Our legacy and tradition of excellence date back to our founding in 1902. Our commitment to ongoing innovation and growth as a school ring as true today as it did with our founding.
In 2018, Robinson School’s Toddler and Preschool Program earned the prestigious Early Childhood Program of Distinction awarded by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools in recognition of the school’s best practices in education for the benefit of the young students in our care.
Fast forward to the fifth anniversary of our award, Robinson’s program continues to deliver its mission of offering our youngest learners rich and nurturing school experiences that extend beyond the classroom setting and prepare them to be eager and engaged life-long learners.
We LOVE what we do! And we are proud to share what makes Robinson School’s Early Childhood Education Program an award-winning one:
1. Research-based curriculum and student-centered practices
Our program takes foundation in the practices and principles of the National Association of Early Childhood Education (NAEYC). Its curriculum, established around The Creative Curriculum, is truly child-centered. Learning is hands-on, based on inquiry and play, and supports student development along the progressive standards of early childhood education within socio-emotional, physical, cognitive, and language interest areas that build upon the innate curiosities of each child.
As part of our International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program, teachers design learning experiences that instill in students the values, character traits, awareness, and respect for one another necessary to build strong, kind, and welcoming communities, both in school and the world.
2. A dedicated, caring team of faculty and staff
Our teachers, highly trained and experienced in early childhood development, are committed, life-long educators and learners. They are skilled at cultivating students’ interests, encouraging them to explore and develop their skills, and empowering them to understand and take action in their classroom and wider communities. Ongoing opportunities for continued development and support for our talented and caring team are key tenants of our successful program. Oh, and did we mention that our team LOVES what they do?
3. Learning spaces for the modern child
Robinson’s campus is the perfect environment for children to explore and grow, as our classrooms have been intentionally designed to support developmental learning goals. Flexible furniture and equipment support dynamic, project-based learning, exploration, and collaboration; our open, nature-filled campus is a natural extension of the classroom setting.
For example, children explore and learn in the school’s edible garden, where wonderful lessons on where food comes from and protecting the environment take place!
In classroom maker spaces, students use recycled materials like cardboard to motivate creativity, ideate and build designs such as trains, a car, bridges, or buildings. They learn to problem solve, think about and try new strategies, and that sometimes failure is a natural part of the learning process.
Read-aloud time in a classroom’s reading nook is a perfect opportunity to bring conversations on topics of interest, such as classroom situations that may arise, holidays, scientific topics, civic responsibility, character traits (learner profile attributes), and more. We emphasize language development and foster students’ pre-literacy skills throughout the day.
Play is key in any high-quality early childhood program and rests at the heart of ours. Students build motor and social skills in dedicated Toddler and Preschool outdoor play areas. They exercise their creativity and imagination in dramatic play areas, nurture their curiosities and brain development during sensory play activities, and expand problem-solving skills, emotional intelligence, and develop empathy through sharing these experiences with their peers and teachers.
4. School-home partnership in learning
There is nothing more important to a child’s development than the home-school partnership. Our teachers are continually monitoring each child’s progress throughout learning activities and interactions. Tools like anecdotal records, ongoing observations, tasks, performances, checklists, and rubrics are used to monitor progress against the standards and objectives of our program. This ongoing observation and progress monitoring, paired with continual communication between school and home, make parents an integral part of their child’s program.
Our passion for what we do drives us each day, and we are dedicated to serving the growth of each child and family. We invite you to view the Middle States white paper and recognition of Robinson’s Early Childhood Program or visit our school website for more information.
We look forward to all the wonderful experiences, like these and more, that our students and teachers will create throughout the year.
Go Hawks!
Thomas Novak
Dean of Academics
