Reviews of VINCI School (Kindergarten)

Chloe van Oostende

I have 3 years old twins, that I registered at Vinci-Junior Casa, when they were 2 and 1\2. The Vinci school, with the bilingual class is exactly what we were looking for. We are, my husband and I, both francophones, and the kids, didn't know a lot of english when they started school. Only 4 months at Vinci, they speak with their friends in english, and even at home, without any stress. Noting that they were also among the youngest in their class, I was scared of the big challenge they will face. Not at all! Thanks to the outstanding program activities, the Vinci games and all what the school provides, the kids have been very happy to go to school. You can tell that the Teachers and the Principal really care about the kids, and they are always trying to help and accomodate the parents as much as they can. When you come to pick the kids up at the end of the day, and you see 7 parents waiting in the class, because the kids don't want to leave, you realize how much the kids are happy in this wonderful school! I highly recommend this preschool!

PETER DRAKULIC

i went to counterpoint academy there before it shut down i beat vinci was the reason the school closed

Lethania M Castellanos

Vinci School provides kids with a wonderful environment and an innovative STEM based curriculum that allows them to develop fundamental skills for the future. My daughter enjoys school and I am amazed every day to see how she develops confidence in topics that could be a bit intimidating even for older kids or adults. She is now interested in developing a robotic arm for one of her classes ( already built a prototype with EV3 Lego), and also she is investigating how to run an online business for her Genius Hour project :) she will just turn 9 in summer.

VINCI School

Over the last year, my 3-year old daughter has attended a well-known daycare in the New Edinburgh area, a catholic private school and a new private school - Vinci. She did not like the first two, there was always a struggle in the morning. She loves Vinci and the amount of knowledge she picked up and her vocabulary are remarkable. At 2.5 years old she was saying things like, 'mommy, a toucan lives in a jungle habitat'. The school curriculum is based on a combination of Montessori and Reggio methods. It is the best in Ottawa in my opinion. The school received its licence from the Ministry of Education. It is located nearby on 149 King George Ave. The school is bilingual and has spacious facilities. Student to teacher ratio is low. The large gym is helpful when it's freezing outside. The Little Ones have lots of room to run around. I personally like the Internet portal that I can log into even before I pick her up to get info on how much she ate, what she did and if she had a nap. I normally don't do this kind of endorsement, but in this case, I wanted to share with you how pleased I am with the school. If you are looking for something better then just a daycare for your Little One, I highly recommend to go take a look at the school: One Happy Mom

Amelia R

My son loves learning. He was able to read fluently by the age of 3 and quietly absorbed everything around him. When he began public school in Kindergarten he was initially very excited to learn French as part of the curriculum and loved his teacher! 2 days before Grade One began, my son, quite out of the blue said "Mommy, I really think I should be going into Grade 2". My heart sank because I knew that he needed more of a challenge. Communication with the school really lead to the same answer "we don't have resources for children who are able to work ahead of the curriculum.... ....we cannot offer him resources above his grade level.... ....maybe he needs a different school." We contacted Dr. Dan at ViNCi School and spoke of our concerns. She was extremely warm, supportive and genuinely understanding of our concerns. Dr. Dan told us that our son's learning would not be capped. She told us that he would be challenged and that his passion for learning would be greeted with respect and would be encouraged. My son was invited into ViNCi school for the day. He was completely hooked. Transitioning to the school was very easy for him. He has truly never looked back. We have never regretted our choice. Dr. Dan and her wonderful staff have been, quite honestly, amazing. They treat my son with gentleness, compassion and care. They truly care that he is challenged, stimulated and happy. The lessons are exciting and have awakened in my son a budding engineer, an actor and, I believe, a life-long learner. The communication between the staff and myself has been incredible. I have the upmost respect for all the staff who really have created a safe, fulfilling environment for my entire family. I am astonished at how, even when my husband and I are already very happy and grateful for the enrichment they offer to our son, the learning he is receiving, the delight he is expressing at his school experience, the staff at ViNCi will offer him even more. The enrichment, attention to his specific needs, depth of learning and respect for my sons abilities continues. Dr. Dan and her staff, on a regular basis, continue to discover more and more ways to connect with my sons needs and offer him a fantastic learning environment. I do not take for granted the incredible blessing that being part of ViNCi School has offered to my family for a moment. I feel deeply supported in offering a beautiful, positive, enriched, loving and deeply satisfying school experience for my son. I have genuine peace of mind. And my sons love of learning is being nurtutred and nourished on a daily basis.

Anamaria R

The Supervisor at the Ottawa location, Mary, offered me a job in written form through an email. I handed in my letter of resignation where I was currently working and then she sent me another email saying that she can no longer offer me that position. Now I am unemployed because of this lady. If I were a parent I wouldn't trust this centre. They don't do things right. They got no soul. Just 4 walls because a nice person would run a nice centre and would not do what she did.

