The Early Education Center is the home of SPICE (our special education preschool program serving ages 3-5 years), Small Wonders (our daycare program serving children 6 weeks – 5 years), and a Syracuse City Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) collaboration.

The SPICE program provides services to 48 preschoolers with a wide range of disabilities in a 5-hour, full day program Monday-Friday.  The SPICE program operates six inclusive preschool classrooms for children ages 3-5 years, two of which are Syracuse City Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) classrooms.  Each classroom has a 8:1:3 staffing ratio, meaning that for every eight children with special needs, there is one special education teacher and three teaching assistants (TAs), in addition to a daycare teacher.  Often there are additional adults serving as 1:1 aides for students with more intensive needs.  Each child is given the support they need to learn and grow in an inclusive setting.

Onsite support staff providing services to students in the SPICE program include: speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapist, play therapist, and social worker.  In addition, a number of students receive Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) programming under the direction and supervision of a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). 

Inclusion for the six preschool classrooms is achieved by enrolling typical children through the Small Wonders Daycare or Syracuse City UPK program.  In addition to 36 preschoolers, Small Wonders provides care for 8 infants (6 weeks – 18 months) and 10 toddlers (18-36 months).  Small Wonders Daycare is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. year round.  The UPK program hours are 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., while the SPICE program is in operation from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.; both UPK and SPICE are open in accordance with the Syracuse City School District calendar.  Students enrolled in the SPICE program may also be eligible to attend a 6-week summer school session.

For additional information, please contact:
SPICE program: Michelle Hendricks, Director
ABA Programming at SPICE: Caron Inglis, BCBA
Small Wonders Daycare and UPK: Deborah Maselli, Assistant Director

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