The Garfield Early Childhood Special Education Preschool is a program designed to provide services in the least restrictive environment for children, ages three to five, identified with special needs. The program provides a safe and nurturing environment which promotes and integrates the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, communication and self-help areas of development through classroom activities and teaching strategies. Specialists in the areas of Speech and Language, Physical and Occupational Therapy work within the classroom to meet the needs of the individual children as well as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher and Classroom Assistant. Children attend the preschool four days a week for a period of two and three quarter hours.
Class size is limited to ten children per session.
Themes are used in the preschool program to give students greater familiarity with a given topic and provides the repetition students need to learn basic concepts more readily. The themes can be used by ancillary staff when they do individual therapy or groups. Learning Centers are set up which relate to the theme for the week. Through the use of themes, communication between parents and school is enhanced as parents know what is occurring in the classroom at any particular time during the school year.