Program Description
Class
Size and Ratios:
The Center consists of five classrooms. There are two Toddler rooms (ages 15 months to 2 years 9 months), one class of 9 children and another of 4 children. There are two Preschool classrooms (ages 2 years 9 months to 4 years 9 months), which have 16 children each. And there is one Kindergarten classroom (ages 4 years 9 months to 6 years), that has 16 children.
The Program meets and exceeds Massachusetts Office for Children licensing criteria. Our staff/child ratio is 2:9 for Toddlers and 2:16 for Preschool and Kindergarten. Professional teaching staff is supplemented by UMass work-study students.
Philosophy and Goals:
Program goals include supporting children's emerging self concepts and assisting them in learning social skills to interact constructively. The children enrolled at the Center come from diverse backgrounds. We provide an atmosphere where differences are respected and acknowledged. The Program is designed to provide a nurturing, welcoming environment where children can form trusting relationships with peers and with adults. Within this environment, children feel safe enough to make mistakes, experiment and learn. Through play, children learn about the world and how it works. Teachers expand on children's interests and provide a variety of activities which help develop self-confidence, allow for spontaneity, creativity and curiosity, and will assist in the Child's social, emotional, physical and intellectual development. Our curriculum promotes questioning, exploring, and problem solving skills. Our goal is to provide a structure to maximize success and minimize frustration, allowing children space and time to explore, create and learn at their own pacer, using their own style.
In planing and implementing the daily program in each classroom, we develop activities and routines that are:
- developmentally appropriate to the age of the children
- meaningful and/or challenging to children
- inclusive of a full range of family lifestyle and cultural backgrounds
Parents as Partners:
You, as parents or guardians, are the most important people in your child's life and our greatest resource. We encourage parents to become involved with the Center in any way you feel you can. There are many different ways to do this, ranging from daily communication with your child's teachers to participating in fundraising events to being on the Family-School Partnership. We attempt to provide an atmosphere where parents feel included and informed, not pressured.
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