The 2019 school year has just begun and Noozhawk’s Private & Independent School Guide is sure to make things easy when planning for your child’s education! Our school guide provides you and your child with all the necessary information about private schools in Santa Barbara County.
To give parents the tools to help make informed decisions about which school is the best fit for their kids in Santa Barbara, Noozhawk has conducted a series of interviews with representatives of local private & independent schools for this year’s school guide.
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Cheri Diaz, Executive Director at Hope 4 Kids Early Learning Centers to learn more about what they offer at their two facilities.
Hope 4 Kids Early Learning Centers
Question: What is the mission or vision for your school?
Answer: Our Vision: To be a place where teachers want to work, families seeks us out, and children never want to leave.
Q: How is your school operated or governed?
A: We are a non-profit, 501c3 organization, faith based, nature centered, NAEYC accredited, QRIS 5 stars, Certified Demonstration Site in the Outdoor Classroom Project. We have an advisory board from our home non-profit and a parent advisory team.
Q: What curriculum is available and taught at your school?
A: Preschool Learning Foundations, Infant and Toddler Learning Development Foundations.
Q: What extracurricular activities does your school offer?
A: Hope 4 Kids Early Learning Centers are pleased to offer wonderful programs to serve the needs of our community’s children and families. We are continuously working with families to discover what we can do to partner with you in your child’s education and social and emotional growth and development. Because we value quality, we are a 5-star program in the Quality Rating and Improvement System, and nationally accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and a Certified Outdoor Classroom Demonstration Site.
Q: Describe the typical day in the life of a student at your school.
A: Infant/Toddler
(0 – 24 months)
As with our preschool, our infant/toddler program offers a wonderful nature-centered program where children ages birth through 2 years will have opportunities to spend large blocks of time outside. Our infant/toddler Outdoor Classrooms were designed to offer our youngest children the opportunity to connect with nature, enjoy our beautiful Santa Barbara weather, explore, discover, investigate, and move freely wherever their curiosity takes them. We spend most of our time in our Outdoor Classrooms, allowing children the freedom to experience the world around them.
Our philosophy of caring for infants and toddlers is child-driven and based solely on each child’s unique and individual needs. Each child feels loved and nurtured by a consistent, loving caregiver so that a trusting, long-term relationship is established. We base our daily activities on where children are in their social, emotional, physical, cognitive, creative, and language development and in conjunction with the extent of their prior group care experiences.
We have two areas in our infant/toddler program:
*non-mobile to crawling/toddling infants (approximately birth to 14 months)
*toddlers (approximately 12 to 24 months)
When children are approaching two years old, they begin the transition into our Preschool Readiness Program where they will learn skills necessary to succeed in preschool.
Our infant areas are engineered so that babies are able to observe the children in the toddler area and vice versa. Younger children will benefit from observing older children and will experience a smoother transition into the older areas because they are familiar with the environments, children, and staff. Toddlers will experience social development opportunities and gain self-confidence and self-worth as they realize they are being observed by younger children, a wonderful transition for them as they prepare to enter our preschool classrooms.
Our families, our community, our schools, and our work places are all comprised of people of different ages. We believe that children must have early opportunities to build social and emotional skills to work and interact with people of all ages both in learning from and in mentoring others. Our flow of daily activities allows children to experience genuine community among their own age group and learn to build relationships with all ages from peers through adults in our center. These skills will be extremely valuable as they learn how to work with others in school, families, their communities, and life.
Infant/Toddler Care Program Details:
*Year-round, Monday through Thursday, 7:30am to 5:30pm, closing at 5:00pm on Fridays
*4 and 5 day scheduling options (contact our office for availability)
*Healthy, nutritious snacks
Please note that our infant/toddler program fills up quickly! Because we are a high-quality program, we often have several families on the Waiting List during pregnancy to ensure a space is available when they need to enroll. We highly recommend getting on the Waiting List for all families, particularly in our Infant/Toddler Center. Download the Waiting List Form on our website.
Preschool Readiness
(24 – 36 months)
Our Red Love Bugs Preschool Readiness Program (PSR) is specifically designed for children ages 2 to 3 years. This unique classroom gives children time in their assigned age groups AND time with all children ages 2 to 5 years in our program. This separate, yet concurrent program gives young children the developmental activities they need at this age, yet allows them to maintain connections with their friends and other children in the program so that when they are ready to transition into the Preschool Program for the duration of their day, they are fully prepared and ready!
As with all of our programs, our Preschool Readiness Program offers nature-based activities so children may spend large blocks of time outside and was designed to offer young children the opportunity to connect with nature, enjoy our beautiful Santa Barbara weather, explore, discover, investigate, create, and move freely wherever their curiosity takes them. We spend most of our time in our Outdoor Classroom, allowing children the freedom to experience the world around them.
All of our classrooms are comprised of mixed-age groupings (preschool classrooms may have children ages 2 to 5 years). Younger children learn faster by observing older children, while older children experience increased self-esteem, self-confidence, self-awareness and joy by mentoring younger children. Mixed-age groupings also allows for continuous care. While children work with and learn from all adult staff in our program, a child has the same main teachers throughout his or her experience in our preschool program.
