We partner with families to make the right classroom placement. Upon enrollment, infants and toddlers are placed based on their age and their developmental readiness. We discuss the child’s emotional, cognitive, and physical development with the family, make observations while the child is visiting for the first time, and gather information to determine if there are any additional needs or concerns that would influence classroom placement.
In Lexington and Framingham, children are enrolled in the preschool and pre-kindergarten classrooms according to kindergarten cut-off dates used by the local school systems in the area. In Stoughton, with 2 preschool classrooms instead of 3, we split the ages down the middle. Each educator should know the established age range for their classroom:
Per EEC regulations, children may be assigned to age groups outside their own based on a review of the child’s most recent progress report or a narrative from the child’s parent addressing their abilities in the areas of mobility, fine and gross motor control, communication, social interactions, and cognition. First Circle makes these decisions on a case-by-case basis, after considering the needs of the child and the classroom.
To enable children to derive maximum benefit from their time at First Circle, our curriculum is based on 52 developmentally appropriate learning objectives that include predictors of school success and are based on school readiness standards. The objectives align with state early learning guidelines. The full list of learning objectives with examples can be found in Learning Objectives with Examples, in the curriculum binder.