I have inquired and visited many pre-schools in the general West Side area for the same reasons…read moremost people send their children to pre-school. We work, have distant relatives or unable relatives to babysit, want our children to be socialized and start to build relationships with friends, learn basics about life while having the support of the guardians we trust to look after them. This is hard as my wife and I would rather look after our children ourselves, but the world can seem cruel and unsupportive of our choice to raise children; so we must work.
We imagined we would have had children in a community that felt more like a tribe with a set of core values and a support network to help raise and look after our kids and their friends. I have found that more often than not my expectations are not met because I have not looked in the right area and the answers are not always in focus. I wanted an extended family, a tribe and educators to help raise my family; Kris Ladish, Anel, Corlene, Nelida, Esperanza, Jeremy and really the entire staff have been pivotal in helping me find what we needed.
What is hard to describe is how ethereal our experience at Mt. Olive is. We have had help and guidance from teachers to correct, teach and raise our children. Have had guided parent gatherings that the school helped facilitate. We have access to "kids night out" on a regular basis that is a party and play time in the evenings that is a nice change for parents and children. The staff look after and take interest in the lives of their students as well as their family. In a world that can feel cold Kris and her staff have brought warmth. We have been fostered by Mt. Olive and are better for it because we now have a tribe and extended groups of friends that our family as a whole has to hang out with.
As for teaching and environment, I think it is hard to beat and they certainly stand out from the rest. I DO NOT SEE anyone on their cell phones... ever... there's never been a tv on, a tablet playing or other electronic media to distract and entertain the children. I always see kids running around, playing, arts and crafts, building and digging in sand, being guided how to describe their feelings, speak for themselves and be a personal advocate, story time, playing with water, to singing and music classes, they even help with the potty training plan consistency (this was a especially defeating for us as a family as previous child cares simply DID NOT HELP in keeping a consistent potty train plan and in one case simply did not help at all). I have regular reports on how my son is doing in class, where he needs help, how to correct and resources if we need them. I walk through the grounds to drop off my son almost every day and I see, feel and notice the details and difference from other child cares and pre-schools. Side note, Mt. Olive has a high rate of retension, the newest staff member has been there for 8 years; everyone is happy, students and staff alike.
Mt. Olive was a god send when we needed it most, Kris Ladish was very kind to me and my family. I had made a snap decision to relocate my son to another school when I found out there was bullying about and was gas lit into believing it was me and my son's separation anxiety, but this didn't add up, to find out that there was a kid who would punch and kick while laughing and was never notified and that the parents were "finding it hard to stop and correct his behavior." Kris let my son join in right away, thank you Kris.
I'm going to get off my soap box now, I don't ever review on the internet. However; when I asked if there was anyway I could volunteer and help the school, one request was to leave a yelp review.
-Zach
