Our Story

Mary-Rose is an inspirational leader who cherishes young children, their families and the staff in her team. She has worked in the education industry for over 35 years and her passion and commitment stands strong today.

Her career began as a primary school teacher and this experience was invaluable for what was to come next. Working with primary aged children lead Mary-Rose to truly believe in early childhood education, and she was quick to realise the importance of pre-school years in laying down a solid foundation for successful and fulfilling future learning.

Mary-Rose Hall established Summerfield as an independent private preschool more than 3 decades ago. It catered for sessional classes for children aged 2.5 to 5yrs and grew to capacity very quickly. In 1989, Mary-Rose was involved in setting up Pinehurst School as a foundation member and served over 10 years on the Board. In 1995, the opportunity to lease land from Pinehurst school in Albany became available. We moved to Pinehurst and continued with a Summerfield Preschool there, this was a fabulous interim home.

However, there was a huge demand from families for us to provide longer hours to cater for our working parents. This led Mary-Rose and our team to research the Early Childhood Learning market, understand what services families were looking for, and what the unmet needs were in Auckland. 

With much excitement we bought the piece of land we are on today. We were an Orchard Country and were surrounded by Apple Tree Orchards. We designed and built Summerfield Early Learning Centre comprising of three large rooms on three levels, kitchen and dining facilities and dedicated management and admin space. This is complimented by spacious lush outdoor areas designed to allow children the freedom to play and learn in a natural setting with beautiful mature trees and grounds. More than 3 decades on, Summerfield continues to evolve and provides children and their families with the highest quality care and education.

Summerfield is more than a childcare or daycare, it is a family. Our dedicated and passionate staff work tirelessly to ensure your child is cared for and educated in a loving, and fun environment that allows your child to thrive.