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Hillcrest Day School prides itself on the fact that we
employ some of the highest qualified, best early childhood
teachers in the city. We have a career ladder/pay scale
in place that determines their teaching level and spurs
our teachers on to receive more education and experience.
In addition, each teacher receives on-going training.
Our staff consists of warm, nurturing individuals who
are well trained to meet the needs of children. Our
teachers have degrees or comparable experiences in the
field of child development and education. their educational
background and experience provide the foundation for
a quality program for young children.
Hillcrest
Day School uses The Creative Curriculum by Diane Trister
Dodge and Laura J. Colker in our early childhood programs.
This curriculum uses a theme based unit to provide the
vehicles for introducing basic academic language, math,
and science concepts. Our curriculum is also adapted to
meet individual learning styles. The Transitional Kindergarten
program uses a reading, math, and writing program that
incorporates textbooks, writing journals, practice sheets,
etc. We believe that language and literacy are integral
parts of the curriculum and are incorporated into the
daily lesson plan in a variety of ways.
At Hillcrest, we don’t just learn
the ABC’s and 123’s, we help develop the
whole child - emotional, social, physical and academic
growth. We provide a number of extracurricular programs
that the children attend 2 to 3 times a week, which
are part of our regular tuition. We have an incredible
computer lab equipped with state of the art computers
and programs. In addition to our highly qualified computer
teacher, the children also have PE (physical education)
either in the multipurpose room or on the playground,
depending on the weather and selected activity. We also
provide Spanish classes, conducted in our Reading/Science
room.
As you walk through Hillcrest, you
will notice the interest centers, as well as the lesson
plans becoming more and more intricate. As children
grow and develop, the classroom schedule and learning
environment become more complex in order to move children
to their next stage of development. We are setting the
stage for your child’s future academic success
in school by introducing basic core knowledge/content
at their individual level of understanding. This begins
as soon as the child is aware of the world around them.
We want to build children’s self esteem and core
academic knowledge, so when it is time to go to elementary
school they are beyond being ready.
How do children learn to read? They learn by being immersed
in a language rich environment. Children are read to
frequently and stories are discussed for content and
inferences. Each week new vocabulary words are included
in the lesson plans. The letters of the alphabet and
their sounds are introduced in a planned system. Children
write stories about their experiences, or they dictate
and watch the teacher write the stories. Your child
will be exposed to good literature and listen to chapter
books, as well as the usual picture books, We use a
balance of phonics and whole language in our reading
readiness program.
Lower
ratios are an indicator of quality because each child
received more time from the teacher. We will never be
out of state ratios and strive to meet our lower ratios
at least 95% of the time.
| Child's
Class |
Child's
Age |
Our
Ratio |
State
Ratio |
Infants |
6
wks - 12 mos |
4
to 1 |
4
to 1 |
| Young
Toddlers |
12
- 18 mos |
5
to 1 |
7
to 1 |
Toddlers
|
18
- 24 mos |
6
to 1 |
9
to 1 |
| Tots |
2
- 3 years |
8
to 1 |
11
to 1 |
| Preschool |
3
- 4 years |
11
to 1 |
15
to 1 |
| Pre-Kindergarten |
4
- 5 years |
13
to 1 |
18
to 1 |
Transitional
K |
Young
5's |
17
to 1 |
24
to 1 |
| School
Age |
K
- grade 5 |
17
to 1 |
24
to 1 |
*No child may be dropped off after 10am without prior consent of doctor's note.
** Download all forms needed for enrollment here. |
