The Alcott School was founded by two professional educators, Arlene Donegan and Kathleen Rohrs, in September of 1968. During its forty years of serving children ages 2 – 6, the school has grown and is now housed in three main locations. From modest beginnings at the Bryn Mawr Park Presbyterian Church in Yonkers, to the current locations in Scarsdale, Yonkers, and Dobbs Ferry, New York, the Alcott School has given thousands of the community’s children a quality start. Truly a pioneer in the field – as it was not yet fashionable to put one’s child in a preschool program in the 1960’s – the Alcott School understood and acted on the importance of such issues as “school readiness” and developmental appropriateness in education.
The Alcott School is a not for profit corporation, chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. Approximately 750 children and their families benefit from the classes and services provided by the Alcott School each year. The school awards scholarships to families with economic need, offering them access to a high quality early childhood experience and parent training services they would not have otherwise been able to afford.
Alcott School presently offers the following programs to preschoolers in the lower Westchester County:
- A Montessori-based preschool program for children between the ages of 2-6 years.
- Small special education classes, “The Little Class” and Early Intervention Programs for children between the ages of 2-4 who have learning differences which prevent them from participating in a larger mainstream classroom.
- A special education itinerant teacher (SEIT) program in which Alcott School sends special education teachers into the community where they work with children who need additional educational support to be successful in their preschool or day care center.
- Inclusive education classes in a Montessori or public school classroom taught by a special education teacher and a preschool teacher for children who need significant support to learn in a mainstream setting.
- Related services provided in the Montessori classrooms for children who need speech therapy, occupational therapy or counseling.
