ABOUT SOMERSET ACADEMY

Somerset Academy for Young Children was founded in 1982 as Somerset School in Troy, Michigan. Sandra McClurg, the founder of Somerset Academy, was a Specialist in Early Childhood Education at Oakland University and is still involved in the school. Somerset Academy is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), as well as licensed by the state of Michigan.

The mission of Somerset Academy is to provide quality education for children, ages 2 ½ to 6, in which each child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical potential is fully met through developmentally appropriate practices. We continuously seek opportunity, knowledge and support in order to succeed in our mission. This mission will offer children the skills needed to thrive in today’s world and the world of tomorrow.

The vision of Somerset Academy is to be an innovative, continually evolving educational environment providing young children the opportunity to reach their full potential. This is for the lifelong benefit of the children, their families, communities and society.

• Distinguishing characteristics of Somerset Academy are the low child/teacher ratio and individualized developmental curriculum. In addition, all of the teachers have degrees in early childhood education or related fields, and participate in ongoing education and development.

• Our curriculum implements the Early Childhood Standards for Prekindergarten as established by the State of Michigan Department of Education in order for children to develop social-emotional, cognitive, creative, language and literacy, math, science, social studies, physical/health and technology skills.

• We follow Dr. Becky Bailey's approach to discipline. This approach, known as Conscious Discipline, focuses on the concept of a school family. Each member of the school family learns the skills needed to successfully manage life tasks such as learning, forming relationships, communicating effectively and getting along with others. For more information on Conscious Discipline, please visit www.beckybailey.com.

• Children do not need to be toilet trained to be in the preschool program since toileting is one of the developmental parts of the program.

• Parents can choose the schedule for the child that works best for them and this can be a combination of morning and afternoon sessions.

• Parental involvement and participation is welcome. Communication with parents and parent education is accomplished through weekly email updates, monthly newsletters, parent orientations, parent education programs, parent discussion groups, twice yearly conferences, parent information boards and ongoing informal communication with parents.

Somerset Academy is located in Troy, Michigan and has preschool, prekindergarten, and young 5's programs. The preschool program is for children aged 2 ½ to 4 years of age, the prekindergarten program is for children 4 to 6 years of age, and the young 5's program is for children who will be 5 years of age by December 1st.