About

fours building toys

Wilma’s Little People’s School, located on the beautiful riverfront campus of Jacksonville University, has been equipping young minds with the tools necessary for a lifetime of learning since 1973.

Mission Statement

It is Wilma’s Little People’s School mission that each child has the right to a developmentally appropriate education. We believe that young children should have a relaxed and nurturing environment that is developmentally structured to meet their needs. This should include carefully planned experiences in the following areas: Movement, communication, music, art, mathematics, the world around us, health/safety/nutrition, and living in the world of people.

We also believe that kindness and respect for others should be taught early, along with acceptable habits and manners.

Curriculum

The WLPS curriculum is a developmentally based approach that guides teachers in planning learning experiences to meet the needs of the whole child. It encourages child-centered, active/hands-on, experimental, challenging and authentic activities in each content area according to the individual needs, maturity level and capabilities of each child.

We believe a meaningful way to teach content is to use units of study built on children’s interests and knowledge. Children explore materials in a variety of interest areas, eg. blocks, cooking, dramatic play, books, art, singing, dancing, playing inside and outside, reading, writing, sand, water, manipulatives, nature walks, gardening, etc., throughout the unit study. Portfolios are continually assembled and assessments are ongoing as teachers observe each child’s growth and progress as it relates to the curriculum.

Our Rules and Policies

Enrollment Policy

Your child is expected to attend for the entire school year (September –May) for which he or she is enrolled.  It is possible to increase the days per week but not to decrease them.  This assures that we have a known minimum budget for operating expenses.

Traffic Safety

Please hold your child’s hand at ALL TIMES while in the parking lot.  Despite our best efforts the occasional car will speed through.  We must remain alert to any possible hazard.

Illness

We know that you do not send your child to school with a fever or contagious condition.  If he or she becomes ill after reaching school we will see that he/she is as comfortable as possible while we call emergency numbers you provided so you may take him/her home.

Snacks

We will provide our nutritious snacks, which do not include sugar, salts, or dyes.  (This includes the type of refreshments for children, parents, and teachers at functions such as school parties.)  Please see that you child does not bring candy, chewing gum, etc., to school.

Sharing

We are pleased for you child to share his/her favorite things at school.  However, we do not feel aggressive play that results from the use of “war” type toys is productive.  If you child has these toys, we ask that you not permit him/her to bring them to school.

Also, we do not feel that a child needs to bring something to share each day.  We will often ask the children to bring specific things related to the unit theme being studied or we will assign them special days to share.

Discipline

We believe that discipline for young children should be developmentally appropriate.  No corporal punishment is ever used.  No treatment or words are ever used which would lower children’s dignity or interfere with the development of healthy self-concepts.

The younger children are disciplined by removal from a negative situation (by distracting them or by physically moving them to another area).  All older children are reasoned with and given instructions in a simple and effective way.  Frankly, discipline is seldom a problem at Wilma’s Little People School.