Overview of School Programs

The Lucy Daniels Center is home to a vibrant community of teachers and their students, ages 2 – 6, who are enrolled in one of our three early childhood education programs.  

We offer preschool, transitional kindergarten, and kindergarten services through two eleven-month, part-day programs, the Child Enrichment Program and the Early Intervention Program. We also offer First Friends, a social skills development program that meets in eight-week sessions throughout the year. In keeping with our mission of helping children live emotionally healthy lives, each program serves a distinct group of children who may benefit from our expertise in education and early childhood social and emotional development.

  • The Childhood Enrichment Program (CEP) serves children ages 2 – 5 who will benefit from just “a little extra help” with their social development in order to be successful in school. In our preschool and transitional kindergarten classrooms, experienced early childhood educators offer the supportive and nurturing school environment children need to grow beyond challenges such as excessive shyness, resistance to separating from parents, difficulty making friends, and challenges in transitioning or adjusting to routines. Enhanced parent support provides families with additional strategies for helping their children adjust to school routines and more successful interaction with peers.
  • The Early Intervention Program (EIP) serves children ages 3 – 6 whose emotional development is at-risk and who need a more concentrated focus on their social and emotional development. The EIP offers intensive individualized help for children and their parents. Working in our preschool and kindergarten classrooms, highly trained educators and mental health professionals oversee a comprehensive therapeutic program that addresses each family’s strengths and needs, enabling children and parents to develop deeper communication and relationships as the basis of positive change in emotions and behavior. Partnerships with parents grow out of daily parent-teacher discussions and weekly guidance sessions with a parent therapist.
  • Our social skills development program, First Friends, is designed for children ages 3 – 5 ½ who are experiencing success in their current preschool or kindergarten setting but who may benefit from some specialized assistance in building self-confidence to overcome shyness, learning to share or play cooperatively with peers, and respecting the personal space or bodies of peers. This activity-based program with rich feedback for parents will meet twice a week for an eight-week session.

Staff members are happy to assist parents who may have questions about which of our programs is best-suited to meet their child’s needs. For more information about any of these programs, or to schedule a one-on-one meeting at the Center, please call 919.677.1400.

The Lucy Daniels Center is an NAEYC-accredited, 5-star Center licensed by the North Carolina Division of Child Development, Department of Health and Human Services. Our teachers are highly qualified early childhood educators committed to creating a nurturing and supportive environment for their students.