Excel Program
The “Excel” After school program was solely initiated to help and assist students to build confidence, develop study and social skills while providing guidance with learning, challenge their abilities and inspire students to achieve great things. These principles formed our mission which is to build, develop, challenge, assist and inspire.
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
H.E.L.P has partnered up with EFNEP to help limited-resource families and youth improve their eating behaviors and contributes to other personal development skills through behaviorally focused nutrition education. The program is administered by Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension, and is supported by USDA’s National Insitute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Smith-Lever funds.
Pre-school Program
Our program is based on early childhood foundations and it introduces language, math, science and social skills in a logical, natural sequence to encourage learning one step at a time. Our teachers also provide plenty of individual attention to support your child’s unique needs and interests.
Special Needs Program
Special Needs Program is designed to be a pro-active program where normal developmental philosophy and day to day activities are utilized to further services that promote a high quality of life improvement. A key principle of Special Needs is its focus on growth and independence for each person it serves. The key element of this program is to bring “real world” experiences to these children within a structured, safe and comfortable environment. Special Needs is committed to helping each individual achieve his or her maximum level of independent functioning and become a full member of their community. Our key objective is to teach students life skills in a monitored setting at a very young age which will develop their independence, confidence ad self worth. Therefore, making their transition to the real world more productive and less stressful.
Kindergarten Program
Kindergarten is an extension of our pre-school program. It is an important time for your child. We primarily focus that your child learns how to socialize with other children and how it affects their academic experience moving forward.
Summer Program
The summer program is dedicated to provide children with a fulfilling summer. The program’s curriculum and activities are structured to enhance the reading, writing and language skills of our students. Our discipline structure is focused on building independent students who will develop into leaders.
MASTER GARDENING PROGRAM
In conjunction with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, we were able to be the first facility to introduce the Master Gardening program to our students in the Irvington area. In this program our students plant, cultivate, and harvest our garden every year. Our garden is devoted to introducing new experiences to our students as well as implementing science at an early age. This same garden that is cultivated and tended to by students, teachers and parent volunteers, grow produce used directly in our lunch program during the course of the year. This experience allows the children to experience the growth process of planting a seed and its resources. The garden is host to various vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, squash, and cabbage. The chef then uses the produce at the end of the program and some of the harvest is sent home with the children.
