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The Smith College Center for Early Childhood Education at Fort
Hill offers full- and part-time early education and care for children infancy through
preschool. The program enrolls approximately 80 children, about half of whom are
affiliated with Smith College.
The mission of the program is to provide exemplary early education
and care for young children; to offer a laboratory for research and fieldwork for college
students and faculty; and, to support the child care needs of families.
Smith College students
participate in the program in a variety of ways. Students work directly with children
as members of classroom teaching teams through the Student
Financial Services, and complete observations and field work for courses
in the departments of education and child study, psychology,
art,
engineering and the landscape
studies program.
The facility,
completed in August 2005, is located at Fort Hill on Lyman Road, about a half-mile
from the center of Northampton, Massachusetts.
The
teachers at Fort Hill are dedicated and responsive to children’s individual and group needs and work collaboratively with
parents to develop a community of learners. Teachers thoughtfully plan the classroom environments
and the curriculum is child-centered, emerging from children’s interests and based on
a deep respect for children’s potential. |
