Delmar Arts Academy

My daughter attended Delmar for aftercare and we could not have been happier with it! Caring and skilled staff round out the academy that is well run by the owners. They are very hands on and truly care about every student in their care. We absolutely loved having our daughter there until our situation changed and we were no longer in need of aftercare. The art projects that she came home with were so well done it was hard for us to believe she could master these amazing skills in an aftercare setting in such a short amount of time.
Delmar is a very special place and a true jewel in Fort Lauderdale!

What a wonderful school! So much care, attention, and truly fabulous teaching here. My son has really thrived at Delmar. He is learning so much, and he loves school. I highly recommend Delmar to anyone considering PK3, PK4, Kindergarten and after school care.

Delmar Arts Academy is a wonderful family run and family oriented school. This is our second year sending our child to this loving and nurturing environment and she is thriving! When we first started looking for a preschool, we wanted to find a place where she would of course get a wonderful education. But more importantly we wanted to be sure that our child was in a safe and happy place. Delmar fulfilled these requirements and more:
They help young children acclimate to the school environment in a gentle and caring manner. The director and teachers are very kind and patient, giving the child positive outlets to help deal with their separation anxiety. For example, my child had a difficult time being away from home and her teacher suggested making a little photo scrap book of our family to keep at school. The teacher used this book as a tool to help my child whenever she was missing her parents.
The director and staff work very hard to make the school feel like a community – organizing weekly parent/​grandparent story times, monthly family events, a Halloween Parade, a Thanksgiving Dinner, barbecues, and Performances. These events are not just thrown together. The school puts their hearts into every event to make it a meaningful and enjoyable experience for the children and their parents.
The Arts and Cultural based curriculum is a fantastic educational focus, especially for younger kids. The children are exposed to various arts, dance, music, yoga, and both English and Spanish languages.
The school uses the High Scope method. The teachers observe each child’s specific interests and uses these interests to introduce and teach different subjects. For example, my child’s class was very interested in playing house/​store. So, the teachers created a «farmer’s market» assigning prices to the fruits and vegetables to teach counting, addition/​subtraction, concepts of money, etc.
Overall, we are thrilled with our experience at Delmar! Our child looks forward to going to school and is learning a lot. Many thanks to Delmar and Ms. Adriana!

Did you know that choosing the right preschool for your kid is one of the hardest, most anxiety provoking things you will have to do? Well, maybe not for you, but it was for me. The search was hard, strenuous and quite frankly a pain in the you-​know-​what.
Finally, after touring place after place, I found Delmar. I felt comfortable and at ease when I met the director Adriana. She took me on a tour explaining the school’s approach to learning. The school uses the high scope method of learning… kids learn when they play. The school is arts based and I was intrigued that they incorporated painting, music, sculpture, theatre and yoga/​mindfulness into the daily curriculum. The place sounded fun and inviting (safe too) and I signed my kid up. My search was finally over.
When my son started school (PreK 3) in the fall of 20 013, he was to put it nicely a little anti-​social. He had no qualms about telling other people if he didn’t like them and wanted them to «go home». He was a jerk. Lovable, but still a jerk.
After the first few days of getting acclimated to his new surroundings he looked forward to going to school and playing with his friends and Ms. Andi.
In the last two years my son has completely transformed as a little person. He is sweet and caring to his family, friends and animals. He is well behaved. He has also learned how to read and write.
Any issues we have had at home are addressed at school during circle time. The staff at Delmar has always been supportive and easy to communicate with; I genuinely feel that they each love my son as if they were their own child. I would recommend this school to others looking for a high scope and/​or arts based curriculum… or just in general.

I was very charmed by this school at the beginning. But after a while I found it frustrating that I was not able to communicate directly with the teachers. The director wanted all communication to go through her, so she could control what’s being said. No wonder — because once my child started having some issues, the director started showing her true face. I learned eventually that she regularly punished my 3 year old child for crying by moving him to the baby class. Once I addressed a concern about my child feeling excluded at school, she replied that he was «excluding himself» a lot because he didn’t want to participate in the activities they were doing.
The director’s priorities in cases that have occurred have never been in the favor of the child, or according to what the children obviously need — but in favor of what is easier for the administration of the school. I have had a continuous battle about napping. They insist that all the children, even the 4 – 5 year olds nap for 90 minutes. They keep claiming that they do not force nap — but they insist that the children stay quiet on their mattress next to the other sleeping children and read books or something for the entire time. I’ve tried to argue that for children who no longer need a nap, this is totally unnatural. She denies this fact and keeps returning with written complaints when a child is not sleeping and disturbing the other children.
They have autistic children in two of the classes, without any assistants. On more than one occasion children have been attacked and left with bad scratches and biting marks, without anything being done.
The school has lost 12 teachers during the past year. Problem is, the director is also the owner so there’s nobody to complain to. The solution is to leave. Sad really, because if it wasn’t for this crazy woman, the school would have a lot to offer. Unfortunately she dominates everything. So my best advice is to do the same as the lovable teachers — leave, and stay far away. Don’t let all the promising words about love and care and conscious discipline fool you. The director does NOT practice what she preaches.

Delmar Arts Academy is a Fort Lauderdale gem. The staff is very caring. I feel safe leaving my daughter in their hands. They have great classes like music, art, spanish and yoga. My daughter loves it!