Universal PreK

Universal PreK

Bedford Stuyvesant Early Childhood Development Center (BSECDC) is a contracted provider of Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) services. Our aim is to deliver a high-quality, standards-based instructional program that is suitable for prekindergarten children. The program integrates various curriculum areas such as arts, social studies, literacy, science, social-emotional education, physical education, and mathematics. Funding for our UPK programs comes from the New York City Department of Education 

Our UPK program has a vision of ensuring that all children develop the essential foundations for lifelong learning, self-confidence, creativity, and social-emotional development. We utilize the Creative Curriculum/Teaching Strategies Gold, aligned with the Common Core State Standards, to provide a multi-sensory and multi-cultural approach. This approach maximizes learning opportunities and facilitates the acquisition of age-appropriate cognitive, linguistic, motor, social-emotional, and self-help skills.

Our teaching and learning philosophy is centered around developmentally appropriate practices, focusing on the holistic development of each child. We provide concrete and stimulating experiences within a meaningful context, addressing cognitive, social, physical, emotional, cultural, and creative areas of development. Instructional strategies are implemented through an open classroom design, with student-directed and self-correcting activities. Our program also emphasizes concept-based instruction in all subjects and incorporates a holistic approach to emergent literacy, creating a literature-rich environment through learning centers.

At BSECDC, we are committed to accommodating the specific needs of each child on an individualized basis. We use a collaborative approach to address these needs, adapting or expanding activities and materials when necessary. We provide various instructional groupings such as small groups, cooperative learning, peer partnerships, one-to-one instruction, or independent tasks to support both advanced and struggling students. For linguistically diverse learners, we utilize teaching strategies such as concrete examples, sequencing of learning tasks, repeated practice, shaping of responses, verbal prompts, and additional communication systems. For students with disabilities, we modify instructional materials and provide physically adapted instruction or play materials to facilitate their participation.

Our teachers foster oral language development and collaborative problem-solving by encouraging students to share their ideas, background knowledge, and experiences. We create a nurturing and accepting environment where students can comfortably practice language without judgment. We promote on-topic student-to-student discussions, collaborations, and extended contextualized conversations in small groups.

All our UPK programs offer the following features:

To enroll your child, please visit or contact a nearby Bedford Stuyvesant Early Childhood Development Center.

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Bedford Stuyvesant Early Childhood Development Center

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