| Who are we? |
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IT´S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT, BUT IT´S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE Our Mission is to foster positive growth in children, parents and teachers through caring, supportive and mutually respectful relationships within a safe, stimulating, child-centered environment. Children, Parents and Teachers represent the three "Seeds of LEAP." Every child is seen as a unique individual with gifts. We strive to nurture and develop the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive skills of every child. LEAP encourages self-awareness, self-expression and promotes self-confidence. The LEAP faculty is dedicated to establishing supportive relationships with parents. We believe in consistent, open and honest communication. We value parent education, provide parent resources and welcome parent involvement. As educators, we are committed to the professional and personal growth of our teaching team. The LEAP School strives to lay the foundation for thoughtful, compassionate, respectful, responsible, and creative lifelong learners.LEAP's family-centered philosophy seeks out, values, and supports parent communication and input. Consistent, effective and thoughtful communication is the core of the LEAP concept. The teaching team welcomes feedback through: parent conferences, email communication, teacher and program evaluations, home visits, daily conversations, and an open door policy.Administrative staff is always available to listen and respond to a parent's concern as well as provide ongoing information regarding his/her child or the program. Teachers take great care to ease children through the morning separation/transition of leaving mom, dad, or another caretaker. The school supports parent education through seminars and a variety of resources. Special events and holiday parties bring families together and strengthen the LEAP community. The LEAP team understands the challenges of parenting and functions as a support to both parents and children.LEAP maintains small class sizes throughout the program. The staffing pattern is designed to provide a high teacher/child ratio. Individualized attention allows each child the flexibility to develop at his/her own pace. Consistency in the classroom promotes the formation of positive relationships and provides youngsters and families with stability. A predictable environment fosters self-confidence in children.  A typical day offers children a combination of individual and group choices. Teachers strive to maintain a balance of structured and child-directed activities. For young children, learning takes place through hands-on exploration and play. The LEAP curriculum offers a variety of sensory-based activities and projects which support the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive needs of children. The literature-based curriculum fosters literacy development and a love of books. Specific goals are set for each area of development within each developmental grouping. Movement, music, visual arts, drama, play, literature, science, cooking, and nature are all a part of a child's week. Readiness skills in pre-math, language arts, and pre-reading areas are all introduced through playful games and daily activities such as "circle time." Curriculum boards in each classroom outline daily activities and weekly themes or units. Teachers build upon each child's strengths and inspire youngsters to attempt new challenges
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