The best school ever! My kids are very happy in this amazing place with lovely people, teachers and staff. So thankful, I really recommend! Gisele D. read more

This is the best school my son has ever attended! I love the community and all the staff is high qualified and love the kids and it shows! My son has made so much progress since being there and rarely gets sick which I love. 10/10 recommend for any family looking for a great school read more

To start this school is incredible the staff everyone there is beyond sweet my kids love it. On the first day dropping the kids off and to picking them my kids always wanna go back they are always happy when they are there. The administration is amazing always helpful and will help with any problems that may occur. Over all I'm extremely happy and when I drop my kids off I feel safe and knowing its a safe place for my children. I love all the teachers each one is very well educated and they really give your child the love and education each child. So thank you for showing my 3 three children all the love and guiding them through the young development stages and making them feel confident with learning. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! read more

Taught at this school and thought it was run so well the classes are really clean and the teachers are always pleasant and happy to be there. There is always alot of activities for the kids . Principal Julie was and is amazing with staff and students. I would recommend this to any parent who was thinking of taking their kids there. read more

My child was enrolled in the VPK program but we made the decision to disenroll due to serious concerns we had. First, I agree with the other reviewer who noted that it was difficult to communicate with teaching and administrative staff. Parents have very limited access to speak with teaching staff, seeing them only during drop off. However, parents are not encouraged to speak to teachers at this time with questions or concerns since it is (understandably) busy. Parents do not get to pick their children up from the classrooms-- the classroom is radioed and the child is sent out to meet the parent at the gate, often without supervision. Teachers do not have direct phone lines or email addresses and parents are told to direct issues to the director, Julie Dech. This is extremely inefficient and her response time was not expedient in responding to the issues and questions we had. Our child's teacher used scare tactics and shaming to manage a classroom of pre-k students, including forcing children to wear black paper hearts if they misbehaved, wearing "tails" made out of string if they were deemed by the teacher to be a "tattletale" and telling children that there were hidden cameras in the class in which people were watching for the kids' behavior. This was alarming and created anxiety and fear for our child. The curriculum was marketed to us during the school tour as being "play-based" which is what we specifically seeking. However, there was instead what we perceived to be an overuse of worksheets and other rote busy work. All the art projects on the wall looked nearly identical which suggested to us that the teachers didn't allow the children to actually learn or gain experience through creativity-- and our child told us many times that the teacher would only allow certain colors to be chosen, etc. The other substantial issue we had was with the school's response to our concerns relating to the lack of inclusivity. While this day school is within a church, we were told that the school was inclusive and multi-denominational. When we raised concerns about a particular celebration, the only suggestion we received was to keep our child at home which would have then impacted our child's overall experience unfairly. Finally, the standing water on the playground created breeding grounds for mosquitos and our child came home covered in bites. Overall our experience was disturbing, disappointing and we felt as though the school created a hostile environment for our child and family. Several other families warned us about this school when our child began, and we should have listened. I'm grateful our child is now in a school that is engaging, challenging, and filled with teachers with degrees in education who love early education. read more

My daughter attended the second half year tiny tots program and it was wonderful! The teachers are so loving and sweet. My daughter loves going to school. The student/teacher ratio is perfect for the children to have extra care and attention. She is now attending the camp and absolutely loves getting to school. She recognizes her campus when she sees it. They have great activities planned and I am especially happy that they provide swim lessons. read more

Pinecrest Presbyterian Day School - First day of school! - Child Care & Day Care Near Me - Miami, Florida

My husband and I both loved the school the moment we stepped foot on the campus. We started my son at age 18 months in 2014 and Ms. Dech and all the teachers and employees have been amazing! Always going above and beyond. My son is now 10 years old and continues to go to the afterschool care. They have excellent communication, they are always a phone call away and always if I have needed anything have always been attentive to my needs. The entire staff knows my son! All the teachers are excellent, they practice amazing classroom management systems. They prepared my son for first grade where he attends Pinecrest Elementary in the Gifted program he will be going into fourth grade next year. The curriculum is amazing my son always came home showing me everything he learned and was always so excited about going to school. Most importantly I felt he was in a loving environment and he thrived in social skills. Since school shootings and Covid I know a lot of schools have really limited parent entering schools freely. I know because I work at a school. They have safety procedures in place to keep everyone safe. They always walk out my son even though he is 10 a staff member always walks him out. When he was 18 months I would call the front desk and they would give me an update on how his day was going if he had a bad morning. We have made life long friends with parents that attended PPDS. Thank you to Ms. Dech who is an amazing director and her amazing staff! This is a little hidden GEM of a school!!!!! We love PPD! We will miss you when we go to middle school. read more

My daughter attended this school and I never regretted it for a minute. I was sad when she had to move on to another school. Her teachers were loving and caring and always made it a point to make her feel comfortable when I dropped her off. When she reached elementary school, the teacher barely looked up from her desk. Whenever anyone I knew was looking for a good preschool to Kindergarten, I always recommended Pinecrest Presbyterian. I also felt she learned so much there, her social skills, preschool academics, and about being kind and doing the right thing. So important in their early years. Its a very nurturing school and I would definitely recommend them highly over and over again. read more

