Selecting a Program
Groton Community School serves children from the age of 2 years 9 months through Kindergarten age during the school year. Many programs are available to families for their child(ren), including a separate GCS Camp summer program for children ages 3 through 7 years of age. Groton Community School offers both Half-Day and Full-Day options for families to choose from. Children in Full-Day Programs bring their lunch from home and have an afternoon rest time.
We hope these guidelines will be helpful in deciding the best placement for your child. Parents and guardians are encouraged to consider their child’s past and present preschool or daycare experience, his or her developmental level, suggestions from their current teachers, and their own scheduling needs for childcare. Other factors in making a decision involve your child’s personality and temperament. For example, a child may benefit from greater consistency in a three-day as opposed to a two-day schedule, while another may need to gradually ease into a two-day routine. Take into account the extracurricular activities in which your child participates. A three-day preschool program along with outside activities may be just as challenging and stimulating for your child as a five-day class.
We do our best to meet the placement requests of families during enrollment for the upcoming school year. There are occasions where the demand for a particular program or class time can exceed the number of available spaces for children in the class. In most situations, if families are flexible, we can meet their child’s needs with an alternative schedule or program at the school. The number of children per classroom, and the teacher to child ratio for each program, varies depending on the ages of the children, size of the classroom and the schedule. These ratios enable teachers to get to know, meet the needs of, and challenge children individually. Class size varies from a maximum of 14 to 17 children, with a minimum of two teachers per group.
Half-Day and Full-Day Options
Groton Community School offers both Half-Day and Full-Day options for families to choose from. Children in some of our Half-Day programs may also participate in the Extended Day Program to extend their day at school before or after class. Children in Full-Day Programs and Afternoon Extended Day Programs at Noon bring their lunch and afternoon snack from home.
Balanced and Exciting Learning Opportunities for Every Age
We strive to balance classes with regard to gender and age. We believe in the benefits of mixed-age groupings, and each class may contain children whose ages can range about a year apart. The curriculum for each program is designed to be developmentally appropriate for the ages and individual needs of the children within each class. Each program provides balanced, exciting, and abundant opportunities for the social, emotional, physical, language and cognitive development of the whole child as they grow and learn in all of these developmental areas. The educational benefits of morning and afternoon programs are equally positive and consistent in what they offer.
All classes reap the benefit of our Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Development Consultants, and participate in the Handwriting Without Tears® Program. The Kindergarten Class also participates in formal French Language instruction.
Please do not hesitate to ask further questions regarding the various program options that we offer, so you can find a program that best meets the needs of your child and family.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to programming changes, we are not currently offering our Toddler Twos Program.