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A message from Head of School David Egolf and Assistant Head of School Mansi Vasa.

Our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
Learn about Corlears School's history, educational philosophy, mission, core values, and more.

Meet our faculty and staff and explore the directory.

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Everything prospective families need to know about Corlears admissions.

Outlining the admissions processes for each of our academic programs, from toddlers through fifth grade.
Visit our campus and go inside the curriculum with school leadership. 

Changing the paradigm from financial aid to equitable tuition level-setting for all families.
Quick Links
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Everything you need to know about Corlears School in one handy booklet. Follow the link to receive a digital copy in your inbox.
Early Childhood Division
The Roots program for ages 16–24 months celebrates the way toddlers learn best: through the art of play and wonderment. 

The Seedlings nursery program fosters the natural wonder and curiosity of 2- and 3-year-olds.

Empowering children to become even greater participants in their learning and school community.
Elementary Division
As Corlears students enter the all-important elementary years, it’s all about making connections and building independence.

Building the foundation kids need to fall in love with learning and gain confidence for everything to come.

Comprehensive, individualized support for all Corlears graduates.
Auxiliary Programs
Classic summer fun with plenty of outdoor play, arts and crafts, and fun with friends. Led by Corlears teachers. Open to all.

All about the before- and after-school care available to families enrolled at Corlears.

Free family activities available on select Saturdays throughout the school year.
Meet the volunteer Board of Trustees and learn more about the committees and structures that govern Corlears School.

Events, holidays, and school closings.
Corlears families are important members of our school community, and we offer a number of ways to get involved.

How to get connected and stay involved with Corlears School's alumni community.
Corlears is a small school, but our community has a big heart — and many ways to get involved.

Every dollar has a lasting impact — not just on  students attending Corlears today, but on all children who come through our doors.

There are a variety of opportunities available for current and alumni community members to get involved by volunteering their time. 

A TRANSFORMATIONAL VISION
The Corlears 50th Anniversary Campaign

In 2018, Corlears celebrated its 50th anniversary. In honor of this significant milestone, Corlears School embarked on a 5-year, $4 million campaign that goes beyond our physical structure; this campaign is focused on our heart. Over the past five years, Corlears has been building a truly innovative and transformational vision that is growing a new model for what a private school made just for young children can be.

PreK student having fun with slime

PreK

Four-year-olds in the preschool program at Corlears School practice articulating their thinking and understanding in their own words as they embark on developing literacy and math skills.

Program Overview

PreK students are encouraged to participate in an active learning process — to ask questions, consider deeply, reflect mindfully, and contemplate the larger social world of shared experiences and opportunities.

Language, literacy, math, art, and science are woven throughout classroom investigations, learning experiences, and small- and large-group activities. The environment — inside the classroom, in our backyard, and in the neighborhood — is considered the "third teacher" as a provocation for inquiry, furthered understandings, and hands-on explorations are offered as extensions on themes and threads of inquiry.

The PreK classrooms invite an emergent curriculum, one that celebrates each individual child and what they can bring to the community of learners while also capturing student curiosity, prior knowledge, and cognitive skill sets rooted in and reflective of critical thinking, cultural awareness, representational thought, and causation.

The children’s intellectual and social development is enhanced through active experiences, which prepare them for Kindergarten readiness as they engage in meaningful learning rooted in hypothesizing, questioning, exploring, and problem-solving at the intersection of play and wonderment.

Corlears School's Early Childhood Philosophy

"Early childhood education is of utmost importance to the foundational construct of growth, learning, and achievement for the youngest of learners. Educational opportunities for the burgeoning child represent a critical cornerstone at which every encounter, engagement, and experience holds meaning and significance. Our youngest of children enter the world motivated by interest, emotion, and curiosity. Children are eager to engage — with others and the environment — to contemplate and consider, as well as to create and experiment. It is these same characteristics that manifest for the ever-inquisitive child as an abundance of knowledge, skill sets, attitudes, and responsiveness as they develop and prosper. This is the result of cultivating intentional, motivational, and meaningful learning activities where children can thrive, learn, and grow, which paves the pathway to lifelong achievement and educational success."
Colleen Goddard Corlears School
Colleen Goddard, Ph.D.Early Childhood Division Director

Every Child Enrolled in PreK Will...

  • Experience ownership and responsibility of their classroom environment by taking care of themselves, their belongings and actively helping others.
  • Bring a sense of self, family and culture into the thriving community of active learners by sharing their family books, portraits, home stories, and explorations and expressions of their social-cultural and familial values, beliefs and considerations.
A Corlears teacher with a PreK student
  • Engage in social studies that encompass neighborhood walks and field trips that support and celebrate the larger, social world of shared experiences.
  • Explore, examine, consider, and contemplate wonderings and curiosities related to pre-academic skill sets rooted in language and literacy, mathematical thought and thinking and scientific concepts as well as cross-cultural approaches to learning. These learning experiences are evident in studying the lifecycle and habitat of a beetle, map-making from a peripheral and bird's-eye view which supports perspective-taking both from a primary initial lens and also as a comparative differential viewpoint. In addition, home, land and neighborhood studies are also observable in the PreK classroom.
PreK student having a blast learning about food -crop
  • Engage in expressing new understandings and appreciations in art, music and movement, while developing broader understandings rooted in cognition, perception and imagination.
  • Form an appreciation of technology as a tool for connection and engagement, influence, and inspiration.
  • Prepare for Kindergarten, ready to engage in an expansion of knowledge, relationships, and skills sets.
PreK students in the Spanish room

Aligned with New York State Standards

The early childhood educators at Corlears School foster growth in key developmental domains through sensory-rich activities, thoughtfully designed classroom stations, and child-led exploration. Aligned with New York State-recognized standards in early childhood development, the PreK curriculum promotes:
Approaches to Learning How children become involved in learning and acquiring knowledge.  
Physical activity icon Physical Development and Health Children’s physical health and ability to engage in daily activities, both outdoors and inside.  
Social and Emotional Learning The emotional competence and ability to form positive relationships that give meaning to children’s experiences in the home, school, and larger community.  
Speech bubble icon Communication, Language, and Literacy How children understand, create, and communicate meaning.  
Brain with lightbulb icon Cognition and Knowledge of the World What children need to know and understand about their world and how they apply what they know.  
Domains are as documented in Resource Guides For School Success: The Prekindergarten Early Learning Standards, New York State Education Department, 2019. Read more.

Why Choose Seedlings at Corlears?

2023–24 Maximum Tuition for PreK

Instead of the traditional financial aid model, Corlears assesses financial information submitted through the Tuition Equity and Accessibility Model (TEAM) during the admissions process to determine the equitable tuition level for your student, which may be lower than the amount shown below.

For the PreK program, $56,160 is the maximum amount a family may be asked to pay for the 2023–24 year.
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From the Blog

Parents have questions, Corlears has answers! Discover articles, videos, and other resources about early childhood and early years education, plus news and updates from inside Corlears and our wider community.
Visit the Corlears Blog

Connect with Admissions

Have questions? Our admissions team would be happy to help. Connect with the team anytime at admissions@corlearsschool.org, or click the button to subscribe for more information.