DUNWOODY, Ga. — Transitioning operations of a multigenerational business comes with challenges, especially maintaining the legacy of a community institution, like Dunwoody Prep.
When Jane Newman and her family moved to Dunwoody more than 35 years ago, the former schoolteacher had an innovative idea, a full-time preschool for working parents.
Newman, a Savannah native, holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Boston University and a master’s in teaching from Simmons College. She also helped develop the Gifted and Talented Program for central Pennsylvania.
Julie Newman, administrative director at Dunwoody Prep, said her mother saw what working parents and children needed before the jump to kindergarten.
When Jane Newman founded Dunwoody Prep in 1988, her husband Bruce Newman leased the space for the preschool at the Shops of Dunwoody.
“He and my mom recognized that there was a need in Dunwoody for full-time, high-quality and academic childcare,” Julie said. “We had a lot of ‘mothers’ morning out’ and part-time church programs, but we didn’t have an academic, full-day program.”
In the 1980s at Vanderlyn Elementary, Julie said she was one of the few students with a full-time working mother.
“Now, everyone comes from a two-parent working household,” she said. “They really saw where things were going, and that there was a need in our neighborhood.”
When Dunwoody Prep first opened in the Shops of Dunwoody, the preschool exclusively took in children ages 3-5.
As the program evolved, parents of students asked for childcare to include infants, toddlers and 2-year-olds.
The push for expanded childcare led to the acquisition of a property across the street at Dunwoody Village.
For a few years, Julie said Dunwoody Prep operated its programs at both locations, before acquiring more space in Dunwoody Village.
Today, Dunwoody…
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