Mandell School was founded in 1939 by Max Mandell as a Nursery, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten program. Our Pre-school Division is the cornerstone that anchors our history, our beliefs and our experiences. Mr. Mandell, a pioneer in early childhood education, believed that in order to flourish, every young child must have a nurturing and stimulating environment that focuses on, and provides for their unique and individual development. He also believed that supporting and advising the families of young children was a significant part of an educator's role.

The Pre-School Division is comprised of the Nursery and Pre-Kindergarten classes. Our primary goal in Nursery at Mandell is to promote an environment that emphasizes independence, community and collaborative learning. Our curriculum is designed to foster self-confidence and self-esteem as well as the mastery of early learning skills, investigative and problem solving techniques.

The Pre-School Division has weekly small-group music and library periods outside of their classrooms. Curriculum for these breakouts is developed in conjunction with the children's classroom teachers.

Science plays a lead role in the Nursery curriculum. As the children study the world around them, they focus on a variety of themes such as life cycles of plants, frogs, and chickens, hibernation and migration, and ocean life. Not only do the children gain facts and knowledge, but by asking questions, gathering information, communicating findings, and making informed decisions, they learn how to process the information they are receiving and make sense of it in their own world. Children also develop language skills through vocabulary, questioning, and discussion. With the use of such an involved science curriculum the children learn the values of team work and collaboration. Through scientific exploration the children gain self awareness and begin to understand how their thoughts and actions impact their lives, their peers, and the world around them.

In addition to the science curriculum, there are many other opportunities for children’s growth in the classroom. The block and doll corners allow children to develop social skills by interacting and compromising with one another. Painting at the easels and themed art projects at the project tables provide the children with a chance to experiment with different art mediums and develop a sense of enjoyment for creative expression.

Motor strength is encouraged through activities on the play yard as well as activities offered at the manipulatives table. Objects, in which the children have to pinch, pull, squeeze, and cut, prepare children for the task of writing later in the school year. Letter and number recognition, counting, matching, are just some of the topics that are explored at the skills table throughout the year in order to prepare the children for Pre-Kindergarten. Carefully planned activities combined with a warm, caring staff help children to become academic and social beings and focus on instilling the love of learning that remains with them throughout their schooling.

Our Pre-Kindergarten program is designed to further the development of each child with the ultimate objective of social, emotional and academic preparedness. Whether our children are remaining at Mandell or moving on elsewhere for Kindergarten, we expect them to take what they have learned about community building and collaborative learning into their new classrooms and to be kind leaders. We also expect them to set high academic standards for themselves that they are able to both meet and exceed.