Schoolhouse Play & Cafe Opens In Farmingdale, Bringing 'Fun, Educational' Classes

FARMINGDALE, NY — A ribbon cutting was held to commemorate the grand opening of Schoolhouse Play & Cafe in Farmingdale.

The schoolhouse offers parent and child educational classes, openplay, and celebrations for families with young children. The schoolhouse is located behind Back In Time, at 441 Main Street, sharing a courtyard with Elise's Niece's Cafe.

The schedule can be found on the Schoolhouse Play & Cafe website.

Taylor Carney, owner of Schoolhouse Play & Cafe, is a teacher with over 10 years of experience. When she had her son, Jack, 2-and-a-half years ago, and daughter, Raegan, 9 months, she decided to stay home with her children. Carney said she loved being home with her children, but she also loved teaching.

She decided to teach classes during her free time and invited people she knew for trial runs, to much success. Carney, 32, decided to keep the classes going. She and her husband discussed the idea of turning it into a business.

"Once we put our pen to paper and discussed options, I felt like this would be something really magical, teaching kids with their parents alongside of them," Carney told Patch. "Something educational. I really felt like I struggled to find something like that for our son."

Her parents, Laura and Joe Napolitano, who own Back In Time, allowed Carney to take over the barn in the courtyard. Carney's sister, Jenna Tomeo, runs Elise's Niece's Cafe on the same property.

"My family was my inspiration," Carney said. "My kids. It really started there."

Carney said being able to work with her family on a daily basis has been "amazing." Tomeo joined her parents first when she opened Elise's Niece's Cafe four years ago.

"I never thought I'd be a part of that," Carney said. "We always laughed, 'OK, Jenna got roped into the family business, now she's here.' That was my husband's funny thing. He said, 'You got roped in, now you're here.' But getting to work alongside my parents and my sister, who pursued the entrepreneurial route, which we never expected, has been really magical and inspiring. I've learned so much from them. Being able to bend and work together as a team and bounce off of each other has been so amazing. I'm so grateful."

Ken Marcus, vice president of the Farmingdale Chamber of Commerce, congratulated Carney on opening Schoolhouse Play & Cafe at the ribbon cutting.

"Obviously, entrepreneurship is in the blood," Marcus said. "I know you'll do great things."

Classes generally range from 8 months old to 5 years old, Carney said. Courses will run approximately 90 minutes each, with sessions starting at 9 or 9:30 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays — the same schedule as her family's shops.

Sessions are divided into educational class and open play for 45 minutes each, or open play for 90 minutes.

Drop-ins are offered at $38 per session for the educational class and open play bundle. The open play hour-and-a-half session runs for $22. The business offers six-packs for the bundle or only open play at a slightly discounted rate. Parents are also offered a discount for every sibling who attends.

When teaching educational courses, Carney likes to begin with a literary aspect mapped out to a weekly theme. Then there is crafts and music, followed by community-building activities.

"I really wanted to keep it clean, fresh, crisp. I feel like when there's too much going on, it distracts them from what the content is," she explained.

Carney designed the space to resemble a miniature Main Street.

"[Children can] feel like they could go and have that real life experience of going to a market, going to a doctor, going to a diner," she said. "A lot of space for them to collaborate, but also work independently. That's kind of the vision I had."

Carney's goal, she said, was creating a fun and educational experience for children.

"I really want to drive that home," she said. "I really want to bring my educational experience into these families' homes and have them see that learning can be fun for them. Even though they're little, they can still grasp and learn a lot of things. It's just been such a nice community. I'm just so grateful for my family and friends."

Carney said she had a hard time finding a fun, educational program for her son. While she eventually found one, she wanted to return to teaching herself.

"That's really what it was," she said. "I was trying to find something for him where he could learn but also have fun at the same time. That was my driving force of, 'Maybe, I'll try it myself.'"