Preschools in West St. Louis Suburbs - chesterfield, creve couer, ladue, brentwood, clayton?

[bananamama3]

Hi --

I have a 2 year old daughter and desperately need to get her out of her current day care situation.  Ideally I would love a Reggio-Emilia school, but they are few and far between here in MO (and most start at age 3).  Mom's what are some preschools that foster creativity, learning and respect?  I would prefer a non-chain preschool.  I live in Chesterfield and work in Clayton so anywhere between here and there would be great!

Thanks for your help!

[blueeyedgirls]

THE GODDARD SCHOOL HAS A WONDERFUL PRESCHOOL PROGRAM.  I THINK YOU WILL FIND THAT THEY ARE MORE IN LINE WITH THE REGGIO/ PROJECT CONSTRUCT WAY OF LEARNING THAN MOST IN THE STL AREA.  THEIR PHILOSOPHY IS THAT OF PLAY BASED LEARNING BUT THEY DO A GREAT JOB OF INCORPORATING THE EARLY LEARNING STANDARDS INTO THE CLASSROOM LEARNING CENTERS. THERE ARE OTHERS IN THE STL AREA (COLLEGE SCHOOL) THAT ARE RUN MORE CLOSELY IN LINE WITH THE REGGIO APPROACH BUT YOU ARE CORRECT IN THE AGE AND WAITING LIST CRITERIA.  GOOD LUCK!

[AfricanQueen99]

Raintree is a Reggio in Ballwin, but you have to be three.  We seriously considered it, but ended up going with the Parkway School District's ECC and could not have been happier.  They have preschool programs that start at age 2, but they're not daycare and only a few hours a day.  So it might not work.  I believe the Parkway ECC on Fee Fee has full day programs, though.

Anyway, they use Project Construct (as do all the Parkway schools) and were just really lovely for my oldest (kid 2 hasn't started preschool yet, just KMO) and really focus on the things you listed.
 

[beane]

Raintree Learning Community is a Reggio school in Ballwin.  My family loves it.  Kids can start as young as 2 if they're potty trained.  Creativity, creative writing program, environmental responsibility, Peace Project, they have so many things not found at other schools for this age.  We can't imagine our kids going anywhere else - it's just a beautuful approach and Raintree does it brilliantly. 

Best of luck.