Cornerstone Preschool-Curriculum & Staff

Curriculum

The Cornerstone Curriculum is based on the most current knowledge and research about how young children develop and learn. Aligned with the Florida school readiness and VPK Education Standards, our program has a strong early literacy component which includes many emergent reading and writing skills. Our curriculum also builds a strong foundation in math and character education. Along with the weekly theme and letter, there is a planned sequence of science, social studies, math, and phonological awareness concepts which are taught through hands-on activities or games, music, and/or story time.

Children's progress is continuously monitored through informal observations, portfolio assessments, and an annual written evaluation. Our graduates consistently enter Kindergarten well ahead of their peers. But, the most important part of our curriculum is that the children are having fun while learning and growing!

Staff

Judy Macdonald, M.A., Director & Owner

Steve Macdonald, Owner & Administrator

On-site owners
All teachers must have CDA (Child Development Associate) or college degrees and complete a minimum of 10 hours of inservice training each year
Local, State, and FBI background checks completed on all employees
All staff must have Pediatric CPR and first aid certificates

We invite you to read each teacher's bio posted in the classroom in the parent information area.

People climbing books

Help us build our school library by donating a book!

Our curriculum is built around high-quality children's literature. We have a specific book list for each unit and are trying to build our school library to provide quality books for all of our teachers. Small cash donations and gift cards go a long way on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Click on the

link below to learn more about our Book Drive.

Donate a book!

Evaluations & Portfolios

At the start of each new school year, we begin observing and evaluating each child’s development in a variety of domains: social-emotional, physical, cognitive, language and early literacy. In addition to a checklist-style evaluation, we collect representative samples of each child’s “work” throughout their stay at Cornerstone that go into an individual portfolio. Portfolios allow us to see progress and changes over time, and they also help us plan and individualize our instruction. At this age we do not look at evaluations as “report cards” but rather as a tool to help us learn about each child’s strengths and uniqueness. We encourage you to speak with us if you ever have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress.