Our Mission
The RSP mission is to prepare young minds by providing a global outlook wrapped in a nurturing environment. We give children the ability to foster a lifelong love of learning and to grow the crucial social, emotional, and academic skills that will prepare them for their next adventures.
Reade Street Prep believes that the future depends on confident, joyful, curious, and engaged children. RSP strives to prepare our students for a more engaged and fulfilled life in school, at home, in their neighborhood, and in their world.
Our Philosophy
We provide a contemporary approach to early childhood education. Our unique curriculum emphasizes advanced academics and linguistic development in a fun, interactive, and highly engaging environment. We believe that children are intelligent and highly capable. When presented with information in a playful and engaging way, children thrive.
Our History
In 2010, Reade Street Prep was founded by the proud Tribeca mother of two boys, Ilysa Winick, to provide an alternative early education program for children in the heart of her neighborhood.
“Children are intelligent. They want to learn. If we offer them knowledge and challenges while providing support and scaffolding appropriately, they will rise to the occasion.”
“What if we could create a program that emphasized the values and skills that would serve children beyond preschool? What if we could prepare them for school and life; growing and nurturing little leaders that could reason and problem solve, collaborate and negotiate? What traits and skills do children today need to succeed in school and in life?”
Creating a proposition that could answer those challenges and provide a loving environment became the vision that would become Reade Street Prep. Combining her business experience from a career in finance with the lens of a new parent was key to building a place that served her community. As a Reade Street resident herself, this pursuit was personal and passionate.
Upon opening our doors, small class sizes and world-class teachers were combined with RSP’s advanced curriculum language immersion programs. Word of this unique program quickly spread, and we grew from a one classroom program to a sixteen class program by 2023, graduating over a thousand kids.
Today, Reade Street Prep is a thriving Tribeca institution. A place where forever friends are made and graduates and their families still call home.