Hopewell School
Hopewell School is a center-based preschool program for children ages 3-5 with focus on developmentally appropriate educational opportunities in the classrooms.
School has 3 preschool classrooms made up of children with disabilities and typically developing peers. The children attend preschool all day Monday-Thursday. The school provides speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy in order to meet the individual needs of all students.
The overall goal Hopewell for all preschool children is to provide them with every experience possible in order to gain skills to prepare them for kindergarten. The preschool staff work closely with the public schools in order to make the transition to kindergarten as smooth as possible for all students.
Preschool
Here at Hopewell School we have an amazing opportunity to bring a collaborative and unique learning experience to all of our students. We are a service provider to all of the public schools in Coshocton County so our students come from each school district.
Each of our preschool classes have 12 students comprised of 8 children on Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and 4 typically developing peers. We have found that our children on IEP’s learn so much from their typically developing peers; but the typically developing children learn so much from their peers that have IEPs as well. They learn to be accepting and patient with others. When they leave our building to go to public schools, they are open and welcoming to other kids who may look a little different than they do.
We have three preschool classrooms in our school. Two of the classrooms are geared toward the younger students (ages 3-4) and the other classroom is geared toward the older kids that are getting ready to transition to kindergarten (ages 4-5). The reason we have broken up our classrooms in this manner is to help the children learn age-appropriate skills. Our 3-year-old students are learning their social skills like how to play and interact with other kids their age. Our 5-year-old students are learning skills that they will take with them to kindergarten such as writing their names, the alphabet, numbers and colors.
All three of our preschool classrooms use the Frogstreet Curriculum which is a center-based curriculum. The children start their day in circle time where they sing, do their morning message, do the calendar for the day, talk about the weather, and more. Then the children break off and go into their learning centers. Since the program is all day, they are provided lunch. Lunch time is a great learning experience for preschoolers as well. They learn to sit as a group, use their utensils as well as learn about new foods.
School Age
Hopewell Schools offers an opportunity for students to learn at their own pace in a safe environment. In addition to our three preschool classes, in partnership with the MVESC , we also have a “School Age” classroom and a “Transition Age” classroom.
Our School Age classroom is designed for children kindergarten through age 12. The students in this class are working on the Extended Content Standards; which is the same content standards that children in public schools learn but it is modified down to meet them at their level. This classroom is very hands on to help the children learn the standards. The classroom uses a lot of adaptive equipment in order to help the children thrive. We help the children get out of their wheelchairs (if they are in one) and use standers, gait trainers, adaptive chairs and more. Our classroom is designed around the student needs.
Our Transition Age classroom is designed for teenagers and young adults ages 13 until they graduate from our program. This classroom is geared toward helping the students be prepared for life outside of the school building. They work on life skills like going grocery shopping, shopping from a list, paying for purchases, going out to restaurants and more. We do our best to help the children learn how to be as independent as they possibly can so they can go on to do great things!