Get to Know
Our Programs
INFANTS: Our caregivers work closely with parents as partners and take the time to understand each child’s own personal care, nutritional guidelines and unique schedule to ensure that their physical and emotional needs will be consistently and affectionately met. Our infant caregivers will tend to your baby in every way, providing the tender, nurturing, secure and loved feeling you want for your happy baby. Talking, smiling, singing to your baby throughout the day of exploring and discovery will comfort them while introducing them to language and conversation. Our caregivers have studied baby sign language too, which further provides communication and language enrichment while alleviating anxiety most often experienced by infants when they cannot get their needs met. Our nursery is a truly nurturing environment filled with a myriad of stimulating objects developmentally appropriate practices and opportunities for your little one to interact with, observe and explore. Forrestal Academy nurseries were designed with the most stringent safety, security and wellness of the children in mind. Our caregivers will encourage and teach you baby, provide consistency, security and instill confidence so your baby can follow the natural curiosity that allows progressive development of both their minds and tiny bodies. You will have a full accounting of your baby’s daily experiences recorded and provided to you every day. Yoga for babies is also part of the Forrestal Fitness and Healthier Living Plans. Studies have shown that infants who participate in yoga exercises daily have improved sleeping patterns and better digestion, including reduced gas issues. Additionally, we love our tummy time, and the chance to support your baby’s self-discovery, motor skills and capabilities to roll over, pull up and crawl. We do all of this in an immaculately clean and fresh environment that includes hospital/medical grade antimicrobial surfaces. Our cleanliness standards exceed those of both local and state guidelines. Exceptional hygiene practices are followed, with additional measures taken during feeding, changing and maintaining your baby’s crib. Well thought out and scheduled programs fill the days of these busy little babies, as the wonder and curiosity in their sweet faces must be met! This includes taking advantage of our beautiful campus, as our caregivers will stroll your child through our own nature-inspired trail within our Forrestal Forest, sharing stories and song while they roll along. Additional time outdoors is spent in our infant-only, shaded play area, offering freedom for very young children to safely move and explore while boosting cognitive and motor skills. And when your baby needs to recharge and rest, our caregivers pamper and prepare each infant for some sweet dreams during nap time. Forrestal caregivers follow the sleep guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics in addition to the policies and SOPs of the Forrestal Academy. Rest assured, there is no better place, if not with you, than with your child’s extended family at Forrestal.
TODDLERS: With encouragement and under the watchful, caring eyes of our toddler teachers, toddlers can do what they do best – explore the world around them! The curriculum for our Toddlers is based on creating a unique daily experience for each child and includes both child-initiated and teacher-directed play. We build on skills learned in the infant program and provide the safe and happy environment for toddlers to become more independent. Classrooms are set up into learning centers that allow toddlers to explore areas that are of interest to them as concept formation, cooperation and self-help skills are also introduced. In the safe, stable and caring environment created by our teachers, your toddler will gain a sense of trust and confidence thereby paving the way to accept concepts in character development. Character counts at Forrestal Academy, and supporting a child’s conceptual development of generosity, friendship and fair play sets the groundwork for encouraging good social and environmental responsibility. Toddler teachers read to your child and bring concepts of cause-and-effect to life through storytelling. Word games, teacher directed activities and application of the toddler curriculum set the stage for your child to evolve good listening skills, follow simple direction, begin building vocabulary and language through interactive reading, and learning though imitation, sensory exploration and dramatic play. Opportunities to identify basic colors and shapes; practice sorting and matching, even counting all continue to build a foundation for future understanding of math concepts and problem solving. Children learn best through hands-on experiences, so each day is filled with fun activities that excite and help toddlers develop in ways that give them the comfort and confidence to grow and develop both cognitively and socially. Our toddler teachers provide a perfect balance of nurturing, playtime, and learning so that while your toddler will be all smiles engaged in “play” our teachers will be supporting and observing your child demonstrating building concepts and broadening their individual creativity. Our outdoor activities are a combination of “nature meets nurture” awaiting your toddler! Our beautiful campus full of green space and age-appropriate play areas will surely please any toddler and provide healthy opportunities for toddler teachers to begin introducing education and exploration through a nature-inspired theme. Children will expand their healthy reach through; fun fitness (to keep them moving), kids' yoga (which maintains their flexibility and fosters skills like balancing, throwing and jumping) and they will gain awareness of healthy foods through our balanced, nutritious meals and snacks. Promoting self-care skills such as feeding, washing and dressing gives children a sense of accomplishment and independence that is always followed by our teachers acknowledging such fine merit with both positive praise and an abundance of assuring smiles. Through our Forrestal Families Online, via teacher/parent meetings, daily experience sheets, progress portfolios, calls and day to day interaction, Forrestal teachers make time to communicate with you and share all the glorious goals, games, learning and fun your delighted toddler has experienced with his Forrestal Friends!
