Montville students run ‘Little Mustangs’ daycare

MONTVILLE – The Little Mustangs pull up to a side door of Montville Township High School at about 11:30 a.m., their parents holding their hand as they walk inside and are greeted by their teachers, a rotating group of more than 40 high school students running the preschool as part of their Child Development class.

Students leading the program are freshmen through seniors at the high school, all taking different levels of the course. Child Development 1 focuses on theory, Child Development 2 is Little Mustangs, and 3 focuses on leadership skills and planning. A fourth semester, Tomorrow’s Teachers, places students in classrooms throughout the district.

“They learn the basics in the Child Development 1, and then run Little Mustangs in 2. Then the 3s (one semester ahead) help advise the 2s based on their experiences in Little Mustangs,” Montville Schools Arts supervisor Ed Fleischman said. “It’s a great way to get future teachers and others pursuing child care careers to think critically and get real world experience.”

The preschool is a low-cost option for local families, $50 for the entire four-month program, which covers snacks and supplies. The program is open to 10 Montville children age three to five each year and runs February through June, as it is a second semester class for high school students.

The first semester is a more traditional class as opposed to running Little Mustangs. The preschool runs Tuesday through Thursday, so Child Development 2 students still have assignments Mondays and Fridays.

Since the preschool day runs about two hours, it takes three high school classes spanning three periods to operate. Each student is tasked with their own job, and of the 14 students per class period, half typically care for the kids while the other plan the next day’s lessons.

“I love it,” said Sophia Hwang, a freshman who wants to be a pediatrician. “It’s a fun class and the kids are so cute.”

The program is run by Brenda Smith, who has been running Little Mustangs for 11 years. The Child Development course existed before that, but it wasn’t until the addition to the high school that they were able to add a special room to accommodate a preschool program. The program took on the name Little Mustangs four years ago.

“Over the years I’ve seen a huge change in the way they students work together,” Smith said. “It’s not just playing with preschoolers. Some enter the class thinking it might be fun to play with kids, but leave with a better understanding of what it takes. It’s not like babysitting one child, you’re looking after ten and you need to be organized.”

Smith said students from the program have gone onto careers in the education field, but also in mental health, pediatric medicine, and physical therapy.

“There’s a lot of different lessons they can take away from this class,” Smith said.

Every year the Little Mustangs program is limited to 10 kids to ensure a one-on-one ratio of students to kids, which Smith says is the biggest thing the program can offer that other preschools do not.

The program always fills up and is typically filled with returning kids. This year, six of the 10 returned, and the other four went on to kindergarten.

Principal Douglas Sanford said the values Little Mustangs offers are endless, but one moment he found particularly poignant came last year, when the program took on a child battling Leukemia.

“Her brother was in the program as well and the family wanted her to be somewhere she could come and go as they pleased,” Sanford said. “Everyone learned a lot from that experience. For many students, this was their first time dealing with something like that. They had questions and feelings just like the kids, and Mrs. Smith was exceptional in helping them with that. The students learned from the kids that year.”

The school ended up rallying behind her, raising money for her treatment through Relay for Life. She is now doing well, Sanford said.

Thursday morning, John Piwowarski dropped off his 4-year-old son Grant at Little Mustangs; he is attending the program for the second year.

“He really enjoys it,” Piwowarski said. “And the kids are wonderful with him.”

The class had an Under the Sea theme that day, which included aquarium designing and a scavenger hunt through the school’s halls.

Once kids found all the items in the scavenger hunt, they had to sort them into things they would and wouldn’t find on the beach. Starfish and umbrellas, yes. Chocolate chip cookies and snowmen, no.

While half the students led the kids through their activities, the other half were crafting the next week’s lesson plan and creating a new attendance chart.

“You can look at this classroom and tell right away if it’s been a successful day,” Smith said. “Are the kids looked after? Are there jobs that need to be done and is somebody doing them? It looks like today was a good day.”

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com