Your Community in the Big City
Kids at Work was started in 2007 by early childhood educator and mother Julie Averill. For the last 14 years plus, Kids at Work has set the standard in New York City for truly age-appropriate and child-centered programming for very young children. Kids at Work was the first to offer a messy/sensory art class as well as outdoor music programming in NYC parks, options you’ll now find on almost every center’s schedule. Julie’s focus is always on the children and families involved in Kids at Work, and as such Kids at Work stays small and intimate – a place where your child feels at home.
At the heart of Kids at Work’s success has been the people that walk through the doors – staff, parents, nannies, and of course children! Kids at Work is proud of our extremely low turnover of staff as a result of mutual respect that is fostered between staff and management, as well as regular increases in compensation and fair employment practices. Your child will experience a consistency across all our programming, and your family will always be greeted with a friendly, genuine smile!
Our COVID story…
In March of 2020, Kids at Work closed its physical facility for six months. As a result of high payroll and fair employment practices prior to the pandemic, Kids at Work was able to stay afloat via two sizable PPP loans, the amount of which was determined by high pre-pandemic payroll. We are also so thankful to the families who donated to our staff fundraiser in April of 2020, which resulted in over $8000 that went towards our pre-pandemic employees. While Kids at Work did launch several virtual programs, including a successful virtual summer camp and virtual playgroup, our focus was always on re-opening safely in person. We are proud to say that in October of 2020, Kids at Work re-opened for the community as one of the only early childhood focused activity centers in the city at that time.
We’d love to welcome you and your family into our community at Kids at Work! Stop by and say “hi!”
Celebrating 17 years Serving Downtown Families
Back in 2007, there were no drop-in programs for infants and toddlers. Kids at Work owner Julie Averill launched our all drop-in programming, the first of its kind in NYC, as a result of seeing the need for young children to be offered flexibility with scheduling and ease in sampling different programs. 80% of our students are “regulars” who attend at least twice per week, so your child will see familiar faces across whichever classes you may choose on a given day.
These days, drop-in programming is the norm in NYC. Kids at Work is proud to have been the leader in offering an all drop-in schedule!
Throughout the years in addition to the drop-in schedule, Kids at Work has offered several additional programs including, but not limited to:
- Exciting birthday parties
- Preschool Prep Separation program
- Fully licensed Summer Camp
- Preschool admissions meet and greet every Fall
Check out the video below for a sneak peak!