The L. Daniel Hutto Early Learning Center (ELC) is a Montessori preschool for children ages 3-5 who are deaf/hard of hearing or blind/visually impaired. The ELC is a place where your child can learn and grow in a cheerful, nurturing and stimulating environment that emphasizes learning through discovery. Our curriculum focuses on the whole child - building social, emotional, language, self-help, motor and cognitive skills daily through lessons and interactions with staff and peers. Children are led to ask questions, problem-solve, explore, investigate and discover. These processes all help to foster communication and build a love of learning. In finding their own solutions they expand their knowledge base and personalize their learning. Our Montessori preschool nurtures a joy for learning that will prepare children for learning for years to come.

Our D/HH classrooms engage students with a wide range of hearing levels, hearing technologies, and communication styles. Certified teachers of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing utilize ASL/English Bilingual Educational strategies to provide all students with full-day access to language. Classrooms focus on early academic skill development, language acquisition, and pragmatic/social interaction.

Our B/VI classrooms engage students with a wide range of vision acuity levels. Certified teachers of the Blind/Visually Impaired focus on the development of fluent language, early academics, and early literacy skill development through both braille and large print. Classrooms are adapted so that students have full access to tactile and multi-sensory information as they learn and interact with their peers and teachers.