EARLY PRESCHOOL: There are many ways to describe two year olds, but “independent” is clearly on target for these eager explorers! While they continue their curious exploration of the world around them, they may be showing additional enthusiasm to doing many things on their own. Our trained and experienced teachers provide the right blend of supervised freedom with appropriate guidance to support the children in their plight for independence. As early preschoolers mimic their parents, teachers and peers, independence emerges and allows their confidence to soar! Their environmental recognition, ability to question, reasoning skills all give our teachers ample opportunities to nurture your child’s growing understanding of the world around them. Your early preschooler will enjoy learning experiences that promote more than just their thriving independence as we continue to expand upon the foundations (introduced earlier within the Toddler program) to further their social skills, foster self-confidence and continue their educational journey. Accomplishing basic tasks such as locating their lockercubby and hanging up their jacket, placing a cup and dish on the table for each guest at a tea party and washing their hands at the sink are all skills that will be met by our teachers with praise, an assuring smile and affirmation for your child’s accomplishments. Expressions of positive reinforcement support self-confidence and your child’s willingness to stretch to the next big goal! Learning centers stocked full of learning toys, tablets, electronic readers and books, blocks and puzzles, books, costumes and puppets to encourage dramatic play and character development are set up in the classrooms to be accessed by all. Additional enrichment programs offer music appreciation, yoga and fitness, introductory technology devices that support learning and discovery. Our two year olds have the ability to work at their own pace and safely learn to do tasks independently and appropriately as every child will hit their individual goals, at slightly different times. Part of the role our teachers take on is to ensure that your child is continuously challenged and their goals progressively expand. This is accomplished through impeccable tracking, metrics, regular assessment and continuously added new goals to your child’s personal progress portfolio, known as the “Forrestal Folio”. (You will learn more about the benefits and value of your child’s Forrestal Folio during your parent intake). Through sound planning, an accredited curriculum and effectively executed teaching practices, our early preschool classes are happily engaged in appropriate and meaningful learning activities. Our well-designed learning environments allow for continued exploration and discovery, providing key opportunities for our experienced teachers to expand upon your child’s overall education. Overall, our Early Preschool programs are designed to meet the special needs of maturing two-year-olds and prepare them to successfully transition to all the wonder and excitement that awaits them along their continuing Forrestal Academy journey!
PRESCHOOL: At this stage children are ready to expand their horizons, and our highly experienced and certified teachers will encourage them to learn and explore, while helping them make sense of all their new encounters. Preschoolers are more secure and ready for a higher level of challenge. Our well-rounded Preschool program supports these strides and enables their continued growth and success. Your child will find self-expression and creativity through dramatic play, art, music and other planned activities. Musical concepts are introduced through songs, rhythms, instruments and group instructed ensembles and are always an exciting time full of sounds and smiles! In our preschool program, your child will be introduced to more routine and structured activities and daily scheduling. Your child will build vocabulary, learn numerical skills, and engage in a variety of age-appropriate daily activities to continue fostering good character development, social skills and educational concepts and content. There exciting days are filled with components from their curriculum and daily planning including learning about nature, science, healthy habits, good citizenship and participate in daily fitness and family style dining with good nutritional awareness, and building confidence, self-awareness and friendships. Our beautiful campus full of green space and age-appropriate play areas will surely please any three-year-old child while providing healthy opportunities for teachers to continue your child’s education and exploration through a nature-inspired theme. Our teachers will work to develop children independently, as well as within small group learning circles and will use multiple forms of ongoing assessment to evaluate your child’s progression and performance. Such assessments and metrics will be used to better address the independent needs of your child, identify gaps, their progress and areas of successful achievement. Your child’s progress will be documented by our teaching staff so they may better assist in your child's development. Sharing and communicating with you is part of our commitment to partner with you and provide transparency. You are provided detailed information specific to your child, the overall direction, along with programs that and goals that are planned for your child’s class. Forrestal Academy days are filled with campus activities, enrichment programs (e.g. music, technology, health, nutrition, dance) and so much more! As part of our growing Forrestal Family, we want to ensure your family is connected to our wonderful teachers and administrative staff. There are giggles galore, lots to explore and so much to do and learn in our preschool program that you will quickly see the differences that we are so proud of at Forrestal Academy.