Greenwood Heights Playgroup

Our Teachers

Patty Cavallo, Founder and Administrator

Hello! I am Patty Cavallo, the founder of Greenwood Heights Playgroup. I was inspired to start my own program because I love working with children. It has always been my dream to design my own space where children can play, blossom, grow, have fun and be a kid! I have more than 20 years of experience working with young children and love having my home filled with love and laughter during the day. I have lived in and raised my family in this home for 20 years. I have 3 beautiful children - Sienna, Jaiden and Kahealani. Kahealani is enjoying 3rd grade at the Churchill School and Center.  Jaiden is enjoying his last year M.S. 447 and will be off to High School next year.

While raising my children with my husband, Joe, I am a devoted volunteer for Hope & Heroes Children Cancer Fund. I have chaired their past 10 Walkathons in N.Y.C which brings together over 1,000 doctors, patients and families in a walk to support the Childhood Cancer community. Every September, my husband and I host Sienna’s Gold Gala to support Camp Sunshine, a week long free retreat for children with a life threatening illness and their families. I love running and have ran 6 Marathons and 2 half marathons. I’m currently training to run NY in 2019! Each marathon I run has raised money for charity which included Team for Kids and Camp Sunshine. I believe strongly in giving back and paying my health and happiness forward.

Maya Marchese, Founder and Lead Teacher

Hello! I am Maya Marchese-Reilly co-founder of Greenwood Heights Playgroup. I’m a Brooklyn native and live in Carroll Gardens with my husband and 3 children. I earned my degree in Early Childhood Education while raising my children Makayla, Kayden and Kieran and I have over 20 years experience working with young children.  My oldest daughter, Makayla, is currently traveling through Europe. Kayden is enjoying her last year at New Voices before heading off to High School and Kieran attends the Children’s School in Park Slope. I love doing art projects with the kids and facilitating our Hatch-a-Chicken program every spring.

Outside of playgroup, I enjoy cooking, reading, my co-op shift and spending long weekends and summer vacations with my family at our country house. I enjoy visiting my extended family abroad in Switzerland every other year. During our time in Switzerland, we stay in the country, take day long hikes and eat lots of great food with the locals.

Testimonials

My daughter has been attending Greenwood Heights Playgroup for almost 2 years and we couldn’t be more happy. Patty and Maya are great - they are warm, nurturing, dedicated and fun. The space and environment are very welcoming and cozy where children feel safe and comfortable. I love their focus on learning through play and feel that my daughter has blossomed in this environment. I can’t recommend this playgroup highly enough!

My grandson has been at GH Playgroup for almost 2 years.  What we love most about it is the warm, individual, down to earth approach of both caregivers.  He knows that he is truly loved and appreciated by them.

Our daughter is currently enrolled there 3 days a week and she just LOVES it. It’s been a great experience for us all having her come home so happy with her crafts, pictures, and her talk of yoga and music class. Patty and Maya are so loving and provide a safe and stimulating atmosphere. We’ve had such a positive experience there!

My daughter has been attending twice a week for the past 7 months and we couldn’t be happier. Patty and Maya are lovely teachers, very responsive, and great with the kids. We had zero transition time; my daughter liked it from the very first day. She does creative art projects, gets music and yoga classes, and lots of playtime. It is a warm, small-group setting, as well as a professionally run business – a wonderful resource for the neighborhood!

Maya is an amazing childcare provider. Before opening up her own center with Patty, she worked at the Park Slope Sports Club’s childcare facility. I left my two young daughters under her care and direction almost daily. My children were never bored and improved their social skills greatly. I highly recommend her!

As parents, we have appreciated the special care and attention that Maya and Patty paid to each child, adhering to the small class guidelines. They incorporated outside instructors for yoga and music which my daughter loved, and also stayed focused on a very play-based atmosphere and curriculum.  The program is organized well, communications from Patty and Maya are direct and timely. It’s a great way to prepare your little one for future schooling.  We wish we had known of GH Playgroup for our son, and feel very fortunate our daughter has attended.

Philosophy

Our playgroup has been serving Brooklyn families for nearly 10 years and love our community deeply. We believe every child is special and unique and a great member of our community. We teach love, kindness, empathy and real sense of community in our home.

Our daily schedule will always include circle time, yoga, multicultural music, reading, art, structured indoor and outdoor play in our large yard or local playground, rest time, snack and lunch.  We will be planting, exploring the neighborhood, cooking, having dance parties and most importantly learning how to make friends and express our feelings in a small nurturing and supportive group setting. In our program, children feel genuinely cared for, loved and cherished as an important member of our playgroup.

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Location

Greenwood Heights Playgroup is located in a spacious, welcoming single family home in the Greenwood Heights / South Slope neighborhood. At Greenwood Heights Playgroup, we want to provide a loving home away from home where children feel free safe, loved and ready to explore and play.

We’ve designed our care environment with play and learning areas that allow children to explore various developmentally-appropriate activities based on their interests. Some of our favorite areas include block area (for gross motor skills and problem solving), manipulatives and math area (for fine motor skills and beginning math concepts), and art area (for expressing emotions and ideas).

Children will have outdoor time everyday at a mix of both our private backyard and local parks and playgrounds. All of the gardening around our home is done by the children and they help to water our plants daily. Our kids need space to run, jump, and move, which is why we go outside during every season. In the winter, we bundle up and in the summer we go barefoot to play with water tables, sprinklers and read books under the shade of our tree! Connecting with nature is vital to a child’s happiness and growth and we love to be outside exploring.

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Admissions

Join the Greenwood Heights Playgroup community in four easy steps:

1. Explore our website

We’ve provided information about our philosophies and offerings to help you decide if our program may be right for your family.

2. Tour our program

Come see what makes Greenwood Heights Playgroup unique. If we are currently hosting tours, you can request or schedule a tour at the top of this page. If we are not currently hosting tours, you’ll see a “Request Info” button at the top of this page; if you submit your information using this button, we will notify you when we start host tours again in the future.

3. Submit an Enrollment Application

If you would like to enroll, please submit an application. Note that we require tours for all prospective families. Please do not submit an application if you have not visited the program.

4. Enroll

After reviewing your application, we’ll send an enrollment invitation. Upon accepting your invitation you’ll pay your enrollment fee, fill out enrollment documents and review our Parent Handbook.

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