Half-day preschool offered in South Fayette

Ivybrook Academy offers half-day preschool

Ivybrook Academy South Fayette, a half-day private preschool, opened in The Shoppes at Bursca in August.

The facility offers preschool programs for toddlers through five-year-olds, plus private kindergarten.

Half-day classes are held in the mornings; an afternoon option will be added next school year.

The Kirstein family prepares to cut the ribbon in August at Ivybrook Academy in South Fayette.

Photo courtesy of Burns Scalo Real Estate

Franchise owners Darah and Denis Kirstein are lifelong residents of Bethel Park. They have four daughters between the ages of 2 and 10.

"We believe in this product so much that our own daughters will be students here,” Denis Kirstein said.

The preschool celebrated its grand opening Aug. 11 with an open house, music, ice cream, face painting, balloons, storytelling and other children's activities.

Established in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area in 2007, Ivybrook Academy has 30 campuses across nine states. The South Fayette location is the first in Pennsylvania.

Darah Kirstein said the facility was designed to enhance the learning experience.

"Education is not one size fits all,” she said. “We've got to encourage and embrace different learning styles. That's what Ivybrook is all about."

Ivybrook Academy, 3127 Washington Pike, Suite 500, South Fayette: 412-453-8660; Facebook, Instagram; ivybrookacademy.com/south-fayette.

—Andrea Iglar