Testimonials
Brittaney C.
My two children have been attending PEI for a combined 4 years. Not only do they love walking into school every day to play & learn, but they have found the most wonderful friends and community. I truly feel as though they are not only benefiting educationally, but they are confident little children because of the incredibly supportive teachers and staff. Our family has no active connection the French language, but their exposure has become a huge bonus to our experience. We're so grateful for our PEI family!
Lara Warman
Our child has absolutely thrived at PEI. She comes home happy and exhausted every day. We love that the teachers are kind and supportive with a focus on teaching her independent life skills. The campus has ample space for both indoor and outdoor play. We are so happy to be a part of the PEI community and can’t imagine sending our kid anywhere else.
Both our daughters have attended Petite and we could not be happier. The staff cares deeply about our children and they learn something new every day. We do not speak French at home, but now our girls do! We cannot wait to send our son there when he turns two.
Emily
I am so grateful that my daughter had an early childhood free of worksheets and flashcards, and yet going into kindergarten, she's reading, using math, and has a limitless curiosity about the world. Beyond the language immersion and academics, Petite Ecole really excels at developing emotional intelligence - teaching compassion, grace, persistance, conflict resolution, empathy and more.
Our daughter is a better, happier person for the time she spent at Petite Ecole. We feel so lucky to have been a part of this school and to have found so many wonderful friends in the PEI community.
Nicole Holle
PEI has been a wonderful experience so far. They’re kind but do teach boundaries and discipline which we appreciate. The first week of school our daughter was already “cleaning her place” which was quite refreshing! She often talks about her teachers commenting that “they’re nice” and she loves them, which makes us feel great dropping her off every day. We love the Montessori aspect and have already noticed her sense of independence. They send a note home every day so we’re kept in the loop on what they’re learning about, along with a monthly bulletin of the French words they’re learning and the activities planned such as cooking and planting a fall garden.
My husband and I have both started duolingo to try to add some words at home, but neither of us speak the language so it’s been pretty amazing to witness her progression when they speak to her at school. There’s a sense of pride and love for the school among the teachers – the director has been there for 20+ years and another teacher for over a decade. PEI has also done a great job of paying attention to aesthetics and design but not too much to where the school would feel “uppity” or too fancy – it strikes the right balance. We love it and would highly recommend.
Stephanie
Our son Oliver attended PEI for 3 years. I remember the first day he attended, he had just turned 2, I still carried him around everywhere, he didn’t use a spoon or drink out of a real cup. He was our first one and within weeks at PEI, he learned to become an independent little boy. He could do so many more tasks on his own and got potty-trained in a flash. The Montessori education was the perfect approach for our son. He strived and made great friends over the 3 years he spent there.
We loved that the kids of ages 2 to 5 spend the day together in the same space. The older children learn to take care of the little ones. Oliver is now a great big brother as a result.
I am native French and obviously the French immersion was the prime reason we signed-up Oliver for PEI. It was a great educative complement to the half immersion he received from me at home since his dad only speaks English.
We also enjoyed the community PEI comes with. Playdates, parties, etc. We’ve become good friends with parents and will remain connected. All-in-all, PEI was the perfect combo of Montessori and French immersion for our little guy.
Our family sought out Petite Ecole for its French immersion Montessori program and have been delighted with the school and all it has to offer in addition to the language benefit. Our son began at PEI just a month after his second birthday. In just one week, all our fears of separation and anxiety were erased as he happily walked into his new school, lunchbox in hand. We continued to be amazed with the new skills he brought home from sweeping and pouring his own water, to singing cute little French songs. The staff has been incredibly supportive and patient through all our 2 year old transitions this past year. Our son has been so proud to bring home his art projects and surprise Mother & Father’s Day presents. He constantly talks about his beloved teachers and all his friends at PEI. As new parents last year, we found the other families to be extremely helpful and interested in getting to know us, which has created a wonderful sense of community.
We are so happy and grateful to be a part of Petite Ecole!
Elizabeth Howard
We didn't know quite what to expect when we started at Petite Ecole; our daughter came from a school with an entirely different method of teaching, and she had only a small understanding of the French language. By the time she completed her first year, she had a good understanding of French, and after the second year, she not only understood French but was speaking it as well! The bonus for our family was the community that we became a part of, and all the friends that we made. The PEI teachers, and in particular Carrie Schonaerts-Ferrucci and Aurelie Young, created a loving, nurturing environment that gave Selena the foundation she needed to be successful throughout her school years. We can't say enough great things about the school.
Celine Steer
My son has been attending PEI for a year now and he loves it. He loves the teachers and his fellow classmates, always comes back happy, with a fun activity or drawing he worked on during the day.
In the past year, the progress and development he's made has been exponential and it's great to see the support from everyone at PEI.
The wellbeing of the children always comes first, which is warranted by the small children-teacher ratio.
We're French speakers so it was important for us to continue exposing our son to the language, while having some kind of academic curriculum. The Montessori approach is well balanced and has no doubt contributed to the kids becoming increasingly independent. Coincidentally, the school is located very close to our house, so signing up and staying enrolled is a no brainer.
Zaza F.
After attending an open house and a consultation with the school's director Carrie, we started our daughter at PEI in Fall 2018 when she was two. She was the youngest child in the class which made us a little nervous. The transition was hard for the first two weeks as this was her first consistent school - she had been at home with our au pair prior to school. However, the director and staff regularly checked in with us on how she was adjusting.
Now she absolutely loves school. She has learned far more than we imagined a school could impart and can speak French with our French au pair. The school's staff has been very attentive, caring and responsive. When we embarked on the fun challenge of potty training, they supported it and accelerated our daughter's transition. It is a very special school with small class sizes and a diverse group of families. If early language acquisition and the Montessori approach are important to your family, I recommend checking the school out.
We LOVE Petite Ecole! Our daughter has been attending for a little over 2 years. Ms. Schoenarts, the director, and the teaching staff have created a safe environment enabling our daughter to thrive and blossom in her learning and socialization. It's also been great for our whole family as they have fostered a community of young families who we get together with on a regular basis for playdates.
Additionally, we are thrilled that she now speaks french quite well, even though we are not native french speakers at home. She is ahead of schedule with her reading and writing skills, the montessori style curriculum has given her the support to follow her inclination to learn. They've achieved the right balance of respecting our child's natural curiosities as well as providing some structure for which to acquire knowledge.
Overall I highly recommend Petite Ecole to anybody looking for a preschool with early exposure to the French language (These are the best years for it).
Jennifer
!We didn't know quite what to expect when we started at Petite Ecole; our daughter came from a school with an entirely different method of teaching, and she had only a small understanding of the French language. By the time she completed her first year, she had a good understanding of French, and after the second year, she not only understood French but was speaking it as well! The bonus for our family was the community that we became a part of, and all the friends that we made.
The PEI teachers, and in particular Carrie Schonaerts-Ferrucci created a loving, nurturing environment that gave Selena the foundation she needed to be successful throughout her school years. We can't say enough great things about the school.