Pearson Early Learning Center

The Pearson Early Learning Center Advisory Council (PELCAC) is made up of parents, staff members and community members. The Parent Advisory Council is a great way to give back to our district's early childhood programs, families and the community. 

The Advisory Council works to support early childhood programs and services for families. The Council addresses policy, program fees, program services, and parents’ perspectives on ways to improve quality and accessibility.

The Council has been involved in organizing and sponsoring the Kids Stuff Sale, Community Baby Fair, Open Houses, Pearson Early Learning Center Diaper Bank, Rally Day at the Capitol and Week of the Young Child. 

Fundraising for the early childhood programs and families who participate in the district early childhood programs is the responsibility of the Council. In the past, the Council raised money for the playground, shared equipment and center-wide embedded curriculum.

The Council serves as a liaison to inform other parents, legislators and community members about early education, school district issues and other community concerns that affect children and families.

The Council meetings are held at the Pearson Early Learning Center. Meeting times are determined by the members each year. For more information, contact the Pearson Administrator. 

Stepping Stones Preschool uses Teaching Strategies GOLD for assessment of student development and learning. TS GOLD is an MDE, Parent-Aware approved assessment tool. Assessment information is shared with parents during parent/teacher conferences and at other times by parent/guardian request.

TS GOLD is an authentic assessment tool, meaning that assessment is done in “real” time and through observations of students and is not meant to be a stand-alone “test” of student achievement. TS GOLD provides teachers with the information they need to ensure the learning activities they are creating meet the students’ learning needs. 

Regular attendance is expected as it allows your child to get the most out of the class. However, we know that emergencies come up.

Please call the attendance line when your child will be absent from class. State the child’s name, date of absence and return date, reason for the absence, parent/ guardian name and contact phone number.

If your child attends YMCA Extended Care programming, please contact them as well. If your family is planning an extended absence or withdrawing from the program, please notify the office. 

Behavior Expectations: Staff

All of the staff are trained in positive behavior intervention support. We believe that positive reinforcement, encouragement, offering of choices, redirection, limit settings and joint problem solving are the most effective tools of discipline. 

Staff will:  

• Establish behavior expectations in a positive manner.  

• Make adjustments to the classroom to accommodate the unique needs of each child.

• Teach, practice, model and reinforce the behavior expectation matrix throughout the building.

• Communicate with parents via newsletters, phone, email and the Seesaw app. 

• Staff will follow the appropriate steps in response to harmful or inappropriate behavior (see In the case of harmful/inappropriate behavior appendix).  

Behavior Expectations: Parents/Guardians

The partnership between parents/guardians and program staff is fundamental to children’s current and future success and readiness for school. When parents/guardians and professionals work together as a team, children do better. While our staff  have expertise in working with young children and child development, you are the expert on your own child. We encourage you to share your observations and ideas in order to create a positive behavioral plan that will best support your child while in school and at home.  We are here to support you.

Parents/Guardians will: 

• Call the attendance line any time your child will be absent.

• Avoid absences for reasons other than illness. 

• Keep your preschooler home when sick.  

• Arrive on time for school drop off and pick up.  

• Please communicate appropriately and respectfully with teachers, assistants, administrative staff, other school personnel and other program parents/guardians. 

Behavior Expectations: Children

It is our goal to promote a positive approach to all children and the management of behavior issues to create a safe learning environment. 

• Building wide we use a school-wide behavior expectation matrix (see above) while also using tools and strategies to promote a positive learning experience.  

• We proactively teach preventative behavior measures throughout the building using the Solution Toolkit from our Pyramid Model that promotes social and emotional awareness and problem solving.

Challenging Behaviors

Sometimes a child may exhibit challenging behaviors in a group setting.  We define challenging behaviors as an action that is harmful to self or others, is persistent, disruptive or destructive and interferes with the child’s and/or peer’s learning or safety.

Behavior Considered Harmful and/or Inappropriate 

• Behavior which threatens a person’s right to be safe.  

• Any form of aggression including verbal, physical, or lack of self-control

• Inappropriate touching of a person’s body or belongings.  

• Inappropriate gestures.  

• Bullying or bullying-like behavior (See bullying policy link below)

• Leaving the group or program area without staff permission.  

• Complete disregard for building-wide or classroom expectations.

• Behavior which intentionally causes destruction of property and physical or verbal harm to others. 

If a child shows challenging behaviors in the classroom, we will use the following steps:

1. Inform and communicate any inappropriate behavior to the parents/guardians.

2. Work with parents/guardians and staff to develop a positive behavior plan.

3. If the behavior warrants, the building’s Behavior and Crisis Response Team will be consulted. 

4. If the interventions created and implemented are not working for the child, we will refer to other supports such as Early Childhood Special Education or mental health resources.

5. In rare cases, the child may be removed from the program.

Separation anxiety is a normal and natural experience for children and parents. To help children through separation, it’s helpful to: 

• Believe in your child’s ability to separate from you. 
• Let your child see where you will be when you are gone. 
• Talk about the feelings he/she/they is having. Reassure your child that fear, sadness, anger or loneliness are normal and predict a happy outcome. 
• Always tell your child that you are leaving and that you will be back. 
• Be consistent, once you say that you are leaving do not linger and do not attempt to “peek" through windows and doors. 
• Allow your child to bring a comfort item to stay in their backpack.

Pearson Early Learning Center Core Values 

• We believe in educating and supporting the whole family. 

• We believe students learn best through personalized approaches where student choice and differentiation are integral parts of learning. 

• We believe in equitable learning experiences, defined by the characteristics of the children and families we serve. 

