New Hope strives to create a safe, supportive community where all are valued. The multicultural and inter-racial make-up of New Hope is a reflection of this philosophy. Children are taught through example to have compassion, an empathetic heart, and to understand that what we say and do affects each other.

The supportive behavior and positive language of the teachers helps children to feel secure and supports the child's development of personal integrity. The child is never made to feel he or she is bad as a person. Teachers encourage responsible thinking by inviting the child to reflect on better choices when problems do arise and by encouraging children to repair damaged feelings through apologies or other appropriate actions. It is our firm conviction that the self-esteem of each child be upheld.

Fine motor skills are developed through multiple activities: drawing, cutting, pre-writing activities, finger-plays, and lacing. Children's large motor skills are promoted in outdoor play, sports, dance, creative movement, and tumbling. We also sing a lot at New Hope and work with our hands in creative play and craft projects.

Reading and books are an important and enjoyable part of the New Hope Preschool curriculum. Montessori-style reading readiness manipulatives are introduced in the three- and four-year-old classes. Children learn through a variety of games and songs to identify letter sounds and recognize many letter symbols. Many children begin sounding out three-letter phonetic words in our program.

Math concepts are incorporated into activities and lessons, with a focus on hands-on-learning-by-doing. For example, a preschool lesson on corn might incorporate the math skills of counting and concepts of "enough," "too few," and "more," as children count out a piece of corn for each child in the class. Games are played that foster their learning to identify number symbols and quantity.

In addition to everything else, New Hope Preschool offers opportunities for optional activities including Pre-ballet and Kindermusik.

New Hope middle school students "mentor" each week in the younger classrooms. This system of mentoring develops a sense of caring and responsibility towards younger children among the older students. It creates a context for the older children to model positive behavior for younger children rather than teasing or other undesirable influences. The respect and admiration of the younger students contributes to the older children's confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of competency. New Hope strives to create an environment where the value of sharing and helping one another is the norm for all.

An emphasis is placed on helping children learn how to be responsible for their environment. In the Three-year-old room, this means putting away your lunch box and coat. It also means learning how to clean up your spills and put away toys after you are finished playing with them. As children mature, they can take greater responsibility for their classrooms and school. They take great pride in their "jobs." New Hope also encourages each class to take part in age-appropriate service projects within the school.

At New Hope Preschool, a wholesome atmosphere and a high standard of classroom behavior is constantly pursued with an emphasis on respect, cooperation, compassion, tolerance, and kindness. Behavior that contradicts these values is kindly but consistently discouraged.

For up-to-date information about tuition, please see our tuition page.

New Hope welcomes children of all faiths, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds. It supports parents in their efforts to raise children with clear ethical values and a sense of morality. Though religion is not taught at New Hope, the preschool day includes incorporating character education themes into our daily lesson. These themes are universal to all faiths, such as honesty, responsibility, honor of parents, respect, kindness, etc. Staff and students are encouraged to pray according to their own traditions, grace is offered at meals, and everyone is free to speak about God. New Hope is truly diverse in this regard, with over 20 faiths and more than 35 nationalities represented. See our Statement on Faith, Devotions, and Traditions for a fuller description.