This page includes news, coming events, community information and other NDNCC items of interest.
Arts in Education
NDNCC welcomes the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education (DiAE) to our program, benefiting the students enrolled in the school’s preschool, afterschool, and camp programs. DiAE Teaching Artists work closely with teachers at NDNCC to create arts integrated experiences for the students. One of the hallmarks of the DiAE program is in recognizing the important social and emotional benefit of arts to children. In practicing a creative process, students learn that there may be several solutions to a single problem and they discover how that can use their individual strengths to the achievement of a collaborative group goal. More importantly, the arts give children a true sense of self-worth and empower them to connect deeply to their thoughts and feelings.
The DiAE has brought Delaware Wolftrap (DWT), its flagship early education program, to the preschool program at the school. A professionally trained and certified DiAE Teaching Artist pairs with each of the four (the toddler class and all three preschool classes) classroom teachers to model techniques in integrating the performing arts skills into their daily curriculum. During this 16-session professional development residency, in both the fall and the spring, teachers develop their skills in dance, drama, and music, learning how to integrate these techniques while teaching literacy or math standards. The multi-sensory classroom sessions include visual, audible, and kinesthetic techniques to benefit a variety of learners.
In addition to the DWT preschool residencies, DiAE will provide arts enrichment activities for the afterschool programs at Newark Day Nursery and Children’s Center. Over the course of the year, DiAE Teaching Artists, who are working professionals in their craft, will lead the students in a series of creative art experiences, covering each of the major disciplines: dance, drama, music, and visual art. Every activity will focus on developing resiliency and presenting social and emotional balance through artistic creation.
Wine Tasting Event – November
NDNCC, in conjunction with Deerfield Fine Wines, hosted a winter wine tasting event. There was a great turnout to enjoy the flavorful wines, the wonderful donated food trays, and the many donated raffle items. We had some great items this year! Thanks to all who attended, and to all who donated to this great event. All proceeds benefit our tuition assistance program, helping us follow our mission of providing the highest quality care to all children, regardless of their families’ ability to pay.
School year 2023-2024 activities
The children have been enjoying learning new skills in each of the freshly painted and reorganized classrooms. New classroom operational tools have helped the teachers manage their classes more efficiently, providing them with more time to spend educating the children. Winter themed activities are gearing up throughout ECE. The ECE children in our Toddlers and Preschool classes participate in Jump/N/Fun classes once a month, and Read Aloud Delaware volunteers spend several hours per week reading to our children. Look for family-centered activities offered in your child’s classroom throughout the year.
Capital Improvements Have Been Mostly Completed!
NDNCC offers it sincere thank you to the Crystal Trust and the Crestlea and Chichester duPont Foundations for their generous contributions to our center for capital improvements. Energy saving lighting was installed, and the entire center was updated with fresh new painting in lovely bright colors. Also a new sidewalk along our entry drive provides for safer pedestrian entry to our facility and traffic calming measures are adding to safety in our parking areas. The SAC playground area has been expanded, and new carpeting will be installed in our infant wing soon. We will also be modernizing our computers systems. 2019 has certainly been an exciting time to watch all these improvements being done! Click here to see photos of our newly painted rooms.
Come to Summer Camp
Summer Camp at NDNCC is a great place to be. Campers are busy with many outdoor activities, arts & craft projects, swimming, and team games. Field trips go to places such as the Philadelphia Zoo, Hershey Park, Dutch Wonderland, Dorney Park, the Renaissance Fair, Midway Raceway and Water Park, and Rehoboth Beach/Cape Henlopen, to add even more great adventures to our themed weekly programming. On site presentations are included, and camp wraps up with a Fun Fair of carnival type games and an inflatable obstacle course. We look forward to seeing all the campers at our American Camp Assoc. accredited camp this summer!! Enrollment begins in early February, so contact Irene Bailey to get your camper enrolled!
Child TSG Assessments/Ages & Stages Screening (ASQ)/ Parent Conferences Completed for the Fall
Our ECE Teachers complete fall, winter, and spring assessments on children enrolled in the program, using the Teaching Strategies Gold assessment tool. Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3) are also used in the ECE program. Families complete an ASQ-3 for their child and together the teachers and families review the results to determine if children are developing at an age appropriate level. Teachers hold conference with families, reviewing the children’s progress towards research-based developmental benchmarks and goals, at least twice per school year.