AHRC Education Programs, Services and Supports

For Children Birth to Twenty-One

Mission / Program Philosophy

Education Department Philosophy and Goals:

AHRC’s Education Department believes that children and adolescents grow and thrive in a nurturing, loving, and developmentally appropriate learning environment. High quality developmentally appropriate instruction provides the foundation for independence, autonomy, and a sense of individual worth. Parents are viewed as the primary educators of their children and partners in the educational endeavor. Children are encouraged to respect and cooperate with others. Programs foster a sense of community and develop each child’s ability to contribute as a responsible community member. AHRC is committed to serve ALL students by embracing maximum integration of children with special needs and typically developing peers, and respecting cultural diversity.

AHRC believes that good programs are:

1. Developmentally Appropriate:
• promoting social, emotional, physical, creative / expressive and cognitive development
• providing student centered activities to enhance and strengthen growth
• adapting learning opportunities to the functioning level of each student
• moving along a continuum of student independence by presenting developmentally appropriate challenges
2. Aligned to the New York State and New York City Department of Education Performance Standards:
• promoting literacy by providing a carefully planned learning environment with opportunities for oral language development, phonemic awareness, experiences with letter recognition, comprehension and writing experimentation
• promoting key ideas in content areas
• promoting process skills to equip students with the tools to learn concepts in each of the content area
3. Emotionally safe:
• creating respectful, nurturing, and welcoming places and experiences for children, families, staff and communities
• building a non-judgmental nurturing atmosphere in which it feels safe to take risks
• promoting the idea that all children are welcome and included
4. Family centered:
• empowering and supporting families to be central team members
• assuring a culturally sensitive, competent approach that promotes ethnic pride
• providing ongoing family support and training
5. Community centered:
• using the resources of children’s communities to promote healthy development and learning