About Us
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Our Mission
At New Morning School, we build a strong community by fostering mutual respect and collaboration to address challenges together. By engaging with each student individually and focusing on their unique abilities and interests, we cultivate integrity, commitment, and responsibility, shaping them into critical thinkers and creative problem solvers poised to make a positive impact on the world.
Be Kind
Everyone does the best that they can with the resources that they have. Start with that and show kindness throughout your day.
Show Respect
We start by respecting children, and through our actions, students will respect adults.
Practice Teamwork
Have a vision, share it with others, and the outcome will be better accomplished by the team.
Act with Perseverance
By holding onto the goals that you make and breaking them into steps, you will reach your vision
Value Lifelong Learning
Instead of learning what to learn, learn how to learn and you will learn for a lifetime.
Embrace Equity and Inclusion
We celebrate and respect our similarities and differences; we work to provide equal growth opportunities to every one of us.
Our Values
Mutual respect is shown between children, parents, and teachers.
Parent(s)/Caregiver(s) should be involved in their children's education.
Learning should be individualized and children are challenged at their personal academic levels.
Children grow through predictable stages, but each on their own timetable which is supported through our multi-age classrooms.
Children need to construct their own learning and learn best by doing.
Students need the ability to analyze information and make informed decisions.
Children should learn to be responsible for their learning and their behavior.
School should be playful, fun and encourage creativity.
Our Philosophy
Our History
New Morning School was founded in 1973 by Elaine Kennedy, after completing her Special Education Teaching Degree from the University of Michigan. Through her very thorough studies and research, Elaine came to realize that traditional education did not meet the needs of most children. Seeking a better way, she and her then husband founded New Morning School as an independent, nonprofit school, named so because every day is a new beginning. Elaine views the methods of educating at New Morning School to be a way of maintaining mental health.
A Note From Elaine:
“My vision was and is that we are developing graduates who are responsible, assume leadership roles and become leaders in their fields. We are graduating students who literally can change the world for the better. They have the interpersonal skills to work with others, the creative drive to think of something new, and the confidence that they can do anything that they set out to do. They have experienced a humane upbringing; now they can apply those attributes to the world”
Age
33 Months - 5 Years
Class Size
Up to 12 children per teacher
Classes
2, 3 or 5 mornings / full-days
School Hours
8:50 am - 11:30 am / full day
Mutual respect is shown between children, parents, and teachers.
Mutual Respect
Parent(s)/Caregiver(s) should be involved in their children's education.
Parent/Caregiver Involvement
Learning should be individualized and children are challenged at their personal academic levels.
Individualized Learning
Children grow through predictable stages, but each on their own timetable which is supported through our multi-age classrooms
Multi-Age Classroom Support
Children need to construct their own learning and learn best by doing.
Construct By Doing
Students need the ability to analyze information and make informed decisions.
Analysis & Informed Decisions
Children should learn to be responsible for their learning and their behavior.
Responsibility
School should be playful, fun and encourage creativity.
Encourage Creativity
Our Philosophy
Low Student-Teacher Ratio
The Preschool class is taught by an educator trained and experienced in early childhood education and supported by trained teacher aides, creating a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio or better.
Personalized Education
Within our personalized classrooms, each child is embraced and honored as an individual who can contribute to the community. As learning happens throughout the day, the teacher will work with your child at their level in academic readiness, and social, emotional and physical growth.
Assessment
The teacher observes each child to evaluate his/her intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Children develop at different rates in social, emotional and cognitive areas. An individual evaluation highlights what is appropriate for each child.
Focus on Executive Functions
Executive functions are the cognitive, emotional and behavioral skills students need for learning. In our preschool room, we emphasize self control or the ability to stop and think before acting, and emotional control or the ability to manage feelings to achieve goals and complete tasks.
Planning and Individualizing
Each child’s day includes individual and group activities. Children are involved in teacher-directed as well as student-selected tasks. Planning skills are practiced each day. Children have the opportunity to learn from one another.
The Facility
Our preschool students enjoy class in a 1,400 sq. ft. classroom and nap in an adjoining room. Gross motor skills are developed in a 4,000 sq. ft. gym, equipped with kid-friendly apparatus. Outside play happens daily on the preschool climber, in the preschool house, and in the areas for running and playing that surround the equipment.
Safety
Students are carefully supervised during the day. All staff, including volunteers, undergo a criminal background check. Volunteers are parents or grandparents of students at the school. They embrace the school’s philosophy and ways of respecting children, because they have also chosen this program for their children. During the school day, exterior doors are locked. The students practice fire, tornado and other safety drills, so they are prepared for an emergency.
"Philosophy of education
and respect for kids"
"Parent involvement and emphasis on play/self authorship/executive functioning"
"Individualized learning
and child focused"
Why Choose New Morning? We asked our parents:
