History of the School
In 1981 a group of concerned parents of children with physical and mental disabilities along with parents of children whose household incomes were low to moderate founded Lighthouse Preschool, which would become the Northland Early Education Center (NEEC) in 2002. These parents envisioned an early education agency that would serve all children, regardless of their developmental level or socioeconomic status. The school began in a basement of a house north of Excelsior Springs, Missouri with a class of only six children.
From then, the school continued to grow and as the need for fully-inclusive early education and therapeutic intervention for children with special needs continued to increase, it became evident that the school was in need of a larger building to ensure that services were available for all children with special needs residing in the Northland. In 1998, with funding from the Clay County Developmental Disabilities Resource Board, NEEC was able to move into a larger building in Kansas City, Missouri that is more spacious and inviting. The new facility continues to provide, an environment where children’s classrooms are separated by age, not developmental level, allowing them to learn not only from their teachers, but from one another.
Since its inception NEEC has grown from a preschool serving six children to a nationally accredited early education center providing early education and therapy services for nearly 200 children annually, approximately 50 percent of those children are children with special needs who have either a physical or mental disability such as Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Asperger Syndrome, Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, Epilepsy, Autism, visual impairment, brain trauma or behavioral disorder. Additionally, approximately 20 percent of children who attend NEEC receive some form of governmental assistance.
NEEC is a premier in the Northland that exists specifically and exclusively to provide early education and therapeutic intervention for both children with special needs and children who are typically developing, ages birth to five in a fully – inclusive classroom environment. Children who are typically developing benefit from fully-inclusive early education by learning the important life lessons of compassion, diversity and acceptance, while children with special needs learn alongside peer models from which they can imitate and learn, often attaining developmental milestones ahead of schedule. Accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the use of the Project Construct Curriculum model and lower than state mandated student to teacher ratios ensures that NEEC’s program standards are among the highest in the nation.
On any given day, as you walk through the halls of NEEC you will see children of all developmental levels playing together and encouraging each other to learn. The relationships these children build with one another at NEEC are without prejudice, transcending physical and mental ability and instead are based on love, respect and compassion.
