West Chester Play School Inc

West Chester Playschool was the absolute best experience for our family. The environment was always positive, caring, and warm. The kids learned so many things in the play- based approach and made friends they are close with to this day, some of whom are even in different schools. And I made my first group of mom friends who are an amazing circle and an important part of my life to this day.

Absolutely could not recommend West Chester Playschool more. I attended as a child and now send my daughter, and soon will send my son. The co-op aspect creates such a nice sense of community, and great peace of mind knowing there are parents in the classroom every day. The co-op also allows the parents to get to know each of their child's classmates, which is really special and unique. The teachers are so kind and caring and genuinely want the best for the kids. My daughter has thrived and loves to go to school. I truly believe this is one of the most caring preschool environments you could possibly have, and couldn't imagine sending my kids anywhere else.

West Chester Playschool has been a great experience. Our daughter had a rough time transitioning to preschool and the playschool staff and community worked with our family to ensure a seamless experience. Our daughter is thriving and we could not be happier.

Our family loves this school. It’s an amazing opportunity to really be involved in your child/children’s class and early learning. With West Chester Playschool, you get to know the teachers, other students and families very closely in the classroom and events throughout the year. We are so lucky to have found this community. Our children have thrived and grown so much with the expert care from the AMAZING teachers.

A good school…for the well-trained child We were very excited to find the WC Play School. My wife and I are both educators - my wife teaches secondary English and I have spent the past 25 years as a professor of teacher education. Admittedly, our professional backgrounds have produced pretty specific perspectives on the education of children. After meeting with the director of the PlaySchool, we felt we had found a perfect philosophical match. We were very happy. We have worked diligently with our 4yo son academically and feel confident he is well-ahead for his age. However, having never attended daycare and having experienced the limited social opportunities during Covid, our primary hope for preschool was centered on allowing him to develop the social skills he would need to be successful in kindergarten. We shared both our goals and concerns with the director and we were assured that this is a place where he would be supported in making that transition. As I said, we were sold… we felt confident we had found our spot and we spent the next two months prepping our son, who would ask us daily “go to school today?”. He was as excited as we were. When we went to pick him up on his first day he was refusing to stand in line to go outside with the other kids because he wanted to continue to play in the classroom, which houses shelves overflowing with toys. I went to the classroom to get him and I nervously asked the teacher how he had done and she said “he did well, but he does struggle a little with his transition between activities”. Of course this wasn’t overly surprising given our concerns, but we were confident that if we just kept working with him at home, in concert with his teachers, we would get there. It was, after all, only his first day. Unfortunately, our perspective on how much time we had to “get there” did not match that of the school. When dropping him off for day two I was given his list of offenses from day one - climbing on a table, trying to open the gate, jumping off the end of the slide, not being willing to sit in the circle during circle time, and not eating his lunch during lunch time. I was told that if day two offered the same issues we would need to have a meeting and discuss “next steps”. Predictably, when I picked him up, three hours later, the director shared another list of offenses, mostly the same as those tallied on day one. We were told he was not welcome back until the “next steps” meeting could be scheduled. Given their philosophy, we had hoped our son would be afforded more than 5 hours to make the transition to preschool. But, we were told that they “simply can’t afford the risk of legal liability” and that the teachers are not “safety certified” and can therefore not legally even pick up a kid to remove them from a table or off a slide. When I pointed out that he’s just very excited to be here and that he may need time to settle in, she told me that they “can’t afford to give him that time because if he jumps off the slide onto another kid the school would be found liable”. It was our last day. And I simply can’t overstate this - we were heartbroken. After 25 years as a professor of education, preparing future teachers, I feel confident in saying that I know a pretty significant amount about education and schooling. However, I’ve never tried to run a preschool in contemporary America. I truly sympathize with the pressure these schools must feel in the hyper-litigious reality in which they are trying to function. My honest sense is that this school has good intentions and, while our son was effectively suspended after only three hours here, his teacher did seem like a talented educator and we certainly loved their stated philosophy. But, the simple fact is this - if your 4yo child is not fully trained to sit in a circle on command, follow directions, eat when they are told to eat, play when they are told to play, and control their curiosity about what is on the other side of that gate… within the first 3 hours they are in the school… this is NOT the school you should choose.