Reviews of Buckle My Shoe Preschool (Kindergarten)

Amy Golding

My son is in the 3's class in the West Village and my daughter is in the 1's class in Tribeca. We absolutely love it, and so do they! From the minute you walk in, you feel at home and like you are entering a magical environment. I was grateful to find the Reggio Emilia inspired philosophy and the child-centered approach to curriculum and instruction at BMS. The children actively play and come home messy every day - and the depth and breadth of what they learn through that process is incredible. The teachers are fantastic and well trained. The head teachers all have a Masters in Education and they participate in staff development with Reggio experts to push themselves even further throughout the year. Teachers are always on hand to address any concerns and to support in the many areas that all parents struggle with - potty training, developmental stages, eating, napping and more. What I love the most is how creative the lessons are - designed to educate, foster socialization and create a lifelong love of learning. The parents, children and teachers come together to create an amazingly loving preschool that fosters incredible learning for the students and feels like a family. It is a home away from home!

Bree Groff

Buckle My Shoe is a magical place. The teachers are endlessly creative, and don't just "teach" but provide the materials for kids to discover on their own. Things like getting messy with water balls and shaving cream, painting with black light paint, and this holiday season, building a christmas tree out of cardboard boxes. There is such an emphasis on invention and expression, and it's exactly what we wanted for our daughter. They also do this amazing thing where they post pictures from throughout the school day on Instagram (a private account), so as a parent, you can still feel like you are a part of your child's day and have something to ask about in the evenings. And most importantly, at BMS, our daughter is developing into this happy, curious, kind, and brilliant little girl.

David Kullmann

(Please note I posted the same review on Yelp!, also, to respect privacy of other parents photos uploaded are only my child) Buckle My Shoe is more than just a day care, it's an early childhood development program that you'll cherish for the rest of your life. My son has attended Buckle My Shoe for 1.5 years (he's currently enrolled in his 2nd of two full year programs and attended summer school.) He started as a 9 month old in September of 2015. In the infant class (3m-12m) the children have tummy time, explore new materials, colors, and shapes, learn to crawl and start to stand. Everyday the teachers write a report on what the class did which they post online (to a private, password protected location). They also post 50-100 photos per day of all the children to a private, password protected photo account. I have saved over a hundred heart-warming photos of my son learning, laughing, and playing. The kids also make arts and crafts together. Gluing, finger painting, and more. We get to take home dozens of gifts that our son made for us at the school over the last 18 months. In the toddler class everyone is walking and starting to talk. The kids go on field trips to trick or treat, cut a Christmas tree, see the fire department and firetrucks, and go to the park. While in school they do arts and crafts, learn Spanish and French, sing songs with a guitarist, and play together with toys that help them learn and develop (building train tracks, stacking blocks and legos, ABC's and 123's, reading books.) Parents are welcome anytime and we often drop in if we get off work early. Our son loves the school so much he refuses to leave when we pick him up! After looking at over a dozen schools, and visiting half that, I was nervous to pick a school for our little baby. I could not be happier that I chose Buckle My Shoe. BMS has become an invaluable part of my sons educational, social, and physical development. At this point, I don't know if I could live without them.

Mindy Price

My 3-year-old daughter Elle has attended Buckle My Shoe Nursery School since she was 6 months old, and it has been an incredibly positive experience for her and our family. Being our first born, she especially benefitted from regular interactions with her classmates, which strengthened and accelerated the development of her verbal and communication skills as well as her gross and fine motor skills. Buckle My Shoe has been an incredible partner, so much so that our 15-month-old daughter Harlow now attends as well. The teachers and staff are passionate about their students and dedicated to the child-centered, play-based curriculum. Elle and Harlow both look forward to 'school days' and we love hearing about the daily adventures with teachers and friends.

Delphine Colette Ahl

This is our fourth year at Buckle My Shoe West Village and we couldn’t be any happier! We feel it is the perfect place to get your children ready for Kindergarten. Their Reggio Emilia philosophy is on point and we feel it is the perfect setting for young children to dive into self-discovery and explore their curiosities and passions by fostering creativity. Everyday the Centers are perfectly thought out and organized with a real purpose in mind. The teachers serve as wonderful guides to the children throughout the discovery process. The environment is warm and inviting and should separation ever be an issue for your child, they are more than happy to have you stick around for as long as you feel is necessary. We love how our children blossomed at BMS and to this day our eldest still thinks of BMS as her happy place.

Colleen Dornquast

I love everything about Buckle My Shoe Tribeca. Both of my daughters have attended from 2's on, and we have been thrilled with their experience at the school. My daughters are thriving there in an environment that makes every student feel valued, important and empowered. Highly recommend, especially for their preK program.

George Forman

For 15 years I have worked with the BMS teachers using by background in Reggio Emilia Inspired education and cognitive development. We have learned together how to find the high-level thinking in the children's play and project work. I am very pleased to say these teachers know what is going on that is significant and not at all obvious. They eschew broad labels such as "sensory education" and drill down into the strategies children use to make judgements, the children's thinking, such as "I think this is something that is rough so I will drag my fingers across it to find out." These excellent teachers see more than the rest of us and know how to support children's inventions and explorations.