Our mission is to empower children and adults with developmental disabilities to achieve their potential based on personal choices, abilities and interests...

For more information about our Early Childhood Services please contact:

Fran Porcaro
Assistant Executive Director
Educational Services,
phone: 914.347.3227,
ext. 106,
fporcaro@
westchesterarc.org

The Children's School for Early Development
40 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY 10532

Westchester Arc
The Gleeson-Israel Gateway Center
265 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY 10532
914.949.9300
info@westchesterarc.org

24-hour
Crisis Intervention:
914.949.8200

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Early Childhood

Westchester Arc’s Children’s School for Early Development provides educational, social and support services for children, from birth to five years of age, and their families.

These services are provided based on the philosophy that children and their families should be given a choice of resources to maximize their child’s potential.

In keeping with our mission to promote community integration for people with developmental disabilities, our Children's School is the largest provider of community-based services for children with developmental disabilities in Westchester County in terms of the numbers of children served and the number of community sites at which we have opened inclusion classes. Our early intervention services are now delivered entirely in community settings, and more than 80 percent of the pre-school children whom we serve attend community schools. We also provide itinerant teacher services to children attending community programs chosen by their parents, while maintaining two self-contained classes at our center in Hawthorne.

The Children's School for Early Development charges no fees. The Early Intervention Program is funded by New York State and Westchester County, the latter of which may seek reimbursement from your child's health insurance provider. Coverage includes only early intervention services and not the cost of day care or other fees charged in community settings. Although public funds also support many of our pre-school activities, we are dependent upon the generosity of private donors to certain innovative and highly regarded pre-school services.

The Children's School for Early Development is approved by New York State to provide both early intervention and pre-school services, under contact with Westchester County.

Birth - 3 years:

Early intervention programs serve children from birth through three years of age. Services include:

Evaluations which may be performed at home or in community setting;
Service coordination which assists families in accessing and monitoring services and resources for their child;
Home and community intervention, which provides special instruction, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and social work services either at home or in community programs;
Full inclusion parent-child programs at pre-schools located throughout Westchester County; and parent-child support groups, which meet monthly to share concerns, information and support, and to enjoy family playtime.

» Click here for referral process

3 - 5 years:

Pre-school serves children from three to five years of age. Services include:

Evaluations performed by a team of professionals at our centrally located site or at community settings throughout Westchester;
Related services and Special Education Itinerant Teachers (SEIT), assistant teachers, aides and speech therapists who provide their services at community programs;
Special classes in an integrated setting, where children with disabilities, including those who have autism or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), attend a larger class with typically developing students in settings throughout Westchester;
Full-day center-based pre-school classes held at our centrally located site in Hawthorne, New York, and serving children from both Westchester and Putnam Counties.
Educational advocacy, which provides training, information and support for families with pre-school and school-age children, including assistance with making the transition from CPSE (Committee on Pre-school Special Education) to CSE (Committee on Special Education), training in self-advocacy, attendance at CSE meetings with families, and linking parents with advocacy groups and resources. Family support groups, including workshops and seminars, are also provided.

» Click here for referral process

The Children’s School for Early Development is located at 40 Saw Mill River Road, Hawthorne, New York.

For more information, please contact Fran Porcaro,
assistant executive director, educational services,
914.347.3227, fporcaro@westchesterarc.org.

Click here to view brochure (English) (pdf)

Click here to view brochure (Spanish) (pdf)

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