“Research shows this is a critical stage. There is so much physical and emotional development occurring — children are learning to roll over, crawl, say their first words — we want to maximize those windows of opportunity for learning.”

The approaching ECC academic year offers an enhanced curriculum and facility enriched by not just one, but several highly touted programs. According to Caron Blanke, Early Education and Family Programs director, the ECC took an “emergent approach” to curriculum last year, and will continue to strengthen teacher understanding of this philosphy during the upcoming year. Explaining further, Caron says, “This means that children’s interests become a focus for what is taught in the classroom. It is also known as ‘negotiated curriculum’ because it takes the interests of the teachers and their observations of what naturally captures children’s attention and merges them so that children are learning what truly interests them.”

Creating more opportunities for children to use and express their natural curiosity and imagination requires encouraging more “open-ended play,” transforming the ECC fromthe classroomdown to the playground. As Jed Wardlaw, ECC principal explains, “The playground serves as an extension of the classroom, allowing children opportunities for not only gross motor development, but also for cognitive and social/emotional development.The playground is an arena for social interactions, large group activities and free play. Adding more open-ended equipment to the playground allows children the chance to use their imagination and creativity in a way that fosters their development.”

A values-based Judaic curriculum will create a sense of community among classrooms this fall. “An Ethical Start: Creating an Ethical Future Based on Perkei Avot,” developed by the Jewish Community Centers of North America (JCCA) was successfully piloted in two classrooms last year after Caron, Jed, an ECC parent and two teachers attended a January training program. This year, several more classrooms will be included. Once all teachers have completed the intensive four-day training program,“An Ethical Start”will be inducted school-wide.

According to the JCCA, Perkei Avot, or “Ethics of the Fathers,” is a “classic Jewish text — maybe even the original ‘self help’ book.” Through 14 designated mishnayot (“lessons”), children learn universal values and ethics, such as “do not judge others,” and the “culture of community.” Due to “teachable moments” beyond the ECC and the ability to serve as role models, parents are deemed an essential element of “An Ethical Start”. Therefore, the ECC will lead parent text studies beginning this fall.Members who are interested in “reading ahead” can learn more about this currirculm at www.anethicalstart.org.

The results of established curriculum finetuning will be apparent this fall as well. A new class, Hebrew, has been added to the center’s popular “Afternoon Adventures” roster. This marks the first time that the JCC will offer the language as its own class to three- and four-year olds. Shabbat projects extending through each school week, such as learning songs, also will be implemented to help children learn about this tradition. School-wide Shabbat celebrations are held every Friday at 11 a.m.; parents are encouraged to attend.

Parents can also expect a steady stream of improvements fromongoing work with two mentoring programs. The first, the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), is a national non-profit organization that works with Jewish early education centers in the country. After applying and being selected from a pool of nine Jewish Early Childhood Education Centers in the Denver-Boulder region, the ECC has begun a four-year intensive coaching process.

As stated on their website, JECEI’s goal is to “transform preschools into Jewish early childhood centers that ignite a desire and commitment in families to continue Jewish learning and living beyond their preschool experience and inspires increasing numbers of new families to enroll in Jewish early childhood centers of the highest quality.”To achieve that goal, JECEI provides a set of seven core Jewish values and ideas, to serve as “lenses,” enabling students and their parents “to see our worldmore clearly and in a particularly focused way.”

During the next four years, every aspect of the ECC is reviewed by JECEI to identify ways to enhance learning and parent involvement. JECEI services will be funded by the generosity of donors including JoAnn Zell Gillis and Paul Gillis, Courtney and Steve Green, theMizel Family Foundations, the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation, the Rose Community Foundation and an anonymous donor. Support from the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education (CAJE) and the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado (AJF) will also enable implementation of the JECEI program. To learn more about JECEI, please visit the organization’s website at www.jecei.org.

Perhaps the biggest ECC news is the opening of an infant room. This fall, nine children between 12 weeks and 12 months will be tended by three teachers in the redesigned and expanded former Sports & Fitness Center childcare room. Distinguished from the current drop-off hourly care provided by the Rose and Robyn Loup Child Care Center, children in the infant room spend each weekday (7 a.m.–6 p.m.) at the JCC for one year.

“The demand for infant care exists everywhere today,” notes Caron. “Families have been asking us for years for this service.” Besides meeting member demand, Caron is excited about extending developmental expertise to another, younger age group. “Research shows this is a critical stage. There is somuch physical and emotional development occurring—children are learning to roll over, crawl, say their first words — we want to maximize those windows of opportunity for learning at the ECC.”

Certainly, all of the above examples will only help the facility as it strives to meet one other goal, earning a Qualistar rating, a quality assurance ranking offered by the state to early education programs, by fall 2009. To help reach this goal, the ECC has received a special grant from United Way to receive coaching. Jed notes that “it has been incredibly helpful to not just receive funding from UnitedWay to help buy supplies and materials to support our learning goals, but to also benefit from the intensive support and instruction from a coach who comes from the Clayton Early Learning to work weekly with our staff.”

With all of the improvements and additions, as well as the dedicated and loving teachers who work with the young and vibrant students, the ECC is poised to embark upon what they hope will be the best scholastic year yet.

If you’d like to check classroom availability for the upcoming academic year or learn how to register your child for an ECC program, please contact ECC administrative assistant Leah Joffe at (303) 316-6377. More information about the ECC can be found online at www.jccdenver.org as well.