Help! Preschool recos - The Renaissance International School
Hello, We have narrowed down our preschool list to the follow schools. I want LOVE him to be in an emilia reggio school environment that has more play in it than dogmatic montessori but we really like the The Renaissance International School (TRIS) because of its small teacher to student ratio and language program. I am a little curious if the "play" and let kids be kids aspect of preschool and elementary classes is lacking in TRIS or maybe I am being completely off the mark here. Help!! We could not find any schools near us ( Oakland hills, San Leandro, castro valley, alameda) that has small teacher to student ratio, clean, good quality teachers, good curriculum. Does anyone know anything about the Renaissance Int School in recent times. Does it have a good reputation or was the quality good in the past only?
The other schools we are looking at are Daisy Child Development Center, Mountain Boulevard Montessori School and BlueSkies4children (but we are waitlisted on this one).
Thank you!
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We also loved TRIS when we toured, but landed a spot at EBI (Spanish Immersion school in North Oakland). I think we lucked out. EBI is play based, but is also excellent in terms of curriculum and Spanish immersion. My daughter has been there for 2.5 years (3 to 5.5) and speaks wonderfully in Spanish even though we do not speak Spanish at home. She is also learning a lot in PK, including about math (numbers up to 20, very simple addition/subtraction); pre-reading and early reading skills (she is reading very simple books in Spanish); different people and cultures; the environment and our plant; artists (they had a unit about expressing themselves that involved learning about famous artists); music; yoga; dance; etc. We've been really happy with their PK program. The program is pretty large and usually has spots.
We are at TRIS right now.
The teachers and the classes are excellent - our kid loves their time there and has made many good friends. They do get to play, and the education portion comes across well. TRIS really does Montessori, and every kid we've seen transition out has ended up being "ahead" in social-emotional development and education at their new schools.
However, COVID really did a number on the school. You will want to confirm the existence of the music program and movement program. The administration does not seem as interested in maintaining parent happiness as student happiness. You can see that as a pro or con.