South Hills Child Development Center
Preschool in Erie, PA 16506
School Transportation: Grandview El Sch – Serviced by school bus
Public Transportation: Bus
Language(s) Spoken: American Sign Language
Part Time / Full Time: Full Time Part Time
South Hills Child Development Center Inc. is a research-based private educational school for young children and was established in January 1975 to provide a nurturing and enriching environment for preschool and Kindergarten children. The half day and Pre-Kindergarten programs were added a year later for children whose parents want to take advantage of this educational program on a half day nine month basis.
South Hills is licensed as a private school through the Pennsylvania Department of Education; it is also licensed to provide an educational before/after preschool program through the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. In 2001 South Hills was granted national accreditation through NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). South Hills has the distinction of a staff whose members are all certified teachers with a minimum of a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education. The teachers are required to complete additional course work on an annual basis. Class sizes are limited to twelve students/class but due to a Pre-Kindergarten enrichment class the full day class sizes are reduced to 10 students by 11:30 daily. The full day educational program (Preschool and Kindergarten) is offered from 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. year round. Parents can choose from a full week Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Half day preschool is offered only during a nine month school year on Monday/Wednesday/Friday a.m. or Tuesday/Thursday a.m. The morning program is 9:00-11:30. The half day Pre-Kindergarten program is available Monday through Friday from 12:30-3:10. South Hills also offers a before/after school program for children attending Grandview Elementary School as well as a full day educational summer school-age camp.
Children must be one day past their third birthday to begin the full day preschool program. To begin the half day preschool program children must be three years old prior to September 1st. All children must be fully potty trained to enroll. All classes except the Kindergarten and afternoon Pre-Kindergarten programs have multi-age grouping. The program is developmentally appropriate and implements Project Approach as our main focus. The integrated curriculum is planned according to the interests of the children and includes early literacy and math readiness cognitive development language skills science art music large and fine motor skills socialization skills and multicultural units. Action Based Learning labs are scheduled each day to meet kinesthetic-neurological-cognitive goals and fulfill the physical activity requirements for young children. The curriculum meets the state and national standards for education as developed by the PA Department of Education. A full time computer teacher works with the children throughout the week in the classroom computer centers. The school also has a full time Sign Language and Spanish teacher who offers daily lessons to all the children. South Hills curriculum is approached in a positive manner with the main emphasis on each childs emotional well being. Parent participation is not required but greatly enriches our program.
Our spacious facility has been designed specifically for the education of young children. It features individual classrooms observation windows a multipurpose room and a security system. Our new outdoor nature based play area has received much local attention for its commitment to current research regarding childrens physical and emotional needs as linked to nature exposure. Interested parents are welcome to arrange an appointment to tour the school during the noon hour.
- Child Ages:
- 3 years - 15 years
- Rates:
- $$$
- Licenses & Accreditations:
- Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare - NAEYC Accredited
- Vouchers:
- This provider accepts vouchers
- Special Needs:
- Adaptive Equipment Administer Medication Administer Nebulizer Treatment (Asthma) Asthma Auditory Impairment Behavioral/Emotional Issues Cognitive Dysfunction/Delay Gifted Ability Seizures Speech/Language Delay Special Diet Visual Impairment Wheelchair Walker
- Preschool:
- Yes
- Hours of Operation:
- 7:15 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday
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Our curriculum is a child centered approach. The school implements emergent curriculum focusing on Project Approach and Reggio Emilia. Teachers are observers; they document the topics that children discuss within the classroom the materials they use the questions they ask and the areas in the classroom that are of interest to them. The teacher and students frequently meet to discuss their areas of interest and brainstorm regarding project work they would like to develop. This project work includes activities for each area of intelligence based on Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences. The curriculum is developmentally appropriate according to NAEYC criteria and includes reading and math readiness science art music language multicultural computer large and fine motor work and sign language. All work at South Hills reflects true child ownership. Children are free to create their own interpretations and choose from a variety of materials to work with but teachers do provide photographs models or the real experience to guide their work and the learning process. This process of childrens learning is valued as much as the final product. The childrens art work is displayed throughout the room and in the hallways foyer and even outdoors! The children are immersed in print as they listen and read along to stories and poems as they see environmental print throughout the room and school environment as their stories and descriptions of their art work are written by dictation or invented spelling and displayed alongside their photographs and projects and as their dialogues with their friends are displayed. The teachers spend much time observing the children and documenting what they say and do which will later be used for assessment and for new ideas for the direction the curriculum will take. Throughout the projects documentation takes many forms. Teachers photograph various stages of each project; the children or teacher journal the development of a project and may add illustrations. The project can then be documented from beginning to end by the creation of a binder which is displayed in the classroom. This creates a sense of history and an opportunity for children to revisit their projects.
