Our son has attended Early Steps for the past year, and we couldn't be happier with our experience. Ms. Maria Ferrufino has been an amazing teacher who truly cares about her students. Ms Maria has taught him writing, math and early phases of reading- we truly believe he is well prepared for kindergarten this fall. Also, she has been great about communicating our son's strengths and areas that we can help improve upon on home. Another thing we've loved about the school are the freshly cooked meals daily, and the various events/recitals hosted to help grow community among the families whose children attend the school. We've seen so much growth in his confidence, learning, and love of school. Knowing he's in such a caring and welcoming environment gives us so much peace of mind. We're so thankful for the wonderful foundation Early Steps has given our son and highly recommend it to any family looking for a caring bilingual preschool. read more

Early Steps has been the best preschool experience for our family. When we transferred our son from another preschool (a Montessori program), we were concerned that he might struggle to adapt. However, the transition was seamless. From day one, he enjoyed every moment and felt right at home. At the time, he was behind academically, but thanks to Miss Maria Ferrufino's dedication, he quickly caught up with his peers. Her guidance helped him feel confident and comfortable while learning to read, write, and perform basic addition and subtraction. She treats every child as if they were her own, and that care makes all the difference. I'll never forget the joy I felt picking him up each day he never wanted to leave because he was having so much fun. The entire teaching team ensures that no child is left behind. They also go above and beyond to teach children daily life skills, like brushing their teeth, combing their hair, and maintaining cleanliness throughout the classrooms and facilities. Miss Maria and her team even made lunchtime a learning experience, teaching the children about vitamins and minerals to encourage healthy eating habits. Choosing to switch schools was one of the best decisions we've made. I'll be forever grateful to Early Steps Bilingual Preschool, Miss Maria Ferrufino, and the entire staff. If we ever have another child, I wouldn't hesitate to enroll them here. There's no greater peace of mind than knowing your child is truly cared for. read more

Ms. Maria Ferrufino is an amazing teacher and a role model. My daughter has excelled in writing, reading and math. By the end of the preschool year she is doing all at first grade level. The preschool program at Early Steps Springfield also includes plenty of arts, sports and fun activities. In addition to this, the kids get great support, love and care not just by the lead teacher but by the amazing assistants. The karate teacher Mr. P. has a gift for working with young kids. The school organize multiple festivals throughout the year and celebrates the cultures of the families of the students, and the staff members. I have also enjoyed the community of the parents and the comradery. How lucky we have been to have such an excellent educator as Ms Maria Ferrufino in Springfield. I highly recommend her pre school class to neighbors and friends and I am sure many of them will share the great experience we've been lucky to have! read more

My daughter has been at Early Steps for two years and I highly recommend the facility. Her Pre-K teacher this year, Maria Ferrufino, has helped her really blossom and prepare for kindergarten. Ms. Maria has taught her addition, subtraction, writing and reading. I was stunned when one day my daughter wrote her full name with ease. She makes learning and the classroom activities fun, so much so that my daughter truly looks forward to going to school everyday and calls Ms. Maria out as someone she's excited to see. I'm very thankful for the wonderful foundation they've given my daughter. read more

Our son has been in ESBP- Springfield for 2 years and we couldn`t be happier. The staff is amazing, caring, and make the kids feel safe. We would like to highlight one of the staff members- Ms. Maria Ferrufino. She is the lead teacher to the pre-K class. We cannot express how much she helped our son academically and emotionally. She is supportive and caring. By the end of the school year my our son could write his name (first and last), do additions and subtraction, and could recognize his peers` names and could write simple words on a dictation. Ms. Maria Ferrufino is truly a great teacher and a professional and our son is more than ready for Kindergarten. We are so very grateful to her and our son loves her! read more

