assessment proved to be true.

This school was a big disappointment for two reasons (1) primarily because the curriculum is developmentally inappropriate; (2) very limited opportunities to connect with other families.
The school’s primary goal is to teach 3 & 4 year olds kindergarten curriculum, not to focus on teaching in an age appropriate manner. Research shows that children at this age learn best through hands on activities. Early childhood education should focus on fostering social emotional development, cognitive concepts, and language skills, through play, exploration of books, and ample opportunities for social interactions. Unfortunately, most of the activities are primarily teacher directed. Children are expected to sit for long stretches of time, and «play» in a very controlled environment. The environment seems to stifle any real learning that should take place in a preschool setting.
Lastly, the school provides a curbside pickup and drop off. Although this may be a wonderful feature in terms of convenience, it provides very few opportunities to connect with other families and for communication with teachers about what is happening at school.