Preschool Guide

Navigating the world of preschool enrollment can be overwhelming, so we’re here to help with the Busy Little Bee Preschool Guide! We have taken key information about some of the best local programs and created an easy-to-use guide. While you are browsing, click on any school to see additional details like curriculum highlights, tuition, schedules, and enrollment processes. This guide is a curated list of favorites from our much-loved preschool directory. You can always view our full database of (filterable!) preschools by clicking here. If there are any other ways that we can help make your search for the perfect preschool easier, please contact us. As we mentioned, we are here to help!

  • Stamford, Connecticut
  • Ages: 3+ years old
  • Contact: admission@kingschoolct.org, 203.322.3496
  • About: When young learners see education as a place to experiment, create, construct, and connect, they develop a more expansive mindset about what “school” can offer them. They experience education as a path of discovery, understanding, wonder, and joy. These ideas are grounded in the Reggio-Emilia inspired, project-based teaching and learning practiced at King School. We encourage our PreKindergarten and Kindergarten learners to collaboratively explore intentionally created vibrant classroom spaces where children are actively engaged in the process of learning from the earliest ages.
  • Admission Events:
  • Darien, Connecticut
  • Ages: 2 to 5 years old
  • Contact: agreene@darien-ymca.org, 203.655.8228
  • About: The mission of Holly Pond School is to foster the growth of independent and confident scholars who respect themselves and others through active learning experiences that extend their knowledge in the classroom and beyond. The learning environment is experiential, interactive, and collaborative, with an emphasis on educating the whole person— fostering the intellectual, socio-emotional, and physical growth of each child. At Holly Pond, children follow a consistent daily schedule with learning goals in mind. This is believed to help children feel secure (because they know what comes next) and independent (because they move from one activity to another easily and confidently). Being located within the Darien YMCA allows extra opportunities for active enrichment, including swimming and gymnastics.
  • Admission Events:
    • Register for an upcoming tour which will be segmented by age.
  • Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Rowayton, & Westport, Connecticut (classes rotate among students’ homes)
  • Ages: 18 months to 3 years old
  • Contact: maureen@mbloomplaydates.com, 203.505.0502
  • About: Maureen Bloom Playdates is an innovative program that helps ease the transition of your child’s first drop off by rotating among the children’s homes. Two trained instructors lead the play-based, sensory-rich curriculum that is child-centered, building upon the interest, abilities and inclinations of the children. Playdates has a mission of developing social, confident and compassionate children through a nurturing environment of creative play, sharing, and development of friendships. Outdoor experiences and natural resources of the various home environments add to the uniqueness of this special program.
  • New Canaan, Connecticut
  • Ages: 3+ years old
  • Contact: admissioninfo@countryschool.net, 203.801.5608
  • About: Inquiry is at the heart of our teaching and learning in Early Childhood. We encourage children to wonder and explore, to step into the unknown, to take risks and to be unconstrained by right answers. Teachers pose questions to help children connect to previous learning, to engage conversations and to deepen and extend understanding. Our curriculum is deliberately designed to develop our students’ intellectual capacity and nurture their insatiable curiosity. We stretch our students and offer them opportunities to innovate, create and play together within a community of learners. In Early Childhood we are passionate about children believing in themselves and their great potential. We encourage children to work independently as well as collaboratively and to understand that they are the primary directors of their own learning. We devote time every day to creating a classroom community where children feel welcome, valued, known, seen and heard. We guide children to further their respect for the rights of others; and most importantly instill a lifelong passion for learning.
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  • Darien, Connecticut
  • Ages: 2 to 5 years old
  • Contact: Kalie.Riordan@norotonchurch.org, 203.655.3223
  • About: NPNS is a ministry of Norton Presbyterian Church and is inspired by the Reggio Emilia teaching philosophy. This approach is rooted in the belief that children are competent learners with a pre-existing knowledge base. Teachers are companions on the learning journey and the environment is an important prompt through which teachers, parents and the community engage children in the joy of exploration and inspiration. Children are always encouraged to try new things, think out of the box, succeed, fail, regroup and try again. NPNS promotes trial and error and provides emotional support through applause, encouragement and modeling healthy relationships.
  • Admission Events:
    • Attend an Orientation on 1/7 at 9:30am or 7pm
    • Contact the school to schedule a private tour.
  • Greenwich, Connecticut
  • Ages: 3+ years old
  • Contact: admission@cshct.org, 203.531.6500
  • About: We believe that a developmental approach is vital in promoting instructional experiences that respect the individuality and pace of every learner. We enable the children to grow in confident independence, with a strong connection to each other, and a deep awareness and tolerance for others. We immerse our multi-aged, three- to five-year-olds in a classroom environment that fosters and nurtures their individual growth through discovery, observation, inquiry and play. Throughout the day, your children will engage one-on-one in play-based centers. Social and emotional development is one of the major threads of our curricular attention. Our program provides rich learning experiences in phonological and phonemic awareness, emergent literacy, number sense, and fine and gross motor development. We are highly committed to immersing children in the natural world by using outdoor classroom experiences that highlight concepts and skills. Additionally, Barat Center introduces them to enriching offerings, such as world languages, art, music, and technology.
  • Admission Events:
  • New Canaan, Connecticut
  • Ages: 18 months to 5 years old
  • Contact: office@toddlertimens.org, 203.972.3111
  • About: Toddlertime is a locally owned and operated preschool in the heart of New Canaan. Toddlertime provides innovative preschool, summer camp, vacation clubs and after school enrichment programs for children 18 months until they enter Kindergarten. The mission of Toddlertime’s educational program is to provide a foundation for success in life. With this goal in mind we have created an educational program that not only prepares children for success in school but also develops key 21st century skills which will serve them throughout life. The philosophy of Toddlertime is to provide exciting, innovative and active learning experiences in a secure and nurturing environment. We begin the day after Labor Day and then follow the New Canaan Public School schedule regarding vacations. Our after school enrichment, one day workshops, vacation clubs including February and April breaks and summer camps are open to the public.
  • Admission Events:
    • Contact the school to schedule a private tour.
  • Darien, Connecticut
  • Ages: 2 year olds
  • Contact: office@ywcadn.org, 203.655.2535
  • About: Toddler Time is a drop-off program consisting of free play, organized play, story time, singing, art projects, and snack in a classroom setting. Children will learn new songs, create fun works of art and make lots of new friends. Toddler Time provides a secure and safe environment where children can achieve independence by exploring their environment through learning and creativity, as well as foster their emotional development by providing important structure and limits. Toddler Time works with children at their own pace and encourages an environment where positive feedback and guidelines are established through constant nurturing and caring.

First Congregational Church Nursery School
Darien, Connecticut
Ages: 2 to 5 years old

Greenwich Catholic School
Greenwich, Connecticut
Ages: 3 years old+

Playland Nursery School
New Canaan, Connecticut
Ages: 2 to 5 years old

Additional Preschools

Visit our preschool directory here to view a complete list of local preschools.