{"id":40885,"date":"2025-08-19T14:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=40885"},"modified":"2025-08-19T14:34:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:34:14","slug":"new-preschool-prepares-youngsters-for-success-through-personal-attention-and-creative-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2025\/08\/new-preschool-prepares-youngsters-for-success-through-personal-attention-and-creative-play\/","title":{"rendered":"New Preschool Prepares Youngsters For Success Through Personal Attention And Creative Play"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Mrs. Jill Fish engages preschoolers in an outdoor activity at Skool of Fish, where personal attention and creative play prepare youngsters for academic and social success.
Courtesy Skool of Fish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Rod Bacon<\/p>\n

An experienced teacher has started a preschool to help ensure that young minds and bodies have a firm foundation as they embark on their educational journey.<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Founder and Lead Teacher Mrs. Jill Fish, children ages 3 to 4 will develop social, emotional, and early educational skills in a safe and nurturing environment at Skool of Fish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Youngsters attend either a morning or afternoon session lasting 2.5 hours in which they are exposed to building social skills like sharing, cooperation, and listening; early literacy skills that include letter recognition and name writing; basic number concepts and simple counting; color and shape recognition; and developing fine motor skills through crafts and hands-on activities.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Fish is aided in this endeavor by her daughter, Lindsey Fish, who is a substitute teacher and marketing coordinator working at the school on an as-needed basis. Lindsey is also the owner\/photographer of Super Source Media Studios LLC, a business located in the Wilton Mall that provides a complete range of photographic services.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Fish is CPR and first aid certified while Lindsey is CPR certified.<\/p>\n

She also has an assistant in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Fish has 17 years of classroom experience that ranges from middle school to preschool. She started while still a teenager as an aide under the guidance of her mother, Kathy McDermott, working at BOCES with special education students and those with behavioral issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>She wasn\u2019t fully committed to education at that point so she trained as a hairdresser, a career she pursued for four years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She realized, however, that this was not her calling in life and returned to education as a classroom aide with the Saratoga Springs School District. She spent 15 years there before moving to the YMCA\u2019s preschool program for two years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that this was very rewarding for me, watching the growth of the kids I was working with,\u201d she said. \u201cI saw the growth they experienced in every aspect — not just physical but the emotional, the social, the academic — and I thought \u2018I had a part in that.\u2019 That\u2019s what led me to where I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another motivating factor was her son, Jae, who is on the Autism spectrum. He is high-functioning and through considerable effort on both their parts he has achieved success in his chosen field. He earned a master\u2019s degree from the University at Albany and currently works for the New York State Assembly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Fish has taken the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum and added elements of other educational programs. The Heggerty Curriculum is a structured, research-based program designed to build foundational literacy skills in students from early Pre-K through 5th grade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will prepare them academically for kindergarten,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has phonics in it so it starts early reading. It has a writing component because there\u2019s a certain way you have to teach writing. It has all the strong academic pieces. Then I splash in a bit of creative play because it keeps the kids interested and it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little to no technology is used to ensure the children are fully engaged in hands-on activities, creativity and real-world learning.<\/p>\n

Parents are given regular updates on their child\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

The facility has a fenced-in area where the children can play outside, weather permitting.<\/p>\n

The school is allowed to have up to 20 students enrolled but Mrs. Fish maintains a ratio of one teacher for every seven or fewer children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want my students to get what they need,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to be able to teach them the way they need to be taught. When you have too many kids they don\u2019t get the individual attention they require and deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school operates September through June, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and noon-2 p.m. The five-day sessions cost $500 per month and the optional Monday-Wednesday-Friday sessions are $300 per month. Personal tutoring is available for $50 per hour.<\/p>\n

Skool of Fish LLC is located in Suite 52, 100 Saratoga Village Blvd., Malta. For further information go to skool-of-fish.weebly.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rod Bacon An experienced teacher has started a preschool to help ensure that young minds and bodies have a firm foundation as they embark on their educational journey. Under the direction of Founder and Lead Teacher Mrs. Jill Fish, children ages 3 to 4 will develop social, emotional, and early educational skills in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":40887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\nNew Preschool Prepares Youngsters For Success Through Personal Attention And Creative Play - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2025\/08\/new-preschool-prepares-youngsters-for-success-through-personal-attention-and-creative-play\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Preschool Prepares Youngsters For Success Through Personal Attention And Creative Play - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Rod Bacon An experienced teacher has started a preschool to help ensure that young minds and bodies have a firm foundation as they embark on their educational journey. 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