HARBOR CITY SCHOOL INCORPORATED

Harbor City School (HCS) is a non-profit, independent preschool located in the heart of East Boston. Created by a small group of dedicated local moms in 2010, HCS aims to provide a year round nurturing and stimulating environment for up to 35 children aged 2.9 to 6 years old. While traditional preschools are only half day, HCS also offers a full day option in order to suit the needs of full time working families in our community. For families who wish to actively participate in their child’s preschool experience, we are also a cooperative school, with co-op responsibilities for families both in and out of the classroom. Families have the option to not participate in the classroom co-op portion of our school, but instead pay a monthly non-participation fee. HCS does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, cultural heritage, national origin, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, family structure or toilet training status. Harbor City School is excited to celebrate the diversity that is evident in our local neighborhoods. While we are still considered a part of the greater city of Boston, we are separated by the Boston Harbor and are fortunate to have vast green spaces just outside our doors with playgrounds, sprinkler parks, bike paths and community gardens, all the while just a T stop away from being in downtown Boston. HCS celebrates the diversity of our families served and by making connections between families, we make connections to the community at large that continue well beyond the preschool years. HCS staff believe in providing a nurturing, safe and educationally appropriate environment for all our children. We use a child-centered, play-based curriculum and follow the developmental model of education, encouraging academic and social growth through exploration, cooperative problem solving and critical thinking. Children develop social and educational relationships with supportive adults. Activities are age appropriate and with positive and consistent guidance, designed to foster the cognitive, emotional, social and physical development of all children while still meeting the individual needs to children within the group. When planning classroom curriculum teachers use the Massachusetts state frameworks as a guide.