About Preschool of the Arts

Inspired by vision, Driven by Mission and informed by the latest research in Early Childhood Education.

Preschool of the Arts was formed in the East Village over 20 years ago with the mission to provide families downtown with a stellar preschool experience. As our school began to develop a reputation for excellence in education as well as a warm and welcoming atmosphere, we saw the need to expand in order to better serve our community. We wanted to ensure that each of our schools retained the character of our original vision for Preschool of the Arts while being accessible to the local communities downtown.

Preschool of the Arts has become a landmark institution in Lower Manhattan. With over 20 years of experience and commitment to providing a top notch early childhood education, we are proud of the oasis we have become to our families in New York City’s downtown communities. Our unique curriculum and our carefully selected and skilled faculty bring passion, dedication, and a broad depth of knowledge to the work that they do every day. As a result, we are internationally recognized for our leadership in early childhood education. POTA attracts educators from around the world who visit our campuses to observe and learn from our philosophy. The signature POTA Curriculum has been translated into 6 languages.

Preschool of the Arts has an integrated curriculum that seamlessly weaves together the acquisition of social, emotional, and academic skills, learning of co-constructed content, and building of community. We’ve studied the most successful progressive and innovative educational philosophies in order to fashion our hands on, play-based, experiential approach to learning. By employing the highly acclaimed Reggio approach with its strong emphasis on co-constructed learning, our children are deeply and joyfully engaged in all aspects of the classroom. They are provided space and encouragement to find their individual voices and express themselves through a multitude of mediums. POTA’s focus on the arts supports our educational goals and inspires and nurtures children’s imaginations. Teachers help foster children’s ability to stretch their thinking, expand their vocabulary, and communicate their ideas. Our foundational principle is a deep respect for children – viewing them as strong, competent learners who have much to contribute to their environments and to our world. Our admissions process will take you through a thorough understanding of our pedagogy, curriculum and methodologies, but most importantly the energy and spirit that is the POTA.

We are so glad to provide a boutique school experience to our downtown families in Gramercy Park, Chelsea, Flatiron, Union Square and Greenwich Village and their surrounding neighborhoods.

At Preschool of the Arts, we create a warm, enriching, and nurturing early childhood environment to imbue our children with the foundation they need to mature socially, emotionally, and cognitively.

Our Reggio Emilia approach promotes children’s learning through minds-on and hands-on experiences and opportunities for multi-sensory exploration and discovery. We place a strong emphasis on creating an aesthetically pleasing and invigorating environment, inspired by nature, the cultural arts, and the visible documentation of children and their learning process, highlighting their contributions. We are dedicated to forming a bond with our families in order to support our relationship-based approach, and consider this reciprocal relationship pivotal in shaping and enriching early childhood development.

At Preschool of the Arts, we seamlessly integrate Judaic history, culture, and tradition with a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary lenses. We provide a rich, celebratory home-school environment that stimulates intellectual growth, autonomy, wonder, and passion for lifelong learning.