Community Preschool
Maricopa Unified School district offers a full-day program at all elementary locations and a half-day program at Butterfield Elementary School.
Community Preschool provides a rich standards-based curriculum that aligns with the Arizona Early Learning Standards. During the school day, children have open-ended opportunities to explore and discover using a variety of learning approaches. This is taught through dramatic play, science discovery, art, music, drama, literacy, and physical development. Teachers use their knowledge of child development to embed skills-based activities using researched-based curriculum in literacy and math. Children who participate in Community Preschool will learn to develop skills to play and work independently and socialize to make friends. Children who feel like they are part of a group are more likely to become confident learners.
At school, students learn to express thoughts, listen respectfully, and work as a group to solve problems and evaluate solutions. Through this practice, students have the opportunity to recognize different emotions and feelings of their classmates. Group problem-solving, puppets, children’s literature, role-play and free play are some of the ways teachers help children to become confident learners. When children learn to work together and respect differences and similarities, they develop the necessary social skills which are the building blocks for collaboration. Preschool is where the passion for learning begins to grow.