We started taking our son here just before his third birthday and we have been very happy thus far. All the teachers are so friendly and you can tell they care about the kids. They are serious about their covid protocols too. In the time we started taking our son there over two months ago, we have noticed him loving the school more, developing and making friends. Highly recommend this place! read more

we've had 2 of our kids attend ESBP the last 4 years. the teachers are fantastic - our girls loved to go everyday and we knew they were in good hands. that said, there were some challenges - namely near 100% turnover of the staff in the last 4 years and some poor experiences with the owners. in fact, it always appeared there were issues between the teachers, directors, and owners. there were 2 directors in this time and more recently, the owner stepped in as the director who will be the 3rd in 4 years. most recently, we had to leave ESBP because we're planning to move to a new state. rather than work with us to allow our daughter to stay at the school temporarily, the owners insisted we pay the full year annual fee of $800 after we offered to pay some % instead. it was an unceremonious end to our relationship with the school and seemed unnecessarily harsh. read more

This is our second year at ESBP. Overall we are satisfied as the school has everything we were looking for but most importantly our child is safe, happy, and thriving. About the school: * Its bilingual (teachers mainly communicate with the kids in spanish) which has made our son more fluent * Convenient hours: 7am-6pm * Meals: They have an in-house cafeteria and prepare meals onsite (breakfast, lunch, and snacks) * The Facility: The classrooms are bright and very engaging, the school has a cafeteria, indoor play gym, and attached outdoor playground. It has adequate parking spaces for pick up/drop off. * Student to Teacher Ratio: They have 1 teacher for every 6 kids. Also, we have been happy with all of our child's teachers. * Special events: They have performances for Thanksgiving, Christmas, mother's day, father's day, and graduation. They also have a fall festival and spring farm day. * Extra-curricular: They mainly offer karate and sometimes soccer but there is an added cost. * Tuition is based on age and PT vs FT status. I would say the range is between $1,400-1,600. Its most expensive for the younger age groups. read more

We are very pleased with ESBP Springfield. Our top priority was finding a preschool that offered a true immersion experience, not just a daily Spanish lesson. We also needed a school that offered a full-day program. ESBP met those requirements and more. They have flexible drop-off and pick-up times. They provide breakfast, lunch and two snacks a day. There are 7 students in our child's class, with a teacher and an assistant so the child to teacher ratio is excellent. The staff is very warm and nurturing with the students. The best is we already hear the proof of the immersion in our child's enhanced and expanded Spanish vocabulary! read more

I was hesitant about writing a review for this school, but I owe it to other families. We kept my son here because we felt that switching schools was going to be more detrimental than leaving him at Early Steps. He was used to the school and made good friends there. However, in the last months we were so unhappy that had him on a waitlist at 2 other schools in the area. First of all, beware: the school looks awesome and the Bilingual aspect of it is really attractive. If you scratch a bit, you will see extremely unhappy yet loving (for the most part) personnel, and a high rate of turnover. They use materials that are not appropriate for kids ages and as time goes by you can find your almost 5 years old still coloring a huge number 1 in a piece of paper... the same he colored when he started school at 3! English speaking families may be very pleased with their child learning Spanish and I totally respect it. However, you really do not get value for your money in this school. Food is home-made and healthy. Unfortunately, my son usually came home very hungry. When I told him, more than once, to ask for seconds he said he did ask but no one gave seconds to him. Staff look and truly are very unhappy. There is an atmosphere of fear that stems from the top. They fear the owner of the school so much many of them end up leaving. Children get attached to their teachers and have to say goodbye to them. My older daughter attended another preschool for 3 years (we couldn't send my son there for scheduling conflicts) and not once we received a notification that a teacher was leaving. In Early Steps we got used to receiving letters and notifications of teachers and key staff leaving, including the Assistant Director who every parent adored and trusted. Many families expressed their concerns with this rate of turnover and it was the main topic of conversation at birthday parties. They are annoyingly worried about liabilities. I understand that there are rules and they need to be respected for everyone's and mostly for kids' safety. However, there is total lack of common sense and decisions are mainly taken based on fear rather than well-being of the children and families. One of many examples: I went to pick up my child and loved to see him in the playground interacting with his friends. I stayed for a few minutes just watching him from afar. Then a key member of staff approached me to ask me to leave because if I was there and he fell, it was unclear whose responsibility it was. So I had to decide: I could either wait in the car for him to finish playing, or just take him. Another example: I picked my son up on a chilly afternoon (less than 50 degrees). He was in short sleeves. All the other kids and teachers were wearing jackets. He was freezing. I put a jacket on him and asked what happened. The response puzzled me: "it must have been warm when he came outside and it is each teacher's responsibility to look if her children are appropriately dressed". So... if someone saw a kid that needed a jacket, wouldn't be their problem because she was not her teacher. Moreover, the jackets were not even available at the playground for children to grab them. They were in the classroom. My son was sick for 4 days after that episode. A couple more examples come to mind, but there are not enough characters in Yelp. So, yes. They have beautiful performances and wonderful breakfasts for Mothers and Fathers' Day (in the middle of the morning so beware if you work full time--you either struggle or you disappoint your child); Christmas celebrations are full of joy and light (also, mid-afternoon, you need to be there by 4pm). You pay for all these in the extra fees, which are quite high. Kids wash their hands before every meal, they wear cute uniforms (that you pay good money for, too). And they are very careful about all the forms you need to fill out. I would be very surprised if they ever get sued! However, that is not enough: A school should provide a trusting and happy environment for the kids to blossom while learning without even knowing they are learning. That is really not the case in Early Steps. If you can, please, avoid sending your child to this school. read more

