NURTURING, THOUGHTFUL CARE AND TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

Meadowlark Community Preschool & Infant Center provides a warm, nurturing environment where every child feels secure, loved, and truly understood. We welcome children from 3 months to 5 years and are open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to support families’ schedules.

With three spacious play yards, bright and inviting classrooms, and a strong emphasis on child-centered, relationship-based learning, we create a dynamic setting where children are encouraged to explore, discover, create, and practice new skills. Our program fosters confidence, curiosity, and mastery—preparing children not only for kindergarten, but for a lifelong love of learning.

OUR PROGRAMS

Hummingbirds

Our Hummingbirds are our infants starting at 3 months. When you enroll your child, we partner with you to learn all about your child to ensure that we can respond to their needs throughout the day with warm, nurturing care. Our Hummingbirds curriculum incorporates indoor and outdoor play, lots of talking, rhymes and songs, multi-sensory activities and creative explorations that support all areas of your child’s development. As your baby grows and develops so does our curriculum with our older infants graduating to the Robins Class.

Robins

The Robins are our older infants and young toddlers. At this developmental stage, children are learning to become more independent as they build small and large motor skills, learn to manage their emotions and grow more interested in playing with other children. Our curriculum encourages curiosity, builds communication skills and facilitates learning in all areas of development social, emotional, cognitive and physical.

Blue Jays

At the age of 2, children graduate from the Infant Center to the Preschool. The Blue Jays curriculum involves a range of explorations to respond to the children’s emerging interests and cognitive and physical abilities. Through playful activities, children work on their small motor skills, build the foundations for literacy and start to expand on simple math concepts such as colors, shapes, and one-to-one correspondence. As they start to work alongside and in collaboration with other children, children work on problem solving, conflict resolution, self-regulation and emotional resilience. 

Wrens

Building on their learning in the Blue Jays class, our Wrens are continuing to develop the tools for problem solving, conflict resolution, following multi-step directions, managing and identifying their emotions and effective communication for advocating for their needs. The curriculum includes a focus on pre-reading and writing skills as well as basic math and science concepts ensuring that our children are ready for our pre-k class the following year.

Barn Owls

The Barn Owls are mostly children getting ready to transition to kindergarten. Our curriculum promotes independence and emphasizes the skills needed for success in kindergarten (and life) such as the ability to think critically, problem solve creatively, listen carefully, follow multi-step directions, communicate ideas clearly, advocate for themselves, and connect effectively with others. We also focus on academic learning so that children are progressing with their literacy and math skills and by the end of the year will be ready to transition to kindergarten confident, competent and infused with a joy for learning.

OUR MISSION

At Meadowlark Community Preschool & Infant Center, we believe in the transformative value of an exceptional early childhood education and the right of every young child to learn in an environment that is safe, nurturing, rich in experiences, culturally responsive and appropriately challenging. Meadowlark welcomes children ages 3 months – 5 years and is dedicated to giving them the care and education that all children deserve.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Informed by scientific research and the evolving understandings of how children learn, we embrace best practices for early childhood teaching and learning. Our program supports the development of the whole child through active, hands-on explorations, nurturing care and intentional and thoughtful child-teacher interactions. Our goal is to prepare children for a complex world intellectually, emotionally, physically, socially and academically.

CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS

Strong Relationships

Strong relationships with our children and families are the foundation of our program. We work to build a mutually trusting connection with your child so that they feel safe and comfortable and are open to learning. The relationship is deepened through a partnership with parents and a connected and supportive community.

Play

It is universally acknowledged that play is at the heart of all children’s learning. Play is where children test out and expand their understanding of the world exploring concepts and ideas freely. As children grow and develop, their play changes from the solitary play of infants to the parallel play of toddlers to the collaborative play of preschoolers. Opportunities to play at all ages are essential for a child’s healthy development physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially.

Social And Emotional Development

Good social and emotional skills enable children to sustain focus, build relationships, manage and express their emotions, feel compassion and empathy, think independently and collaborate easily. Through modeling, hands-on activities, discussion, stories, and thoughtful, intentional support, children learn how to navigate a complex world with confidence, resilience and understanding.

Academic Learning

When children transition to kindergarten, they also need to be academically ready. Our program encourages children to explore principles of science, build the basis of mathematical understanding, and develop foundational literacy skills to become strong and enthusiastic readers and writers.

Culturally Responsive

Children learn best when they feel seen and understood and see themselves reflected in the world around them. Through tools such as parent/guardian surveys, class discussions, books with diverse characters, cultural celebrations, culturally rich materials, family activities, and community events, we aim to nurture in each child pride in their own identity, an understanding of others’ perspectives and an appreciation for a diverse world.