For many children, entry into the 2s and 3s provides their initial experience with Stevens’ philosophy and progressive education.
These children attend school for a few hours each day, in either the morning or afternoon, in purpose built facilities in Hoboken designed to encourage exploration and create a feeling of safety and security in what may be their first experience away from home. Children work with basic open ended materials such as blocks, sand, paint, crayons, paper and clay to express what they see and what it means to them. They learn collaboration through expressing their thoughts and ideas at meeting time, through classroom jobs and through socializing with peers. The 3s are visited by children in the 5th grade regularly, part of a key feature of Stevens which forms bonds between our older and younger students.
Parents and caregivers of 3s students are asked to be Helping Parents in the classroom roughly once a month. Children in the 2s have no Helping Parents in the classroom as it is important for these children to begin to separate from their adults.
While not members of the Cooperative, families with children enrolled in the 2s and 3s are welcome to volunteer at various school events, and the school provides social opportunities for these families and children to meet and form their own bonds.
Some parents, having taken advantage of our part time programs, may wish to apply for their children to enter the 4s or PreK. All families will be given information on how to apply to enter the School’s full-time programs and the Cooperative as well as information and guidance on applying to other area schools. 3s families will apply at the same time that families whose children have not attended the School’s part-time programs, and 3s families have no preference in admissions (the only children with preference for admissions at Stevens are siblings). Once children have been accepted into a full-time program at Stevens, their families become members of the Cooperative and it is hoped that they will remain part of the Stevens community until their children graduate at 8th grade.