Mahopac Falls Nursery School, Mahopac
Photo credit: Neal Rentz
The Mahopac Falls Nursery School has been a fixture in the community since 1970 and now it is expanding its programs for youths.
School director and teacher of the three-year-old pupils Michelle Armstrong of Cortlandt and Carmel resident Danielle Sblano, who teaches the four-year-old students, said the school is part of the mission of The First Presbyterian Church, though the nursery school is not a religious one.
Armstrong said the nursery school is a half-day program for children three and four years old, but it is expanding. The school has a goal to be a full-day daycare center beginning in September for children two to four. Because households with both parents are working are much more common today, “nursery school is not the way the world is going,” Armstrong said. “People need full-day.”
Even if the non-profit school offers full-day day care next fall the nursery school concept will continue for parents who still want the half-day program, Armstrong said. “We do have very affordable rates,” she said, adding nursery school enrollment is still being accepted.
In the meantime, the school will be holding Toddler Time, which will be held on eight Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. for children two and younger, beginning Jan. 4, Armstrong said.
Sblano said the nursery school provides more than play for its four-year-old pupils. “We do academics based on the Common Core standards for pre-K,” she said. “Every minute of my day is budgeted.”
“Our four-year-old program is based on kindergarten readiness,” Sblano said.
Armstrong said the three-year-old students have a less vigorous educational component. “It is a little bit more laid back,” she said. “I introduce the children to the letters. I’m not expecting them to sink it all in, but it’s just an introduction.” Some of the other things her students learn about are colors and numbers, Armstrong said. One of the goals of the class for three-year-olds is for the youngsters “to love school,” she said.
Most of the nursery school’s students live in Putnam County, Armstrong said.
The public is being invited to watch the school’s students perform. A Christmas show will be held in the sanctuary of the adjacent The First Presbyterian Church on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
The Mahopac Falls Nursery School is located at 411 Route 6N (at Secor Road) in Mahopac. For more information call 845-444-6206, visit MahopacFallsNurserySchool.org., or send an e-mail to MahopacFallsNurserySchool@gmail.com. The school also has a Facebook page at TheMahopacFallsNurserySchool.
