Morningside PlayCare

"Morningside Playcare has been such a wonderful experience for both my son (age 4) and our family! Their staff is so experienced and truly cares about each and every child. They honor their school's philosophy but also respect your choices. They understand what it takes for children to thrive and provide amazing parent/children check in points! The most thorough we've ever had! We wish we could stay with them forever!"

"My son goes to Kindergarten at the Forest School and I have nothing but wonderful things to say about this program, the teachers and the director. My son used to beg me to stay home from school and now he says he loves school and wishes he could live there! I have never seen a school that understood children and their needs better than the Forest School. My son and his classmates in kindergarten spend 70% of the week outside exploring, investigating, learning and sharing. They learn how to appreciate and respect each other and the environment. His teacher Ms.Iannuci entourages the students to ask complex questions, to be attentive observers and good neighbors to the community that they spend a lot of time exploring. Since the school has small class sizes Ms. Iannuci can spend time individualizing the work while cultivating strong teamwork between the students. Every week we get detailed reports on what my son has been working on with pictures of his different adventures. In just a few months my son has built worm homes, studied crickets, watch Red Tail Hawks in Central Park eat lunch, played in the mud, worked on his math, improved his writing and made meaningful relationships with classmates. Dr. Gail Foster should be very proud of what she has created here. This school is absolutely magical, and I am excited to hear the Forest School is planning to serve all of the elementary school grades. I am so happy that my son has started his educational journey in a place that makes him love school. Forest School is a special place that makes kids feel special."

"We love MPC and its commitment to language acquisition, nature exploration, yoga & meditation, healthy food, and no screens. Our child has attended for the last two years and enjoys the daily routines and rhythms. We greatly appreciate and admire the school director who is very approachable, kind, understanding, reasonable and reflective. When we have a concern, we feel heard and supported. We are very happy to recommend MPC and be part of its wider community!"

"MPC has been a wonderful place for our daughter for the past year and a half. Her teachers are warm, loving, and fun and she's looking forward to seeing them every morning. Some of the aspects we most appreciate from MPC are that kids learn through play, daily nature exploration, and arts. They are exposed to full-time Mandarin, Spanish, and English in a multicultural environment and they are also introduced to yoga, stretching, and breathing exercises every week. The Director makes sure the food provided is nutritious, varied, and high quality, which is also very important to our family. The school moved to a beautiful new location by Central Park and despite there having been certain setbacks with city regulations, we really appreciated the strong bond within the community of MPC parents and teachers that supported each other during that transition period. We are very happy at MPC and looking forward to continuing with them in 2024."

"Our two kids have attended this daycare. They both started in the Harlem location and my daughter continues attending in the 93rd location. We love the culture and the curriculum (and that everyone takes off their shoes!). MPC offers what we valued the most: outdoor time in a lawn in Central Park everyday, a dual language program (Chinese/Spanish) and a play-based approach to learning. They organize a lot of activities outside the daycare hours so the families have the opportunity to know each other and create community. Our kids love the teachers. We couldn't be happier!"