Purpose, Philosophy and Program:

We are committed to providing a high quality early childhood education program through a safe and nurturing environment that promotes the child’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. We believe that a child, given the opportunity to be challenged and stimulated in a classroom with respect, encouragement, and guidance, will respond by learning to trust her/himself, those around him, and the world.

Our philosophy begins with the child and emphasizes two goals: to foster independence by preparing each child to function in society, and to instill a foundation for learning and a love for knowledge. Using a combination of free play and structured activities, we encourage, motivate and guide the child through different experiences and new discoveries while respecting individual needs, choices, and readiness. Each child is given the opportunity to develop a sense of mastery through his own accomplishments, thereby allowing the child to build his self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. In essence, learning through play.

Our philosophy extends to the role of the family in their child’s first school experience. A young child’s world is his family. Pre-school is often a child’s first introduction to the world beyond his family, offering exposure to different structures, sharing experiences, learning patience, and respect of others’ needs. During these years a child develops peer relationships in addition to his family ties, and effective social and group interactions beyond his toddler self-absorbed stage. We are a co-operative school, we believe in having families involved in their child’s first school experience. The co-operative model enables parents to carry through learning from school to home and vice versa. A child, who is given the safety of a secure, supportive environment with both parents and new friends, learns to master this transition smoothly. We think of development as an ongoing process made richer by having all of the child’s significant people in his life involved, working together.

The school’s curriculum provides many opportunities for creative experiences, exploring, cognitive learning, small and large muscle activities, problem solving, making choices and accepting responsibility, music, nature and science activities, and field trips in a developmentally appropriate environment. The children are exposed to many interesting activities and each child is encouraged to participate at their own level with no pressure to perform.