A child's boundaries are limitless, but opportunities to creatively expand a child's educational horizons are few. To a small child, every interaction is an educational experience whether we want it to be or not. We now know far more about a young person's early development than we knew even a decade ago. For example, we know that 90% of their brain paths are established years before they enter the traditional school system.
Pre-kindergarten helps ensure children are socially, emotionally and cognitively ready when they enter school. Children who have had preschool or Head Start experience in private or public programs tend to outscore their kindergarten classmates who have had little or no such experience, and that lead often is maintained throughout their scholastic careers.
The Stamford School Readiness Program was established to provide three and four year olds at all economic levels with full-day or part-day early care and education programs. School Readiness is operated at various locations in the city; the William Pitt Child Development Center building on Hillandale Avenue serves more than 300 four year olds, offering prekindergarten education and incorporating our innovative Children's Studios program, giving our children hands-on experience in such areas as earth sciences, cooking, and woodworking. 45 children are served in three classrooms at Stillmeadow Elementary School on Stillwater Avenue. 35 children are served at Lathon Wider Community Center on Henry Street in Stamford's South End neighborhood.
The appointed School Readiness Council has selected the CLC, Inc., a non-profit organization serving Stamford since 1902, to create, administer and operate the program in partnership with the City of Stamford and the Stamford Public Schools.
Board of Education and Stamford Public School administrators and staff are part of the School Readiness Program collaborative. In addition to the Mayor and the Superintendent of Schools, the School Readiness Council includes educators in early childhood education, principals, parents, health providers, a representative of the state department of social services, a pediatrician, private child care providers, a United Way representative, and a Family Resource Center representative. Their role is to oversee the grant policy and to advise and make recommendations.
Our School Readiness program in Stamford presently serves 500 children, offering:
- Full Day (7:30 AM to 5:30 PM) or Part Day options (8:30 - 11:15 AM and 12:30 - 3:15 PM)
- Full year (12 months) or school year (September to June) options
- Health services, including vision, hearing and dental screenings, and a fully staffed nursing program
- Special needs services
- Breakfast, lunch and snacks as part of a complete nutrition education program
- Parent involvement activities and learning sessions
- Family literacy programs
- Comprehensive family service referrals
- Sliding fee scale
This program provides both quality early care and education. We focus on education and meet children's social, cognitive, physical, emotional, creative, language and cultural developmental needs. At the William Pitt Child Development Center, children are grouped into "clusters" - each cluster consists of three classrooms with a maximum of 20 children per class. Each cluster has one certified public school teacher hired by the Board of Education and one team leader hired by CLC.
Each classroom will have one School Readiness teacher who is a trained specialist in early childhood education, as well as a teacher's aide trained in early childhood education. Teacher's aides, substitute teachers and assistants round out our staff. Wherever possible, children are placed according to the elementary school they will be attending for kindergarten.