Our Philosophy

The Community Roots School combines the best of traditional, Reggio Emilia and Montessori education in a unique school program that is as fun for children as it is educational and supportive. We prepare children for success in Kindergarten and beyond while nurturing their physical, social, emotional, linguistic, intellectual and cultural learning.

Our goal is to open up young minds to the creative, ever changing and amazing world that we live in. Our philosophy is to teach young individuals how to be empathetic, independent, contributing members of society through real life experiences. Rather than using traditional classroom methods, we feel it is extremely important to use our community as an active learning tool, to foster these skills. A core part of any preschool curriculum is learning about the community in which we live. We feel there is no better way to achieve this, than by actually getting out there and experiencing it first-hand. Our program visits local businesses, municipal buildings, works with local college students, engages in community service and utilizes the various art venues and parks available in Saratoga Springs.

Another very important piece to our philosophy is imaginative play. Imaginative play is how children use their knowledge of the world around them to express themselves. This form of free and uninterrupted play helps to reinforce this knowledge. Our program believes in giving children the adequate time they need to fully carry out this very important learning process. Children are given free uninterrupted play each day, and many times throughout the day. We have free play each morning. We also make sure we get outside, into nature each day and allow children to explore in their natural surroundings.

We feel it is very important to make children in the early childhood years excited about learning. If you are able to pique a child’s interest during these years, it can only grow and flourish as they get older. At Community Roots School, we believe it is important to bring academics into the early childhood classroom through authentic understanding of a concept and memorable experiences, while being fully prepared for Kindergarten and New York State Common Core.