Click here for the Thorne School's COVID-19 information.
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.
"My son is in his second year at Phebe Anna Thorne School/Language Class, and I continue to be amazed by how much he has learned. The teachers are leaders in the early education field and are truly top notch. They have a 3:1 teacher to student ratio and two of the teachers are speech language pathologists. The teachers work directly on strengthening social language and play skills as well as supporting expressive and receptive language abilities. We are so grateful to have found Phebe Anna Thorne School!" —Lauren
"Thorne's focus on interpersonal skills served both of my children well. They've matured into resilient teens who can competently navigate the different social situations with which they're faced." —Berit
