Welcome to the Little Red Playhouse!

The Little Red Playhouse is a private preschool dedicated to preparing children for kindergarten and for life by cultivating a love of learning and encouraging empathic social interactions.

Our approach recognizes the need of each child to be an individual and encourages children to express themselves through creative arts. We offer a wide variety of arts and crafts, music and a renowned hand writing program. A balanced curriculum of academic and hands-on learning opportunities integrate intellectual stimulation with an early sense of social responsibility, problem solving skills and self-reliance.

We operate concurrently under the management of La Fondation Place Coco, whose mission of successful integration of children on the Autistic Spectrum amongst the general population of the typical children at the preschool is unique in Quebec. We have proudly graduated children that learn from each other and in so doing, touches the hearts of so many that join us in this exceptional environment. Our ratio is low and our waitlist for registration is growing!

We are located at 263 Percival St., Montreal West, QC. we are right next door to Elizabeth Ballantyne school and enjoy a wide range of amenities within our reach: Montreal West Children's Library, the skating rink and the gymnasium!

Information Request Form

Parent Testimonials

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In the last 5 years two of our sons have attended Little Red Playhouse. Our sons are regular, drive-you-crazy, adorable, NT (neuro-typical) kids.
Over the years we have sometimes been asked why we chose to send our kids to this special place where special needs children are integrated in regular groups rather than other "regular" preschools.
Firstly, because it's FUN! Our kids love it! The activities and learning are always presented in a wonderful way. Special attention is given to every child to foster their blooming abilities. My boys have learned so much there!
As for the special vocation of the school, we believe that kids should be allowed their full potential. By attending LRP, our kids are helping other children as well as gaining an extra dose of socialization.
LRP has taught my kids that a friend is a friend, no matter what. So what if some of the kids react a bit differently than they do, they can all learn together and from each other.
It is such a simple lesson, but one that takes some people their whole lives to understand! We think LRP has helped our kids grow up to embrace diversity and have strong morals.
In this age of school bullying, I think more kids should be exposed to differences earlier on. Not only will they be less likely to become bullies themselves, they will be better equipped to stand up to a bully if the situation ever arises.
Something all parents should hope for.

Christine & Stéphane (parents of Kaï, Emrik and Phoenix)

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Dear Jon, Megan and Adrienne,
We just completed the testing with a psychologist for Bea's early admissions application. We thought you would like to know it went extremely well ( 99.9th percentile ). She is in the superior range, and in a majority of the sections was at par with 7 year olds.
We believe that LRP has played a large part in this, your program and methodology is obviously well thought out and very effective for preparing children for school. Beatrice loves attending your program. We have been extremely pleased with the progress she has made under your guidance. Bea's enthusiasm for learning is tremendous, and LRP has helped her achieve a great foundation to build her academic career on. Thank you for your hard work and dedication, it has been wonderful to be a part of your school. Wei just thought you would like to know how much we appreciate you and that you’re doing great work!

Sincerely, Sarina and Alex

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"Our life with Jessica has been an emotional rollercoaster, at age 2 she was diagnosed with epilepsy and since then we have been on a journey of understanding – understanding what implications the epilepsy has on her physical and mental development and in understanding what learning styles work for her so we can tap into the enormous potential we know she has. At age 4 she was assessed by her therapist as being developmentally equivalent to a 2 year old. While initially startled by the news we quickly explored what we could do as her parents to give her the best chance in life. It was at this point our paths crossed with the Little Red Playhouse – like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds!

Through the dedicated, enthusiastic and talented professionals at LRP using innovative teaching methods designed to access each child’s unique potential Jessica’s development has blossomed. Interactions with the teaching staff when we dropped Jessica off for school or picked her up was always an uplifting experience as a parent, it’s no wonder Jessica was always excited to go to school (even on a Saturday – where she would be disappointed it wasn’t a school day!).

We are eternally thankful to the entire LRP team – for firstly being open to accepting Jessica into their school and then for nurturing her gifts into skills that allow her to support and survive in the world we live in. LRP has found a way to embrace differences, support the children, share the challenges with other kids and parents and support the building of a stronger community. Jessica can now dress herself, she can count, differentiate colours and has now started to read and write – things that at one point in time we weren’t sure she would be able to do. The constant encouragement, positive reinforcement and modelling of behaviours has been a great success for Jessica. Jessica has now been accepted into a great private school where she will join her natural age group with no in-class assistance. LRP has given us the greatest gift we could ever ask for … they have given us more than hope … they have given us confidence that Jessica will make it through life successfully while adding her own touch of colour along the way!"

Thanks again, Zoe and Jason

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A few years ago, our son was diagnosed as falling onto the autism spectrum. He had numerous difficulties with social integration. Last year, we enrolled him at Coco’s to prepare him for the years of regular schooling. The results were very immediate and pronounced. His social skills, interactions, and communicative abilities increased dramatically. Even leaving that aside, we learned by the time he started elementary school that the curricular program at Coco’s was also vastly superior to the school’s own pre-school program. Thus, academically, our son started at an advanced level to almost all of his peers. In retrospect, we would have to say that Coco’s staff-student ratios coupled with their techniques to enhance social and educational development, whether or not the child has special needs, are simply without peer and, based on results, were more than worth the investment.

Jeff Joseph and Randi Greenberg

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To be honest, I hadn’t intended to send my son (who is “neuro-typical,” as they say) to the Little Red Playhouse. I had visited a few pre-schools and had thought I had already made my choice but decided to honour my appointment to visit the LRP (which was the last visit I had scheduled). I was immediately impressed with the positive vibe at the school. It is a sunny little house and, consequently, it feels naturally cosy and homey. I very much liked the idea that there is a yard where Lucca and the children could play outside when the weather permits. But, it was really the staff who sealed the deal. They are, to a person, impressively patient, creative, and energetic. They obviously love what they do and the whole atmosphere feels like such fun! I was almost overwhelmed with admiration for the services the school provides to kids with special needs. It did cross my mind to wonder if my well-adjusted, chatty, but soft-hearted little boy might get overlooked by the staff in their need to provide more intensive attention to the other children. The possibility of this worried me because even the most normally developing, bright children have their needs, as mundane as they might be in the face of the needs of others with special challenges. But, the staff immediate “got” Lucca and his own unique set of strengths and weaknesses.
On my reflective days, I think I am doing a terrific thing by sending my son to a pre-school where he is exposed to such diversity and, hopefully, is developing into a patient, non-judgmental, and accepting person. I feel like we are part of something important. On my (more frequent) harried days as we rush out the door, I am just grateful that Lucca goes to a school where he is happy and stimulated and able to bloom, along with all of his friends.

Dr. Natalie Phillips

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Our daughter and now our son have been enjoying the wonderful benefits of the LRP for the past two years. The ambience of the school is warm, fun, and full of excitement. Our children have been absolutely thrilled to go to school every day and have always been very keen on telling us all the great things that they did at school at the end of each day. Each teacher has different talents which as a whole is a tremendous mix for the children; it is a delight to be greeted by this great team every morning. Apart from the excellent programs that the school has, the one thing that sticks out the most for us is the fact that the school offers complete diversity. The fact that there is a combination of spectrum and NT children together simply teaches the children that people come in different packages and everyone is unique in their own way. Our children have never been concerned about the differences between the two groups, they have just been happy to see their friends everyday. The LRP is a terrific school and we would recommend it to anyone – it is a perfect blend between learning and fun!

Joanne Raddatz and Rob Murray