Description: In operation since 1975, Sunnyside Child Care is one of the area's most established early childhood centers, offering quality care for children ages 1.5 to 6. The Center is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care and accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. Situated on a sunny lawn surrounded by trees on a rise above Easthampton Road, Sunnyside has five classrooms, each of which has big windows, child-sized tables and chairs, a reading corner, art supplies and easels, age-appropriate playthings, books, and dress-up clothes. Our roomy indoor playground with play structures allows children to stretch their legs and move about freely, regardless of the weather. On most days, children spend time outdoors in the gated outdoor play areas, and also on teacher led exploration of Sunnyside's eight acres of outdoor space.
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Sunnyside is a special place. After a hard look around the area for the best option (we spent 2 years at another center), we sent all three of our kids to Sunnyside. Two have moved on to elementary school, and our son is in his last year there.
First and foremost, we love what Sunnyside does for our kids. In a beautiful and warm facility, caring teachers helped (and are helping) prepare our kids for the next steps in their lives in a safe and stimulating environment. With just the right mix of learning and play, we have seen first hand the benefit of the Sunnyside approach as both of our daughters entered a Chinese immersion Kindergarten well prepared both socially and intellectually.
I credit Sunnyside's deep commitment to a diverse environment for ensuring that my children were exposed to many types of people and approaches to life. Tolstoy wrote in Anna Karenina: "...if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts..." Sunnyside demonstrated this truth to our family.
On top of that is the supportive and friendly community fostered by Sunnyside's status as a parent co-op. Our kids aren't the only ones who've made wonderful friends here, and the relationships we've made have persisted beyond the end of our children's enrollment at the center. We've met kind, dedicated, intelligent people from all over the Valley, and our lives are richer for it.
I strongly recommend Sunnyside for your children.