Our son has been here for over 3.5 years and we couldn't be happier. The curriculum for their Kindergarten class is especially impressive, both in English and Spanish. Our son has a love for learning and reading which the school has really encouraged and helped grow. We are very impressed with how much our son is learning in the kinders class! Communication with the teachers have been smooth and outstanding throughout the years. I appreciate their professionalism and can also see the pure joy and love of doing what they do, teaching and caring for the kids. read more

This school has some serious issues with honesty. They lie to parents constantly. Teachers are severely mistreated, by the owners. The owner need to learn some basic education. Ana won't smile or greet parents. They never returned our security deposit. Make huge mistakes with tax returns. Just today was trying to call and the owner won't answer. No where to be found. Apparently the lady from the office don't know anything. Can not give solutions to anything. No récords, no information. Who is responsible?? We never got our security deposit back, mischievous management. Lies and more lies. I'm still waiting for my check on the mail. They will make any excuses to steal your money. They promised so much to us and at the end it's all a bunch of lies, the menu is a joke. Our son will come home hungry, telling us that he had something different for lunch, every day. Not what he was supposed to have. They have several issues with classroom ratios. There's a lot of strangers walking in the hallways, random people going in and out the building from all those doors. Not staff members, second floor has no security. Parents are not allowed in the building, but strangers come and go as they pleased. Scary place. No one will face your needs or complaints. Extremely high turnover, employees leave constantly affecting the children feelings. read more

