BabyCity - McKinley Montessori Academy Provide an education based on Montessori and Child Development Methods

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McKinley Montessori Academy

Provide an education based on Montessori and Child Development Methods

McKinley Montessori Academy opened its doors for operation on July 1, 2012 with one preschool classroom. Since then our program has steadily grown to two preschool classrooms and a program for Infants and Toddlers.

We have a beautiful campus and look forward to the many projects we have yet to undertake and future services we have yet to offer to achieve our vision for the campus and programs.

We take pride in our preschool and Infant/Toddler programs. Our preschool classroom offers one of the widest ranges of learning equipment and materials that can be found anywhere in the industry. In essence, our classroom environments offer an incredibly rich array of work and play materials. We do this by using the Montessori Method as our core teaching philosophy with Montessori trained teachers and we provide authentic Montessori materials. We also incorporate learning centers which follow the principles and practices of Early Childhood Education and Child Development; both of which are popular philosophies of teaching in American culture.

These philosophies combined together produce a rich environment of materials and activities that complement each other and generate a multitude of creative and developmental experiences for the children unlike that found in many other preschool environments.

The teachers monitor the children’s progress by using the DRDP and annually review the quality of the classroom environment by using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Additionally, the parent survey is used to determine the effectiveness of the program by examining parent feedback and using this information to implement policy changes and improvements to the program to ensure that quality is maintained.

The Staff

We are proud of our highly educated and experienced group of teachers and staff. Our director is Rachel Cordova. She possesses a M.A. degree in Education and has several teaching credentials for elementary school programs. She has not only taught in grade school programs, but she has a wealth of experience in child development programs.

Our lead teachers possess a B.A. degree in either Early Childhood Education or Child Development or other education-related field, and they possess a minimum Teacher’s Permit issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Furthermore, they are trained internally each year as a component of our on-going staff development program.

Programs

We offer Montessori Private and State Preschool funded programs in Azusa, El Monte, Hacienda Heights, Baldwin Park and Pomona. We also offer an LAUP (Los Angeles Universal Preschool) funded half-day program in Baldwin Park. Additionally, we now offer Transitional Kindergarten for those children whose 5th birthday falls between July 1 and October 2nd of the current fiscal year. We offer Infant Care in Pomona.

Fee-Paying Programs: Please contact the site nearest you through the link below to get program and fee information.

State Preschool

Through the California Department of Education, Child Development Division, we provide no cost/low cost part-day and full-day preschool services to families that qualify. The part-day program with services for four hours or less is completely FREE for families that qualify based on household income and child’s age at the time of eligibility. This program is available at all of our five sites. We also offer services for families that need child care services for more than four hours. This program is based on need and offers services in excess of four hours up to a full-day program. Our services focus primarily on education and preparation of the young child and the day care component is secondary.

Summer Camp

We offer a summer camp program each summer through the months of July and August. The program has two purposes. The primary purpose is to provide a fun and enjoyable experience with plenty of fun summer activities that include movies, field trips, outdoor activities, water play, creative art and classroom projects such as making ice cream, cup cakes and other delicious treats. The secondary purpose is sometimes considered more important than the primary and it’s loosely termed “light academics”. This refers back to our organization founder’s observation from years of experience that young children can forget learned concepts and information through the two summer months unless they are given an environment to engaged in activities such as the classroom to refresh their memories and exercise their cognitive skills. Teachers continue to work on the three R’s and provide exposure of the Montessori environment where materials and apparatuses attract children to work with them freely and independently. This helps to ensure that the skills and knowledge gained in the previous ten months of school are not forgotten. Teachers also encourage children-centered projects and activities based on the summer themes that are designed to provide fun and enjoyment while simultaneously help children apply their cognitive skills.

Extra Curricular Activities

We offer ballet & tap dance, piano & music classes, karate and gymnastics lessons in both group and individual settings. Call us for details.

Nutrition

Children are provided healthy meals according to the CACFP (Child and Adult Food Program) giving children a great opportunity to develop good eating habits to promote lifelong good health.

We offer a healthy breakfast and snack for our A.M. programs, a healthy lunch and snack for the P.M. and Montessori-only programs and a healthy breakfast, lunch and two snacks for our Full-Day programs. The food we serve is prepared by a qualified and dedicated food worker/handler. We offer both pre-prepared and self-prepared food items and meals that are carefully selected for quality ingredients based on all applicable Federal and State standards

Meals and snacks are prepared and served fresh every day. Monthly meal menus are available below and at the school office.

Breakfast – A good start to everyday begins with a good breakfast. Children are served items such as: pancakes, cereal, bagels, etc., and always accompanied with a fruit

Snack – Busy children will always make time for a snack break. We serve items such as: crackers, cheese, celery, peanut butter, etc

Lunch – We always provide a hearty nutritious lunch that the children enjoy after a productive morning full of activities. Lunch always includes: milk, main dish, fruit, and vegetable. Some of our Main Dishes are: turkey and cheese sandwiches, chicken fajitas, meatloaf, and more