Editor’s note: To read a long-form story with profiles of all 15 2014-2015 Blackboard Awards honorees, click HERE!
CHILDREN’S ALL DAY SCHOOL
DIRECTOR: SUSAN BIRNBAUM
Pre-Nursery & Preschool
109 East 60th Street
cadskids.org
AWARD: OUTSTANDING NURSERY SCHOOL
Describe your school’s core educational philosophy.
Our school is based on a developmental, interactive approach. We believe that young children learn best by doing, and what they love to do is play. So we structure our play with goals and objectives in mind, including being able to problem-solve and critically think about the world around them. We also see approaches, such as the Reggio Emilia and Project Approach, as a way to focus our play-based activities, allowing children to have a voice and time to explore.
Tell us about a few of the school’s achievements or distinguishing programs.
One of the greatest achievements of Children’s All Day School is how our teachers stay and do not leave. The average teacher has been here 17 years. Our staff is dedicated both to the craft of teaching the youngest of children as well as to the school itself. We are truly a family here.
What’s new?
We have some exciting new ventures here at Children’s All Day School. We have a brand new, interactive website. Children can watch their favorite music teacher playing their favorite songs, or listen to their teacher read their favorite stories. We also have a visiting author program now, where published authors come and read their book to each classroom. We also have a second music program now. Our second music teacher comes to us from Church Street School for Music and Art, and she incorporates literature into her music program.
What do you love about your school? What do you see as its biggest challenges?
What I love the most about Children’s All Day School are the dedicated, loving, educated, expert teachers that care for each child as if they are their own, and the way the staff puts all adults aside, including me, to tend to the needs of the children. The staff also cares for the school in the same way they care for the children—the decorations for holidays, the Halloween costumes they make with the children, the trips to stores for materials and supplies on their own time, are all above and beyond their job descriptions. The most challenging part of my job is the feeling I need to really live up to the standards set before me. To serve such a staff requires me to work as hard as my teachers do.