We have been with PPDS for three years, including summer camps. My twins started there when they turned 2. We have had the best experience there. The environment is pleasant, and the playground is both practical and beautiful. The parking situation is great also; I never had an issue. The best thing about the school is its personnel however. We have been with Mrs. Valentin, Mrs. Miro, Mrs. Howe, Ms, Baylis, Ms. Caceres, and they all have been consistently pleasant, attentive, thoughtful, and educational in their approach. They love our kids, and it's mutual. The administrative staff -- Rev. Bovold, Ms. Deck and Mrs. Prinzing-- have been extremely supportive, lovely, organized and overall professional throughout these years. The kids are responding very positively to this welcoming, educational yet fun environment, including my children and their classmates. We're planning to keep the twins for the kindergarten year also as we hear that Mrs. Molkentin is also excellent. We met her in person and feel great about sending our kids there for another year. Her approach to teaching math, reading and arts seemed right also (and I'm a college professor). Honestly, when I saw the comments by Nicole S and Christian G, I decided to write this review. What they write is absolutely unfair and does not represent the views of the parents. I know of at least 30 parents who share my views about the school. We highly recommend. read more

Our son started at Pinecrest Presbyterian Day School when he was 2 years old. We loved the attention and care he received from his teacher and looked forward to keeping him enrolled for Pre-K 3 and 4. During his time at school he was bit multiple times. This didn't raise too many concerns for us as we knew this is very common in early childhood. The following year he displayed some of the same aggression he learned while attending the school. We worked with him and he improved throughout the Pre-K 3 school year. We were told before the start of Pre-K 4 that the school would separate several students. When the school year was upon us that didn't happen and we voiced our concerns but were told the teacher was more than capable of handling the situation. Unfortunately, our sons behavior gradually worsened. After several trips to the principals office where he was sat alone in a corner along with multiple early pickups we had a meeting with the school's principal and staff. We were told his behavior would not be tolerated much longer and we should look into getting him a therapist. The school chose one for us who would shadow him during class. Thousands of dollars later his behavior worsened and he was suspended. One example of his punishment was him being sent to the two year old class. We only heard of this via the therapist and not once by the actual school. His classmates taunted him with cries of "baby". Our son started exhibiting signs of anxiety, biting his nails, jittery and all around nervousness. Several weeks later we were asked to pick him up early as he was being suspended again. At this point we made the decision to remove him from the school and we were told we would lose the remainder of the year's tuition as that was their policy which was in the fine print. We sought out a more qualified school where the teachers and staff really have their heart in the success of the children and an a openness with parents. 2 weeks into his new school and he is a different boy. He has shown 0 signs of aggression and looks forward to attending school. It's literally night and day. We attribute this to a more skilled staff and perhaps a better overall school where it's not about the money rather an environment of learning. Removing him from this school was the best decision we made and our only regret is not having done this earlier. Also the entire year is paid upfront and they will not refund any unused tuition. read more

PPDS is a great little school with an awesome shaded playground. There are lots of fun learning activities during the school year and summer programs. Administration has been responsive to any questions or concerns I've had throughout the 2 years my kids have attended this school. Front office is always helpful. Great families here too! :-) read more

PPDS is a wonderful, welcoming school with the most caring faculty and staff. Our children have loved their teachers, and have thrived in such a warm and nurturing institution. When we moved to Miami from NYC, we were very concerned about finding just the right social and educational environment for our kids to make the transition, and we couldn't be happier with our choice of preschools. read more

Our son has been attending Pinecrest Presbyterian Day School for two and a half years. We have been so happy with our experience there. The staff is wonderful and caring and really takes the time to get to know each and every family. The teachers my son has had have all been phenomenal and really love the kids like their own. My son has struggled at times with drop off and the front office never gets bothered if I call in to check on how he is doing and I am informed often on things he is doing well with as well as areas which may require some extra attention. I also love the families at this school--such great people and we have made many friends over the past couple of years! I would highly recommend looking at this school. I have nothing but good things to say. read more

I'm giving them 3 stars but currently feel like they deserve less. I had a great experience last year when my son was 3. He had fun, he played and learned how to be a little person in school. I could've done without all the worksheets but I'll let that slide so I do t go on too many rants. This year, whole different ballgame in their VPK class. The teacher has introduced sight words, has students reading books in front of the class, uses a red pen to mark mistakes on his class work and has him transferring from the board. There is absolutely no communication between teacher and parent. All communication goes through the principal, which takes forever bc her inbox must be overflowing. They say they use Handwriting Without Tears as their curriculum and I can say that they most definitely have no training in it and have no idea how to properly implement it. After discussing these concerns today with the principal and having excuse after excuse thrown at me I'm disappointed. The three stars are not for her, nor are they for the current teacher, but rather they are for the rest of the staff who is friendly, warm, honest and nurturing. My son loves this school and has wonderful friendships, but I'm feeling like my money is better spent elsewhere. read more

Worst experience ever! Administration and teachers are clueless. They lack knowledge about childhood and emotional development, ages and stages, effective discipline....the list goes on and on. Do not send your child to this school! We pulled our son out after many mishaps... read more

Six-your-old expelled for allegedly using the word "gay". On Friday, Sept 28, 2018, Rev. Bovold (Pinecrest Presbyterian) expelled my six-year-old son from school for allegedly using the word "gay", without due process or appeal, with immediate effect. My six-year-old son doesn't even know what that word means, let alone understand the sensitivities surrounding it. Rev. Bovold called me belligerent and barred me from visiting the church, because I spoke up for my son and about the deeply rooted problems at their school. This episode makes a mockery of Christian values. read more