At the Montclair Community Pre-K we use a developmental approach to learning and follow these educational principles:

• To reflect the values of the community

• To create an environment that empowers children to learn social skills

• To provide all children with the same curriculum opportunities

• To offer a balance of goals and objectives from each subject area

• To plan meaningful content that links children's prior learning to the development of more sophisticated knowledge and complex skills

• To link content to key concepts necessary for success in kindergarten

• To organize curriculum around themes, units and projects, with a focus on key concepts and children's literature

Our educational program...

• Designs hands-on experiences in an environment that allows children easy access to tools and materials, and adequate space and time to explore their good ideas.

• Provides opportunities for creative, investigative play, followed by group times so children can reflect on their play experiences and build on knowledge through reenactment.

• Confirms and acknowledges each child's disposition to have strong, even idiosyncratic, personal interests.

• Supports a child-teacher ratio that gives teachers the ability to work with children individually or in small groups.

• Honors the cultural traditions of the families and builds a sense of community.

• Implements emerging literacy by displaying children's names, words, and original artwork.

• Models critical thinking and intelligent problem solving.

• Assesses progress through developmental portfolios.  The teacher, child and parent contribute to, select, and review contents of the portfolio to document developmental milestones.

• Ensures smooth transition for children as they move from Pre-K into Kindergarten.

• Provides families with a narrative and portfolio at the end of the school year that describes and documents a child's growth and development throughout the year