CIE Preschool Opens In Makati!

CIE is a British school from Cebu that has branched out to the Makati area. Their Makati preschool will start this coming school year. The preschool is located at 107 Palanca Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, which is quite near the business district and Ayala Center malls, and walking distance from most condominiums in the area, including BSA, Shang Grand Tower, Prince Plaza, Greenbelt Madison, Residences, Rada Regency etc.

Because it is an international school, its school year starts in August and ends in June. You can opt to drop by on May 16 (I'll be doing this as well!), which marks the start of their summer classes, in order to see the facilities, teachers, and class schedule/structure first hand.

The tuition fee is actually not that high, given that it's an international school in a prime location and they do offer flexible payment schemes. They charge for their M-F classes the same rate that other preschools give for their 2 to 3x a week classes.

I'll have more to blog after my May 16 visit, but you can opt to call the school at 8880909 for any inquiries.

Gymboree Rates

I just found out (thankfully, before I enrolled my child) that the rates and payment schemes of Gymboree differ (significantly) depending on the branch/location. After visiting 4 different branches, I also found that they were not consistent in some areas. For example, some offer trial classes for free (except for art class), others charge P500 for preview of any class - deductible if you enroll, one branch I visited had a television set in their classroom and let the children watch videos (though I was assured that these were Gymboree videos and only meant to introduce the lesson for the day), another branch inserted snack time during a 1 hour class, etc.

If you are looking into enrolling your child in Gymboree - and I do recommend this after seeing the confidence and skills gained by my toddler after a few classes - it would be best to try out more than one branch in order to find one whose management style, teachers, and costs best suit you (and your baby!). Also, always attend a trial class first.