By Ademola Bello
Peartree, a new preschool in an office building at 132 W. 112th St., has five sun-drenched classrooms, an indoor play area and backyard. With 6,500 square feet of space, Peartree classrooms are bright, expansive and air-conditioned.
The school opened in August, after founder Denise Adusei, 34, a Columbia Business School graduate, had struggled to find a preschool for her own daughter. When she was six months pregnant, Adusei applied to one of the preschools in Harlem, where she lives. After her daughter was born, she was put on the wait-list.
In her neighborhood, her options are very limited. The U.S. Census American Community Survey reports that Harlem has 23,000 children under the age of 5 and only 130 licensed preschool and child care facilities with a total capacity of fewer than 5,500 children.
So Adusei decided to start her own preschool.
Peartree now has 55 students, all paying $10,000 to $18,000 a year in tuition, depending on how many days they attend. There are no scholarships. Adusei’s daughter, now 4, is in Peartree’s pre-K class.
“It took about two and half years to put it together,” Adusei said.
First she made a business plan and in 2010 she won the Columbia Business School’s Eugene Land competition, worth $25,000. Sabine Streeter, a board member of the Land competition, worked with Adusei to help her raise an additional $100,000 from two other investors involved in the competition and the business school.
“We are very impressed with her presentation and business plan, her energy as an entrepreneur,” Streeter said. “She had knowledge of child care, she has negotiation skill and she is very capable of hiring teachers to be an effective team.”
Jalia Ventures, which focuses on minority-owned enterprises in education, health and the environment, provided seed money.
Adusei and her husband also put their savings into the school and took out loans from Columbia Business School’s Eugene Lang Fund for Entrepreneurship, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and an SBA loan from the New York Business Development Corporation (SBA loan). She also won $15,000 in a New York Public Library business competition. The total capital to start Peartree came to $600,000, Adusei said.
“The hardest part about starting a business in New York City is navigating real estate; a commercial lease or rent is really high. We have a long-term lease with our landlord,” Adusei said.
Peartree’s school children have a music lesson. (Photo by Peartree School)
The school occupies what used to be a non-profit office. Adusei and her architect reconfigured every door, every window. “We were very resourceful,” she said. “Instead of throwing away, we repurposed everything and that saved us money. We reduced construction waste.”
Peartree has 12 teachers, an education director and a “floater,” who moves in and out of classrooms as needed. The school plans to hire two more floaters by December, for a total staff of 16.
Adusei said she is very particular about her staff and the quality of the products and materials her school provides. “All our lead teachers have master’s degrees in early childhood education, and our assistant teachers have associates or bachelor’s degree as well,” said Adusei.
She also said Peartree supports local businesses. “For our food, we use My Red Rabbit; they are located on 121st and Park Avenue and they provide our school lunches.”
Adusei said her school can accommodate 75 children, but with 55 enrolled she has only opened four classrooms and hopes to open the last classroom in December. She marketed Peartree through the Big Apple Parent magazine and the list servs Harlem4Kids and Hamilton Heights Parents. She also invited families to open houses and tours, and relied on word of mouth.
Both children and staff at Peartree offer an ethnic diversity. One teacher in each class is fluent in Spanish; the staff also speaks Japanese and Portuguese. And most parents whose children attend Peartree are professionals, Adusei said — lawyers, engineers, doctors. “We just run the gamut,” she said. “They are very engaged in their children’s education.”
Nusrat Mahmood, the school’s education director, touts its creative curriculum. The school incorporates art and music. “We have a Reggio Emilia approach to get to know the children and we built our curriculum around the needs of the children,” she said. The Reggio Emilia is an educational philosophy that believes children form who they are as individuals in the early years of development.
Peartree also offers a hands-on experience in learning. “If we are going to do a lesson on pine cones, we go outside to find the pine cones,” Adusei said. Mahmood added that the children look at the shape of the pine cone, the smell, the texture.
Julie Balmir, whose 2-year-old son attends Peartree, said he had made great progress in a short time. “His vocabulary has grown tremendously; he is comfortable being away from family and close friends; his social skills are improving and he is having fun. So much so, that he looks forward to going to school everyday and so do I,” she said in an email to The Uptowner.
“Our child comes home with new ideas and stories,” said Kelly Garnes, whose 2-year-old daughter attends Peartree. “She comes home singing new songs and asks us about things that we haven’t shown or taught her yet.”
Adusei said she wants to expand elsewhere, but her immediate focus is to create a quality program for the families Peartree currently serves. “We want to get this right. We have a lot of little ones counting on us,” she said.
(Featured photo courtesy Peartree School)