Thursday, January 18, 2018

Smith Street Workshop Building On Its Success In Carroll Gardens, Will Soon Open French Immersion Pre-School On Henry Street

oo
IMG_1374
IMG_1373
IMG_1375
IMG_1362
IMG_1364
IMG_1365
IMG_1368
IMG_1370
Smith Street Workshop at 339 Smith Street 
IMG_1357
Olivia Ramsey, Smith Street Workshop's founder and Director
Untitled
Untitled
Smith Street Maternelle's new home at 607 Henry Street

Since opening its doors at 581 Henry Street in 2015, Smith Street Workshop has grown dramatically in Carroll Gardens, becoming a comprehensive educational center, which provides the community with academic enrichment for pre-kindergarteners to high school students.
Recently, Smith Street Workshop has expanded into a beautiful second space at 339 Smith Street and is currently putting the finishing touches on a large space at 607 Henry Street for the brand new Smith Street Maternelle, a French immersion pre-school program, which is now accepting  applications for 2018-2019.

The expansion into the new spaces allows Smith Street Workshop to provide additional French language classes for children and adults, as well as immersion music and art classes for pre-schoolers. It also allows the Workshop to support students through individual tutoring across all academic subjects.  In addition, it offers SAT, ACT, Specialized High School and Common Core test prep classes.

Smith Street Workshop's founder and Director, Olivia Ramsey, was one of the founding teachers at Public School 58's French Dual Language Program. For five years, she taught kindergarten and 3rd grade at the school, before starting a small private tutoring practice out of her Smith Street apartment in 2013.  The practice was so successful that Olivia soon had a long waiting list, prompting her to open the space at 581 Henry Street.

Smith Street Workshop is an invaluable resource for students and parents in this neighborhood, so please help spread the word. Learn more about the french classes and tutoring programs at www.smithstreetworkshop.com.

Previously:


3 comments:

Teri said...

So grateful to have this amazing resource in our neighborhood! It is especially awesome that a female independent small business is thriving. The extraordinary team at SSW has encouraged so many little minds to reach higher and will continue to inspire so many in years to come. Congratulations to Olivia, who has accomplished so much. Best wishes for continued success.

Pieter Jansen van Rensburg said...

Challenging times usually reveal true character…

In early March 2020, I paid Smith Street Workshop my son's 2020/2021 school registration fee of 3,500.00 US dollars.

Less than a week later my family and I had to leave the USA due to personal circumstances caused by COVID-19. We permanently left the neighborhood where we were residing and departed to another continent.

Roughly one month after making the deposit payment and more than 5 months before the school year started I requested a refund of my son's 2020/2021 school year deposit.

After various email exchanges with the school owner, I requested a personal phone call. The call was avoided and the situation was addressed by the school's lawyer.

To my surprise, given the global hardship felt by families around the world the school stated that the deposit will not be refunded. In fact, their legal team stated that the only compensation I will receive is the transaction costs charged when they received the deposit payment - how absurd.

Like most families, we have a set amount of finances allocated for our son's education per year. Due to this unfortunate loss and lack of sympathy from the school, we will not be able to enroll our child in any school for the 2020/2021 school.

I have committed to the full annual payment of our child’s 2019/2020 school fees and understand that the school needs these funds to pay employees and running costs. However, it is incomprehensible that the school is reluctant to refund even a small portion of the deposit paid.

This is deeply disappointing and I truly hope our child is the only one who will be affected by the school's actions.

Anonymous said...

Pieter Jansen van Rensburg - That's terrible but maybe this isn't the best forum for getting your issue resolved? The Board of Education might be a good place to start, as well as the Better Business Bureau. Contact parents of others students as well - who might have similar experience or might even know someone who you can contact directly in order to expedite your case.