DAY ONE Teaching & Learning Center

DAY ONE, is opening a Teaching & Learning Center in Poughkeepsie in the Fall, providing families affordable, early childhood learning opportunities. The Poughkeepsie City Schools District has asked us to offer state funded Universal Preschool for four year olds on their behalf and we will also be open to 3 year olds. To support working families, our school will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Our building will feature beautiful, child-centered classrooms for young children. Classrooms open into playful corridors to give the opportunity for varied interaction between the learners, educators, apprentice teachers, and parents. This environment allows observation, seating, and peek-a-boo openings. Each age-group will have dedicated zones for shared resources such as welcome areas, kitchenettes, and washrooms.

Designed as a model school for teaching young children and teaching apprentices, DAY ONE TLC will have an in-house adult education space. The teaching apprentices will have easy access to their mentor teachers in the children’s classroom, the developmental specialists, and the adult instructor for the apprenticeship program.

The TLC will provide a variety of opportunities for creative expression, including access to an art studio and a music-dance-drama studio. In addition to indoor playground space, the developmental specialists will be able to provide various services in this area, including speech and language therapy, occupation and physical therapy, educational learning support.

Outdoors, children will explore science, nature and active play on our nature-inspired playground. Our large children’s garden will provide opportunities for hands-on digging in the dirt and harvesting healthy food.

Classrooms open into playful corridors to give the opportunity for varied interaction between the learners, educators, apprentice teachers, and parents.

Inside Our School

Classrooms

DAY ONE TLC Classrooms will serve 100 children and their families, ages six weeks to five years. There will be two infant-waddler suites, where babies move from one side to the other as they start to walk.  Each space will have 8 infants, and the program will serve 32 infants.  

When children become 18 months old, they move to one of our two toddler classrooms.  Each classroom serves 10 toddlers.  

Additionally, there will be four preschool classrooms. Each classroom will serve 12 children.

Creativity and Movement

Young children learn social-emotional-intellectual skills Young children learn social-emotional-intellectual skills through varied creative and hands-on experiences. DAY ONE TLC’s will have an area built for all age groups and will feature specially designed environments, including Expressive Arts and Mindfulness Studios, an indoor gross motor playground and a sensory gym. All children will have time in these spaces for exploration, creative expression, and developing early mindfulness skills. 

Parent Spaces

Young children learn social-emotional-intellectual skills through varied creative and hands-on experiences. Throughout the school, our wide corridors, and niches will invite opportunities for resource spaces that support parents. Such spaces provide work areas, pods for nursing, and spots for small private meetings with caregivers and support services from within our local community.

Teacher Apprentice Program

This specialized space will be equipped with a seminar-style classroom, a teacher workshop for creating teaching materials, and a staff locker room. Learn More

In House Specialists

Our school will include developmental experts in occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, as well as social work and learning specialists. Located on the ground floor, the specialists will have easy access to working in the expressive arts studios and a state-of-the-art sensory gym.