When Ilysa Winick invited me over to see the new Reade Street Prep preschool at 77 Reade, I expected a traditional classroom environment. And the five classrooms do indeed look like classrooms, although they’re far cooler than any classrooms I had been ever in, with Smart Boards and lessons on the walls in English, Mandarin, and Spanish (with shades to cover any languages that aren’t being taught in a given class). “We wanted it to be open, bright, clean, and contemporary,” she said. And fun, I’d add—are those the cutest kids’ restroom stalls ever, or what?

Things really get interesting downstairs, in what the staff calls “the backyard.” Behind a white picket fence is a big play area with photo murals of trees, grass carpet, a tire swing, and, inherited from Exerblast, two rotating climbing walls and a “pool” filled with rubber balls. (On weekends, the school is hosting Exerblast birthday parties.)

The 6,000-plus-square-foot facility is a major step forward for Winick, who founded Reade Street Prep Children’s Enrichment a block to the west, at 104 Reade, in 2010. (It’s now home to the preschool prep program.) The new Reade Street Prep location has about 90 students, ages two through five, and a team of 12 teachers, most of whom have been onboard for three years. The accelerated academic program is preschool and pre-kindergarten, with optional dual-language immersion.

Winick lives on Reade, and her two sons attend Reade Street Prep—leading one to wonder if she’ll keep building the business as their educational needs change. “Kindergarten would be nice….” she said.

Reade Street Prep is at 77 Reade (between Church and Broadway), 212-513-7735; rsprep.com.

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