| Critical Information, Notes, Justification, Rationale | As part of the new campus, President Richards has envisioned a lab school--not merely child care--to provide a state-of-the-art learning environment for the young children of students, faculty, staff, and the community. Eventually, the lab school would move beyond preschool classrooms to involve elementary grades as well. It will also serve as a high quality learning environment laboratory primarily for college students in the Education Department . College students in Allied Health, Psychology, and even the Arts could also benefit from real time interaction and/or observation of young children. Satellite linkage for interactive web-based learning, observation, dialogue would be a virtual component of the school.
Another component would be a Community Connection Clinic, providing supportive professional resources for families and children in the school and community. Such services as immunizations, dental hygiene, OT, PT, developmental evaluations, behavioral intervention and diagnosis, child-safe fingerprinting, nutritional resources, safety lessons, and other social services will be provided by qualified college students and/or local professionals.
Preliminary discussions with NCAC (Newburgh Community Action Committee) may add another dimension to the Lab School, namely the inclusion of Infants and Toddlers. This population has little to no opportunity for local appropriate early education. Due to the required high ratio of adults to infants, service to these ages proves too costly for most care-giving businesses. Through a grant from Office of Community Services (US Health and Human Services Department), the NCAC has planned a model Infant and Toddler Initiative designed to link prenatal education, early years development, parent involvement and mentoring, home visits, and medical support for poverty level families and children. A possible collaboration with Orange would include a physical early education center for infants and toddlers as part of the Lab school vision. Beyond the direct care of infants and toddlers, parent education, training of caregivers and teachers, and other educational services would be provided by the college.
This intricate link between the college and community, with its very vital educational content, will be a model of collaboration, support, and positive partnership, while offering extensive services designed to ultimately raise the life opportunities to all involved. |
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| Consequences of this initiative not being funded | -Loss of quality educational environment for children.
-Loss of a laboratory setting for college students to develop skills previously only learned as theoretical concepts. A lab school is the parallel for education students that science, art, and allied health students experience in their studios or laboratories.
-Loss of a support system that enables college student-parents to complete their degree.
-Failure to provide workforce education and training for caregivers, parents, teachers in a community setting with a built-in accountability and ongoing, monitored support.
-Missed opportunity to enhance and uphold a community partnership through educational, medical, cultural, social, and artistic presentations.
-Loss of recruitment, retention, marketing advantage.
-More dependence on local field sites, which can be undependable and inconsistent. |
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