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Friendship Center

420 Schooleys Mountain Road, Hackettstown, NJ, 07840-0784 -

School Notes Overview:

The Friendship Center at Schooley's Mountain is the very first Inter generational Child Care Center in Northwest New Jersey. The center is a model for other child care groups pursuing the inter generational child care concept. The Friendship Center was conceived over a decade ago when members of the Heath Village Board of Trustees saw a promising opportunity – a chance to provide a unique learning and development experience for the children while enriching the lives of Heath Village residents at the same time. That opportunity was inter generational childcare in a retirement community setting. With so many working parents and families so dispersed, the kind of individual attention that children need could often not be adequately provided in a traditional day care facility. Why not draw on the rich pool of caring adults at Heath Village who would be eager to volunteer their time to making each child seem special? With the help of a grant from the Lorna W. Reynolds Children’s Development Fund, The Friendship Center opened its doors in 1992 and was an immediate success. Before the first year of operation was complete, the Friendship Center was at full capacity with a waiting list (a status that it has enjoyed continuously since), was receiving top ratings for the quality of its childcare, had drawn the participation of dozens of seniors, and was on a solid financial footing. Since that time, the Friendship Center has doubled its physical size while maintaining its maximum enrollment at 42, has been the subject of an award winning video (The Friendship Center Experience) and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and has continued to attract interested visitors looking to us as a model they can emulate in their own facilities....

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School Overview:

	Friendship Center
School Type	Early Childhood / Day Care
School Membership(s)	National Association for the Education of Young Children
Religious Affiliation	Christian (no specific denomination)
Grades Offered	Grades Nursery/Preschool - Prekindergarten
County	Morris County, NJ
Student Body
Total Students	27 students
Student Body Type	Co-ed
	This School	(NJ) School Avg.
% Students of Color	25%	32%
Students by Grade
	Pre-K - 19 students
	Kind - 8 students
Academics and Faculty
Total Classroom Teachers	1 teachers
	This School	(NJ) School Avg.
Teacher : Student Ratio	1:27	* Ntl. Public School Avg. » 1:16
School Days in Calendar Year	199 days	180 days
Hours in School Day for Students	n/a	6 hours

School Notes:

The Friendship Center at Schooley's Mountain is the very first Inter generational Child Care Center in Northwest New Jersey. The center is a model for other child care groups pursuing the inter generational child care concept. The Friendship Center was conceived over a decade ago when members of the Heath Village Board of Trustees saw a promising opportunity – a chance to provide a unique learning and development experience for the children while enriching the lives of Heath Village residents at the same time. That opportunity was inter generational childcare in a retirement community setting. With so many working parents and families so dispersed, the kind of individual attention that children need could often not be adequately provided in a traditional day care facility. Why not draw on the rich pool of caring adults at Heath Village who would be eager to volunteer their time to making each child seem special? With the help of a grant from the Lorna W. Reynolds Children’s Development Fund, The Friendship Center opened its doors in 1992 and was an immediate success. Before the first year of operation was complete, the Friendship Center was at full capacity with a waiting list (a status that it has enjoyed continuously since), was receiving top ratings for the quality of its childcare, had drawn the participation of dozens of seniors, and was on a solid financial footing. Since that time, the Friendship Center has doubled its physical size while maintaining its maximum enrollment at 42, has been the subject of an award winning video (The Friendship Center Experience) and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and has continued to attract interested visitors looking to us as a model they can emulate in their own facilities.
Profile last updated: 02/17/2009

In the News:

Heath Alliance for Care executive presents seminar in London (The Warren Reporter)
posted on August 11, 2009 at 07:13:03 pm
Patrick E. Brady Patrick E. Brady, Chief Executive Officer of Heath Alliance for Care, which is the parent corporation of Heath Village Retirement Community in Hackettstown, recently presented at the International Association of Homes and Services for the Aging in...
Heath Village in Hackettstown helps keep planet 'green' (The Warren Reporter)
posted on July 3, 2009 at 01:15:00 am
COURTESY HEATH VILLAGEStudents from the Friendship Center Intergenerational Child Care Center in Hackettstown pose with a "green" friend, Kermit the Frog, at Heath Village's recent recycling seminar at the retirement community. HACKETTSTOWN -- Heath Village Retirement Community in Hackettstown recently...
Residents of Heath Village in Hackettstown help boost bluebird population (The Warren Reporter)
posted on June 24, 2009 at 11:29:57 pm
COURTESY HEATH VILLAGEHeath Village resident Robert Buerhaus, Jennifer Jensen, director of the Friendship Center, and Alexandra Ferrante, a 3-year-old student in the Teddy Bear class at the Friendship Center, are shown peeking in to view four baby bluebirds in their...
Heath Village in Hackettstown celebrates Arbor Day (The Warren Reporter)
posted on May 4, 2009 at 04:29:57 pm
COURTESY HEATH VILLAGEThe family of Anna Williams, a long-time resident of Heath Village, proudly stands near the Dogwood planted in her memory. The Heath Village tradition of planting trees on Arbor Day continued on April 27. A "Cornus Florida" (Pink...
Sing-a-long time at Hackettstown Friendship Center (The Warren Reporter)
posted on April 8, 2009 at 05:45:16 pm
COURTESY FRIENDSHIP CENTER Friendship Center children from the "Crayons" and "Dalmations" classes participated in a weekly sing-a-long with pianist and Heath Village Retirement Community resident Jim Maher. The Friendship Center in Hackettstown is an intergenerational child care center located adjacent...

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School Zip Statistics:

About This Zipcode (07840)	School Zip (07840)	(NJ) State Average
Population (Approximate)	26,087 people	8,413,990 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree	n/a	36%
Population Average Age	37 years old	36 years old
Average Household size	2.5 persons	2.7 persons
Median Household Income	$60,862	$57,061
Avg. # of Rooms in Household	5.8 rooms	5.6 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure	34 years old	46 years old
	View housing listings in 07840
Median Value of Housing Unit Zipcode (07840) What's a Zindex? Subject to Zillow Terms of Use
% Owning / % Renting	65% / 35%	62% / 38%