About
La Peninsula
La Peninsula Community Organization, Inc. (La Pen) is a non-profit community-based, multi-site high-quality early childhood organization located in the South Bronx serving the Hunts Point/Longwood, Mott Haven and Crotona Park South.
We have served more than 1,000 preschool children since 1965. La Pen has a long history of providing Head Start services, with a focus on meeting the individualized needs of the most vulnerable families. The program serves children from 3 to 5 years old and their families.
As one of the poorest congressional districts in the country, La Pen works diligently to ensure that our center-based/school-based services are located within the areas of greatest need
La Pen is a licensed NYC DOH Article 47 Child Care provider. We provide pre-school education with a minimum of 1020 hours per year of planned classroom services using the Creative Curriculum which supports children’s learning in all domains (language and literacy development, cognition and general knowledge, approaches toward learning, physical well-being and motor development, and social/emotional development). Each classroom is staffed with a certified teacher and teacher assistant, and the center director is a certified teacher with a Master’s in Early Childhood Education.
La Pen measures program quality using ECERS, NAEYC Accreditation, CLASS, TS GOLD assessment, Brigance’s developmental screening, and daily observations. The results of the evaluations are used to guide the professional development plan for the teachers, as well as provide ongoing coaching. In addition, La Pen works closely with a registered nurse, a mental health specialist and a nutritionist to ensure children meet all NYD DOH requirements including screenings. Our educational approach, curriculum and teaching strategies are designed to meet La Pen’s mission and vision statements.
Our family support/advocates work closely with our families to maintain a small caseload, to assist with meeting the various basic needs of our children and families. We work tirelessly to identify families in crisis and connect them to appropriate community partner(s). Family advocates routinely follow up with these families and our partners to ensure receive the required services.