PicFair Village Montessori Preschool of the Arts

We love Picfair Village Montessori Preschool of the Arts! It's small, super sweet, and offers art, yoga, gardening, music, and Montessori-based materials and instruction. The play yard is an awesome, little wonderland, the whole place is full of joy. The kids get lots of individual attention, and I love even the small things, like how the kids get involved in making their own play dough, or baking muffins with bananas from their own tree! It's located in a bright, beautiful home and run by founder/director Shama Minwalla, a truly amazing, patient teacher. Lindsay, her assistant and second teacher is fantastic too and our son loves them both. We started here this past August, and our son, and we, couldn't be happier. It's truly a little-known treasure.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is an extremely special place. The setting is a beautifully restored home that's bright, organized, and comfortable, and it's right in our neighborhood! My daughter began when she was 2 years, four months old, and while I was hesitant about having her "leave the nest," it was obvious after only a couple of days that she was more than ready to go out and interact with other children on a daily basis and in a structured way. She quickly gained a strong sense of ownership and pride in her new space and the materials, and she formed friendships through songs, books, her "work," outdoor activities, tending a garden, practicing yoga, art, and more. The Director is warm, experienced, and well-versed in the Montessori approach. It was truly amazing to see our daughter's confidence, helpfulness, energy, and learning grow tremendously in less than a year. Really remarkable. We feel so grateful to have found this school.
--Submitted by a parent

I researched preschools for 3 months prior to enrolling my son at PicFair Village Montessori. To my surprise, many West LA preschools that claimed to be Montessori programs fell drastically short of traditional Montessori practices. After months of guidance from the UCLA early education outreach program, I found this school. From the very first meeting with the Director, I fell in love with this program. I enrolled my son (at 2 yrs old) with one goal in mind - develop his speech. After a couple of months, my son started speaking in full sentences and learned his alphabet, colors, numbers and shapes within weeks. All he needed was to be around other kids and the care of a great teacher. The student to child ratio is extremely low so my son gets tons of attention. The teacher and I strategized a plan to potty train my son and it only took 1 week (no joke). His teacher was incredibly helpful and even washed him up when he had a few accidents. Most preschools will not give this type of care to children. My son often practices yoga at school, bakes and even gardens. This school is such a blessing!
--Submitted by a parent

My son attends this school and I have to say that I am really impressed with his progress. My wife found this school after thoroughly researching numerour programs. For Father's Day we went to Travel Town and had lunch with our kids. I also received an awesome framed picture my son made. My wife was also invited to a pancake breakfast for Mother's Day and she received a hand-made apron from my son. The teacher is very caring and I feel like she is family. I don't have to worry about my son's well being while I'm at work and that is priceless to me.
--Submitted by a parent

We feel so lucky to have found this hidden gem of a school right in our neighborhood. It's small and intimate, with tons of individual attention for each kid from a very talented, experienced teacher. The school fosters independence, social skills, and love of learning. In addition to learning at their own pace with Montessori materials, they play music, dance, do yoga, cook, garden, watch caterpillars turn into butterflies, etc. etc., all in a serene home environment. My son has made strides in his social skills and ability to play well with other kids, and potty training has been a breeze with the help we've gotten from school. I'd heard that high-energy kids sometimes don't do well with Montessori, but this school is full of joy and spontaneity and my very active 3 year old absolutely loves it (showing me to the door in the morning so he can get started).
--Submitted by a parent