Curiosity is Awesome...
in Children and Adults!
FAQ's about RAMPP
How did you come up with the name, "Robots and Mud Pies π Preschool"?
When we started planning our preschool, we knew we wanted a STEM focus. And we knew the curriculum would be play-based and child-led. So we wanted to convey these concepts in our name. We brainstormed words that could be in the name including "Explorers," "Engineers" and "Scientists." Finally, Brenda suggested "Robots" and Barbie added "Mud Puddles". While playing with the words, we changed it to "Robots and Mud Pies" We felt that the combination would include the STEM focus while still being clear that we would be playing and getting dirty. We added the pi symbol when we noticed the 'pie' connection and were happily surprised when we realized our initials where a type of inclined plane (RAMPP).
Where did you find your logo?
Barbie's nephew, Ryan Gallini, is a graphic designer and he donated his time and talents to create our logo. Thanks, Ryan!!
Is Robots and Mud Pies π Preschool part of a franchise?
No, we are the one and only RAMPP.
What ages of children do you enroll?
Children must be 2 years old in order to enroll. And children stay at RAMPP until they go to kindergarten, so sometimes we have children who are 6 years old or turning 6 during the school year.
Do you accept full-time children? What are the hours and rates?
We do accept some full-time children. Our full day hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Some children come five full-days while others come fewer days for the full day or have a mixed schedule with some full days and some half days. Our Tuition Page shows our full-day rates.
Do full-day children just repeat the morning activities in the afternoon? What do they do from 12:00-1:00 between sessions?
Because our curriculum is play-based and child-led, our
morning and afternoon sessions do not usually do the same activities. At times,
they may read the same book at meeting time or a child might choose to paint at
the easel or build with blocks during both sessions. However, usually the
children choose different activities throughout the day. Also, when the
children are studying specific topics (projects), the afternoon and morning
children most often will have different interests so they will work on
different projects. A full day child who is really immersed in one topic,
though, would be allowed to work on that same project all day or any part of
the day if she wanted.
Between sessions, the full day children eat lunch (provided by the
parent), then they rest or play quietly until the afternoon children arrive. If
a child needs a nap, we have a space where he can nap away from the other
children, supervised by an adult.
Do you have an afterschool program?
No, we only accept children up to the point when they go to kindergarten (so until 5 or 6 years old). We do have an afternoon session for preschoolers.
We do not plan to open more preschools. Brenda and Barbie still want to spend most of their time in the classrooms. Adding more schools and more teachers would require too much time away from the fun. (And to be honest, we prefer hoola hoops over jumping through zoning, building code, and landlord related hoops.)
Can you open an elementary school or kindergarten?
No (see jumping through hoops reference and add board of education hoops).
When did you open RAMPP?
We opened our doors on September 3, 2013 with 7 children enrolled. Time really does fly when you're having fun!