Frog & Toad Essex Junction
Child-Centered Environments
About Us
Your Child Is in Great Hands
Philosophy
At Frog & Toad our philosophy is that each child is an individual, with individual needs, preferences, feelings, and learning styles. Likewise, we believe that each family has its own uniqueness. Our school is designed to provide outstanding care to all children and families. We do this by altering our teaching styles to reach each child, by communicating with families about their child and family each and every day, by fully understanding early childhood development, and by genuinely caring about the success of each individual and family with whom we work.
Health & Safety
We value the health and safety of all our students and staff at Frog & Toad. During this time especially, we have adopted the strict guidelines set forth by the State of Vermont Department of Health in order to ensure that our students and staff are well-protected.
The uniqueness of each child and family is especially evident during times of crisis (such as a pandemic), but our mission remains the same. We will work diligently to ensure the success of each child and family. We recognize that success can take many forms, and during challenging times, our focus will be on the mental and physical health and well-being of each child and family in our care.
Curriculum & Assessment
Every child is on their own unique developmental journey. At Frog&Toad Child Care&Learning Center, LLC we support that individual journey by consistently developing curriculum that is appropriately challenging, based in developmental standards, and of the children's interests.
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The Vermont Early Learning Standards provide the framework for our teachers to develop the most well-rounded educational experience possible for our students. Additionally, teachers develop curriculum utilizing their own unique teaching expertise, the interest of their students, and the Creative Curriculum platform.
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Creative Curriculum is a series of curriculums designed by Teaching Strategies that are specifically meant to meet the educational needs of children at all stages of their development. Teachers can use as much or as little of the platform as they like. They can also alter activities to better suit the students in their classroom.
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Additionally, the teachers of Frog&Toad perform regular assessments on the learning and growth advancements of all of our students. This is done by performing the ASQ (an assessment tool that many families complete at their child's pediatrician visits) twice each year as well as the Checkpoints Assessment through Teaching Strategies Gold (this is an assessment focused on educational milestones, and is in alignment with the Vermont Agency of Education requirements).
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Both the Creative Curriculum platform, and the Teaching Strategies Gold assessments "talk" to one another; which streamlines our curriculum, assessment, and portfolio process. In short, communicating effectively with families about the growth and development of their child is thorough and comprehensive.
Frog&Toad values it's teachers!
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At Frog&Toad we take the time to honor our staff in a multitude of different ways, but one of our favorite methods is to give them some public recognition for their efforts and dedication to the field of Early Care and Education! Here, as well as in our programs, you will see prominent displays of the Teacher of the Month as well as the Honorable Mentions. ​​
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For November Frog&Toad is honoring the Program Directors at both of our locations for Teacher of the Month! Erin (Program Director of the Burlington location) has been with Frog&Toad since 2003. Riley (Program Director of the Essex location) has been with Frog&Toad since 2012.
Both of these exceptional women began their careers with us as classroom teachers. Before becoming a Program Director, Erin found that she shone brightest as a teacher in the preschool age group. Riley began with us as an infant teacher, and then found her calling as a mobile infant teacher before stepping into the Program Director position.
Being the Program Director for an Early Education Program such as Frog&Toad requires a great deal of planning, practice, patience, and perseverance. There are regulations to memorize and enforce, support program requirements to juggle, parent preferences to balance, teacher needs to meet, child development milestones to track, curriculum to monitor, dishes, laundry, sweeping, mopping, meal prep, fixing broken things, calling maintenance providers when there is a problem, IEP meetings, policy development, organizing special events for children and families, planning special celebrations of our beloved staff, deadlines to meet, and of course much needed time in classrooms with children!
Erin and Riley tackle all of these things with a positive outlook, a smile, a soft heart, and a genuine love for the work of Early Education. Their staff are always commenting about how supported they feel, how involved they are in each of the classroom, and how dedicated to the success of Frog&Toad they see them being. Additionally, our clients report that Erin and Riley are wonderful to work with, always support their family, can be counted on for appropriate guidance and direction when outside supports are needed, and are always a source of positivity and encouragement.
Frog&Toad is truly honored to have both Erin and Riley in their leadership positions. Their commitment to the field, to their school communities, and to Frog&Toad's practices are a large part of why our schools are regarded as pillars in their respective communities. As if their work in the field, and genuine adoration for childhood weren't enough, both Erin and Riley are truly humble leaders. They are quick to site others when the program experiences a success, and even quicker to take responsibility when a correction is needing to be made for the program.
November is often associated with feelings of gratitude. Frog&Toad has the utmost respect for these two fantastic women, and we are all so grateful for the countless ways that they serve children, families, and the field of Early Education. This month we hope that you will join us in celebrating their contributions to Frog&Toad and the field of Early Education by extending to them your words of thanks as well!
