Madison Area Preschool Guide 2022

We’re lucky to have so many fabulous Madison, WI preschools!

Below you will find a comprehensive list of Madison, WI preschools, sorted by location:

• East Side/North Side (including Monona and Sun Prairie)
• Central Madison (including downtown)
• Near West Side/South Side (including Fitchburg and Verona)
• Far West Side (including Middleton)

This is our 6th year running this guide and one of our most viewed and most searched for posts each year. We appreciate our featured preschools who through their partnership have helped make this guide possible and we are happy to answer any questions you may have as you begin searching for the perfect school for your child(ren)!

If you are a local preschool – interested in being featured, please reach out to: [email protected] and if you have a favorite school – be sure to comment below.

Be sure to also check out our Guide to Private Schools in Madison, WI.

For 65 years, Monona Grove Nursery School has been a play-based parent cooperative preschool on Madison’s east side. As a parent co-op, we focus on relationship building, social/emotional skills and fun. Our ratios are low, and we spend time outside every day. Lifelong friendships have been built at Monona Grove Nursery School!

Ages: Toddler Time (0-3), preschool (3-4), and MMSD 4K

Schedules: Half Day

Other Programming Available: 4K (MMSD Site) | Summer Programming | After School

At Preschool of the Arts, learning is an adventure, and children’s experiences are bounded only by their imaginations and dreams.

Students enjoy a vibrant and innovative learning community, led by qualified staff committed to child-focused exploration, creativity, and collaboration.

Ages: 18 months–5 years + K5–3rd grade in the summer

Schedules: Full Day, Half Day

Other Programming Available: 4K (MMSD Site) | Summer | Before School | After School

Meeting House Nursery School provides the preschool child with an educationally sound program in an atmosphere of warmth, friendliness, and freedom. We offer opportunities for exploration, experimentation, and inquiry while encouraging curiosity and expression of ideas. We accept each child as an individual, helping the child grow in many dimensions.

Ages: 2-5 years

Schedules: Half Day, Drop-in, Full Day 4K

Other Programming Available: 4K (MMSD Site) | Lunch Bunch | Extended Morning | Before School | After School | Summer

New Morning Nursery School is located in a natural setting, close to downtown, the arboretum, the UW campus and hospitals, and within walking distance of many nearby neighborhoods. 

Uniquely organized as a parent co-op, a close knit community of families and teachers work together to support children’s learning. Our teachers are experienced and passionate about providing the best early learning opportunities for each child.

Ages: 2-5 years

Schedules: Half Day, Part Time

Other Programming Available: 4K | Summer Programming

University Avenue Discovery Center (UADC) empowers children to boldly explore and compassionately interact with their world. We have unique arts enrichment programs each day including: drama, yoga, dance, Spanish, music, violin, piano and cooking. 

Within our spacious classrooms and outdoor play environments, we promote a community atmosphere through consistent communication to families.

Ages: 3–11 years

Schedules: Full Time and Part Time

Other Programming Available: 4K | Summer Camp | After School

Our caring staff is focused on preparing students to become kindergarten-ready in a safe and nurturing play-based environment. Our students participate in enrichment programs such as Spanish, Physical Education, Special Library Time, Music, Guidance and Technology with teachers from St. James School. This experience allows children to have time engaged in activities, and to learn, play, grow and become comfortable within the school setting. Our ECE program could serve as a pathway to continue education at St. James School and your kids will be part of the most diverse school in the diocese.

Ages: 2-5 years

Schedules: Full Day, Half Day, Full Time + Part Time

Other Programming Available: 4K | Summer Programming

Blessed Sacrament offers standard 3K and 4K as well as mixed-age Montessori classrooms in its Early Childhood Program. Students also have Music, Spanish, Gym, Art, Library and Faith Formation each week.

Children develop special relationships with “older” buddies as our school serves students up through 8th grade.

Ages: 3 years – 8th grade

Schedules: 3K and 4K may choose 3, 4 or 5 half-days or full days. Montessori students attend 5 full days.

Other Programming Available: 4K (private) | Before School | After School

Flexible preschool that works with your schedule. Play-based curriculum including literacy, math, science, movement, music, creative arts, and emotional regulation. Our classroom mascot Tommy Moose helps us learn empathy, kindness, caring, respect, responsibility, and service during teacher-led circle times.

Ages: 12 months to 12 years

Schedules: Full Time, Part Time + Hourly pay-as-you-go rates

Hickory Hill Academy cultivates children’s growth in a stimulating and compassionate environment. Our supportive teachers engage the curiosities and needs of each child, fostering self-esteem, the confidence needed to benefit from our robust academic programs, and the interest to embark on a journey of lifelong learning. Our focus on empathy, character, and individual well-being encourages our children to envision how they will serve their community beyond the expanse of our campus.

Ages: 12 months through 5th grade

Schedules: Full day (7:30am-5:30pm)

Other Programming Available:  4K (private) | Summer | Before School | After School

Country Grove Preschool is a small, locally owned and operated preschool. Our highly trained teachers take the time to make children feel loved, accepted, valued and self-confident as they learn and grow. Our teachers all have Bachelor’s Degrees in early childhood education and provide curriculum that helps children learn about the world through active exploration and hands-on experiences.

