History of the Endeavor Program
The Endeavor Program at Carriage House is a collaboration between Carriage House Educational Services and Preschool and FEAT of Louisville, Inc. Founded in 1969, Carriage House (then Louisville School for Autistic Children) was one of the first schools in the United States providing services to people with autism. Since 1983, Carriage House focused on serving not only children with special needs but providing exemplary preschool experiences to all children. Carriage House Preschool welcomed many children with autism in a "mainstream" environment offering traditional preschool curriculum. In 2003, Carriage House partnered with FEAT of Louisville to extend the traditional preschool program to provide a specialized program for children with autism and other developmental disabilities that is geared toward serving the unique educational needs of these children.
Our Vision
Our vision for the Endeavor Program is to provide a cost-effective, comprehensive program for all young children with autism and other developmental disabilities in the Louisville area. Our goal is to prepare the children to the best of their ability to function in other school settings. We seek to strengthen our relationships with local agencies and school systems providing services to our children to ensure smooth transitions and continuation of effective programming for children entering other schools.
Program Description
The Endeavor Program is a year round, early educational program for children ages 2 - 6 years, who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental disabilities. The goal of Endeavor is to prepare children for future education in a public or private school setting.
Enrollment options include morning and or afternoon sessions. Each session is three hours in length. The morning session is from 8:45am – 11:45am, and the afternoon session is from 12:00pm – 3pm. Children must attend at least 2 half day sessions, with the option of up to 8 sessions per week. With six children and three trained staff in each classroom, the Endeavor Program ensures the intense interaction and instructional guidance that children with autism require to learn in a group setting.
Initial assessments are completed shortly after enrollment by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and the classroom teacher using a variety of appropriate assessment tools. These assessments provide a wealth of information about current skills, needed goals/objectives, and skill acquisition. Input from all service providers for each child is encouraged in the assessment process.
An Individualized Plan is then created by the teacher, behavior therapist, and parents. We consider parental input crucial to the success of each child's program, and recognize the importance of consistency across environments.
Children experience incidental teaching and group instruction based on the science of Applied Behavior Analysis/Verbal Behavior. Staff includes certified teachers, behavior therapists and assistants experienced with children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Curriculum
The Endeavor Classrooms are designed to provide a developmentally appropriate preschool environment into which each child’s individual plan may be embedded. Our program centers on educating the whole child with special emphasis on social peer interactions. The teachers use The Growing Reader Literacy Curriculum, TouchMath, and Hand Writing Without Tears during large and small group times to enable children to develop the skills needed to be successful in a Kindergarten or First Grade program. There are many other aspects that make our classrooms a special place. We invite you to come and see for yourself. Contact us to schedule a tour.