Information for Parents
New Hope Early Learning Center is a licensed family child care center serving up to 48 children, from infants (birth to 1 year old) and toddlers (1 year old and 2 years old) to pre-K (3 to 5 years old). We are currently accepting enrollment applications for children across all those age groups.
New Hope offers full-day care, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00am—5:30pm.
Our Philosophy
New Hope Early Learning Center is committed to whole-child development and individualized care. We believe that children are inherently competent and that the best way to help children discover this competency is through intentional playful learning experiences that
Are informed by each child’s specific developmental path
Allow plenty of time for self-directed play
Encourage children to use all of their senses to explore new materials and situations
Engage children with high-quality, healthy, carefully selected materials both indoors and out
Place a premium on process-based art and experimentation
Emphasize intentional interactions with the natural world
Actively encourage curiosity and discovery
We believe that every child deserves to feel safe, feel seen, and feel respected.
Meals
New Hope provides breakfast, lunch, and a healthy snack at no additional cost. Our nutritional coordinator prepares fresh, nutritious meals on-site daily, while also providing families with wrap-around food supports as needed. We provide formula for infants up to 13 months old and support breastfeeding families. Our food curriculum follows The Ellyn Satter Institute's research-based approach to intuitive eating and feeding.
Learning Environment
New Hope follows all Indiana child care center licensing regulations, including Safe Sleep, sanitization practices, background checks, CPR/First Aid, drug screenings and on-going teacher education and training.
New Hope is a screen-free learning environment, featuring high-quality, battery-free learning materials. We promote natural gross motor development.
Our staff use a continuity of care approach. This means that students stay in the infant/toddler program of eight to ten children until around 35 months old, and then gently transition into the Pre-K program, where up to 20 three-to-five-year-olds play and learn together until kindergarten. Our consistent, highly qualified teaching team is predictably present, allowing for deep and meaningful relationships to blossom through primary caregiving practices.
“We’ve been waiting for you to come to this place...Wherever you’re from, we’re so glad you’ve come...” -Tom Hunter
Our Curriculum
New Hope's emergent, play-based curriculum is a reflection of our students, their interests, and their unique developmental stages. Highly qualified teachers foster exploration, discovery, creativity, and curiosity through purposeful modifications to the learning environment, language-rich interactions, and responsive caregiving routines. Our unique Plot-to-Tot curriculum framework integrates developmentally appropriate Indiana academic, social, emotional, and motor learning standards with hands-on gardening and cooking experiences. Our students enjoy large blocks of open-ended time to play, create, read, sing and climb both indoors and outside on our outdoor classrooms, at our community garden plot, and on the B-Line Trail.
“Play is the work of childhood.” -Jean Piaget
Enrollment
New Hope welcomes children of all income levels and prioritizes enrollment for children impacted by homelessness in a mixed-income cohort. We accept out-of-pocket payments, Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) voucher subsidies, and On My Way Pre-K subsidies. You can apply online for On My Way Pre-K or CCDF child care assistance programs.
Families of all income levels are encouraged to apply for enrollment.
To discuss enrolling your child(ren), please use our child care waitlist form. If you are interested in a tour of our facility, please contact us.
Contact New Hope Early Learning Center
Director Becky Warthan
Email: becky@newhope4families.org
Phone: 812-334-9840