Rooms
At Great Escape, we prioritize building relationships. Our preschool offers smaller class sizes, individual attention and qualified, experienced staff. Students remain with their teachers throughout the academic year September - May.
Infants
3 months - Walking
Our infant room maintains a 1:4 student-to-teacher ratio. Our infant teachers follow your child's needs and schedule. We believe in minimal containment and encourage natural play and exploration. Our infants enjoy daily sun and outdoor time. (Weather depending)
Younger Toddlers
12 months - 2.5
Our younger toddlers are our busiest explorers. We maintain and 2:7 student- to - teacher ratio. Children are offered opportunities to open play, engage in circle time, spend time outdoors and explore their senses through weekly crafts/activities. Our teachers incorporate themes based on children's interests.
Toddler
2.5 - 3.5
Our toddlers spend lots of time parallel playing, exploring their environment and enjoying our outdoor playground. We maintain a ratio of 1:7 or 2:11 student-to-teacher ratio. Our teachers nourish this age range by creating developmentally appropriate activities and exploratory units and themes.
Younger Preschool
3 - 4
Our younger preschool classroom is a wonderful beginning to the world of learning. Emphasizing play as an integral part of learning, our youngest preschoolers embark on a world of self-discovery through weekly thematic units. Our teachers integrate the Orton-Gillingham handwriting approach, mathematical skills and literacy concepts authentically through the curriculum.
Centers and stations are designed to encourage hands on Reggio Emilia experiential learning. Preschool students learn the value of positive social interactions, teamwork and self-independence.
Our younger preschool class will be combining next year for the 2026-2027 school year and our core preschool days will be offered on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Ms. Mickey and Ms. Mia.
Supplemental play based days will be offered on Mondays and Fridays, similar to how our preschool 3 class is structured. Families will be able to choose between three, four, or five day options.
Pre-K 3
4-5
Our Curricular Vision: Wonder, Exploration, and Meaningful Learning
At our school, we believe early childhood is a sacred time for wonder, imagination, and deep, child-driven discovery. Our older preschool program intentionally weaves together the world’s best early childhood philosophies to create a rich, nurturing environment where children thrive as confident, capable learners.
The Environment as the Third Teacher (Reggio Emilia & Loose Parts) Guided by the Reggio Emilia approach, we view our classrooms as beautiful, inviting spaces designed to spark curiosity. We emphasize Loose Parts Play—providing open-ended materials like smooth river rocks, wooden rings, pinecones, and fabric scraps. Because these materials have no single predetermined purpose, they empower children to do the thinking, turning play into a laboratory for math, storytelling, engineering, and creative expression.
Inspired by Waldorf traditions and the holistic our days flow with a gentle, predictable rhythm that balances focused, cozy moments with active outdoor exploration. We prioritize the natural world, taking our learning outside and grounding our days in real-world, meaningful work like gardening, baking, and artistic expression. We nurture the whole child—focusing deeply on emotional well-being, community connection, and responsive relationships.
Multi-Sensory Literacy (Hands-On Jolly Phonics) We believe that early literacy should be just as joyful and experiential as the rest of our day. To support phonemic awareness and reading readiness, we incorporate the Jolly Phonics curriculum through a completely hands-on, multi-sensory approach. Children learn letter sounds through engaging stories, songs, and physical, whole-body actions.
Literacy seamlessly blends into our classroom environment: children construct letter shapes using natural loose parts, trace formations in sensory sand trays, and go on sound scavenger hunts during our outdoor adventures. By linking a sound to an action and a tactile experience, we make early reading intuitive, playful, and deeply meaningful
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Together, these elements form a balanced curriculum that honors the magic of childhood while building a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
