Nicholson Early Childhood Education Center

My daughter started attending Nicholson 1 month ago and we couldn't be happier with this choice. It is a smaller place, so they get to know every child. I feel like they truly care about my daughter and listen to what I have to say. Dr. Nicholson and Ms. Renita are both fantastic and very knowledgeable, and I feel like they managed to find and retain really great teachers.
They emphasize the importance of free play, which I agree with, but they also do lots of art and they do a jamboree with singing and dancing twice a week. Another thing I really like is what they call a sociodramatic play event: once a month they set up a new scene in the hall like a camping site, a restaurant, a veterinarian clinic for the kids to play.

I took a tour of this school it seemed neat in the start but when we went outdoors I saw a teacher scoldong a child it was how she handled it that worried me most the teachers tone was yelling. anyhow this not the enviroment i want my son in.

Nicholson Early Childhood Education Center is everything I hoped my son's first childcare/school experience would be. It was the perfect balance of structure and free play in order for him to enjoy learning. The teachers were so caring and I always knew he was being well taken care of. My son is in elementary school now and he still talks about how much he misses his teachers at Nicholson. I am forever grateful for this positive first school experience that prepared him well for the next stage of his life. I couldn't recommend them more!

I toured a couple other preschools before settling here. One seemingly couldn't make the time to meet with us, even though it had been scheduled a week in advance. We left after waiting in the front for over twenty minutes (a.k.a. an eternity in toddler time). Another was extremely well reviewed and was also highly recommended by a coworker who had sent all their kids there. I was predisposed towards that preschool from the beginning, enjoyed the tour, and was even OK with there being a waitlist and maybe needing to wait until the next semester.

The real problem though was that they indicated my son absolutely had to be walking before he could be enrolled, and he has taken his time in developing motor skills. It turned out that I would have been waiting another year to year and a half to enroll him. Fortunately though I found Nicholson who indicated right off the bat that they would never turn away a child who had not yet hit a specific milestone like that, "because every child develops differently".

Since then, we haven't looked back! My son has been going here three days a week since he was 19 months old, and absolutely loves it. They e-mail photos to us regularly (sometimes more than I can even keep up with!), and you can see the love and care they lavish on all the kiddos. Dr. Nicholson has deep knowledge of early childhood education, and puts that into practice here with everything they do. And they're still small enough that even teachers of other (older) classes almost always greet my son by name. The optional "nap & snack" add-on from 12:30pm to 3pm has also been a great help, with my work schedule. Highly recommended!

Nicholson was a WONDERFUL school and experience! We moved so had to leave, but if we hadn't my second child would have attended as well. They teachers are wonderful, kind, well educated, and full of love. I was never worried if my daughter got upset because she always received the appropriate amount of attention she needed to help her.
She potty trained while in the school and I never felt any pressure of getting her trained sooner than she was ready. They are all about the development of the child and understand that if the child is not ready they're just not ready for that step in the development process. They have this wonderful program on Thursday's where they have Jamboree (singing and dancing as a group.) Allergies are well tended too. The owner/founder Dr. Shelley Nicholson is always there. She gets to know the students just like the teachers and is an expert in her field. She teaches at UT and that shows how passionate and knowledgeable she is about Early Childhood Education & development.
We miss you Nicholson!

Nicholson has the perfect balance of play and learning for my daughter. She is four and has been at the school for almost a month for pre-k. She absolutely loves it.

I love that they have an outdoor play area with a play structure, large sand box, and water tables. Nicholson's teachers focus on play and sensory exploration. She gets to spend a lot of time painting, playing with toys of all kinds, and interacting with her schoolmates. But it's not just all play. My daughter came home so excited about having learned about planets and stars the other day.

I also really appreciate the hours and that they have optional extended hours (although the hours are not long enough to be considered full time care). I only need part time school right now, and I didn't want her to be among only a few others who were part time in an otherwise full time program.

Highly recommended!

We could not be more pleased with Nicholson! Our daughter has been going here for 2 years now. It's honestly like a second home to her. We love how personable the instructors are. The way our daughter talks about her experience there simply warms my heart. Little ones are so brutally honest and just hearing how much she loves everyone there and values the days she gets to go is wonderful. Seeing her development over the past 2 years has been great, I feel like it is such a quality experience preparing her for Kindergarten. We've just loved watching our daughter grow and advance here and would very highly recommend!!!!!

My daughter attended Nicholson from the first month they were open up until about six months ago when she moved up to a full day school, from the age of 18 months to nearly 5 years. My son will be attending Nicholson as soon as he turns 18 months. The reason for this is because Shelley is one of those people that you can describe as a great human being. She does what she does because she truly wants to help develop young minds. Even now that my daughter has been going to a full day pre-K somewhere else, she still wants to go in and say hi to her teachers at Nicholson every single time we pass by.

Shelley, thank you for helping give my daughter such a great head start!!!!

I recommend Nicholson for every family that is looking for a half day pre-k! You will not be disappointed

I went and toured several different preschools before settling on NECEC. Well, settle isn't the right word, it's more that I knew this was the place for my daughter and I could stop looking.

I went in for an impromtu visit unannounced and was immediately greeted by Dr. Nicholson. She gave us a tour and showed us which class my daughter would potentially be in. In fact, my daughter sat right down with the kids and started painting. That's when I knew.

While my daughter was happily occupied, Dr. Nicholson took the time to tell me about her teaching philosophy and her education. Both were quite impressive. NECEC is a play-based preschool. All learning is done through play and sensory experiencing. Dr. Nicholson is up on all the latest research on early childhood education.

I had two main concerns about enrolling my daughter in preschool 1) I didn't want to have to wake her up to get to school 2) With my job schedule, it is sometimes hard to get there right at 12:30 to pick her up. No problem, on either accounts. Your child doesn't *have* to be there right at 8:30 am. My daughter is a late sleeper, and we like to cuddle in the mornings. It is no problem if I don't get her there until 10:30. Unlike other places I toured, where you had to be there right on time. As for my second concern, they have an optional "nap and snack" program. For an additional $12, they will keep your child until 3:00pm. Having that 2.5 hour flexibility window really helps me out.

So far we've had a fantastic experience, and I am very pleased to have found this preschool for our daughter.

Nicholson ECEC is an amazing preschool. Dr. Shelley Nicholson has created the perfect balance of love & support, and challenge & instruction. We could not have asked for a better school for our son. Under their care, he has blossomed into a caring and capable little man. I can only hope his experience, as he now moves into kindergarten, is half as rewarding for our whole family.