We learn a lot when topics interest us. Children are no different.
Focused on relationship and play-based learning, we understand that children thrive in an environment where they are known, valued, and loved. Teachers respond creatively to the children's interests and ideas. We draw inspiration from the educators or the Infant Toddler Centers and Preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Our curriculum places a focus on being part of a learning community and the innate capabilities and potential of every young child.
Curriculum
We strive to foster inquisitive, exploratory, and inspired learners comfortable indoors and in the natural world. ITC’s curriculum is influenced by thinkers including Jean Piaget, Magda Gerber and the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy and provides a safe and supportive environment to foster children’s ability to take healthy risks academically and socially.
Children guide the curriculum through expressed interests and questions, play choices, and approach to materials. Teachers are responsive care givers who know each child well, can stimulate new ideas, provide new experiences, and support a child’s exploration. Teachers choose materials and plan activities that challenge children to wonder, use resources, try new strategies and express their thinking.
Our school is wholly committed to encouraging a child's innate interest in and affinity for the natural world. Teachers from infancy through school age reinforce relationships with nature through daily opportunities for outdoor play, excursions to our surrounding woods, and eventually through an on-staff naturalist. Music, art, and science are other important aspects of our curriculum. More information can be found through the Infant & Toddler or Preschool pages.
Campus
Exploring the outdoors is woven into every age group, from infancy through preschool. ITC is located in a renovated and expanded farmhouse situated on 3.5 acres, allowing children daily interaction with nature and the outdoors while maintaining a safe, warm, and home-like atmosphere inside. Each of ITC's 8 classrooms have direct access to an age-appropriate, dedicated outdoor playground, and access to our adjacent "Little Woods".
Community
ITC’s is a well-established leader in the community and the field of early childhood education. ITC educators advocate beyond ITC, through discussion-based collaborations and presentations facilitated at local and national conferences, including an annual teacher conference hosted at ITC.
ITC believes in working together, as a community, to nurture and guide children's growth and learning. Parents are partners in the learning experience, and active participants in the daily life of our school. We extend community to our families through class potlucks, two annual community cleanups, our annual art show, parent's nights out, and relevant speaker events.
Communication
Parents receive daily communication through personal interactions with teachers and class log stories, as well as scheduled parent-teacher conferences throughout the year.
Calendar and Hours
ITC is open 7:45 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday year-round. ITC is closed the last two full weeks of August each year, the week between Christmas and New Year, for major holidays, and two annual professional development days. See the calendar for current schedule information.
Families benefit from flexible scheduling. Full- and part-time schedules are available with a minimum of 20 hours per week in all rooms except for Infants, where a minimum of 30 hours per week is required. We offer a School Year (10 months) or a Full Year (12 months) contract for all age groups.
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Preschool Teacher
"ITC is a place that truly understands the importance of play in a child's life. A place that supports and values teachers who forster learning through play.
ITC is a place that has built a community that celebrates children and their play." -
Resource Teacher
"I have always considered ITC as being my home away from home. We are a high quality childcare, where children as well as staff are respected and supported.
When I think of ITC; I feel that this is a place where children and staff grow and learn together. ITC has been my home for 27 years and I would definitely do it all over again."