• We believe in working collaboratively within and across our school community to support the development of the whole child. 

• We believe setting high expectations for all will ensure students can achieve and reach their full potential. 

• We believe students will succeed when we establish and maintain relationships of respect, trust, confidentiality, collaboration, and cooperation with families, colleagues and community partners. 

Pearson Early Learning Center Early Childhood Philosophy 

Shakopee Public Schools early childhood programs are committed to provide: 

• A learning experience for all young children in a developmentally appropriate and nurturing environment taught by early childhood specialists. 

• Curriculum that is research based, literacy focused, and developmentally appropriate. 

• Classes that are taught by licensed early childhood specialists. The staff uses a collaborative approach to provide a consistent, nurturing and positive classroom environment. 

• An opportunity for every child to develop independence to be successful in school with respect to individual and cultural differences. 

• Staff who collaborate, recognize and foster family involvement in each child’s learning.  

All of our classrooms are literacy rich and use curriculum aligned to the Shakopee Public School’s core curriculum and the Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress, which are  the state of Minnesota’s Early Learning Standards.

This literacy-rich curriculum employs evidence-based instructional practices that address all domains necessary to ensure the needs of the whole child are addressed.

Each class uses a specific book as its theme for one to two weeks. Each day, the same book is presented and read in a different way. By the end of the unit, many children may be able to “read” or tell you the story.

Activities are purposefully designed to relate to the concepts from the book and provide many learning opportunities for children. Each teacher sends information on the unit activities that are planned.

All preschool classrooms have bi-weekly access to the Pearson STEAM Lab. Each month, science, technology, engineering, art and math skills are used in a fun and engaging themed curriculum. 

Due to allergies, socioeconomic status and nutritional concerns, we ask that families refrain from bringing in treats on their child’s birthday; however we also recognize that birthdays are very special events for most students.

Please consult with your child’s teacher.  If you choose to celebrate a child’s birthday with their class, please do not bring food items. Alternative choices could be pencils, stickers, etc. 

Connect & Celebrate days are scheduled two days prior to the start of school for elementary students each year.  Connect & Celebrate is an opportunity for our teachers to meet and connect with each student in their class and conduct a short assessment with each child to best meet their needs. The link for families is sent via email to each family at the end of August.  

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Parent/Guardian -Teacher conferences are scheduled throughout the school year. Dates and times for each school are posted on the district calendar. Additional conferences may be scheduled whenever a parent/guardian or teacher feels it is necessary. Please contact the teacher to arrange for before/after school or Google Meet appointments.

Children should come to school dressed for play. We encourage students to wear tennis shoes, no flip flops or sandals please. Students will be painting, gluing, running, jumping, etc. We will be as careful as we can, but accidents can and do happen.

Students go outside unless the wind chill is below the district guidelines. Rain and snow gear should be worn to school when the weather is inclement. Please be sure to label boots, hats, mittens, coats, etc. with your child’s name.

Shoes must be worn at all times for health and safety reasons.

Please refer to Policy 504 for Student Dress and Appearance for additional details.

The large playground located at Pearson is rated for children ages 5-12. This playground will not be used by programs at Pearson.

The small playground inside the fenced area is suitable for the ages of our students and is the playground we will use at Pearson.

If you wish to access any of the playgrounds or green spaces at Pearson, please note that these are only accessible when there is not a class in those areas and that parent/guardian supervision is required. Please do not leave children unattended. 

Preschool students are required to be independently toilet trained before their first day of class. 

We understand that accidents do sometimes occur. It is very helpful to have extra sets of clothing in your child’s backpack or locker. When accidents occur, children will be guided by staff to change their clothing independently. Toilet training resources are available at the main office upon request.  Accommodations are made for our students with identified special needs. 

Please note: If a child requires a pull-up or diaper to attend class, it is an indication they may not be independently toilet trained.

Children will have a snack each day provided by our cafeteria. Our classrooms are a peanut-aware environment and classrooms of students with known peanut allergies are peanut-free. We encourage nutritious snacks. 

YMCA Extended Care 

Extended day childcare is available for students adjacent to their school day from 7-9am, 11:30am-3pm, and 3-5:30pm. Students can only attend sessions for which they have pre-registered. 

Extended Care Arrival 7 Dismissal of Students 

Starting before 9am or ending after 3pm, children should be dropped off and picked up through Door A.  Families must park in legal parking spaces and must obey all traffic and parking signs. 

All transitions between extended care spaces and children’s preschool classrooms will be supervised by extended day or Stepping Stones staff. 

Extended Care Contact Information

The phone number for extended care is 952.496.5881. Parents/guardians are responsible for contacting extended day staff if their child will miss a session for which they are registered (e.g. student is sick). 

Extended Care Registration

Registration for extended care is required two weeks prior to the student’s first day of attendance. Payment is due by the 1st of each month. 

Full-day care is available on some school release days when preschool is not in session. Students must be registered two weeks prior to the date needing care. For school release days, payment is due at the time of registration. 

Extended Care - Changes to Contract

Changes or cancellations to your extended care contract must be submitted in writing two weeks prior to the first of the month being changed or canceled. After that date, you are responsible for payment for all days for which you are contracted. Registration for extended care is done at the District Office. 

Extended Care Snacks & Meals

Students enrolled in before care (7-9am) will have breakfast included with their tuition.

Lunch is included in the tuition for midday care (11:30am-3pm), and an afternoon snack is included for after care (3-5:30pm).

Breakfast and lunch will follow a food service menu developed for Pearson Early Learning Center.