Community Day Nursery

“A draft of form 990 is reviewed by executive director then distributed to, and reviewed by the board of trustees prior to the form being filed. The form 990 is discussed with a question and answer period prior to the final board approval. Upon approval, the form 990 is submitted to the internal revenue service.”

“The organization requires annual conflicts of interest statements from all board members. These statements are reviewed by the president and executive director of the organization. All board members are required to disclose any conflicts of interest.”

“Compensation for the organization's executive director is determined by the new jersey department of education contract. Other salaries are determined by the executive director and treasurer and are based on similar agencies and programs. There are no other top management, officers, or key employees compensated within the organization.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statments are always available to the public at the organization's office or by request.”

“(continued from from 990, page 1) offering a high quality full day preschool education to the children of east orange, new jersey. Community day nursery has been serving children and their families since 1897. We believe high-quality early childhood education ensures children to be ready for kindergarten and beyond. We are accredited by the national association for the education of young children which means we meet the high standards set to ensure children will be safe, healthy, and learning each day. Our certified teachers have degrees and are well trained in early childhood. They build caring relationships with each child, and plan activities that are fun and challenging. Ongoing assessment ensures children continue to learn and develop.”

“(continued from form 990, page 2 line 1) it is our goal to strengthen a cooperative partnership with families through a variety of parenting services and group activities.”

“(continued from form 990, page 2 line 4a) the community day nursery (cdn) full-day prekindergarten program is available for three- and four-year-old children who reside in east orange, new jersey. Our wrap around program offers an extended day, before and after school. Our mission is to provide young children with a safe, supportive, stimulating environment in which each child's potential for emotional, intellectual, social, and physical development is nurtured. We were fully enrolled at 90 children, as per our contract with the east orange school district. We found the number of children with special needs and behavior challenges continue to be high, comprising 25% of our entire population. Each of our six classrooms is led by a teacher and teacher assistant and a maximum of fifteen children. Two classrooms are bilingual spanish/english. The school year curriculum is research-based tools of the mind. Our teachers document and assess children's learning via the teaching strategies gold online assessment system, and four-year-olds are assessed for kindergarten readiness via the myigdis assessment tool. Our literacy enhancement program is made possible through grants provided by first book, a nonprofit organization, that connects book publishers and community organizations to provide access to new books for children in need. Children spend time outdoors every day. A speech therapist from the school district provides speech therapy for children who need it once a week in our building, and occupational and physical therapists come to provide their services for children who have been identified as needing this assistance. Our children are served a freshly prepared breakfast, lunch, and snack each day. The child and adult food care program (cacfp) provides funding from the department of agriculture that is applied toward food, food workers' salaries and benefits and administration of the program. We also receive a food stipend and a percentage of the salary/benefits for the cook from the east orange board of education. However, to maintain the high quality of the food prepared also requires additional funding from private sponsors. Enrollment has trended downward since the pandemic. Ninety children were enrolled for the 24-25 school year. The racial/ethnic backgrounds of the children are as follows: twenty are african american; thirty are hispanic; seventeen are haitian; six are african; three are guyanese; one is white; one is asian; and twelve are jamaican. Thirty-five are girls and fifty-five are boys. Approximately fifty-two percent of our families qualify for free or reduced meals through the fda cacfp. The demographics of east orange show a growing hispanic population and the percentage of foreign-born residents is a larger percentage than the national average. We have a significant number of children who speak spanish or haitian creole as their first language. Several staff members speak spanish. Because of bilingual staff, parents feel welcomed and cared for. The sisters, brothers and cousins of children that attended community day nursery continue to request our center when enrolling. We invite family participation through "back to school night", "bring a parent to school day", monthly parent meetings, presentations, and workshops. Parent meetings have included presentations on lead poisoning prevention, dental hygiene, and a wellness meeting for moms for mother's may. We held our first "it takes a village" parent workshop in the spring. The meeting on a saturday was a conference format with several parent education workshops for parents which parents could choose to attend, a light breakfast, lunch, childcare, and giveaways. Any parent of a young child was welcome, not just the parents of our enrolled children. It was well attended, and a fun and informative way to build community. The executive director works full-time, over twelve-months to manage the program and is supported by a full-time assistant director (formerly e”

“The organization has a committee that is responsible for overseeing the audit of the financial statements and the selection of the independent accountant that audited the financial statements. This process has not changed from the prior year.”