Our School’s Mission and Philosophy

Mission

East River Child Development Center (ERCDC) is committed to providing young children who have special needs with an educational foundation that will prepare them to achieve to their best potential not only in preschool, but throughout their academic years. ERCDC is a nurturing, educationally rich environment serving a diverse multilingual and multicultural demographic of children and their families. We identify and foster each child’s developmental strengths and interests, while addressing their challenges using research supported clinical and educational methodologies.

Philosophy

ERCDC uses developmentally appropriate practice within a language-enriched, special education program for young children, who demonstrate delays in communication, processing, motor and social-emotional skills. Our goal is to promote the child’s ability to understand their world, communicate their needs, wants and ideas effectively, participate successfully in group activities, and develop positive relationships with adults and peers. Some specific approaches we use include targeted visual supports, modeling and demonstration, pairing verbal language with direct experience, and teaching positive social skills.