A Sunny and Beautiful Space for Young Children
Our school is spacious and sun-filled, and has been carefully designed to ensure that young children feel comfortable and competent. In addition to bright and welcoming classrooms, our facilities include an art room, gross motor rooms, large indoor play space/gathering area, and two kitchens. Classrooms are well equipped with a rich variety of materials and provide areas for both active and quiet play.
Outdoor Playground
Outdoors we offer an adjoining sunny, fenced in playground with 2 large sandboxes, each with a mud kitchen, a large chalk wall, and a playscape that is perfect for active, open-ended play. The playground is filled with climbing structures, riding toys, playhouses, and outdoor materials to explore the spaces with. Our outdoor space has a garden area for growing different foods and flowers for the children to learn how to take care of. We have off-street parking for families adjacent to the school, as well as stroller space for those who walk.
We are fortunate to have a few parks and wooded areas close by to the school, that the teachers can utilize with their class to go on walking field trips. This is a great opportunity for the children to have a picnic or a nature scavenger hunt.
Indoor Playground
The indoor playground is designed to give children the time, space, and opportunity to move, especially on days when weather prevents them from going outside. It is also where children and teachers gather for activities with our music and creative movement specialists.
The indoor playground is equipped with tricycles and other riding toys, large hollow blocks for building structures and ramps, wagons for pushing and pulling, rocking boats, and crash pads for children to jump on. There is also a quiet area for children who may want to read a book or talk quietly with a friend. We have a rich assortment of materials such as a balance beam, basketball hoops and balls, and slides that we use in the area.
Gross motor activities are an important component of all of our programs. Movement can help children develop, not only motorically but cognitively, emotionally and socially as well. Through movement children learn and practice physical fitness, motor skills, dance and music, individual and group activities, and cooperative games. These activities support social interaction and communication skills while also working on motor development.
We have created this wonderful space so that children can engage in active, open-ended play every day, no matter what our New England weather has in store.
Children’s Library
Our school library currently features over 3,000 books, including fiction and non-fiction picture books, board books, big books and other types of media. Categories range from books on birds, outer space, feelings, fairy tales and music, among other age-appropriate topics. Our library is constantly expanding as we add newer books or additional copies of favorites. Teachers rotate books into classrooms based on the children’s interests and on topics the teachers plan to explore with the children.
The library is organized so it is accessible to both teachers and children, using broad categories with both text and picture labels. When teachers and children visit the library, either in a small or large group, they may choose books to take back to their classroom or choose to stay in one of the cozy spaces in the library to enjoy books together. In addition to our large selection of books, the library also features other materials including puppets, felt board pictures, instruments, puzzles and games.
The library is designed to provide a welcoming, comfortable space for children and to explore ideas and topics of interest in a literacy rich environment.