Child Care
Our program places an emphasis on high quality early child care and educational experiences. The curriculum is age-appropriate and designed to grow with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
DCDC’s Main Campus on Wall Street is the only center in Montour County that is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and is also a Keystone Star 4 Accredited site. Our main campus provides care for infants, toddlers, preschool, and before school care with full and part time contracts available.
DCDC’s second site, located on Bloom Road, is rated as a Keystone Star 3 center, and will be working towards turning it into a Star 4 site. This site provides care for our school-aged children for afterschool, delays, early dismissals, school closings, holidays and our summer program.
There are many benefits to enrolling your child in DCDC’s Child Care. These include:
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Pre-Registration Visits
Our primary goal is the comfort and well-being of you and your child. In order to facilitate that, we offer tours of our Center to prospective families, as well as the opportunity for parents and children to visit with their child's group prior to enrollment. After enrollment, parents are welcome at any time to the Center.
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Meals & Snacks
DCDC serves breakfast, lunch, and a snack to children enrolled at the Center. School-aged children are served breakfast and snack, with lunch provided by the parent during full days. All of our meals are nutritionally based, and DCDC participates in the Department of Education's food program. Menus are provided for parents to take home.
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Field Trips
Our groups often extend their learning by exploring our community through field trips. Preschoolers either venture out into the local community or community neighbors are welcomed into the program to share their knowledge and experiences with our children. Parents are encouraged and welcome to come along, and even to share their experiences and/or cultural background.
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Parent Communication
Our staff works hard at establishing good rapport with the families of children in their class. “Getting to Know You” meetings are held within the first few weeks of enrollment. Also Center Adjustment Reports are shared between the teachers and parents each time a child transitions between classrooms, so the teacher and parents can establish a solid relationship.
Strong communication is especially critical at the infant and toddler stages. Information about their eating, sleeping, and other relevant events from the day are charted with a copy for the parent to take home. “Happy Notes” serve to assist the parent in assessing their child's day; however, one-on-one communication is still the biggest link in our parent-teacher communication chain. At the preschool level, “Learning Notes” completed by the child and daily informational boards are used to keep parents informed of the day’s events, as well as upcoming ones. Lesson plans for all ages are posted for parents to see.
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Parent-Teacher Conferences
Three times a year, developmental assessments of your child are completed using the OUNCE for Infants and Toddlers and the Work Sampling for Preschoolers, and are reviewed twice a year with the family. Other relevant work is typically shared with families at this time, too. Conferences are a good time for parents and teachers to discuss your child's development, and for the teacher to gather information that will help him or her to support you as the parent. Teachers are also available on an as-needed basis whenever you have a question or concern.
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Technology
DCDC was a first phase participant in Governor Ridge's Cyberstart Initiative. The goal of Cyberstart was to ensure that our children start school computer ready. Although the initiative has been discontinued, preschoolers still have opportunities to enhance learning through computer experiences. At least two computers are available in each preschool classroom.
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Family Events
Events scheduled throughout the year specifically aimed for our families include: Fall Family Fun Night, Parent Breakfasts, Family Carnival, Parent Workshops, and Book Fairs. We are proud of these special events and offer them as an "extra" to our families.
Infant Program
Danville Child Development Center’s Infant Program is designed to provide a warm, nurturing, and stimulating environment for our youngest learners. Our teachers provide each child with opportunities for discovery and skill development, taking their cues from the children’s interests and individual progress. Infant Program teachers are first-rate caregivers, recognizing that infants need plenty of snuggle time throughout the day. Parents are our teacher’s partners as we work to create a plan for each child that best fits their needs. Parental input is the vital link that allows us to adapt our program to better serve the children in our care. It is important to us that parents feel as welcome and comfortable in our program as their children do!
Toddler Program
Toddlers are so busy growing and learning new skills! Our toddler classrooms are exciting places to be. The toddler teachers plan a variety of hands-on activities that encourage the children’s budding self-help skills and independence (“I can do it myself!” is a toddler’s creed!). Our toddlers enjoy ample time to express themselves when participating in art activities, singing, dancing, building, and pretending in our many learning centers. Teachers encourage toddlers´ new social awareness by modeling turn-taking and encouraging beginning attempts of toy sharing and cooperative play. Teachers work to create a bond with each child and family, as it is important for both the children and parents to feel a sense of belonging in the classroom.
Preschool
Preschoolers possess a curiosity and willingness to learn that makes planning engaging, thought provoking, and enjoyable lessons a delight for our preschool teachers. Teachers, who hold a Bachelor’s degree in Education, as well as their Nursery School Teaching Certificates, lead all our preschool classrooms. These teachers believe that children learn the most when involved in hands-on, meaningful activities. In preschool, the children have the occasion to refine the self-help skills they learned as toddlers, as well as to further develop other school readiness skills that will help them throughout their school careers. Our teachers offer the chance to develop skills across all of the learning areas: arts and science, math, language and literacy through participation in learning stations that are based on the children’s interests.
In addition, the staff encourages the enhancement of each child’s social skills, including choice making, negotiation, and conflict resolutions by assisting the children as they talk through differences with their classmates.