KD

My son (5yo) and daughter (2yo) both began their foray into the school system by joining ViNCi in November of 2015. We were looking for a learning environment that would cater to our kids on an individual basis, which would allow them to grow into skills and abilities at their own personal rates, without running into the age-dependent curriculums so often found in the larger class sizes prevalent in public schools, and we haven’t been disappointed in any way with the results. Our kids have blossomed academically, socially, mentally, and emotionally so far beyond our expectations for kids of their age. I’m convinced that the small class sizes have played a huge part in helping our kids to learn how to manage their emotions in positive ways (who hasn’t experienced tantrums when kids get overwhelmed?), because the teachers have the flexibility to make the time for individual coaching, instead of being forced to choose between keeping control of an overcrowded class and meeting the very real needs of one child. The flexibility for the kids to learn at their own individual pace – either behind OR ahead of their typically accepted grade – means that not once have we heard that they’re bored in class! They’re challenged without being pushed too hard, and encouraged when having issues mastering material. The STEM education material (science, technology, engineering and math) is complemented by art and music, all presented in a bilingual environment, and we’re constantly surprised by some of the concepts our 5yo is capable of not only telling us about but also explaining and applying in different contexts – topics we never would have expected in senior kindergarten, such as bridge construction (he is not only able to identify different types of bridges when he sees them around the city by their correct names but also knows why some are built differently than others), and weather (he’s learning to identify different types of clouds, building models, and what weather is associated with each.) Both kids are learning French through their regular lessons, which switch back and forth throughout the day, and we’re treated on a regular basis to the two of them singing songs they’ve learned in class that alternate between French and English. The expectation of the school that parents remain actively involved in the children’s daily education by reviewing their children’s activities via the Parent Portal works very well for us. The daily comments provided by their teachers (who are subject specific, not grade specific, so the kids get subject matter specialists for all of their lessons) enable us to know what’s going on every day, stay involved with what they’re learning (which helps us reinforce the skills they’re picking up), and nip any potential problems immediately before they become big problems. What we appreciate most is that there’s no artificial expectations put on the kids to perform. The Montessori/Reggio Emilia based curriculum is student-paced and skill focused, and topics are introduced when appropriate to the child’s development, not when the curriculum says it must be introduced. Report cards are based on a 5-star system, where one star indicates that the topic has been introduced, and five stars indicates that the material has been mastered and the child is actively applying the knowledge in other contexts. There’s no tests resulting in ‘marks’ or ‘grades’ because evaluation is based on teacher observations and occasional individual assessments – and all results are posted in the Parent Portal for viewing. Again, this is only possible because of small class sizes. The kids are learning to love to learn, and that education is fun, instead of viewing learning as memorizing material to pass a test to get out of school. It’s a small school, and we see and speak with their teachers every day when we pick them up. We’re very happy with the care and nurturing they get at ViNCi, and will continue to enrol them both until they age out in later years.

NOAH MEHMOODY

The teachers are very caring and their programs are both fun and educational. The communication with the staff has always been exceptional and cleanliness is a huge plus! I am glad we chose this school for my daughter who has been there for almost 2 yrs now.

Tarnesha McCrary

Please be very careful when applying to this school in Alexandria, VA. I met with the owner and director for a very lengthy interview on a Friday morning for an assistant director position at the school. Then I was invited back the very next day for a "working interview". This working interview was their open house for the parents. Another potential teacher and I cared for other potential children while the parents attended an orientation session with the owner. I was told we did an excellent job caring for the children. A few weeks later, I received a job offer email with salary/benefits. I felt pretty comfortable with the vision of the school and I thought I could definitely contribute both my knowledge and experience to the school. I decided that I would volunteer at another orientation for potential parents. A few weeks went by and I decided to email the director to confirm the orientation date. She then replies and let's me know that I'm not needed that day because her and the owner had two other potential teachers doing a working interview. Now, this same day was the date of my sister's engagement party that I originally decided to miss to volunteer at the orientation. Once I received her reply, I decided to RSVP for my sister's engagement party. All is sudden, I received an email from the director (the day before) informing me that one of the potential teachers could no longer come and if I was still available. I explained to her that I already RSVP to my sister's party (which was a pay ahead of time event) and I couldn't make it. Well, this is when everything started to change. I never heard back from the director after the email. Finally after I sent several emails, she replied that due to funding, they couldn't hire me any longer to be an administration. But I could be a teacher. I explained to her in a reply email that I would consider it but my goal is to be in administration. The director response was, well it doesn't sound like your heart is into it. I replied to her and asked her what time I could I call her so we could talk, instead of emailing. The director never replied to any of emails or won't take any of my calls. I was very shocked and disappointed.