“Created out of love”

Letter from Melissa, Owner

Many things created the Peninsula Academy, but most importantly, the Peninsula Academy was created out of love. First out of love between a mother and daughter and secondly out of love that a daughter has for education and most importantly children. I am Melissa Pezzella and I am the daughter of Toni Nolker. My mom and I created The Peninsula Academy based on a dream and a tremendous amount of faith. I wanted to create a school that was safe, happy and filled with learning experiences. I wanted parents to feel good about dropping their child off to our school. I dreamt of a school that was bright, clean and a wonderful place to spend the day. I knew I could develop the curriculum, train the teachers and work with the children and parents, but I did not want any part of the business end. My passion and strength is working with children definitely not working with payroll and numbers. Now enters the perfect partnership between my mom and myself. My mom has owned and operated franchises since I was a child. She has a degree in business and is brilliant with anything to do with business. What a perfect match we are! My mom is also my best friend and the wisest person I know. I feel honored to work with her and confident that together we can create the perfect team. My mom and I also share a tremendous amount of respect for the working parent. My mom watched me struggle to find a quality preschool that also offered before and after care for a working parent. I often felt if child care was offered the preschool portion was not the emphasis. I found wonderful programs that ran from 9am-12 noon but had a very tough search for a full day program that met my expectations.

I know as a mom how it feels to juggle your child, your career and all the other things that go along with being a parent. Parenting is the greatest joy in life but it also carries a tremendous amount of responsibility. At the Peninsula Academy, we are committed to providing a place where every child is happy and thriving. It is our mission to provide an excellent preschool with exceptional teachers and all the elements of an outstanding program. In accordance with our exceptional preschool, we also provide enriching before and after care if needed. We want all parents to feel good about leaving their child at our preschool and to know they can carry out the responsibilities of the day without the added stress of worrying about the welfare of their child.