Hello and welcome to the preschool program page. We serve a growing population of children from birth to 21 years of age, focusing on children who are under the age of six.  We provide Integrated Preschool Classes onsite as well as the Rainbow Room at Liberty Community Center in Delaware.  We are team driven with family, service providers, and local school districts working together to create effective learning environments for children.  We offer an AM/PM preschool class at Hickory Knoll Early Childhood Center and two full day programs one at Hickory Knoll Early Childhood Center and the other at the Rainbow Room at Liberty Community Center in Delaware. 

 The integrated preschool programs are supported by local tax dollars as well as the Ohio Department of Education through preschool special education funding.  We are also licesenced by the Ohio Department of Education.  We provide programming for 36 children at Hickory Knoll Early Childhood Center and 8 children at the Rainbow Room.  At Hickory Knoll Early Childhood Center we serve 8 children who have been identified as “Preschooler with a Disability” by the local school district as well as four typically developing children.  We work closely with the local school districts in Delaware County to provide preschool programs to children they have identified to be eligible under IDEA ( Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). 

 We provide a preschool program that allows children to explore, create, and learn through the 

• “Early Learning Content Standards” in English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies
• Aesthetic and Artistic Development
• Emotional and Social Development
• Physical Development

 We also use these areas as the basis for our Individual Education Plan development.  In this way each child is able to get the support he/she needs from our related services staff.  Related services are a team of people who provide support for each child’s learning.  They include Occupational Therapy, Physical Education, Physical Therapy, and Speech Therapy services.   

 For child to be eligible to attend our preschool programs, he/she must be resident of Delaware County, have a Multifactored Evaluation from the local school district, and must qualify under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as a “preschooler with a disability.”  For a child to participate as a typical peer the child must participate in an evaluation with the classroom staff.  Typical peers pay tuition and are placed on first come first served basis.

 With our rich environment for learning children are able to climb, color, discover, discuss, draw, explore, experiment, listen, manipulate, play, read, run, smell, sit, taste, touch, and walk with the safety and support of teachers, therapists, and friends. 

There is an old adage that play is a child’s work.  We work very hard to support this concept here at the center.  Helping children learn to play is also part of what we do.