The concept of this preschool is fantastic! The staff is very caring and loving with the children. The same preschool exists in Arlington but that one even though is smaller, crowded and has no parking, is overpriced due to the high demand. The school performances are very well prepared and you can tell they put attention to detail when decorating the stage and room where the parents watch the show. The teachers even comb the girls hair before each performance to make sure they look their best! The kids wear uniforms to school daily, which I liked, however they charge you for a sunhat that never gets used the entire school year. Also they make you buy long sleeve uniforms which are unnecessary because the kids wear jackets when playing outdoors so they could just wear the short sleeve uniform because such uniform is just like a lab coat you put on top of the children's clothes, not really separate pants/skirt and a uniform shirt. The uniforms are brought from Bolivia and bought there at 1/3 of the price but they sure charge you for them like they were made of the best fabrics. The school fees include $350 activity fee that covers the performances outfits (after each performance you end up with a costume, which was used during the show). I think that is unnecessary, they should keep the costumes and reuse two-three years later since the kids barely mess them up! Lower those fees! The performances are also at odd times during the day (4:30 p.m. on a weekday and you have to arrive by 4 p.m. to make a line OUTSIDE in the cold! They don't allow anyone to get inside until the specified time). They invite you to the graduation show but at the same time they restrict entry with tickets (forget it if you have a family of 3-4 because they only give you 2 tickets per family). They ask ALL classes to participate in a show where the older kids (age 5) graduate but then they tell you your child must participate but they can only give you two tickets because the graduating parents have preference!!! Don't waste my time! Just make the party for the graduating families then!!! The really bad part comes with the owner who just cares about making more money wherever she can without thinking about her staff or the children's parents! She URGENTLY needs a "social skills" crash course. She NEVER smiles and you just see her walking the hallway with this "super serious" face like you owe her a favor. The staff is terrified of her!! The English teachers have to be replaced often because they just can't take her management skills and just leave the school!! Even though she has lived in the U.S. for many years, she speaks English poorly but still talks at the beginning of every performance, you just hear parents secretly laughing while she speaks because her speeches are just full of mispronounced words! If you are in doubt... don't register... until you are 100% sure your child is attending... there is always space for your child, even though they say there is not. Whatever you pay, will NEVER come back to your pocket. Everything is NON-REFUNDABLE. read more

The school itself is clean and staff do a great job with the seasonal decorations. When I pick up the kids, they are always cleaning at the end of the day. The teachers here are great. They are so wonderful with the kids and our kids love them. Hugs every morning and when they leave. They come home excited from seeing them but here lies the issue. The kids get attached to the teachers and then teachers leave the school. From the outside the school looks wonderful but the teachers are underpaid and the owner (Mrs. Anna) mistreats them and doesn't pay them overtime from what we heard when speaking with our kid's teacher that used to be there. It's sad because the teachers we had for our kids were so great but they mentioned they had to leave for the lack of overtime and the cost cutting the owner does there. My children were coming home really hungry. I'm not at the school so I can't judge how much food they are getting but I never had this experience prior to this with them being so hungry after preschool. Do yourself a favor and look at other schools or at least speak with the parents that have their kids their first to see first hand how this place is run and then make a decision based on the facts. The teacher turn over is very high. When our kids were there, several teachers left the school. There is typically a main teacher and an assistant in a class. When a teacher leaves they have to bring in someone else and it's heartbreaking to the kids. Since our kids were there, we have seen many teachers leave that were really wonderful. read more

I sent my child to ESBP Springfield for two years before deciding to remove her and enroll her in another preschool. I decided to write this review so that current and prospective parents would have as much information as possible to help them decide whether or not this preschool was the right fit for them. PROS: The facilities are spacious and they have a wonderful playground. Families get easy to use FOBs for secure entry and exit to the facility. The owners understand the importance of bilingual academics and want the children to learn. Most of the teachers, assistant teachers, and staff we engaged with were wonderful human beings who were dedicated to the education and well-being of the children. There are numerous performances and activities for the children throughout the year. In most classes there is a 1/5 teacher/student ratio. CONS: There is incredibly high turnover of staff - over the past year, I estimate that at least 50% of the staff, to include the Directors, either quit because they felt they were being mistreated by the owners (ie. paid poorly, minimal benefits -like sick and personal vacation days- and/or were verbally berated by the owners) or were fired. The owners are rude and dishonest to parents and staff, often telling the teachers something completely different than what they told the parents. The owners are nonsensical in English and Spanish, making it hard to address concerns with them one-on-one in an effective manner. The administration will reassign assistant teachers from the classrooms without advising the parents, reducing the teacher/student ratio from 1/5 to a 1/10. The administration does not communicate important information to parents in a timely manner (ie. it would often take weeks for parents to find out that their child's teacher had quit). The academic curriculum is predominantly based on simplistic workbooks that are almost identical for each age group, and the teachers do not vary from the workbook based curriculum if a child is bored by the slow progress or having trouble learning through that approach. Families are typically limited to two family members for all school performances. CONCLUSION: We decided to remove our daughter from ESBP because we felt we were spending too much physical and emotional effort trying to ensure that our daughter was in the most ideal learning environment. We were constantly worrying about whether or not the owners were treating the staff well, and in fear that our daughter's teacher would decide to quit. We also saw there were a lot more bilingual preschool options available today than there were even three years ago. As someone who values kindness and tries to make socially responsible decisions, we finally decided that we could not in good conscience continue to give the owners of ESBP over $10k a year if they could not at a minimum treat their employees well. Many of our friends still remain at ESBP knowing all this information first-hand because it is the best decision for their family. I cannot make a decision about what is best for your family, but I hope this information will at least help you know what you are getting into if you decide to enroll your child at ESBP. UPDATE: Since the coronavirus pandemic rocked our community, more families have left ESBP. Most of them decided to leave because the owners asked families to continue paying tuition so they could keep staff on payroll. Many families did pay, only to learn that the entire staff had been laid off. (Of note, I tried to post this to Google 10 months ago, but decided to post it here on Yelp after months of it not being published there) read more

