Silver Falls School District

Educational philosophy or approach: The Silver Falls Preschool Promise program is a long-anticipated extension of our school districts vison of supporting our most vulnerable students by partnering with families to provide a high quality equitable early learning experience. The following statements mirror those of the Silver Falls School District: Our Vision: Each student is prepared to be successful in K-12 education. Our Mission: Cultivating character and growth in each student, every day. The Silver Falls Preschool Promise Program will: • Provide an opportunity for preschoolers to learn, grow, and thrive in a positive and safe environment for learning. • Develop creative, complete, self-directed thinkers. • Prepare our children for an information-rich future. • Build self-confidence and success through physical and mental well-being. • Involve students in cultural experiences in the arts. • Provide a safe, fun, and nurturing environment full of early learning opportunities that provide social and developmentally appropriate experiences. We value the individual needs of every student and recognize that some of our families could benefit from additional support in order to prepare their students for a successful K-12 experience. This program will allow us to identify the families that most need this support and provide them with enrichment opportunities as well as connections with partner resources so that we may cultivate character and growth in each student, every day. No continuum of early childhood is complete without engaging families and communities. The systematic inclusion of families in activities and programs promoting child development, learning, and wellness is critical for effective learning with long-lasting benefits. This requires systematic inclusion with intention and coordinated effort focused on creating a culture of family and community engagement–rather than simply a series of individual events. Educators recognize benefits of including families in meaningful ways. Research highlights the positive impact of engaging families on children’s attendance, outcomes and attitudes toward school. However, family engagement in their child’s programs and schools also provides positive effects for the adults and families. Engaged families feel more involved in the community and connected to helpful resources—all of which can help children crossing those bridges from home or preschool, to primary school, and beyond. In the Silver Falls School District, we coordinate services with the Early Intervention program through the Willamette ESD for the preschool aged children in our community. In addition, one of our rural schools has worked with the Marion and Polk County Early Learning Hub to provide early learning services through the Kindergarten Preparedness and Innovation Grant. Our vision is to continue and strengthen this collaboration with our OCDC/Head Start programs, childcare centers, and other preschool programs in our community to seamlessly transition our preschool age-students into our elementary schools. Our district currently partners with Legacy Health, WESD, Lions Club, and Smile Keepers Dental to provide health screenings, including hearing, vision, and dental screenings that will take place during the school day at the preschool location. We will work this these partners and our families to coordinate referrals as As a small community, SFSD a has long standing partnership with many community organizations. Each of these organizations have an established relationship with our school district and we look forward to working with them to support our preschool students. Transitional planning for our pre-school program will be designed through a thoughtful and intentional process. The Silver Falls School District believes that the addition of a pre-K program will be a continuum and encompassing enrichment to our current K-12 system. Our primary focus of family involvement and collaboration from all eleven elementary kindergarten programs within the Silver Falls School District. Currently our eleven elementary schools participate in a registration event to welcome their incoming students each year. This event includes all incoming families and their students. Each family has an active role and voice in their child’s education through frequent survey’s, communication with their child’s teacher and administrator, and events tailored for family involvement. Our preschool program will also follow our school district’s vision of the importance in family involvement. In addition, our preschool program would include transition meetings with each elementary school to communicate the needs of each pre-school student and their success as they begin kindergarten. Our pre-school staff would also be involved in PLC meetings, staff development, and district trainings to ensure a seamless transition for our preschool classrooms into our elementary schools. Preschool Teacher Janae's Philosophy of Early Learning, I believe that every child is unique in their very own ways, and that early childhood is an especially important part of a growing child’s life. I feel that every child should be treated with warmth, respect, and dignity no matter their uniqueness, cultural differences, or religion they may have. I feel that every child should also, have the opportunity to have a positive growing experience in every way of development, by guiding them in an authoritative style of guidance. This will foster a safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate learning environment to promote healthy growth in a child’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. I also believe that a child’s first teacher is their parents, and their role in their child’s learning environment is essential in their growing process and should be included in every aspect of a child’s development. Overall, with the right guidance and support all children can succeed their developmental milestones to ensure a positive viewpoint on their learning endeavors. "

Hours of operation: Tuesday - Friday, 8:00am to 2:30pm

Planned Preschool Promise Portion of the Day: 7:30 am - 2:30 pm

Preschool Promise portion of the day includes a nap/rest time for children: Yes.

Days of Operation: Monday - Friday