Petite Explorer Preschool NOPA
Closed today Next open Mon 8:00 AM
Description provided by the business.Reggio Emilia inspired project-based preschool. Children are encouraged to build meaningful relationships and become lifelong learners through social situations and cognitive lessons. Center is located in the heart of San Francisco's NOPA district one block away from Alamo Square.
Location Info
823 Divisadero St
San Francisco, CA 94117
(McAllister & Fulton)
| Monday | 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM |
| Wednesday | 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM |
| Thursday | 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM |
| Friday | 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Programs Offered
Preschool Program
Licensing
Petite Explorer Preschool NOPA is a licensed child care center.
Type
Licensed Child Care Center
Identifier
384004334
Capacity
42
Issued
01/21
Parent Reviews
Our daughter attended Petite Explorer NOPA for three years. From the moment we met Vickie at the tour of the school - which is a lovely space - I knew that this would be a place where my daughter would feel cared for. Our experience at Petite bore that out. Vickie and all the teachers that make up the Petite team are so incredibly warm, patient, and thoughtful. They put a lot of effort into making school engaging and fun and our daughter loved them. She also learned so much. Not just things like letters and numbers, but also how to share and be kind, to work through feelings and be able to speak up for herself, how to be more independent. This year our daughter started kindergarten and we feel Petite did a wonderful job of preparing her for it. We couldn’t recommend it more highly.
Echoing everyone's rave reviews! I have had two children at PE Nopa over the past two years -- my son started in the Petite Room at age 2.5 last August and is now in the Discover Room at age 4.5, my daughter started in the Petite Room at age 2 this August. We have been thrilled with everything about the school. The teachers are phenomenal--nurturing, engaged, and well-educated. The husband and wife owners/admins Vickie and Andy equally thoughtful, experienced, and caring (they are very involved and often sub in when teachers are out, so they really know my kids, which I love). Communication is seamless. The site is also great--up to date facilities, indoor-outdoor space, and (most important to my children) endless activities. The project-based learning is perfect: my kids have learned so much about bees (my son) and airplanes (my daughter). I really can't say enough good things about our experience and recommend it without reservation.
My son went to PE in Nopa for about 2.5 years starting from 3 years old. We had an amazing experience there. The teachers and admins were wonderful, caring and thoughtful in their planning of the educational program. They were really attentive and observant of him and his needs. He developed so much curiosity and interest in all kinds of things, from bugs to space to the sea and came home with so many great projects. He made amazing friendships and we really enjoyed becoming part of the community and getting to know lots of other parents outside of school as well. Our son loved going to school there and I couldn't recommend PE Nopa more.
Petite Explorer is a wonderful daycare and preschool. My child went there since he turned three and is now about to leave for Kindergarten. The administrators consistently find caring and knowledgeable teachers who are so sweet with the kids and great at setting up a strong, thematic program for them full of creative activities. The space is clean and organized with a variety of toys to inspire the kids. They have a fun and safe, enclosed and private outdoor area and they also walk to the local playground weekly. The teachers always communicate clearly with families and even use an app to send pictures throughout the day so you can see all the fun they're having. We were so lucky to find this preschool.
This is such a rare gem in our neighborhood. I can't speak highly enough about the staff here and the care they provide to the kids. The classes are fairly small in size and the teacher:student ratio is unbeatable. Each teacher is warm, friendly and an expert in education - they truly pay a lot of attention to each kids' learning and development. I love that they take the time to talk to parents at pickup every day and mention how the day was, I get a stream of photos/videos/messages throughout the day about my kid's day and they're always responsive during the day if I have questions. The curriculum is play and learning based and my 3yo is full of stories after he is home. He loves the school so much that every weekend he's upset that school is off. The parent community is wonderful too and we all hang out outside of the school for play dates. I am sad to leave this school as we're relocating to a new place but I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. We got lucky to be accepted and I have never seen or heard of such level of care at any other facility. Andy and Vickie have put a lot of thought into hiring the right staff (Ms. Meghan, Ms OC, Ms Hannah, Ms. Suroor are all top notch!) and this school is the absolute best for your little tot. Now stop reading and go tour it right away!!!
It's impossible to overstate how wonderful an experience we had at Petite Explorer. We sent our twin 3-year-old daughters as part of the launch class at this new preschool (which has an established - and very popular - sister location in the Mission). We are moving to a new city and so had to leave the school which was very hard. We saw such a remarkable development for our daughters in the time we had at Petite Explorer. Each day they talked about all the things they learned and how much they liked their teachers and classmates - a pretty critical sign as to the quality of a preschool. Each morning they would charge at the entrance door to greet the teachers and friends. The teachers, Meghan, Hannah, Oce and Vickie (headteacher/owner) are kind, creative, engaged and deliberate. They built amazing relationships with our daughters who would come home with stories about them all. The teaching was varied (in content) and often centered around ideas the children had, such as one week dedicated to bumble bees because some appeared in the garden - and so there were lessons about how they fly, art classes etc. The children were encouraged to work and play together on various activities and there seemed to be a great balance of structure/direction and freedom to explore/express. The teachers communicated really well throughout. The owners, Andy and Vickie, were kind and responsive. They clearly want to build successful preschools with a mission and high quality. We referred friends to the new location and rather than pack kids into the space, they thoughtfully explained they wanted to build at the right pace only when the highest quality teachers were available to ensure standards remained high. Given it's a new location, I'm sure they feel pressure to grow into the space, but it's clearly a good sign that they aren't rushing. The space is open and well-designed. The outdoor area is broken up into a number of different areas and the kids seemed to always be having a good time. The classrooms were clean with lots of books and supplies for art, white board lessons/sessions, activities etc. So many wonderful things to say having had a near perfect experience at this school. Yes, this is one of those cliché: "This is my first ever review but I felt compelled to write it."