my daughter loves going to school, i can't imagine a better school for her, staff is very caring and loving. safe, lots of learning activities, beautiful playground and indoor playground for the kids. best preschool read more

This preschool is fantastic. My son attended since this school opened and he still talks about it to this day. The teachers are all very loving and supportive. The performances they do for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and graduation are top notch. I'm amazed they get 2 year olds on a stage to dance! They teach the kids to eat healthy. My son is still very strict about only eating healthy foods, which I largely credit Early Steps in instilling in them at a very young age. Most importantly the bilingual curriculum is the absolute best. My husband and I do not know any Spanish. And I have to admit we really did a terrible job in trying to keep up the Spanish at home. When my son went on to Spanish bilingual kindergarten his teachers thought that he was a native Spanish speaker! They went on to say that his Spanish was much better than native Spanish speakers!!! Even better, they told us that he was way ahead of his peers academically that they needed to give him more advanced curriculum just to challenge him. The school really prepared him, above and beyond, for that big leap into elementary school. The one complaint I have about the school is the staff turnover. It is incredibly hard on young children to lose a teacher they have become so attached to. My son experienced two losses. One was because the teacher went on maternity leave and the other found a better opportunity elsewhere. Thankfully they were able to prepare the children of their leaving, the later teacher giving over a month's notice to help the children cope. The first year my daughter attended she lost both her main and assistant teacher by summer, which was super upsetting for a 2 year old. Both teachers also gave 2 weeks notice, which is insufficient when you work with children. Overall I really love Early Steps. It is worth getting on the wait list ASAP. read more

I want to say how wonderful Early Steps Springfield has been. I should have written a review a year ago, but time flies. My girls have been going since they were 3 and love it. They are now in the kindergarten program and speak fluent Spanish with their teachers when I drop them off. I wish I could speak Spanish like they do at 5. This school has impressive Covid protocols and has had no cases to date. The hours of service are also great for working parents. The teachers are very caring and my kids are well beyond my friends kids in other preschools In terms or reading, writing, etc. I can't take any credit for that. The credit is to the small classes and individual attention the teachers give the kids. Many of the staff have degrees from universities in Spain or South America. The school provides homemade lunches made on site in the church kitchen by a cook, not a microwave or cold plastic lunch box. My kids say the food is good. They also have Ukelele lesson and other extra activities you can sign your kid up for. This is a year round school, so for working parents, you don't have to worry about what to do in summers!!! If I had to do it again I would pick early steps without second thought and I recommend them to my friends as well. Early Steps was the first to recognize that my daughter had some speech issues and let me know during parent conference and helped me get her help at her Fairfax county assigned school. Picking preschool/kindergarten isn't easy especially in covid times, but if you want a loving family-like safe school with healthy food where your kids will learn Spanish and be prepared for public school kindergarten or first grade, this school is a great pick! Also, they wear uniforms for kindergarten which is so easy to get them ready in morning. read more

