16 years in Medavakkam: what a preschool learns about its neighbourhood

When we started in 2010, Medavakkam was half empty roads and weekend farmland. Today every third apartment has a 3-year-old in it. Here’s what sixteen years of running a preschool in one neighbourhood has taught us — and what every new parent to the area should know.

What has changed

A short list, written by someone who’s watched it:

• Density. There are probably twenty times more children aged 2–5 living in Medavakkam today than in 2010.
• Traffic. Vadakapattu Main Road at 5 pm is a different thing now.
• Amenities. Pharmacies, paediatricians, supermarkets, play spots — all grew as the families did.
• Parent expectations. Today’s parents have read more, compared more, and expect more detail on what happens every day at preschool. That’s healthy.
• Schools. Seven or eight years ago, families drove to Velachery for preschool. Now Medavakkam has its own preschool ecosystem — chains, independents, Montessori-leaning, play-based.

What has not changed

• Two-year-olds. Same tears on Day 1. Same laughter on Day 10. Same moments of surprise when a shy child becomes the one who holds the new kid’s hand.
• What good preschool looks like. Small groups. Unhurried mornings. Teachers who know your child’s name and face by Day 3.
• Parent anxieties. Will she eat? Will she cry? Will she fit in? The questions haven’t changed in sixteen years. Neither have the answers: usually, eventually, and yes.
• The role of grandparents. Medavakkam still has its wonderful extended-family rhythm. Grandparents at pickup, grandparents at first-day anxiety, grandparents at birthday celebrations.

Three things we’ve learned about Medavakkam families

1. You are not in a hurry. Medavakkam families, more than many other Chennai neighbourhoods, take the time to visit schools twice, ask the same questions three ways, and make a careful choice. We welcome that.
2. You value warmth over polish. The fanciest brochure has rarely won the families we’ve had the privilege of meeting here.
3. You remember. Parents of children who left in 2014 still stop by with the teenager in tow. That is the deepest compliment any preschool can receive.

Sixteen years in the same neighbourhood teaches you one thing above all others: education isn’t a building or a brand. It’s a group of people who stay.

What we’re grateful for

The parents who trusted us with their first child. The second child. The nephew. The neighbour’s child. The teachers who have been with us for a decade. The families who came with a 2-year-old and came back ten years later to say thank you.

What the next sixteen years look like

More children. More families. More languages in the playground. A Metro, probably, somewhere along the way. But the day will still start at 8:30 am with circle time and end with a song. That part we’ll keep.

Read also: how Medavakkam became a young-family neighbourhood, about us and our founder.