Preschool Suggestions

I originally enrolled my DD in Sunrise preschool. I waited 3 months to get in, and when I finally was enrolled I was very unhappy. There were so many kids there that DD was overwhelmed and overlooked, and being that the company is a franchise, they were very business, not people, oriented. Not a good environment in my opinion.
I pulled her out and found a "private" daycare on Craig's List, and couldn't be happier! The daycare is MUCH less expensive, less crowded (which means more attention on my DD) and very responsive to individual needs. I would suggest you give that a try.

Proud Mommy to:
Paige - 8
Coleton - 6
Jadyn - 1

I don't recommend any of the "chain" type centers at all, i.e. Sunrise, Tutor Time, Child Time, Kinder Care, La Petite, etc. they are big centers and their number one objective is to keep their numbers up and keep their facility full. The employees are not teachers, many of them are young adults, i.e. fresh out of high school, although these centers like to tout their centers as "preschools" most of them are the farthest thing from preschools. Many of these centers only require their staff to receive 8 hours (or less) of continued training through out the year. Your child will not receive the individual attention they require and deserve at these centers, there's not enough time to spend with each child individually when you've got high teacher/child rations, it's impossible. I suggest trying something along the private line. Also, Montessori schools are suppose to be nice too, although I'm not familiar with them. However, I know there is one in North Scottsdale called Mission Montessori their website is
http://www.missionmontessori.com/

Maybe you can check them out. Although anything that's not private (home based) that you find that is small and employs well educated staff you're going to find is more on the pricey side.

They are opening a new preschool in the DC Ranch area. It will be open for the first time this fall. I will find the name and repost.

Or if it is not too far, PV School District runs a good program through their community ed department. The classroom is at Pinnacle High School - not too far from Desert Ridge. They would be pretty affordable. Here is a link to their website:
http://comed.pvusd.k12.az.us/preschool.htm

We love the program at the Jewish Community Center. We go to the one in Chandler but I've heard good things about the one in Scottsdale. JCCs are open to anyone, are typically affordable and offer flexible hours.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 6 and 2.