Early Steps Bilingual Preschool is one of the best preschools in the area and beyond. The esthetics of the preschool is amazing. There are lots of pictures, drawings, dress up tables and lots more to make the school seem like a private academy. The children wear super cute smocks to protect their school clothes and to create a healthy unity amongst them. I absolutely love the staff, they are impressively well educated, patient, and most importantly, extremely loving to the children. ESBP offers homemade breakfast, lunch, and dinner and try their hardest not to serve our children processed foods. This fall they are opening up for a limited number of school age children and I'm definitely sending my daughter. Their COVID response to this situation was remarkable. During drop off they meet the child at the door and sanitize their shoes and hands, then they switch shoes in order to only wear inside shoes and then they will switch again for recess. Seems excessive, but I feel amazingly safe and secure. The class rooms are small and each class will eat at different times. Also, I don't know how they do it but they also attract great families, most of the parents are also amazing. It's a wonderful community and I enjoy being able to work with the staff and the parents to help me with my little ones. It's takes a village...right? BTW, majority of the training is in Spanish!!! How amazing is that to help our kiddos speak another language. I love this place...go to their website you will be amazed at the price and the things they offer for our little ones. ~Happy Mama read more

My son has been going to ESBP Vienna for almost a year now and we are very, very happy with the program. They have loving teachers, a clean and beautiful school with fun murals on the walls, an exciting curriculum my son really enjoys and a great playground. read more

My kid has been going here since it opened almost a year ago. This is a great school with fantastic teachers - my kid now understands and speaks much better Spanish than me! The school itself is beautiful, the staff are enthusiastic and helpful, and they always put on amazing shows where the kids perform songs and dances. The school also arranges plenty of fun activities: almost all are included in the fees (e.g. farm animals came to the school one day - including a llama, donkey, goats, etc), and there is usually one optional extra activity (like soccer or karate) that you can sign up for (an external company will come in to teach those). I've seen the school growing consistently as other parents discover this hidden gem. read more

I had a working interview there once. I saw things I did not like. They try to force the children to take 2 hour naps. The children are yelled at to close their eyes and go to sleep. Also, they use the same comb to brush all the little girls hair. When each child has their own. This process is lice waiting to happen. read more

I am so happy to start at Early Steps this September in Arlington. My sister currently has a child attending for 3 years now and had my 2 nieces were part of the school years prior and she has nothing but great things to say about Early Steps. All three of my nieces are fluent in Spanish and happy children, this is mostly bc of the school. The home made lunches will be a huge help for us as FT working parents and also being open from 7 am - 6 pm. Overall i want to express my gratitude for the school saving a spot for my daughter. read more

By far the BEST preschool around. My son has been attending Springfield Early Steps Bilingual preschool for several months now and he loves it. We tried other preschools prior to enrolling my son with ESBP, but he wasn't comfortable. When we first took my son for his first day of preschool at ESBP we thought that he would have a hard time. To our surprise, within 15 minutes he felt right bat home. This was thanks to the teachings staff. They found ways to gain my child's trust and it's was all fun and games after that. We have also seen great progress with my son since attending, he quickly learned how to count, name alphabet, colors, shapes and much more. The preschool is awesome and teacher are in a league of their own....they are professional, caring and perform job with great commitment to early childhood education. Like a said, this is the BEST and most AWESOME place for our kiddos to attend to learn early skill while having fun. Give them a visit, you won't regret it and soon will be writing wonderful reviews about preschool as well!!!! read more