Ages: 2-10 years

Schedules: Morning Only Program (8:30-12:30) and Full Time Care (7:00-5:45)

Other Programming Available: 4K (private) | Summer | After School

Woods Hollow is a nonprofit childcare center that has been NAEYC Accredited since 1992. Nestled behind the Promega Corporation in Fitchburg, Woods Hollow provides high quality care and developmentally appropriate learning experiences for young children orchestrated by well-qualified and dedicated educators. Large, creatively designed playground areas accommodate each individual age group and, combined with the surrounding wooded, grassy and prairie areas, allow for unlimited experiences in the outdoors.

Ages: 6 weeks – 3^rd grade

Schedules: Full time | Monday – Friday

Other Programming Available: 4K (private/full-time) | Summer | After School

University Houses Preschool is a part-day, non-profit, parent cooperative, play based preschool with 4K. We have an expansive outdoor classroom! Parent involvement as helpers in our classroom and on our Parent Board is one of the strengths at UHP. Member and nonmember options are available. We have mixed age (2-6yrs) Morning (8:45-11:45) and Afternoon (12:45-3:45) classes. Lunch Bunch is available 11:45-12:45 to extend the morning or afternoon session. Our afternoon class includes MMSD 4K.

Ages: 2.5–6 years

Schedules: Half Day

Other Programming Available: 4K (MMSD Site) | Lunch Bunch | Summer

Little Parachutes is a locally owned and operated, licensed child care center in Verona, serving children ages 12 months to 5 years. Our certified teaching staff provide an exceptional learning experience in a safe, healthy and nurturing environment. Our preschool program runs each weekday morning, in classes grouped by age, where children have the opportunity to learn through our hands-on, interactive curriculum. Parents choose the schedule that works best for their family, based on availability.

Ages: 12 months – 5 years

Schedules: Full Day, Half Day, Part Time + Drop-in

Other Programming Available: 4K | Summer Programming

Orchard Ridge Nursery School (ORNS), a non-profit private preschool founded in 1967, has been a pioneer in providing high-quality education. Located in Madison, WI, we serve families with children between 27 months and five years of age. Our mission is to nurture the whole child and provide a developmentally appropriate, child-centered, play-based learning experience for preschool children and their families.

Ages: 2.5-5 years

Schedules: Full Day, Half Day, Full Time + Part Time

Other Programming Available: 4K | Lunch Bunch | After School | Before School

St. Maria Goretti is a Catholic Grade School. Their early childhood program includes a comprehensive curriculum for children ages 3 and 4, and takes place in a safe, healthy and nurturing environment.

Students have many opportunities to be involved in their learning process through a curriculum that provides age-appropriate activities with active, hands-on learning experiences. The curriculum is also designed to help children develop and maintain positive self images and develop their own abilities to create and to explore.

Ages: 3K – 8th grade

Schedules: Full Day or Half Day, Full Time

Other Programming Available: 4K (private/full-time)

At Primrose, we nurture curiosity, creativity, confidence and compassion and pay close attention to all aspects of your child’s development. We pay close attention to all facets of a child’s growth including social, emotional, physical, creative, cognitive and character development.

Our proprietary programs in music, art, gardening, life skills and foreign language were developed especially for our curriculum. And when it comes to helping your child reach their full potential, we leave no stone unskipped, unpainted or unturned.

Ages: 6 Weeks to 5 Years

Schedules: Full Days, Half Days + Part Time

Other Programming Available: 4K | Summer | After School

Madison Community Montessori school offers authentic Montessori education where your child’s curiosity and independence is nurtured.

Every day our students walk through our doors and know they have the ability to learn, grow, and discover more about the world around them.

Our beautiful Middleton campus features bright and airy classrooms prepared for young children with hands-on materials and direct access to the outdoors.

Ages: 15 months through 8th grade

Schedules: Half Day + Full Day | Monday-Friday

Other Programming Available: Summer | Before School | After School

Our 3K and 4K programs are available at both the Madison and the Mount Horeb Campus. We offer Christian values integrated in all learning experiences, literacy-theme based activities, powerful academic curriculum, integrated learning centers, and low student-to-teacher ratios.

Ages: 2-5 years, 5+ years

Schedules: Madison: Full Day and Half Day Mount Horeb: Half Day

Other Programming Available: 4K

Gan HaYeled, the preschool of the Jewish Federation of Madison, is a play-based learning environment founded on Jewish values and traditions, with a focus on social/emotional development. At Gan HaYeled, we respect and value each person as an individual and as part of our community.

Our warm and caring environment fosters daily opportunities to explore and discover. We nurture a positive sense of identity by exploring Jewish values, culture, traditions, holidays, and heritage. We constantly strive to develop curiosity, imagination, self-esteem, caring for others, and the ability to play both cooperatively and independently.

Ages: Infant – 2 years, 2-5 years

Schedules: Half Day, Full Day, Part-Time, Drop-In

Other Programming Available: Summer Programming