Our families, our community, our schools, and our work places are all comprised of people of different ages. We believe that children must have early opportunities to build social and emotional skills to work and interact with people of all ages both in learning from and in mentoring others. Our flow of daily activities allows children to experience genuine community among their own age group and learn to build relationships with all ages from peers through adults in our center. These skills will be extremely valuable as they learn how to work with others in school, families, their communities, and life.
Our philosophy of caring for children is child-driven and based solely on each child’s unique and individual needs. Each child feels loved and nurtured by a consistent, loving caregiver so that a trusting, long-term relationship is established. We base our daily activities on where children are in their social, emotional, creative, language, physical, and cognitive development and in conjunction with the extent of their prior group care experiences. Ratios for children while in our Preschool Readiness Program are approximately 1:8 (one adult to six children). Ratios in our Nature-Based Preschool Program are approximately 1:10 or 1:12, depending on the time of day.
PSR Program Details:
*Year-round, Monday through Thursday, 7:30am to 5:30pm, closing at 5pm on Fridays
*Full day or part day programs
*Morning or afternoon schedules available
*3, 4, and 5 day scheduling options (contact our office for availability)
*Healthy, nutritious snacks
*Drop In and Extended Care available
*Potty-training available
Preschool Program
(3 – 4 years)
Our preschool classrooms are comprised of mixed-age groupings (preschool classrooms may have children ages 2 to 5 years). Younger children learn faster by observing older children, while older children experience increased self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-awareness by mentoring younger children. Mixed-age groupings also allows for continuous care. A child has the same teacher throughout his or her experience in our preschool program.
Our amazing preschool offers a wonderful nature-centered program where children ages 2 years through kindergarten will have opportunities to spend time in our Outdoor Classroom and explore, discover, create, visualize, take appropriate risks, investigate, and move freely wherever their imaginations take them. We spend most of our time in our Outdoor Classroom allowing children the freedom to experience the world around them. Part of what we teach children is to see what isn’t there, understand what’s happening beneath the surface, respect all living things, and to notice beauty in everything.
Our schedule is structured in a way that ensures each child has an opportunity to:
*identify as a member of a classroom group (i.e., “I’m a Green Grasshopper!”);
*identify with same-age peers in the group/classroom (i.e., all children who are 2 years old work together *for a significant portion of the day);
*identify with all same-age children in the center (i.e., all 2-year-olds in the center work together for a period of time);
*identify with children of all ages in the preschool program; and
*work with all staff in our program
Our families, our community, our schools, and our work places are all comprised with people of different ages. We believe that children must have early opportunities to build social and emotional skills to work and interact with people of all ages both in learning from and in mentoring others. Our flow of daily activities allows children to experience genuine community among their own age group and learn to build relationships with all ages from peers through adults. These skills will be extremely valuable as they learn how to work with others in school, families, their communities, and life.
Preschool Program Details:
*Year-round, Monday through Thursday, 7:30am to 5:30pm, closing at 5pm on Fridays
*Nature-Centered Summer Program available early June through late August
*Full day or part day programs
*Morning or afternoon schedules available
*2, 3, 4, and 5 day scheduling options (contact our office for availability)
*Healthy, nutritious snacks
*Enrichment Program (physical movement/education, cooking, etc.)
*Drop In and Extended Care available
Kindergarten
(4 and up)
Part of our Mission Statement at Hope 4 Kids is to prepare children to reach their full potential in relationships, kindergarten, the community and life! Our Prek/Transitional Kindergarten Program is designed specifically for children entering kindergarten this fall or those who miss the cut off for kindergarten (typically children 4 and up). Our superbly qualified staff are devoted to partnering with families to help children build the skills necessary to successfully enter kindergarten.
We use the Kindergarten Student Entrance Profile (KSEP) upon enrollment to determine where children are academically so that we may build a program designed for your child’s individual needs. We reassess in spring to see how much your child has learned and to give your family a tool to offer your child’s kindergarten teacher so that he or she may have a head start in learning about your child! The KSEP is particularly helpful as many schools in Santa Barbara County also use the KSEP to assess children for entrance into kindergarten. (So your child is already a step ahead!)
At Hope 4 Kids, children enrolled in the full Prek/TK will be taught the following classroom preparedness skills over the course of the academic year (August through June) while also having hands-on opportunities to connect with nature in our Outdoor Classroom:
*Turn-taking, using scissors, transitions, letter, sound and number recognition;
*Patterns, calendar, shapes, colors, group reading and writing projects;
*Outdoor classroom gardening and field observation projects;
*Science, math, and literacy;
*Social and emotional skills;
*Cooking and baking;
*Art and creative expression;
*Music, creative movement, and physical education;
*Relationship building through social group interactions
Prek/TK Program Details:
*Academic Year Program (August through June)
*Monday through Thursday, 7:30am to 5:30pm, closing at 5pm on Fridays
*3, 4, and 5 day scheduling options (contact our office for availability)
*Healthy, nutritious snacks
*Enrichment Program (physical movement/education, cooking, music, gardening, etc.)
