The STEAM Lab is a classroom space at the Pre-K Academy where students create their understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) in a hands-on, exploratory learning manner. This space allows for integrating curriculum rather than isolating, which corresponds to a constructivist approach to learning. At the Pre-K Academy, we recognize that constructing understanding is one of the many ways to learn. We embrace and foster this for our students here. The STEAM classroom lab is run by our STEAM teacher, and teachers and their instructional assistants visit the lab with their students each week. Here, they collaboratively experience STEAM concepts through activities, experiments, design challenges, and active learning experiences, which support this interdisciplinary perspective. One of the first goals of STEAM learning is to support children in developing positive attitudes about science and math fields by introducing content in new ways and encouraging children to use a scientific perspective in their play. These hands-on exploratory experiences help children to make sense of their world as they navigate their natural environment.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is integrated into our Pre-K curriculum and taught each day. 

What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

Social emotional learning (SEL) is a process through which children and adults develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness.

Purpose of Social Emotional Learning at NEISD

Our capacity to demonstrate both warmth and competence is among our most precious assets for our students. Our culture must be intentionally developed through our beliefs, actions, and traditions so we are a compassionate community of critical thinkers and lifelong learners. 

Library:

The Pre-K Academy at West Avenue’s library program will help build a foundation for early learning and a love for books and reading by providing hands on activities that foster brain development, early literacy, build science and math skills. The library program will provide opportunities for students to role-play, engage with books, sing, develop social and emotional skills, read, write, play, explore art, build, and discover in the makerspace area.

Students will practice independence as they ask for help to find books, check out books, and even as they explore the library and make choices about the books they will read. The library will also help teach patience as students may have to “wait” for a book that someone else has checked out.

The librarian at the Pre-K Academy at West Avenue will teach parent classes on the use of the many literacy resources available from home. The librarian will provide parent library cards that allow parents to check out 10 books every 2 weeks. She will also assist parents in book selection and strategies to use at home, as they read to their students.

Physical Education:

Here at the Pre-K Academy, Physical Education is so much more then just fun and games keeping students active. Students will engage in developmentally appropriate activities that build essential foundational skills. The skills students learn here are the building blocks to coordination, balance, and movement. We help create a love of exercise in our students and open to door to life-long healthy choices.

Kids can keep moving at home. Check out our videos for ideas, activities, and more!

Music:

The Pre-K Academy at West Avenue aims to nurture students’ growth and development in a variety of ways, including the playful, joyful, and musical aspects. In music class, the children will learn songs and poems, move in response to music (dance), play traditional and invented games, investigate instruments, and listen to music from around the world. From the child’s point of view, class will be all about singing, playing, interacting, and enjoying, but there is deeper meaning to each activity: through songs and poems, the children will internalize the natural beat, rhythms and cadences of English and Spanish. With dance, purposeful movement, and games, they will not only hone their coordination and balance, but they will graciously interact with their classmates to build social-emotional skills and awareness of others. In the process of investigating and responding to rhythm instruments (including various drums, bells, shakers, and scrapers), your children will develop creativity and curiosity, understanding of scientific principles like cause and effect, and personal perseverance to make pleasing music. In listening to various genres of music from around the world, the children will recognize commonalities and differences between individual styles, as well as learning about diverse cultures through their music.  In addition, making music has been proven to activate numeracy and literacy within the developing brain, allowing learners to make connections between their emerging understanding of math, reading, science and society. While all classrooms will utilize music throughout the day to enrich learning, having music class will provide our students with opportunities to create their own music, access critical thinking skills, develop a musical vocabulary, and build connections between various disciplines.

Dual language is a type of bilingual education that promotes bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism among its participants. NEISD utilizes a 90/10 framework in Pre-K and Kindergarten. This means that 90% of instruction is in Spanish and 10% of instruction is in English. As students continue in the program, the percentage of English instruction increases until it is 50% English and 50% Spanish.

For more information about the NEISD Dual Language Program

The English as a Second Language Program (ESL) ensures students who are identified as English Learners (EL) receive the assistance needed to reach high levels of English proficiency. ESL is a program, taught in English, that integrates instruction with subject matters that not only targets the second language, but uses that language as a means to learn science, social studies, mathematics, and other academic subjects. 

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) is a program for young children with disabilities, ages 3 through 5. An ARD/IEP committee has determined these children to require early academic intervention. Early childhood instruction focuses on the child's individual needs, along with the age-appropriate academic standards, and it is provided in the least restrictive environment.

Here at the Pre-K Academy, we offer an AM and a PM half-day program for our three-year-olds who qualify. Our AM session is from 7:30-10:30, and our PM session is from 11:45-2:45. We also have a full-day service for four-year-olds who qualify and a Linguistic Support program for bilingual students who qualify. Please contact our campus at (210) 407-8600 for additional information. We are here to serve you and your family.