Oak Park Neighbourhood Centre is a welcoming community that supports self-esteem, family bonds, meaningful relationships, skill development and building community capacity. We believe that all children are competent, capable of complex thinking, curious and rich in potential. Our program helps prepare preschoolers and their parents for the transition to full time kindergarten. We believe that children are most successful when they know what to expect, have a sense of belonging in their community, have friends, and strong self-esteem. Children are introduced to classroom routines, social interaction and early math and literacy concepts.
Relationships
We support positive and responsive interactions not only among children but also families, caregivers, educators, and our community partners.
Parents -We view families as experts on their children and recognize that they are the first and most powerful influence on children’s learning, development, health and wellbeing. We support families with guidance and community information when requested. We engage families by providing opportunities to share their skills, resources, culture, and experiences. We support family connections by providing on-going communication about the program and the children through Seesaw, progress reports, and collaboration meetings with the classroom educators to ensure that each child reaches their full potential. We invite parents in to the classroom for special events throughout the year where they are encouraged to interact with their children, educators, and other preschool families. Family friendships are supported and encouraged.
Community Partners – We involve local community partners in our program and acknowledge that they play an important role at OPNC. We allow these partners to support the children, their families and staff. We call on community partners for assistance.
Children – We greet each child as they arrive and say good bye individually at home time. Our educators use their knowledge of child development and positive reinforcement to support children’s self-esteem, self-regulation and positive interactions in the classroom. Our educators model developmentally appropriate conflict resolution strategies and assist children in developing skills to negotiate, collaborate, communicate, empathize and compromise with others. Teachers take time to listen to and observe children to learn how to respond to their unique way of communicating and to provide meaningful learning opportunities. Please refer to our “Positive Interaction Guidelines” for additional information.
Environment
The atmosphere within the classroom is welcoming, safe, comfortable and a “home away from home” for children, families and community partners. Educators use their knowledge of child development to plan for and create positive learning environments, transitions and experiences where each child’s learning and development are supported. The classroom is divided into interest areas which foster children’s exploration play and inquiry and provide opportunities for child-initiated experiences. Materials are accessible, carefully chosen and are open-ended, varied, plentiful and are labelled to promote independence. Our educators view our outdoor environment as an extension of the classroom and incorporate outdoor exploration and play. There are opportunities for both quiet and active play provided within the classroom depending on the individual needs of the children in the program.
We have a ratio of 1 teacher to 6 students and a maximum class size of 12.
We do not close our program to coincide with PD days to coordinate with Halton Catholic District School Board or Halton District School Board. Our programs are running and it is at the parents’ discretion to have their child either attend or be absent on those days. Payment is not refunded for absence. We are closed for the Christmas holidays and March Break. You are required to pay for days that we are closed due to inclement weather (i.e. snow days), and for statuary holidays. We have divided the program costs into 12 equal monthly payments.
Preschool Program Parent Handbook
Preschool Program Registration Forms
Our Preschool Program is part of the Halton Region Quality First program and is licensed under the Day Nurseries Act and is inspected annually by the Ministry of Education – Child Care Quality Assurance and Licensing Branch. The Day Nurseries Act contains requirements specific to staff qualifications and ratios, program content and equipment. You can visit http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/ for more information.
Pre Authorized Debit Form (PAD) and a copy of your child’s immunization records will be required at registration.
