The mission of the Thorne School is to provide play-based, developmentally appropriate child-centered programs for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.
Learning to Play. Playing to Learn.
Research shows that play enhances children's problem-solving and social skills, leading to more curious, independent, joyful learners. The Phebe Anna Thorne School of Bryn Mawr College invites children to explore and learn in a nurturing, enriched environment that helps them master foundational academic skills while becoming more creative, caring, and self-confident.
This Main Line institution, which was established in 1952 as a laboratory nursery school at the College, offers developmentally appropriate, child-centered programs for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten children, including a Language Enrichment program for children with identified speech and language difficulties. The Thorne Kindergarten Center, located at Haverford College, offers a small, nurturing full-day kindergarten program where foundational academic skills are balanced with opportunities for play and discovery, as well as multisensory language-enriched programming for children who have been identified as at risk for learning disabilities. Thorne also offers a variety of Early Intervention Programs for children age 3 to 6, developed by Susan Chaplick.
