Kindergarten Program
Our kindergarten classes are 5 full days/week (8:30am - 2:30pm), and for children turning six during the school year. We have an 8:1 child to teacher ratio in this class.
Our unique program offers a warm, engaging, and developmentally appropriate foundation for learning—rooted in a Reggio-inspired approach that emphasizes curiosity, creativity, and connection.
We meet all Pennsylvania Department of Education kindergarten requirements while honoring how young children learn best: through play, exploration, and hands-on experiences. Rather than relying on worksheets, our teachers guide children in small groups to support individualized learning, foster critical thinking, and build foundational skills across subjects.
Children spend meaningful time learning outdoors—rain or shine—where open-ended play and teacher-guided investigations extend the curriculum into nature. Indoors and out, children have opportunities to make choices, express their ideas, and follow their interests, helping them grow into confident, capable learners.
Our approach encourages collaboration, problem-solving, and social-emotional growth—preparing them not only for first grade, but for a lifelong love of learning.
To compliment our emergent, child-centered curriculum, we offer weekly specialist-led studio sessions that nurture self-expression, cultural awareness, and creativity.
Performing Arts Studio: invites children to explore music, movement, storytelling, and dramatic play, offering joyful opportunities to express ideas and emotions through the arts.
Spanish Studio: introduces language through songs, stories, movement, and play—honoring the natural way young children acquire communication skills.
Visual Arts Studio: encourages exploration of materials—such as clay, paint, collage, natural objects, and found materials—to express their ideas, emotions, and observations. This time honors the creative process and supports sensory exploration, fine motor development, and visual storytelling.
2026-27 Tuition (9 months):
5 Day/Week (full day): $1,534/month ($13,806/yr)
A Day in the Life of a Kindergarten Child
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Children are welcomed into the classroom, put away belongings, and engage with the morning post. This may include “signing in” for the day, responding to the daily question, or interacting with a provocation. Parents are welcome to connect with the educators and/or support their children as they transition into the school day.
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This community building time engages children in daily mindfulness and social emotional learning. The educator supports children in this practice through modeling, role play, puppetry and storytelling. This time often “sets the stage” for the class investigation by facilitating and documenting a group discussion, as well as establishing meaningful connections through shared reading.
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Children visit centers as they explore materials, problem solve, practice skills, and build on ideas through provocations. Provocations allow children to explore tools and materials in an open ended way - often igniting engagement and curiosity in our topic of investigation. During this time, children may work individually or in a small group with the educator to strengthen developmental skills, specifically in the areas of language, literacy, and cognitive development.
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Children gather each morning to enjoy a snack and connect as a community. Each child brings a snack and water bottle from home to support this shared time together.
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Children engage in open-ended exploration in nature, rain or shine! There are opportunities for unstructured play as well as moments of teacher facilitated investigation. This is a wonderful time for children to practice social-emotional skills, engage in problem solving, and explore healthy risk taking. We spend between 25% - 50% of our school day outdoors.
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Children sit together & connect as a community while enjoying a packed lunch from home. They will listen to a story as they rest after lunch.
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During afternoon investigation time, Children develop key skills as they engage in meaningful project work connected to the investigation. Projects allow children to apply skills and make meaning of new ideas. We integrate the arts (music, visual arts, dramatic play) into project work in a way that encourages creative expression and supports children in communicating about new ideas and concepts.
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Children have the opportunity reflect on the day’s learning through journaling, documentation & discussion. It may be a time to make plan for future project work, problem solve an issue, celebrate a success, or practice a social-emotional skill. This time is directly connected to the needs of the group.
A Glimpse into Development…
We are looking forward to an important year of development for your kindergarten child! At this stage, children grow with increasing independence and enjoy spending more time with peers. Your child will continue to develop confidence in their abilities, begin working cooperatively with others, and expand their understanding of the world around them through inquiry. Here is a glimpse of your child’s development over the year to come!
Approaches to Learning: Throughout the school year, we will focus on developing not only skills, but also mindsets that support lifelong learning. Our learning experiences are designed to spark children’s curiosity, encourage cooperation, build persistence and engagement over periods of time, cultivate creativity through open-ended material exploration, and foster problem solving in a real life context.
Social and Emotional Development: Your child will make meaning of their learning through cooperative play with individual children and small groups. They will begin to initiate play, develop friendships, and practice independence with social problem solving skills. Emotionally, your child will clearly communicate emotions, practice mindfulness and calming strategies, and expand their empathy to foster positive relationships with others. As your child develops a growth mindset, they will begin to recognize that mistakes help us learn and grow and practice setting concrete goals.
Health, Wellness and Physical Development: At this stage, children make significant strides in both gross motor and fine motor development! Through active nature exploration, children increase their strength and confidence as they balance on logs and navigate over obstacles in their environment. Also, your child will begin to develop the ability to manipulate smaller objects with their hands. They will draw recognizable shapes and pictures, use scissors and a variety of other tools with increasing motor control, and even zip, snap, button and/or tie as they dress themselves independently.
Creative Expression: Creativity is encouraged and honored as a necessary way for children to make meaning and communicate about their thinking and learning. Your child will explore their own creativity through music and movement, visual arts, and dramatic arts. Throughout the year, your child will experiment with a variety of creative materials and media, create through music and movement, play imaginatively, and enjoy the creative works of other artists.
Language and Literacy: This is an exciting time for language development! Your child will begin to understand the organization and features of print, identify letters, explore letter sounds, as well as set the foundation for early reading skills. Through a combination of drawing, play, and the formation of letters and simple words, your child will begin to write and for a variety of purposes. During reading, your child will explore the key elements of a story, ask purposeful questions, and make meaningful connections.
Cognitive Development: Your child will build upon early number concepts to write and sequence numerals, compare quantities, and put together or take apart up to ten objects as they explore the foundations of addition and subtraction. They will begin to identify, describe and draw two and three-dimensional shapes. Children at this stage will develop their ability to compare, categorize, sort and order various objects, as well as develop scientific thinking skills, such as observing, asking questions, and making predictions.