Early Childhood Development
Nationally accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and state licensed with a 5-star rating from the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD), CLN provides a year-round, high quality early childhood development program for 52 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. CLN also closely collaborates with City of Albuquerque Early Head Start, using the EHS Performance Standards, as well as NAEYC Standards, as criteria throughout the CLN program.
Classrooms - CLN provides an individualized, play-based curriculum for the children. The teachers develop a special curriculum for each child by partnering with the parents to create activities and lesson plans for classroom and home use. This partnership ensures that each child’s developmental needs are met daily and that the parents are involved and actively learning about their child’s development. The curriculum is developed using Ages and Stages Questionnaires, Joint Parent and Teacher Plans, Focused Portfolios, and other tools to observe and document developmental milestones.
Play Therapy – A licensed Play Therapist works with the children individually and in groups to provide support for issues in their lives. The Play Therapist also provides parent education as needed in regards to mental health needs, child development, and parenting skills.
Development and Health - To ensure long-term health, developmental and health screenings are performed for each child by collaborating agencies in the community. Screenings are done in partnership with the parents and CLN. Referrals are made as needed by the screening agencies.
Nutrition – Coordinating with a nutritionist, CLN provides nutritious, well-balanced meals that include breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack daily. Meals are prepared from scratch using fresh and organic foods when available.
Transportation – Bus service is provided for children whose families are unable to provide their own transportation, which is approximately 50% of enrolled children. The preschool class goes on regular field trips, and the CLN bus transports children, staff and parents to and from the location.