I enrolled my child at the age of ten months! I immediately fell in love with all the teachers and the director.  My child flourished at Island Prep- he learned sign language and became an excellent nap taker!  I would never even consider another place to send my child.  Island Prep is a family and they welcome all children and parents with open arms.  The teachers are phenomenal ladies and educators!

My daughter has been going to Island Prep since the day the school opened.  She has learned so much, made amazing friends, and the staff have become like family to us.  Everyone at the school goes above and beyond to make learning fun at Island Prep.  My daughter loves all of the special events they host like the annual Halloween Party, Holiday Bizarre, and monthly pajama parties.  She’s starting VPK in a week and I’m so excited to see what she’ll learn next.  When I picked my daughter up from school today, she told her teacher she loved her before leaving.  It’s that kind of school-everyone literally becomes like family to each other.  I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend Island Prep. We love love love this school!

My daughter has been a student at Island Prep for almost 5 years now and every year has been absolutely incredible. From the VPK program up through to her 3rd grade year, Island Prep has provided a safe, fun, and nurturing environment for children to learn and grow. The quality of her teachers’ and their gift of nurturing young minds made her early development a joy to witness. All her teachers’ patience, love, creativity, and guidance has made every year an amazing experience for her in growth, knowledge, and positivity. I am continually impressed by how well all the teachers, faculty, and staff truly know my daughter, and not just by name. While the teachers are loving and nurturing, they also provide the guidance and structure needed in the classroom. The class being smaller in size ensures more involvement between teacher and student which I love. The ability to reach out to her teacher at any time with any questions or concerns I may have brings such calmness to my heart. While at Island Prep my daughter has flourished. She has made wonderful friends and has learned so many new and exciting things. They have really helped shape and develop my daughters love for learning and I couldn’t be more appreciative. Every year has been filled with laughter, hugs, songs, smiles, fun, so much love and lots of exciting learning. I am so thankful for all that Island Prep does and I am beyond happy I have chosen to send my daughter to this school.

My family has been nothing but happy with the care my daughters have received at Island Prep over the last 4 years!  Highly recommend Island Prep to anyone looking for a clean, safe, and friendly preschool!

We are so lucky to have such an AMAZING preschool!! My children have learned so much from this dedicated staff!  The enviornment is clean, safe, and eco-friendly as well as adorable!  A new standard has been set, and nothing in this town comes close!! Thank you!

I feel so comfortable knowing my child is safe, learning and in loving hands. Thank you Island Prep staff!

We have been a part of the Island Prep family since it opened. Our oldest daughter started there a few months before her third birthday. In other “daycares”, she would have been placed in the “2 year old ” room without consideration of her developmental accomplishments up to that point.  She was already fully potty trained and very verbal. In talking to Dani and the staff at Island Prep, they cared about all aspects of our daughter’s needs and ended up placing her in the 3 year old room where she thrived. This is just one reason Island Prep stands above the rest. Our twins came next and traveled through all the rooms of the green school, starting with the baby room. Every teacher they have had has been caring, engaging and knowledgeable about the developmental stages the girls were going through. We as parents, do not believe in holding our children back and the staff at Island Prep have always kept our girls challenged. Our oldest left Island Prep as a strong reader and absolutely ready for kindergarten. Our twins are well on their way and our youngest will start at the school when he is old enough. We are so grateful to have a place in our community that is dedicated to providing an environment that produces well rounded and prepared kids for their future.

We brought our son to Island Prep while we were in Florida on an academic sabbatical for seven months. By that time, our son had experienced some of the best nurseries and preschools in Europe, both in England and in Switzerland. However, from his first days at Island Prep we noticed a big difference in his attitude to his school days – he was so enthusiastic and looking forward to going to school in the morning – a huge contrast to his feelings about childcare facilities he had attended before. Needless to say, we were surprised and delighted with such a positive change. Every day at Island Prep for him was full of joyful play, learning and friends. He blossomed emotionally, intellectually and creatively in the warm, stimulating and thoughtful environment created by the founder – with an innovative educational concept – and the staff. It is now four months since we returned to Europe, and our boy still obviously misses Island Prep! He still keeps mentioning his friends in the class and pretends he plays at Island Prep and ‘talks’ to his favourite teachers. His teachers were absolutely wonderful in the way they invented so many interesting projects and motivated children, while being sensitive and tuned into every child’s individual needs. Our Swiss pre-school, although one of the best in Zürich by European standards (and five times more expensive!), is not half as amazing as Island Prep, and we can see it from the way our boy talks about it, how he learns and develops. Nothing compares to the unique, inspiring and caring atmosphere you created for the kids at Island Prep. We wish we could just take Island Prep and plant it in the middle of Europe…

Island Prep has truly been a magical place for our daughters. Both of our girls started out at the green whale school, where our youngest was in the toddler room. It wasn’t easy to leave my baby, but I immediately felt reassured with the friendly teachers who held her and soothed her. They even sent me pictures after I left to show that she was playing happily. Our oldest daughter started out in the three year old group, where she had a fabulous teacher who challenged her and brought in super cool science experiments and hands on learning which have instilled in her a hunger to discover new things and to dig deeper as a young learner. Now, we have our oldest at the blue whale school starting Kindergarten this coming year and our youngest starting JPK. Both are doing so well. They beg to go to school, even when its summer time. I really love the feeling that the school exudes. It is a calm and peaceful place with lots and lots of learning through play, discovery, hands-on activities, and social interaction with peers. I really love the way students learn at Island Prep. Careful attention is taken as to what will best meet the students’ needs at their developmental level where deep thinking is always encouraged. For example, when students were learning about space, an actual astronomer came in to talk and show pictures of space! Another example was when students were learning about Asia (my three year old) they got to dress up like chefs and pretend to mix up Asian noodles and vegetables, which I got to enjoy at work while the teacher sent me pictures of my little sweetie participating! Being a teacher myself, it is so important to me that my children are challenged academically while building a love for learning at the same time. I want a place where my children feel loved, celebrated, special, and unique. Island Prep is this place for me. This school has become like a second home to my daughters and we are so happy to be a part of such a wonderful eco-friendly family and exciting learning environment. I can’t say enough about the awesome teachers, principal, and office staff, but I will say that they rock my socks off!

We have two children at Island Prep – one at the Green Whale and one at the Blue Whale – and we can’t imagine having our boys anywhere else. We were first introduced to Island Prep five years ago when we learned we were expecting our first child. We were new to the St. Augustine community and had no idea where to begin when looking for a place for our soon to be newborn son. Although Island Prep doesn’t accept children quite that young, Dani, the owner of the school, was an amazing resource and source of comfort for us as we looked for places.  Even though our son wasn’t of age for Island Prep, she treated us like one of her families. When he turned one and started at Island Prep, we knew we had found something special. Today, he is four and a half and his 19 month old brother has been at Island Prep since he was 10 months. We truly have an extended family in this amazing school. The directors and teachers treat our kids as they would their own. They show so much love, compassion, support, warmth, friendship and care to the children. They nurture their minds, spirits and bodies through the daily activities. They all take such pride in learning about each individual child and helping them grow and learn. The knowledge – through play, exercise, reading, experiencing and learning that our boys receive is impressive.  To say that we have found an amazing place for our sons to grow is an understatement.  Island Prep offers something so special. So caring. So warm. We are beyond thankful to have this amazing place, amazing teachers, and amazing learning community in our lives. I always joked that I needed a commune and a village to properly raise my boys. Well, we have them in the teachers and the amazing families who attend here. Faced with the realization that our boys spend almost as much time with these amazing people and classmates as they do us, their parents, on a weekly basis….there is absolutely no other place that they should be.