[vaptek]

Hi, folks!

I'm looking for a school for my daughter, private or charter, that is very imagination & nature focused, but respected academically. So far the closest thing we've found is the Waldorf school in Decatur, but I'd love to know what else is out there.

Anyone have any suggestions? TIA!

 

[lolar2]

What age?

 

[vaptek]

Well, we're looking for pre-school, but would like something that also covers the elementary school ages.

Thanks!

 

[lolar2]

There is a Montessori school in Decatur which is certified by whatever the international Montessori certification is, and goes up to at least part of elementary school. Of course Montessori is less nature/ imagination-focussed, but it is child-directed at any rate. There is a preschool at the big Unitarian Universalist church which calls itself "Progressive" or something like that. And there is another school which I think is K-12, which is a Democratic/ Sudbury type of school. Also I've heard some good things about Paidaea, which is preK-12, but it is a little more mainstream. (We're moving to Atlanta soon so I've been researching!)

 

[zjandosmom]

The Children's Garden is a wonderful preschool that now goes through kindergarten. The school is in Grant Park.

 

[hadleys_mom]

The Atlanta Progressive Preschool is a wonderful nature based, non academic preschool.

 

[pigpokey]

I'm in Decatur and we have a decent home schooling population. I believe the Children's Garden was a spinoff project from the group that organizes the home school classes in Oakhurst on T-Th mornings.

 

[vaptek]

Thanks for all the input! I haven't heard of the Children's Garden, so I'll have to look into that.

We actually toured two of the other places y'all have recommended. The Atlanta Progressive Preschool (the one in the UU church) was *lovely* and I would recommend it to others, definitely. We only heard about it literally 5 days before their enrollment deadline and we weren't 100% sure that we wanted to send Evie to a toddler program next fall, so we decided to wait. So I'm actually researching this for the 2010/11 school year. (I know, a little early, but this way I get to take my time...)

Anyway, we also toured the Decatur Montessori and I didn't care for it. The toddler room was uninspired and stark. The toddler yard was a very small mulched yard with a couple of little-tykes yard toys. (The size of the yard didn't concern me as much as how boring it was.) The 3 - 6 rooms were fine, but just the state of the toddler room made me sad and we left.

The Atlanta Progressive Preschool had *great* rooms, you can tell that they really put heart and imagination into them. I loved the interactions I saw in the older classrooms, as well. (The toddler room was just, well, toddling.) We really did almost jump and sign her up for the school. I'm thinking that we might prefer a school that was pre-school through elementary, though, which is why we were looking at the Waldorf School. The Waldorf School has some fantastic qualities, and I love the nature focus. There are other bits to the general Waldorf philosophy that I'm not 100% on, however; so I thought we'd keep looking.

Thanks for the input, and any more insight is appreciated!

 

[pigpokey]

I suspect that the previous poster was talking about either Emory Montessori or Arbor, not Decatur Montessori.

 

[Verity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lolar2 There is a preschool at the big Unitarian Universalist church which calls itself "Progressive" or something like that.

Are you talking about Cliff Valley School? They have their own building (on Clairmont Road) now. My son went there for one year of preschool, but that was quite a few years ago.

 

[Yo Becca]

Cliff Valley does have it's own blg. now (it used to be in UUCA), but now UUCA has it's own preschool, which is what Atlanta Progressive Preschool is. My son has been there for 2 years, and we love it. DD is at Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool - one of the 3 local coop schools intown (also ones in Inman Park and Grant Park - other than all being co-ops, they are each unique). All of those only go to the pre-K level. Cliff Valley is worth looking into - it goes on to elementary ages.

 

[vaptek]

Cliff Valley does look good; we'll have to check that one out!

 

[pigpokey]

I personally, if I was set on my child doing a preschool I would either go to a respected Montessori school or to one of the language immersion schools.

However I have become convinced that for my children, complete differentiation is where it's at, and so while they have regular activities and classes, they are not in preschools and DD is home schooled for K (though she would miss the birthday cutoff for school K programs).

 

[lydias]

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