Housed in a beautiful, spacious facility located in the church building of Church of Our Saviour, Lutheran, Once Upon a Time Nursery School was established in 2009 by co-owners and educators: Sheila Bluni, Fran DeCarolis, Jennifer Kerrane, Joyce McCann, and Maryann Munoz. “Together we have over sixty years of teaching and nursery school experience,” says Sheila.

Prior to September 2009, Sheila, Fran, Jennifer, Joyce, and Maryann all worked at Christ Our Saviour Nursery School. When Christ Our Saviour Nursery School closed its doors in June of 2009, the five teachers took the opportunity to open their own school. They realized how important it is to provide a high-quality education to the early learner. Once Upon a Time was born!

Once Upon a Time started with one class of five two-year olds and within three years grew to having three classrooms for children aged two, three and four and it also had enrichment and summer programs. With the growth in enrollment, the school needed another teacher and hired Maura Langro.

“Since we believe in providing a nurturing, safe, supportive learning environment at Once Upon a Time, we keep our class ratios small thus giving the early learner plenty of opportunities to explore and grow,” explains Sheila. “Our curriculum and philosophy emphasize meeting the various needs of a pre-kindergarten and nursery school child,” she adds. The five teachers believe that “a strong foundation in literacy will allow children to reinforce and advance their speech and language and early reading readiness skills.” They say that the indoor and outdoor activities they provide will promote a further development of fine and gross motor skills. They also say that multi-sensory activities are fostered to build foundations for later skills.

Sheila adds that “Once Upon a Time Nursery School setting encourages independence, assertiveness, and awareness of each child’s own feelings and the feelings of others. As an inclusive program, respect for self and others are strongly encouraged. We believe in the philosophy that children learn in all different ways and our curriculum allows growth for all kinds of learning styles.”

Once Upon a Time Nursery School has an open enrollment and accepts applications and gives tours throughout the year. It is located at 1901 Northern Boulevard, Manhasset, and is open Monday and Friday 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 a.m.-1: 30 p.m. The tel. is 516 627-0045, email is and the website is www.onceuponatimenurseryschool.org