DS presentation for The Ellinikon project, May 15, 2023

1. Dorothy Snot preschool
@ The Ellinikon
a proposal for a world class
Early Education Play Inspired setup
May 2023

2. Dorothy Snot founded in 2008 is a Greek top class, private, urban, experiential
play inspired preschool & kindergarten, located downtown Athens. We are very
proud of our cutting edge philosophy, our work & our people.
Our belief is that Play that is not controlled by the adults, can be the major
Early Education element able to inspire children to discover the world through
Respect, Trust, Responsibility & Freedom.
We have developed our own pedagogical approach under the name of Life
Derived Learning (LDL), a complete education model for very young children (0-
6 y.o.) based on the principles of play-based learning and is being tested daily
in our school since 2012 with sky-high results.
The idea is that children obtain the ownership of their school life from early on.
We Observe their needs, Respect their wills, Trust their capabilities and provide
the Responsibility to run their own life framework through Democracy and
Freedom. We act as Facilitators & not as teachers.

3. Kids actually strive to discover the world.
And all they need & do is play!
So, we just have to combine the above two
things and facilitate their play on real life
conditions.
Through this process is how they master
Independence, Social & Soft Skills, Self
Confidence, Love for Learning. And much more.

4. Life Derived Learning allowed our school to establish strong bonds with
the international community of play education. Today, Dorothy Snot is
acknowledged outside Greece as a top class, urban play-based preschool
and some of the world’s greatest contemporary play people have turned
to regular associates.
Today in our school we host more than 280 kids and employ a team of 65
associates, 45 of whom are carefully selected & trained teachers.
We have even organized in Greece two International Conferences on Play in
the Early Years (in 2019 & 2022) attracting each time more than 200 top
play educators, from all over the world.
All these years we maintain a very high satisfaction rate among the families
that trust our services. In August 2022 we were honored with an amazing
95,22% satisfaction rate, as the average of 112 quality sheets returned by
school families.

11. Our proposal is to develop in the Ellinikon a play-inspired, early education
setup, offering top class educational services to the families, employees and
visitors of the area.
As far as the operation is concerned, our main proposal is to establish one (or
more if needed) international, multilingual preschool and day care facility (for
children between 0-4 y.o), offering early education services around the clock.
More than that, we are in the position to undertake the whole nanny &
nursery services that a world class residential area must be able to provide
(home schooling, baby sitting, part time day care, etc.)
Our expertise & our local & international associates’ network allows to
develop and operate a top class facility, both in terms of pedagogy &
operation as well as in terms of design & construction.

12. Within just 14 years we developed from scratch one of the largest & fastest
growing Early Education urban Setups, in Greece.
We focus and specialize in the Early Years (0 – 6 y.o); therefore, we have both
the experience & the knowledge required to establish & run a top quality, world
class early childhood facility for the Hellinikon residents & visitors.
We bear a strong & highly esteemed network of international partners in early
education, commited to results. All our renowned play associates from across
the universe would be thrilled by the opportunity to engage in the
establishment of one of the world’s best earlyed setups, in Athens.
We also are perfectly positioned to form a strong business development team
for the efficient development & financing of the proposed Ellinikon Early
Education facility.

13. Some numbers
A top class preschool must offer at least 5 sq.m. in both indoor & outdoor space.
So, a school able to host 100 kids must bear a building of minimum 500 sq.m as
well as 500 sq.m. of yards & gardens. The more the space of course, the more of
the potential.
Depending on the quality & the amenities, construction & development cost of
such a premise may vary between 2,500 – 5,000 euros per indoor sq.m. of
indoor space and 500 – 1,000 euros per outdoor sq.m.
So, the total development cost for a 100 kids preschool may be between 1,5 –
3.0 million euros (or between 15,000 – 30,000 euros per child hosted). The
development & licensing period should last no more than 18 months.
Ideally however, a top notch early education facility for the Ellinikon should be
about the double of the above numbers. So, the all-in-all development cost
may reach 3 - 5 million euros. After we have the desired specs we can precisely
estimate the final cost.

14. Some of our International Associates
“Teacher Tom” (Tom Hobson): one of
world’s most famous preschool
teachers, coming from the West
Coast, US.
Suzanne Axelsson: a Swedish renowned
reggio-inspired early educator, coming
from Stockholm. Suzanne has done play
& consulting work in more than 20
countries during the last 10 years.
Peter Gray: professor of Psychology in
Boston College, Peter is the living legend in
transforming education through Play and
author of the world’s famous book “Free to
Learn”

15. Meynell Walter: a heavily
experienced British playworker with
more than 50 years of experience in
designing & managing playgrounds,
all over the world.
Takaharu Tezuka: renowned
Japanese contemporary
architect, famous for his Fuji
Kindergarten design (voted
as “The best kindergarten in
the world”)