Much like any preschool, Los Ninos is home to six bright, beautiful classrooms where our students’ work is prominently displayed!  Our classes consist of facilitated play, music, movement, art, and other activities designed to enhance children’s development.  And, like many preschools, our Center’s staff is exceptionally well-qualified to meet the needs of children with disabilities and delays.  We presently employ six certified teachers who meet New Mexico criteria as highly qualified.  In addition, we have 11 educational assistants with expertise in working with special student populations. 

Where Los Ninos Early Intervention Center differs from most preschool settings, however, is our focus on working with children who have disabilities and developmental delays.  Our Center conforms to federal and State laws and regulations that govern Special Education programming for children aged two through five.  Most of our students have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) that we follow, in order to ensure we meet their unique needs.  In addition to teaching staff, we also integrate various therapists into our daily programming for our students.  We house two Masters’ level Speech/Language Pathologists and an Associate in Speech and Language, who work with children with delays in speech and language and other communication disorders.  Two Physical Therapists work with our students who have needs in the area of gross motor development.  We have an Occupational Therapist and a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant who work with children who have needs in the areas of fine motor and visual motor skills, or who have deficits in sensory integration.  Our staff also includes a counselor, an audiologist, a vision specialist, an educational diagnostician, and a school nurse, who come to Los Ninos weekly to provide services in their areas of expertise and specialty.  These professionals work with our teaching staff to provide integrated programming in developmental areas to children who attend Los Ninos.

Our Center, in addition to providing educational services, also works to identify children who meet criteria for our program.  One of these efforts is Child Find.  Pauline Campbell coordinates this program, which seeks to publicize the mission of Los Ninos E.I.C. to our community to ensure that every eligible child is identified and served through our programs.  Additionally, we welcome referrals from parents, grandparents, and other community members who suspect that a child may have a disability or developmental delay.  Each month, our teachers conduct developmental screenings with children who may need our services.   We also work with community agencies who serve children aged birth to three, such as ENMRSH and MECA, to transition children who are eligible, into  our programs.  Finally, we provide a Peer Role Model program in which children who do not have developmental delays or disabilities attend our classes to model skills for the children who do have them.  This program is wonderfully beneficial to both disabled and non disabled students!