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN: Our Pre-kindergarten teachers nurture and challenge your child’s emerging reading, writing, science and math skills while integrating a wealth of enrichment programs. Your child will eagerly make friends and participate in fun-filled physical and creative activities that will yield self-confidence, respect for self and others while being prepared for success in kindergarten. Pre-K teachers will follow a strong, academic focused curriculum that will include language arts, writing skills, math concepts and reasoning. Our Pre-K classes are introduced to our International Language program which incorporates a foreign language into the delivery of daily curriculum. By integrating technology into our Pre-K curriculum, teachers have both powerful tools to support and deliver their lessons as well as devices such as tablets and educational electronics for your child to learn on. We introduce an array of mathematical concepts and logistics to promote your child’s problem solving, creative thinking, planning skills and even concepts of physics. Additionally, your child will be taught a variety of practices in comparing, classifying and measuring and will be introduced to the concept of time, use of a number line and be introduced to sequencing. Dress up, imaginary and physical representation of settings, narratives and sentences read in repetition allow for the emergence of storytelling. Your child will be immersed in a myriad of learning objectives that will seem only like playful games and social fun. Our Teachers will encouraged your child to; follow directions, support anticipated outcomes, begin to perform simple experiments, learn about the sciences, and even begin charting the daily weather. Pre-K classes are eager to participate in our; nature excursions, dinosaur digs, horticulture and recycling programs that take place within our Forrestal Forest and across our beautiful campus. Our outdoor Pre-K activities continue to promote improved balance, coordination and physical fitness. Engaging games, fun-filled social interactions and directed activities will collectively support skills such as good character building, team collaboration, and health awareness. Each day, of every week, while your child’s heart fills with joy, their minds become chockfull of wonderful experiences and their love of learning continues to soar! They are educated, loved, guided and well prepared to succeed in kindergarten. You will share in their amazing accomplishments, see their progress and realize Kindergarten Readiness at Forrestal Academy has exceeded all of your expectations!
SUMMER CAMP: While elementary school are on summer break, busy parents still keep going, so let Forrestal Academy support your family and sign you child up for the “A.C.E. Factor” (Awesome Camp Experience)! For kids ages six to twelve, summertime at Camp Forrestal is fun-filled days of adventure, discovery, themed excitement and many more unique surprises! Unlike many “after programs” Forrestal Academy has created the “A.C.E. Factor” (Awesome Camp Experience) specifically for elementary school age children. The “A.C.E. Factor” Programs are designed with true age-appropriateness in mind. We are conveniently located and flexible enough to support your busy schedule over the summer, and for families with children in both Forrestal Academy and elementary school – eliminate the hassle of driving to multiple camp locations – we have it all here. Let your elementary student become one of the Forrestal ACEs this summer! Daily, age-appropriate activities designed for school age children will include exciting weekly in-house events, STEAM projects, multiple sports, engaging games, health and fitness classes, inviting themed events and special surprise guests. Campers will be engaged in weekly cooking, baking, and decorating challenges to bring out the master chef in each of them. Summers are hot so it's a good thing that Forrestal has its own water spray zone where our Campers can have a blast and cool down with their fellow Campers. Even the hardest to please kids will be eager to attend this Awesome Camp Experience! And while every child is different, they all have one thing in common – they like to have fun! So not only will your child have a chance to be part of something they’re already interested in, but they’ll also have a chance to discover something brand new. Nutritious lunches and snacks are included, and some educational components will be so much fun that your child will not even know that learning is happening too. Don’t hesitate, as the Camp Forrestal’s “A.C.E. Factor” is waiting for them!