School Community

The East Providence School Department’s Early Learning Childhood Program is based on the belief that the first five years in a child’s life are the most crucial to his/her development.  Research has shown that early concepts, attitudes, and skills acquired by a child are basic to, and lay the foundation for, later development.  It is recognized that all growth is continuous and follows an orderly sequence.

We understand the importance of offering a developmentally appropriate curriculum, where children of all abilities learn through play, using materials and equipment that provide for children’s safety while being appropriately challenging. 

Our practices support each child’s learning and growth towards the standards. Program-wide strategies ensure that differentiated teaching and learning is based on the assessment of each child’s developmental levels, learning styles and interests.

The program employs strategies to ensure that families are engaged in meaningful opportunities linked to the Standards to support their child’s learning and remain involved in program-level decisions.  Program staff recognizes the importance of families and engages with them to learn from their knowledge of their child’s interests, approaches to learning, and the child’s developmental needs, and to learn about their concerns and goals for their children. Information from families drives ongoing classroom planning.

Our program exposes children to secure, consistent relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive interactions with peers because we know that this will lay the foundation for future social and emotional health.

Our program implements a quality curriculum that is aligned with the Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards.   An embedded child assessment system is critical to the development of learning opportunities that meets the needs of each child, and aligns with the Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards: Physical Health and Motor Development, Social and Emotional Development, Literacy, Language Development, Cognitive Development, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Creative Arts.