CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/35097
Meeting needs | From left to right, Ronda Holden, Amreeta Singh, LaKeisha Johnson, and Mackenzie Thomas are teachers at the Cape Fear Children’s Center in Spring Lake. of the fact that the school offers inclusion, servicing children with or without special needs. “We are an inclusive facility. We serve To volunteer, donate, or simply schedule a visit with either facility, call Erica Little at 910.483.7283 to reach the Dorothy Spainhour Center or call Shannon Rogers at 910.436.1211 to reach the Cape Fear Children’s Center. 62 | July/August • 2011 children with special needs and those who are developing typically in each of our classrooms. Our goal is to allow children to learn together in one environment so that the typically developing children can learn from the children with special needs; to know that they (special needs children) do have challenges but they are just like us. Also, the children with special needs would learn from typically developing children and use them as models to help them reach the milestones that we are trying to help them develop,” she said. The school also staffs every classroom with teachers and teacher assistants. Speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and play therapists are just a few of the professionals on site and available to all children. The school is self-sufficient and has everything it needs to run smoothly. “We have an administrative staff and a cook that takes care of our nutritional needs. We also have a van driver who does our transportation for us. So we kind of have a wide range.” added Little. Both Dorothy Spainhour and Cape Fear Children’s Center offer programs like More at Four and Smart Start to help guide children in the right direction early on and help them to grow up to be healthy, happy and productive citizens. Funding for the center often comes from state funded programs, the Cumberland County School System, Department of Social Services Childcare subsidies, and private pay parents paying