We've been with Early Steps Springfield for 3 years and while they have had some growing pains, we couldn't be happier with not only how our son has thrived, but how much he has learned, how much he loves his teachers (they are truly fantastic and the reason we love the school so much), and the community of kids he has grown up with over the years. My son gets little to no Spanish at home, and I consider him fluent after 3 years at ESBP. I am constantly amazed at everything he learns (both in English and Spanish) and how much he loves going to school every day. There have been some growing pains (as I mentioned above) and some staff turnover (which is very common in the early childhood field unfortunately), but many teachers have been there longer than we have. I can't say enough about the teachers, they are amazing. We recently started our youngest there based on our experiences with our older child. And to the poster who discussed their child being hungry, my children have never come home hungry and my oldest always asks for (and gets) seconds. read more

I need to share this point of view, because I was cheated about the reviews on this place, and I think an opposite view is urgently needed for future customers. There are so many wrong things about this school. I went to this school interested on the spanish immersion feature, but I was shocked when I entered the building. 1. Every single part of the school is over stimulating, the walls are covered from top to bottom on drawings that look like taking from a Disney movie. yes the drawings were cute but for a recreational park not for a school. That seriously bothered me, I couldn't take my eyes away from the walls and I can't imagine how kids and specially small kids could learn how to focused and be calm with an environment that won't allow/ nurture to focus in something else but the walls. 2. It bothered so much that I did a little research about children's learning development, and I found out that a calm, quite and neutral color environment is best to develop their attention span and concentration specially in early ages as 2-3. Which was surprising for me that a company that works in child education was not aware of this. (I guess they are trying so hard to be Original) but to me this look like incompetence. 3. Talking to the director was a complete disaster, not only she lacked of diplomacy but also her arrogance allowed her to speak bad about other companies in the business in order to show how great this school is. It also felt like the whole interview was focused (on how should I beg/pay) for a spot because according to the Director this school is very successful therefore I should have singed for the waiting list which had a price ( non-refundable) and doesn't guarantee to get in, not counting that I made my visit when they just had open a new campus (Springfield) a few months ago and the whole school just had 5 students at the time. 4. The children's uniform. not only they are ugly they come in bright colors (red) which is a very strong color, that is mostly used for Warning sings, publicity or war/violence content. by analysts this is not a color that help to develop serenity or quietness. 5. when I visit one of the rooms, one child was handle a piece of paper and crayon, A). the kid was not interested at all so B) the teacher's solution was to take the activity from him and doing it instead, not even showing him how to do it and let him try again but color it for him. 6. nonetheless to say I didn't hear the spanish language at all while visiting and the teachers didn't look happy or being teaching anything, they look like babysitting if so. I do believe that children learn the most by playing, but playing with something that is meaningful, that allows them to discovered and sense the world around them, not to free playing with a stuffed doll in an imaginary/pretending world or plastic food they can't learn about textures, smells or skills like social by sharing the REAL fruit or motor skill by cutting it. If they are so focused on the playing experience where were the building blocks component of the water/sensorial table or hands on experiments??? So I won't ever bring my child near to this school, no even if they pay us to do so. I think that investing on early childhood education is the column of adulthood development. Is where people learn how to focus and also how to chose, respect, interact, communicate, discover and of course to learn about the world around them, What kind of expectations about reality are we creating in our children's little minds if everything they interact with is pretending??. I didn't see any of this learning by playing feature happening in here. I leave it to you parents. read more

Our daughter started at ESBP in Arlington last year as soon as she turned two and we can't wait until her little sis can join her early next year! Our daughter, currently a "cub," absolutely adores her teachers, the support staff, the extracurricular teachers (JumpBunch, soccer, karate) everyone there. She has so much fun learning and comes home excitedly talking about her day and singing songs to us... in Spanish! It is just apples and oranges compared to her brief stint with in-home day care and much longer time in a corporate daycare facility, but including learning a second language as well. What I really love the most is how this place creates a whole community around the kids and their teachers. We've gotten to know the other kids and their parents and we all get together and cheer for the kids at all of the special events. It truly is a special place with unbelievably warm, caring, and well-educated teaching professionals and the #1 reason why we decided that we didn't want to leave the area. read more