A few months ago, Victoria Children’s Group opened its second preschool location at 323 Grand St. The school, which offers both full and half-day programs, specializes in preparing children to hone the skills needed for elementary school while exposing them to both Chinese and American cultures through its dual language program.
Victoria Children’s Group’s first location opened in 2004 at 230 Grand St. The school decided to find a second location after witnessing an uptick of incoming families on the Lower East Side.
“We decided to expand in this area because we knew that it’s one that is going through a huge change. We have a lot of new families that have moved into the Lower East Side who are in need of childcare,” explained Victoria Children’s Group Executive Director, Michelle Chiu-Portillo.
Both locations offer the same childcare programs, which include options for toddler, preschool and prekindergarten age kids. Additionally, the school offers after-school care, a gifted and talented prep class for 4-year-olds and extracurricular programs in dance, music, and martial arts on both weekdays and weekends.
Though it’s still summer and few of us want to start thinking about the start of the school year, Victoria Children’s is open year-round and is always accepting new students. In its new facility, there is capacity for over 150 children, most of whom are taking part in their first real school experience.
The school’s current tuition is $700 per month for the Toddler & Preschool Program and $500 for Pre-K students. Earlier in the year, Victoria Children’s Group hoped that Mayor de Blasio’s universal Pre-K plan would help neighborhood families by funding their programs, but the school was not offered the funding.
“As a result we had to turn away many of the families that wanted to join our school for Pre-K. Although many families wanted to join us, it is hard to compete with free schools,” said Chiu-Portillo.
They are disappointed with the City’s decision, she said, but they still hope to be reconsidered for funding next year.
For more information on enrolling or signing up for a school tour, click here.
