Early Childhood

The Early Childhood classroom is a 215-day program that offers a structured learning environment within the inclusionary setting of a public elementary school. Early Childhood is designed to facilitate the continued development of children ages three to six years who demonstrate developmental delays, social emotional challenges and a variety of disabilities. The primary goal of the Early Childhood Program is to maximize each child’s potential in the areas of self-regulation, social interaction, communication, activities of daily living, readiness skills, and overall independence to facilitate a smooth transition back to their sending school district or to an appropriate elementary setting. The classroom provides a structured environment and a high staff to student ratio designed to promote communication, self-regulation, and independence within classroom routines as needed prior to participating in less restrictive settings. This classroom has an average enrollment of 6 students.

The Early Childhood classroom incorporates research-based best practices into the classroom curriculum, including routines-based interventions, visual structure and support, and language-based learning across all aspects of a student’s school day including community experiences that allows for learned skills to be generalized. The curriculum in the Early Childhood classroom is aligned with Massachusetts’ Early Education & Care (EEC) Learning Standards and Curriculum Guidelines that are based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

The Early Childhood Program provides a strong focus on families and the unique challenges related to transitioning from an early intervention model of service to an educational setting, as well as supportive transitions from early childhood to elementary programming. All families are invited to participate in the program’s family consult model. The mission of the family consult model is to support parents/caregivers by providing continuity of care and services between school, home and community environments. Family consultation is coordinated by a social worker and is led by a clinical psychologist in consultation with a developmental pediatrician and any other professionals working with the student or family. This global approach to learning supports family stability, regulation and social connectedness, thereby providing the student with a solid foundation for performance and success. Home-school collaboration is also supported through home visits from teaching staff, as well as family get-togethers in our classrooms.