Horizon Prep Preschool (Rancho Santa Fe)

From the Director:

We are a Christian school with a Montessori emphasis. Our program is a balanced program that incorporates a developmental and academic (montessori) approach to early education, meeting the needs of each individual child and the group as a whole.

From the Director:

All of the subjects above are taught in our school The answer choices, however, are not applicable. With a Montessori base to our program, these different subjects are initially teacher taught/directed, while the child is being encouraged to take part in them. We are not a station based school, or strictly playbased. I would say that the answer to the 10 questions above is that the teacher presents the lesson and the children are encouraged to participate. Songs and poems are taught at group time. The cultural subjects are also presented to the class as a whole. The academic portions of math, language, science, literacy are taught to a child individually or in small groups, depending on their indivicual development.

Because we have a Montessori base to our curriculum, children are taught and encouraged to learn within their developmental framework. Children are assessed during their first few weeks of school in order to give the teacher an understanding of what their needs are. The teacher teaches to the needs of the individual child (thus being able to challange the children who excell and encourage the children who might be developmentally behind) and also to the group as a whole.

Our purpose is to provide a quality, balanced program that will benefit, not only your child, but your family and our community as well. Our program is Christ centered and as we focus on the spiritual, relational, physical, academic, and emotional needs of each child, our goal is to further the development of the whole child. We are committed to providing an environment that encourages respect and a love for self, others and God. We strive to develop a love of learning in each child. We want your child to love coming to school at Horizon Prep! Every teacher on our staff is committed to making this the best possible school experience for your child and your family. Our teachers provide a loving, nurturing and safe environment for your child, which in turn creates a place where your child can grow spiritually, emotionally and academically.
(excerpted from website)

8:30 Children arrive
8:45 Welcome circle
9:00 Outside play
9:25 Morning circle (Bible, calendar, monthly unit of study, new "work"/art presentations
9:45 Work time (includes individual and small group lessons with teacher, snack time, individual work time.
11:00 Music and Movement Circle
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Playground
12:30 Half day dismissal
12:30-12:40 transition time, enrichment classes
12:40-1:00 Quiet/rest time
1:00 Special area classes (art, spanish, music, pe or science)
2:00 Snack and outside play
2:30 Full day dismissal

We have several ways that we communicate with parents. Teachers send out a monthly and weekly newsletter to the families in their class.
The school puts out a school wide weekly publication with all of the happenings of the school for the week.
The school also puts out a monthly, more indepth, publication for parents, with articles from the headmaster, the Vice Principal and the Director of Early Education.
We have several open houses each year.
We have a parenting series called "staying a step ahead", twice a month, where we bring in professionals from the community to speak to the parents on pertinent topics (seperation anxiety, nutrition, safety etc)
Every Parent belongs to PTF (Parent/Teacher Fellowship). We have a PTF breakfast with guest speakers 3-4 times per year.
Each room has a designated room mom who communicates school news to the other parents in the class and also organizes class parties and events with the classroom teacher.
We have parent/teacher conferences in the Fall and in the Spring. Parents get a progress report at this time and a final copy at the end of the school year.

We bring in a professional psychologist to speak with the parents on the topic of seperation anxiety.
For children with moderate anxiety when seperating from parent, we slowly transition them into school.
They will come to school for an hour, then 1 1/2 hours, 2 1/2 hours, 3 hours and then stay for the entire morning.
We ease them into the schedule.
In some more extreme cases, we have the parent stay until the child is comfortable having the parent go.
We also give more support in the classroom by way of the Director, assistant director or a floater stepping in.