Our Story

Little Eagles Nest began with a question we kept asking ourselves as parents:

Why was it so difficult to find one place that offered everything we wanted for our own children?

We are Saïda and Nick, parents of three and the founders of Little Eagles Nest.

Like so many working parents, we understood how difficult it is to entrust the most important people in your life to someone else each day. We weren’t simply looking for a safe place where our children could stay while we worked. We wanted an environment where they could genuinely thrive.

We wanted loving teachers who really knew them. Nutritious food. Bright, beautiful spaces. Lots of time outdoors. Opportunities to explore, create, build and become independent. A diverse and inclusive community. Thoughtful learning without pushing formal academics too early. And a childhood that wasn’t centered around screens.

We kept finding pieces of what we wanted, but rarely all of it in one place.

Then the pandemic changed everything.

Like many families, we suddenly found ourselves trying to balance our careers while caring for and educating our children at home. What began as a difficult period also gave us an unexpected opportunity to think deeply about what we believed early childhood could look like.

Eventually, we stopped searching for the program we wanted.

We decided to create it.

And from the beginning, Little Eagles Nest was deeply personal.

Saïda, a PhD scientist whose career brought her to New York for cancer research, became increasingly fascinated by early brain development and the extraordinary amount of learning taking place during infancy and early childhood. She began thinking about how relationships, language, movement, nature, creativity and everyday experiences help shape a developing child.

Nick brought a different set of skills to the same vision. With backgrounds in technology, entrepreneurship, hospitality and construction—and a lifelong love of working with children, he turned many of those ideas into something tangible.

He quite literally helped build Little Eagles Nest with his own hands, creating and continually improving the classrooms, outdoor environments and learning spaces first imagined for our own children.

What started with our family gradually became something much bigger.

Today, Little Eagles Nest has grown into two independently owned boutique early childhood programs serving families in Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry, but the question behind our decisions remains remarkably simple:

“Is this what we would want for our own children?”

That question influences almost everything we do.

Childhood Is Not a Waiting Room for Kindergarten

We believe the early years matter enormously.

Children are not empty vessels waiting for adults to fill them with information. They are capable, curious, creative people who already have ideas, theories, questions and an extraordinary desire to understand the world around them.

Our role is to give them an environment worthy of that curiosity.

Our educational philosophy draws inspiration from Reggio Emilia and Montessori principles, nature-based education, play, inquiry and hands-on exploration.

That means a child may encounter science while planting a seed, investigating an insect or experimenting with water. Mathematics may emerge while building, measuring, cooking or sorting natural materials. Literacy grows through conversation, storytelling, books and seeing their own words recorded by a teacher.

Art is about discovering what materials can do—not reproducing an adult’s sample.

And sometimes the most meaningful learning comes from climbing outside, solving a disagreement with a friend, pouring one’s own water, helping care for the classroom or spending twenty minutes completely fascinated by something an adult might otherwise walk past.

The learning is everywhere when we create the right conditions for it.

We believe classrooms should feel calm, beautiful and intentional rather than overstimulating. Children should be able to access materials independently, see their own thinking represented in their environment, spend meaningful time outdoors and develop genuine relationships with the adults and children around them.

Most importantly, we want every child to feel known, heard and respected.

A Small Program by Design

Little Eagles Nest remains intentionally small.

Being a boutique program allows us to know our families personally, respond to individual children and continually improve the environment based on what we see happening in our classrooms.

Our teachers are carefully selected for their education, experience and ability to genuinely connect with young children. Our programs are licensed by New York State, and staff complete the required screening, fingerprinting, health and safety requirements and ongoing professional development expected in licensed childcare.

But qualifications alone aren’t enough for us.

We want educators who are willing to observe, learn, collaborate and ask themselves why they are doing something; not simply follow a script.

We continue to invest in our teachers, environments, curriculum, outdoor spaces and educational philosophy because we don’t believe a childcare program should ever stop evolving.

Parents remain part of that experience as well. Through regular communication, daily updates and photos, we want families to feel connected to the small moments that make up their child’s day.

These Are the Important Years

Little Eagles Nest began because we wanted something better for our own children.

It continues because we realized other families wanted it too.

Our hope is that children leave LEN not only ready for what comes next academically, but curious, confident, kind, independent and excited to learn.

We want them to remember a childhood filled with stories and muddy shoes, gardens and paint, friendships and questions, music and movement, experiments and imagination—and adults who took their ideas seriously.

Because early childhood isn’t simply preparation for the important years ahead.

These are the important years.