The Arc/Mercer, Inc.
180 Ewingville Road
Ewing, NJ 08638
Phone: (609) 406-0181
Fax: (609) 406-9258
arc@arcmercer.org
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ARC Institute
How will my child benefit from a
preschool program?
 In a study conducted in Michigan entitled, “The
Perry Preschool Study” Early Childhood Education
received a strong endorsement. The study
showed that the low-income children who attended a
high-quality preschool were better off in most ways
at age 40.
- 65% of the preschool children graduated from high school compared with 45% of the children who did not attend preschool
- Children who did not attend preschool were four more times likely to be arrested for drug offenses and more likely to have committed multiple violent felonies.
- Annual earnings were approximately $5,000 higher for those who attended preschool.
Why should my child attend an Abbott Program?
Arc Mercer Step Ahead program is funded by the
Department of Education. There is no fee to attend
for a child who resides in Trenton and is
between the ages of three and five. Each child is
provided breakfast, lunch and snacks in accordance
with USDA guidelines.
What does Step Ahead offer that other Abbott
programs may not offer?
Our program is unique in that one third of our
children are developmentally delayed while
two-thirds are typically developing. We have
documented
success of children integrating successfully into
our classrooms that utilize fun and creativity to
foster a love of learning. All of our teachers
possess
standard teaching licenses, our family workers are
PAT certified, and our assistants are pursuing CDA
certificates.
Does your program involve the family?
We certainly do! We boast an attendance rate above
80% for our parent meetings and parent teacher
conferences. We do this with the help of
our family workers who meet regularly with the
families to provide a bridge between school and home
and because we understand the needs of
families that are working therefore, we provide
meals and childcare for our parent meetings – and an
occasional door prize to make things exciting!
What curriculum is the foundation of your program?
How do you assess the progress of the students?
We use the Creative Curriculum@ which allows
students to manifest his/her way of learning
abilities, style and preferences in a unique way.
Utilizing
work centers, the educators can adapt to address
each child’s needs. We assess our students in
several different ways utilizing formal and informal
observations, portfolio assessment and the Trenton
Board of Education required Brigance screen.
Present Parent Comments:
“My daughter started Kindergarten this year and
after attending your program I was recently told at
my first conference that she is ready for first
grade!”- Christie Dowd, December 2004
“The facility is always clean. The classrooms always
have plenty of educational toys and books…”- Wanda
Thompson, October 2004 |
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