We have three year-round programs:
1) Morning School (with Extended Day option)
2) Afternoon School
3) Toddler Class
Morning School (Yellow, Blue, and Red Groups)
Children Enrolled: 40
Ages: 2.5 to 5.5 years old
Hours: 8:45 AM to 12:30 PM, Monday to Friday
Our Morning School is the bulk of our operations here at LVNS. We have three classrooms. Each is home to a different group of children determined by the ages of the children when they begin the school year in September. Our yellow group consists of children 2.5 to 3.5 years of age (students must be 2.5 years old by September 30th, no exceptions), and the yellow group size is generally 13-15 children with 3 teachers. Our blue group consists of children 3 to 4 years of age with two teachers for 8-10 children. Our red group consists of children 4.5 to 5.5 years of age with two teachers for 15-17 children.
Class size can vary up or down each year depending on the ages of the children currently enrolled.
NOTE: Parents in Morning School are required to hold a school job and complete monthly workdays. Additionally, all parents are required to participate in fundraising activities and school-improvement (clean-up) days.
Extended Day (optional for Morning School)
Children Enrolled: 6-10 each day (space permitting)
Ages: 2.5 to 5.5 years old
Hours: 12:30 to 3:30 PM, Monday to Friday
Some kids in our Morning School stay for an extended day, joining the Afternoon School children until pickup at 3:30 PM. Morning School families can sign up for a regular schedule of extended days - from one to five days of the week depending on a family’s need. In addition, we can generally (but not always!) accommodate drop-ins for extended days depending on the number of other children booked for a particular afternoon. Our Morning School kids who stay for extended day are required by law to nap, so we offer those children a quiet room with nap mats, books, soft music and puzzles to encourage rest and relaxation. Some kids will fall asleep, while others do not nap and instead use the time for quiet activity. After quiet time, the morning school children then move on to a fun activity with the Afternoon School children. Typically, we have 10 to 14 children here from 12:30 to 3:30 PM (Extended Day and Afternoon School combined), and the mixed age environment serves both the younger and older children well, offering them opportunities to teach and learn from peers no matter their age.
Afternoon School (Green Group)
Children Enrolled: 4-6
Ages: 3.5 to 5.5 years old
Hours: 12:30 to 3:30 PM, Monday to Friday
Our Afternoon School is just as wonderful and enriching as our morning program, just a bit later. The children participate in the same fun activities as Morning School: art projects, cooking projects, science projects, music and movement, journaling, and free play.
The Afternoon School (Green Group) children typically start their day with a story circle, led by Teacher Lee. Then they move to a different room with a different teacher for a small-group creative project for about 30-45 minutes. When finished, the Afternoon School children join the Extended Day children from Morning School for snack, more fun activities, and free play.
The Green Group (4-6 children) and the Extended Day children from the Yellow, Blue, and Red Groups (10-12 children) create an Afternoon student body of 14-18 children with a child/teacher ratio of 6/1 or 8/1.
To be a full-time student in our Afternoon School, children must be at least 3.5 years old, and must be potty trained.
NOTE: Unlike our Morning School, parents in Afternoon School are not required to participate in monthly workdays. However, all parents are required to hold a school job, participate in fundraising activities, and attend 6 hours of school-improvement (clean-up) days per year. Participation helps everyone to feel a part of our community.
Toddler Class
Children Enrolled: 20 (up to 10 on Thursday, up to 10 on Friday)
Ages: 18 to 36 months
Hours: 9:30 to 11:30 AM, Thursday OR Friday
Sessions: Four sessions (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer), 10 weeks per session
Our Toddler Class provides an opportunity for parents and toddlers (no nannies or siblings) to come together one morning each week in a warm and inviting nursery school setting. The goal is for your child to begin to socialize and share with peers, communicate verbally, and follow simple instructions and an easy routine in order to become more self-sufficient. The two-hour class sessions are intended to give toddlers the opportunity to play freely, express themselves through art and music and begin to interact with one another in a secure, stimulating environment. For parents, it is an opportunity to spend some time with their child, make new friends, and explore a wide gamut of parenting and child development issues.
We encourage all of our applicants to participate in our Toddler Class as it is a great way to transition into any preschool. (Participation in our Toddler Class is not a requirement or guarantee of acceptance into our Morning or Afternoon School.) Our Toddler Class is for children no younger than 18 months by September 30th. It is geared for toddlers in the year prior to their start of preschool.
For the first 45 minutes of each session, children pursue arts and crafts activities and/or play freely in the yard while parents stay close. Next, a snack is served to the toddlers while a story is read. The group then moves inside to a classroom. The parents form a circle in one corner of the room for a parent education discussion led by the leader/facilitator, while the toddlers pursue hands-on activities supervised by a toddler group assistant. The class finishes after parents and toddlers come together for songs, parachute activities and good-byes with a short rug time.
NOTE: On rainy days, Toddler Class will be canceled and the class will be added to end of the session, credited in the next session if the child is continuing or refunded at the end of the session. On days with questionable weather, parents should call the school after 8:00 AM to confirm if class is taking place. It is unsafe for us to have toddler class when the outdoor play equipment is wet.
