Our Infant-Toddler Education Program allows our youngest students the opportunity to learn through play and investigation. Children also learn in relationship to classmates and teachers so we prioritize community building, collaboration, and the sharing of ideas and theories. We hold an image of the child as competent, strong, inventive and full of ideas, with rights instead of needs. Children are seen as citizens and full participants within their communities and the daily actions and experiences that make up their lives.
Our student-centered approach is designed to celebrate who each child is as an individual, as a learner and in relationship with others. Our inquiry-based curriculum cultivates opportunities for children to explore, discover, connect and create, both on their own and in collaboration with classmates and teachers. It’s highly experiential, elevating play and art as tools for cognitive, linguistic, and social development.
Each classroom is facilitated by a teaching team consisting of two Co-Lead teachers and a Resident teacher. Teaching teams are supported by our Curricular Support teachers who rotate amongst the classrooms on an as-needed basis.
This team teaching approach supports consistency in our classrooms and allows for coverage by familiar teachers during team and individual planning times, lunches and other necessary teacher absences.
The Infant-Toddler program is a full-day program with options to enroll 5 days (M-F), 3 days (MWF) or 2 days (T/Th). The school day runs from 8:15 am through 3:00 pm, with the option of adding extended care before the school day (7:30-8:15) and/or after (3:00-5:30) for an additional fee. Students in the infant room follow an individualized schedule. Students in the toddler and young preschool classroom follow a group schedule.
Our goal is the overall health of every UCDS student. We offer two nutritious snacks each day—one in the morning, the other in the afternoon. We aim to offer a diverse snack menu that changes throughout the year, touches on a range of taste profiles and balances new foods with familiar foods we know children enjoy. Snacks are served family-style and feature a wide variety of foods, including organic fruits and vegetables, nitrate-free sandwich meat and organic milk. We work in partnership with parents to address specific dietary needs and sensitivities.
Lunch is brought from home and should include a dairy product or dairy alternative, a meat product or meat alternative, a grain product, and fruits/vegetables. For toddler and preschool classroom students, families may enroll in a school lunch program provided by an outside vendor. This is a contracted service, not a service run by UCDS.
