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The Malvern School

by Allie Harcharek

Love of Learning
The Malvern School: a nurturing and engaging environment for children.

Parents just want the best for their children, and when it comes to education, the possibilities are endless. The Malvern School provides a caring learning environment with developmentally appropriate curriculum and highly-educated teachers within state-of-the-art facilities—a perfect choice for early-childhood education.

The Malvern School boasts 20 schools across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including the newest location in Medford. The 14-year-old company delivers high-quality programs for infants and toddlers, and onward through pre-kindergarten. After-school enrichment programs are offered to supplement a child’s half-day kindergarten or full-day schooling.

As of August 2012, 10 of those schools have achieved National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation—a national certification that takes at least a year of intensive work to achieve—and the entire company continually strives to meet and exceed the highest standards in early childhood education.

Through a commitment to providing the same high standards in all of its schools, students and families are met with excellent teaching materials, a challenging and creative learning experience, and welcoming environments with a focus on health and safety.

“There are over 400 criteria to meet NAEYC accreditation,” explains Diane Morgan, director of operations and a 10-year veteran of the company. She explains that parents are naturally concerned about many aspects of a healthy school—from health and safety initiatives to administration—and The Malvern School works to self-assess and continually improve the experience for students and families.

While every early-childhood program’s goal is to provide its students with a good start, what makes the Malvern School different is its approach to education, says Morgan.

Each school is led by a team of highly qualified teachers, as well as an executive director and a director of education, who oversees the program and works closely with the staff. All of the school’s preschool and pre-K educators are expected to have a bachelor’s degree in education and a teaching certificate; all other classroom teachers must have at least an associate’s degree or equivalent in education or a child development-related field, Morgan explains.

That level of training and education means that students experience a curriculum that’s developmentally appropriate, well-planned and full of exciting opportunities to learn, both in the classroom and through social interactions.

High-quality facilities
All of The Malvern School’s facilities have three playground areas, customized for different age groups so students can participate in more age-appropriate activities outside. “We have increased our focus on fitness and outdoor activities in the past few years,” says Morgan, which also includes activities in a central play area—the Fascination Station for younger children, and the Discovery Room for older students.

There, they have access to a variety of different materials and learning stations that stretch and test the imagination, allowing for interactions with other students from other classrooms. The learning stations focus on sensory exploration, arts and crafts, reading, manipulative play and dramatic play. Parents stay involved in their children’s daily activities through a daily activity report, four progress reports a year, and two parent-teacher conferences.

New to Malvern
In recent years, The Malvern School has aligned with the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, teaching children about the importance of giving back to others. In 2011, through several events, fundraising and corporate partnerships, The Malvern School raised $50,000 for the organization—and they’re aiming to contribute $60,000 this year, says Morgan. The school is one of the top 100 fundraisers for the foundation, and hosts an annual Lemonade Stand Day every July.

Another new program, started two years ago, puts the focus on literacy, language development and reading skills. “We are associated with the Barbara Bush Literacy Corps and have been granted permission and access to stories that Barbara Bush read on tape for children,” says Morgan.

Some of the day’s programming is now built around these exclusive recordings, through dynamic activity plans for each of the children’s books featured in the program.

Even better, says Morgan, The Malvern School has taken all of its activity plans associated with this program and made them accessible through a link on MalvernSchool.com. In collaboration with the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, the school is offering these plans free of charge to all pre-schools and libraries across the nation.

To find a school near you and contact a director for a private tour, visit MalvernSchool.com or call 1-877-MALVERN.

MalvernSchool.com
1 (800) MALVERN
Facebook.com/pages/The-Malvern-School

Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Family Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 6 (August, 2012).
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