Learn more about us from our recent interview in the Ahwatukee Foot Hills News.

Owners: Maysa Fini and Aram Sayadi
Address: 4221 East Chandler Blvd., Phoenix 85048
Hours: Monday through Friday from 6:30 till 18:00

Q: Where are you from and what did you do before opening your business?

A: Both of us moved here (Chandler, Arizona) from Canada about four years ago. After the birth of our daughter, Nikki, Maysa found it to be very difficult to be away from her family. Nikki's relatively young grandparents also desired to be closer to her grandchild. Maysa's primary background was in business management and sales, but being a mother for the first time persuaded her to learn more about early childhood education. So, she decided to do her Master's in elementary education with emphasis in curriculum and instruction. Maysa graduated from University of Ottawa in Tempe in 2007. She has since become a state of Arizona certified K-8 teacher and has worked for the Creighton School District for the past year-and-half.

Q: Why did you open your business in Ahwatukee?

A: The premise for our selection was clear from the start: if the preschool or childcare is an ideal fit for our own daughter, it would also be an appropriate place to invest and develop. We are also informed that Ahwatukee ZIP code 85048 turned out to be the second best place to live and work in United States (reported by NPR). Our chosen location also happened to be very close to our home. In addition, we believe that our center has got an excellent structure, including spacious rooms and big playground.

Q: How did you get the idea to open your business?

A: Our vision is to establish a childcare provider that will meet the needs of our local population, in particular the young and working parents; a place that can also be considered a second home. This childcare should not only be able to provide the warmth and safety of a child's home to our children, but also engage them with creative and mind-stimulating activities. We wanted to build a progressive and academically challenged preschool. This requires having up-to-date curricula and involved and caring teachers. At "A Step Ahead", our objective is to employ the experienced teachers and aids; but, more importantly, is to focus on building a type of personnel that admires active precipitation in children's learning and basically, to enjoy their position every single day.

Q: What type of services do you provide?

A: The infants' room is equipped to care for infants from six weeks to about 1 year old. We have two large rooms to accommodate our one- and two-years- olds. There is a large center in the middle of the facility for our 3- and 4-year-olds. We also have a large Montessori classroom, which provides an open learning environment for up to 15 students. Overall, our childcare and preschool is licensed for 106 students and we have 4800 sq. feet of indoor space to accommodate that. Our hot lunch program is catered daily by a licensed facility, and we provide snakes several times during the day. It is our passion to select healthy choices for our children, like Tropicana orange juice or multi grains crackers or bars, and multiple servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every week.

Q: What does your business offer that no one else does?

A: Mrs. Fini is a young, enthusiastic, and dynamic teacher, whose advanced academic training, focused on early childhood curriculum development, will help her become a successful and sharp childcare and preschool operator.
My role, as her partner, will ensure a strong and streamlined administration. I consider myself an involved father, who cares dearly about the safety, health, and education of my children as well as the ones we care for in our childcare and preschool. What I bring to our center is my almost 10 years of experience in customer care and staff training in corporate retail. I am a strong believer in community service and direct communication with our parents. I enjoy listening to their feedback.

Q: What does your business have in store for the future?

A: At this time, we are working on security features of our center as well as building a cooler and summer-friendly playground by adding a misting system to encourage outside activities. On an academic front, we intend to introduce a comprehensive curriculum for every age group in our center.
In the afternoon, after nap time, we are going to have indoor fitness activities, like samba, yoga, music & movement and gymnastics.

Q: Anything else you want the community to know about you or your business?

A: We like to explain this as simple as we can, since we are not to be judged by our words, but by our deeds. We are responsible for the health, safety, education, and, of course, fun of our students. We love to hear from parents; their views determine our success as a childcare provider, as well as meeting our academic objectives. We are not about making quick profit or raising our tuition fees irresponsibly. We intend to be proactive and involved in our day-to-day operations.