The Friendship Academy

August 9, 2019

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Contact: Melanie O'Brien

Director of Communications

484.234.8009

mobrien@easterseals-sepa.org

The Friendship Academy is a research based preschool run by Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania that helps foster inclusion and compassion among children by creating an environment for children with disabilities and their typically developing peers to share their first experience in a school setting together. The Friendship Academy has been serving families throughout our area for the past 15 years. The research driven curriculum, which also focuses on play as a means of learning, is taught by certified teachers and helps to prepare children both cognitively and socially for kindergarten.

With four centers based in Media, Broomall, Levittown, and Lansdale, The Friendship Academy offers a wide variety of programs, such as: “Handwriting Without Tears”, eco-green science experiences with greenhouse/garden, daily communication, and helping children build independence and self-control. Programs like these show the different ways that the school is striving to instill kindness, understanding, and a love of learning in children from such a young age.

The Friendship Academy has multiple accreditations and licensing for its centers including the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Private Academic License/PDE, DHS/Childcare License, which require and monitor high academic standards as well as all important safety standards for the children. In addition, The Friendship Academy is a member of the Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Support Network or PBIS, which is an organization whose goal is to create a classroom environment where all students feel good about coming to school.

With so many more stories of increased compassion and acceptance of children with disabilities, now is the perfect time for parents and caregivers to explore a place that is helping to teach children about respect and inclusion from the beginning of their school career. Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s social media feeds have recently been highlighting many powerful examples of inclusion, both past and present, including a silent graduation for a student with autism, disabled and able bodied students working together in sporting events, among others. When this type of inclusion and understanding is developed as early as preschool, stories like these will become much more prevalent in our society and the children we teach now will grow up to want to build a world where everyone is 100% Empowered, 100% Included.

For more information on The Friendship Academy, please follow the link: http://www.thefriendshipacademy.org/home.html

To contact a specific center, please call:

Broomall: (610) 565-2353

Lansdale: (215) 368-7000

Levittown: (215) 945-7200

Media: (610) 565-2353

###