Consistent Teachers Support Children’s Development at The Academy for GOD Preschool

Mrs. Amanda helped found the original G.O.D. Parent's Day Out Program, and has been the program's lead educator and PreK teacher for 10+ years

According to the Harvard Center for the Developing Child, the social environment of a child is the first and most significant influence on a young child. This truth is self-evident to any parent or preschool teacher, and it’s sourced in God’s word. In Genesis, we learn that it’s not good for man to be alone, and God solves this problem by creating the family unit (Genesis 1:28, 2:18). Strong families are essential to healthy communities. So what happens when the parents in that family unit are working, and need to be away from their kids?

Our staff at the start of the Fall 2023 school year - our kids still know and love all of them!

After parents, early childhood educators may be the adults children see most. This means that preschool teachers play a foundational role in children’s holistic development, and are significant figures in a child’s social environment.

Consistent teaching staff is a key value at The Academy for GOD Preschool. Our lead teachers stay with their class for a full school year, ensuring children feel welcomed and safe every day. Teachers also feel more connected to their class, and can better communicate children’s developmental progress to parents throughout the year.

We have a low teacher turnover rate, with 100% staff retention for the 23-24 year! This is a rarity for the industry, as teacher turnover rates in early childhood programs are usually 30%, resulting in disrupted classrooms and often destabilized children. These rates have only increased following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miss Natalie has been teaching in our program for over 10 years!

Of our team of 8 educators and administrators, four have worked with our program for 10+ years, and two more for 2+. These consistent staff are then able to develop fellow coworkers in the expertise they’ve gained in the field, resulting in a positive work environment for staff as well as a stable social environment for our students. We look forward to continuing to change the early childhood education field one consistent, expert, loving teacher at a time!

Harvard Center for the Developing Child source:

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/place-matters-what-surrounds-us-shapes-us/ 

UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute source:

https://fpg.unc.edu/news/investigating-teaching-staff-turnover-early-childhood-education#:~:text=It%20is%20notable%20that%20even,little%20more%20than%20two%20years.