St. Francis Preschool & Childcare
About Us
We are a year round licensed child care center servicing children from 13 months to 13 years of age. Our programs consist of: Toddler (13months to 2 ½ ), preschool(3-5 years) and school age (5- 13years) children.
Facility
Classes are divided into appropriate age groups. We also have access to a full size indoor gymnasium and outdoor pool (summer) and indoor pool.
Our Philosophy:
The mission and philosophy of the St. Francis Preschool program is to provide high quality care in a developmentally appropriate program while promoting self-esteem and fostering independence and creativity in a relaxed and nurturing environment.
Majors goals and objectives are to promote the educational, emotional, physical and social development of children while meeting the needs of their families; ensure that staff remain sensitive to the values of the families they service; employ and retain staff who are well trained in child development and early childhood education; and continue to be dynamic and changing in response to the needs of the community we serve.
GROW NJ Kids
St. Francis Preschool is a 4-star Grow NJ Kids program. Grow NJ Kids is a state-sponsored initiative to raise the quality of child care and early learning throughout New Jersey.
Grow NJ Kids gives child care and early learning programs resources to assess and improve their programs, while providing parents with information that allows them to evaluate the quality of programs and make the best choices for their child. The goal is to create a system that encourages ongoing improvement.
For more information on Grown NJ Kids please visit the website at www.grownjkids.com
Let’s Move Initiative
St. Francis Preschool earned a Certificate of Achievement by the National Early Care Education Learning Collaborative Project (Let’s Move).
Let’s Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by former First Lady Michelle Obama, dedicated to solving the problem of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams. This is an ambitious goal. But it can be done. Combining comprehensive strategies with common sense, Let’s Move! is about putting children on the path to a healthy future starting with their earliest months and years and continuing throughout their lives. Giving parents helpful information and fostering environments that support healthy choices. Providing healthier foods in our schools. Ensuring that every community has access to healthy, affordable food. And, helping kids become more physically active.
HIGH/SCOPE CURRICULUM
In the High/Scope approach teachers and children are active partners in the learning process. This balanced approach to adult-child interaction — also called "intentional teaching" — is critical to the effectiveness of the program. It includes techniques for encouraging learning in specific content areas as well as strategies for helping children resolve conflict.
Classroom arrangement,
materials, and equipment
The space and materials in a High/Scope setting are carefully arranged to promote active learning. The center is divided into interest areas organized around specific kinds of play; for example, block area, house area, small toy area, book area, sand-and-water area, and art area.
Daily routine
High/Scope teachers give preschoolers a sense of control over the events of the day by planning a consistent daily routine that enables the children to anticipate what happens next. Central elements of the preschool daily routine include the plan-do-review sequence, small- and large-group times, greeting time, and outside time.
"My daughter loved the program at St. Francis Center!!"
"Can't say enough about how well my kids were cared for!"
"Always felt secure leaving my daughter at St. Francis...the entire staff was wonderful with her."
Our Son loves getting ready to go to St. Francis in the morning!
Our commitment:
To providing a high-quality developmentally appropriate program by staying current in the research of child development in the research of child development & early childhood education.
To following the standards of NAEYC.
To children having a safe and positive learning environment.
To respecting and supporting families in the care of their child.
To high standards of professional conduct.
To employ staff who are well trained in child development and early childhood education.
Accreditation
You have chosen an early childhood program for your child that is accredited by the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS. The academy administers a national voluntary, professionally sponsored system for all types of schools and child care centers. The academy is a division of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation’s largest organization of early childhood educators. Only 8% of programs achieve accreditation.
The early childhood programs accredited by the academy have voluntarily undergone a comprehensive process of internal self-study, invited external professional review to verify compliance with the academy’s criteria for high quality early childhood programs and have been found to be in substantial compliance with the criteria. A copy of the criteria can be obtained from the academy http://families.naeyc.org/.
Teacher Qualifications
All teachers meet NAEYC and New Jersey requirements. The director has a Masters in Teaching and is a Licensed Social Worker with over 25 years of experience working with children and families. The head teachers and teacher assistants have a bachelor degree or an associate degree in Early Childhood Education, Elementary School Education, or child development. Some teacher assistants are pursing the education field and are attending local colleges. All teachers and teacher assistants are trained in child development and early childhood education. They are also trained in CPR/First aid. http://families.naeyc.org/.