Whitehouse Preparatory School offers a variety of Special Programs designed to further enrich your child.
Conflict Resolution Program
Whitehouse Prep is committed to establishing a fair, equitable and cooperative school environment.
- The school incorporates a Conflict Resolution and Character Education curriculum that seeks to develop, at a very early stage in a child’s development, basic skills and tools for children to use in working collaboratively with one another and for managing inter-personal conflict fairly and without resorting to aggressive behavior and bullying.
- By providing a curriculum that places an emphasis on the importance of respecting differences, collaboration and resolving conflict through peaceful means, our students learn vital social and emotional skills (too often overlooked in our public schools) that they will need in order to live more fulfilling, productive and enriching lives.
- This program will be offered in conjunction with the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and all teachers have specific training in Conflict Resolution, Character Education and Anti-Bullying instruction.
Our conflict resolution curriculum also includes a Mini-Court mock trial the K-II students perform in the spring in which they role play all the participants of a real trial.
Mini Court Trial
Using material provided by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, Whitehouse Prep offers its students the opportunity to be involved in an age-appropriate mock trial in which they role play the lawyers, parties, witnesses, jurors, bailiff and, yes, even the Judge Our feature trial is the case of The Three Bears v. Goldilocks. We are all wondering whether Goldilocks was simply an innocent unsuspecting guest who meant no harm or uninvited stranger looking to cause trouble?? I guess we will all just have to wait to see the outcome of the trial and what the jury thinks! Until then, our children will be learning basic precepts of our legal system and, more importantly, about truth telling, doing the right thing, the importance of being honest, taking responsibility for your actions and accepting the consequences for your actions. These are all important life skills that can be instilled as early as pre-kindergarten. This is a real treat!
Nature and the Natural World
A fundamental theme at Whitehouse Prep is “nature” and the notion that we develop, both as individuals and as a community, in accordance with a natural process that must be understood, appreciated and respected.
- There are no short cuts in terms of child development and in that regard, the law of the farm certainly applies: “You cannot harvest in the fall what you have not sowed and cultivated months before in the spring.”
- These principles are shown to our students through various means, though with an emphasis on involving them in a variety of gardening, planting and animal projects. This program is closely integrated with our intergenerational program as well.
- The “nature” theme is also demonstrated in our natural playground.