*Drop In and Extended Care available
*Pick Up from Hope Elementary, Monte Vista Elementary, and Foothill Elementary Schools available!
After School Program
(kindergarten)
At Hope 4 Kids, we understand how critical quality care is for children of all ages. That’s why we offer a wonderful After School Program for kindergarten children! Our After School Program offers a Homework Club, experiences in our Outdoor Classroom, and an incredible Enrichment Program (free with tuition) which may include physical fitness, music, nature walks, cooking activities, and a variety of other activities based on the needs of enrolled children.
We also understand the needs of working parents! If your kindergarten child attends Monte Vista Elementary, Hope Elementary, or Foothill Elementary Schools, we can pick up your child directly from school for a small monthly fee. This relieves your family from having to rush from work (probably during your lunch break) to pick up and drop off your child. Please contact our office for details.
After School Program Details:
*2, 3, 4, and 5 day scheduling options
*Monday through Friday, 12:30pm to 5:30pm (hourly schedules available)
*Healthy, nutritious snacks
*Homework Club
*Enrichment Program (physical movement/education, cooking, etc.)
*Pick up at Monte Vista Elementary, Hope Elementary, or Foothill Elementary Schools (contact our office for availability and info)
Summer Camp
(potty trained 3 years and up)
At Hope 4 Kids, everything we do is filtered through the concept of doing things outside and protecting, discovering, exploring, loving, and learning about our natural world. In David Sobel’s book, “Childhood and Nature, Design Principles for Educators,” he clearly illustrates the need for today’s children to connect with and learn more about nature in a bottom-up philosophy. “The classic example of this top-down mind-set in the past decade of environmental concern has been: The rain forests are disappearing; therefore let’s teach children about the horrors of rain-forest destruction so they will act to save them! Instead, I’m more interested in figuring out how to cultivate relationships between children and trees in their own backyards as a precursor to their working to save rain forests as they get older, when they can actually do something about it. Talking to trees and hiding in trees precedes saving trees.”
Here at Hope 4 Kids, our children are given hands-on opportunities to learn not only about talking to and hiding in trees, but also investigating what kinds of trees they are, how to care for them, and why we need them (to name a few). Sobel’s book goes on to illustrate seven principles, which we use as weekly themes in our nature-based Summer Camp for children ages 4 years through entrance into 1st grade (some 3-year-olds may be accepted if s/he is potty trained and able to work well with older children).
Please contact us to schedule a tour of our beautiful facilities or complete an Online Enrollment Inquiry Form. We schedule personalized tours and only meet with one family at a time so that we can focus on your childcare needs and how we can partner with you in meeting those needs.
Q: How does your school select/hire teachers?
A: All employees undergo a rigorous employment process that includes a phone screening, in-person interview, a 5 to 8-hour day in the classroom so that the potential new staff member may be vetted and determined if it s a good fit. All employees must submit a local, statewide, and federal background check, child abuse index, health screening, TB test, immunizations, and take several tests and trainings such a Integrated Pest Management, Mandated Reporter Certification, and more. All new employees undergo a 30- and 90-day orientation period. All new staff are partnered with a mentor teacher to ensure our philosophies, culture, and processes can be sufficiently translated and trained.
Q: What professional development opportunities do teachers have? In what ways do teachers collaborate?
A: We love staff development! We have staff meetings or offer prep time every Friday. We close for a week in summer and have trainings and workshops from in-house and guest speakers who teach on developmentally appropriate, culturally relevant, and new/upcoming trends in early childhood education. We also ensure staff attend local workshops for assessing children’s needs and developmental readiness, January Outdoor Classroom Project conference, and leaders have access to additional workshops and conferences.
Q: What metrics do you use to measure and track your student progress?
A: DRDP, ASQ/ASQ:SE, KSEP
Q: How can parents get involved at your school?
A: Just ask! We love parent involvement and offer many opportunities to get involved based on parent availability, talents, and interest.
Q: What are your schools greatest accomplishments?
A: Serving 70 children at our La Cumbre campus since 2009 and opening a second campus in 2019 to serve an additional 69 children at our Cathedral Oaks campus!
Q: What challenges has your school faced or currently face? How did you overcome these?
A: Everyone experiences challenges. Knowing who we are as an outdoor program sometimes has its challenges, particularly explaining to parents that children playing in the rain, in the dirt, getting muddy or full of paint are actually NEEDED by young children, especially in the early years. We overcome these challenges by making it clear who we are during tours and the enrollment process.
Q: How does your school support students who have academic, social, or emotional difficulties?
A: We partner with local school districts and have meetings with families when we suspect more is needed in any developmental area with children.
Q: What is the cost or tuition to attend your school? Do you offer financial aid or scholarship programs?
A: See website.
Click here for more information about Hope 4 Kids Early Learning Centers.