Celebrating our 13th year

Ettie Zaklos, Founder & Director

It's not every day that a preschool gets to celebrate its bar mitzvah.

This August, we welcomed new and returning families for our milestone 13th year at Preschool of the Arts! Over the summer break, our POTA team worked tirelessly to curate an exceptional curriculum that will spark creativity, ignite curiosity and foster a love for learning in each precious little heart under our care.

Since its founding, our preschool has prided itself on our ability to give the children who walk through our doors every opportunity for success in learning and in life. Our goal was to not only introduce our students to the wonders of the world around them but also open their eyes to infinite possibilities.

The school’s educational philosophy is inspired by the Reggio approach to learning. This means that children are not fed information through predetermined activities. Instead, our teachers strive to inspire inquiry-based learning. Perhaps the most distinctive difference between traditional learning and inquiry-based learning is that the children explore, experiment and test their ideas through play invitations.

A play invitation is an open-ended exploration. There is no predetermined outcome. The children may use the play invitation the way the educator envisioned or take the materials and use them in entirely different ways. In a play invitation, children are not bound by the constraints of the materials they are offered. Instead, a play invitation acts as a launch pad for children’s own ideas and theories to develop.

Our play-based curriculum is supported holistically by our extensive “Specials” programming, including music, visual arts, sports, gardening, STEAM, Spanish, Little Chefs, yoga and Shabbat celebrations. The curriculum and each Special are uniquely designed to maximize our school’s wonderful facilities and resources, such as the Nature Playscape, outdoor kitchen and our revamped Garden of the Arts, state-of-the-art playground, Children’s Marketplace, and indoor and outdoor Studios of the Arts.

Every day, as I walk around the campus and hear the happy sounds of children playing, learning and laughing — swinging and climbing in the playground, cooking up muddy messes and building forts in the Nature Playscape, singing in Spanish, experimenting and creating in the art studio, digging up a fresh harvest in the garden and cooking up a delicious snack outdoors — I watch the magic of this unique form of learning and discovery happen. This is what our preschool is all about. The sweet smiles and eagerness on the children’s faces as they begin to explore their new classrooms and make new friends never fails to tug at my heartstrings.

We are so proud of how far we have come in these past 13 years and how we have grown from a fledgling preschool to the top-quality program we have today. As we look to the future, we are thrilled to share that we will shortly be breaking ground on our new preschool expansion: The Big Build! This exciting $7.5 million expansion of our campus will allow us to welcome hundreds more children through our doors. We believe so strongly in our vision for excellence in early childhood education that we are working tirelessly to ensure that as many children as possible can benefit from a high-quality preschool experience during their most formative early years. Learn more and partner with us at www.NaplesBigBuild.com.

I am humbled and honored to have founded and led POTA since its inception. None of this would have been possible without our community’s continued support. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of our extended POTA family.

Our innovative programs and incredible staff are an open Naples secret, and our award-winning preschool is growing exponentially every year. We are excited about the school year ahead and look forward to sharing our highlights along the way.

For more information or to schedule a tour, please call 239-263-2620 or visit our website at NaplesPreschooloftheArts.com.