Early Childhood
Early Childhood Principal : Ms. Consuelo Martinez
Main Office Phone Number: 708-338-3250
The Early Childhood Program
The Early Childhood (EC) Program offers half day special education preschool classes specifically designed to meet the needs of children between the ages of three and five years old who have Developmental Delays and/or are on the Autism Spectrum. All the students in the program have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) that include therapy services. Related services such as social work, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy are integrated into the classroom programs. The classroom environment is highly structured and affords the students more individualized instruction due to the low staff to student ratio.
Our goal is to help our students develop the skills necessary to return to their home schools as soon as they are ready. We have been very successful in this area in recent years. Many of our students return to their home school for their last preschool year so that they can successfully transition to a kindergarten program in their home district. For the students that continue to need a self-contained special education classroom environment after preschool, they have the opportunity to transition to a kindergarten classroom at either PAEC Academy or PAEC Center.
One of the unique features of the PAEC EC Program is that we have a five hour program for students who have one year left of preschool and have been identified with moderate to severe Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Every effort is made to maintain the class ratio of 3:1 in order to meet the students unique learning needs.
All the classrooms in our program use visuals to help increase the students’ independence in following the classroom routine and communicate their wants and needs. The program uses a total communication approach as part of the classroom curriculum. The students have access to pictures and voice output devices to support an effective learning environment. In addition, the staff will use structured play to build and strengthen the students’ communication and social skills. Each of these methods provides concrete data for developing and evaluating progress in the students’ IEPs
Our Social Worker, Monette Carlos, also uses the Second Step Early Learning (PreK) social emotional curriculum for preschoolers. It is an evidence based early childhood curriculum that has been shown to improve social/emotional outcomes in young children. Mrs. Carlos is a registered play therapist and uses the Sunshine Curriculum for play therapy for those children that need individual or small group therapy to address their social emotional needs.
Many of the staff and therapists in the EC program have worked for PAEC for many years. This allows the program to have a strong and effective work environment. Personally, I bring 28 years of experience working in public schools. I started at PAEC in the Early Childhood program in 2012 as a speech pathologist and then became the EC Coordinator in 2015. As the program grew my position changed and I became the EC Principal in 2022. My goal as an educational leader is to make a positive change in the students’ educational experience and performance.I strive for continuous improvement for myself, my educational team, and the children I serve. I work hard to create a strong network between the parents, staff, and administration in order to ensure that the students' needs are clearly identified and addressed.