VISION STATEMENT

Joseph E. Hill (JEH) Education Center is a comprehensive, multicultural early childhood developmental program that effectively draws from and connects with our community to ensure that all children ages 0-5 and their family units experience a strength-based, anti-biased, respectful, and inclusive learning environment.

As we, JEH staff, aspire towards this vision over the next 5 years, we will work to ensure:

• Social-emotional learning and development needs are addressed.
• Language development needs are addressed.
• Cultural and linguistic appreciation and awareness needs are addressed.
• Motor development, health, wellness, and nutrition awareness needs are addressed.
• Approaches to learning and academic development needs are addressed and all children are individually prepared for their transition to Kindergarten.

We envision four contexts or groups that play a role in supporting child development within JEH:

• Teachers and Staff
• Center and Classrooms
• Family units
• Community

KEY VISION ELEMENTS

Children’s Social Emotional Learning:

• All children feel safe, welcomed, respected, connected, and accepted at JEH.
• All children are taught strategies to acknowledge and express their emotions.
• All children interact with and observe adults who self regulate their own emotions before responding.
• All children will be given opportunities to experience positive peer relationships and interactions, and cooperatively participate in group situations.

Children’s Language Development:

• All children leave JEH with functional communication skills and foundational speech and language skills appropriate for each child’s developmental level.
• All children receive instruction in language enriched classrooms.  
• All children receive exposure and instruction in pre-academic, curricular, and social-emotional vocabulary.

Children’s Culture and Linguistics:

• All children see themselves consistently mirrored in staff, instructional and developmental material, and experience bias-free adult interactions and curriculum.
• All children experience curriculum and instructional developmental materials that  are appropriate for their language and linguistic needs.
• All children will experience opportunities to appreciate the physical, cultural and linguistic differences amongst their peers, families, teachers, and staff.

Children’s motor development, health, wellness, and nutrition awareness:

• All children develop basic understanding of the importance of nutrition, healthy eating, exercise and how these impact their ability to learn.
• All children develop basic self awareness about their bodies as well as motor and sensory needs and are able to communicate to advocate for these needs.
• All children develop basic understanding that their peers may have different physical or sensory needs than their own needs.

Children’s Readiness Skills:

• All children receive exposure to and individualized instruction in pre-academic skills, practice, and problem solving experiences in preparation for Kindergarten:
• pre-academic skills including: colors, shapes, numbers, letters, etc.
• order thinking skills including: problem solving, investigating, and questioning.

Teachers and Staff:

• All teachers and staff view children in the context of their families (home life) and demonstrate understandings and actions that children learn differently.
• All teachers and staff understanding the whole child through such lenses as race, culture, linguistics, and/or trauma, and demonstrate these understandings in their actions.
• All teachers and staff will take responsibility for learning about each child.   

• All teachers and staff understand that physical well being is integrally related to children’s overall success.
• All teachers and staff are aware of their own culture, race, and experiences and how these identities and experiences impact their teaching and interactions with children.
• All teachers and staff are provided timely and informative communication in order to collaborate with each other as well as with families and guardians to meet the individual needs of all children.
• All teachers and staff interact supportively and positively with all children, families, and staff with the intention of building the school family.

Center and Classrooms:

• Center and classrooms are safe, welcoming, positive, inclusive, and multi-age learning environments that are supportive of all cultural, linguistic, and racial backgrounds.
• A seamless transition is experienced by children and families as children move across programs within JEH and as they transition to Kindergarten.
• JEH cultivates and promotes strong parent, guardian, and family involvement.
• JEH cultivates and promotes connections between families in ways that strengthen support and social networks.

Families:

• All families feel safe, connected to, and welcome in JEH.
• All families experience JEH programs that are respectful of their race and culture and responsive to their linguistic needs.
• All families are given opportunities to utilize their voices and share their opinions.
• All families receive a range of resources and supports to help the entire family unit including services for pregnant women.

Community:

• JEH cultivates and promotes strong connections with relevant community agencies.
• JEH cultivates and promotes greater levels of understanding of JEH programs, and a more holistic perspective of child development throughout the community.
• JEH cultivates and promotes connections between JEH families with the community and relevant community agencies.
• JEH supports and participates as a leader in early childhood practices for community initiatives and planning.