Daybreak Academy strives to utilize a “whole child” approach for all students, from preschool to third grade. The teachers, administrators, and support staff work together to promote the intellectual, social, behavioral, and emotional growth of every precious child under our care.

Daybreak Academy was established in 2009. During that time, our founder could not find a school that offered the quality of education she wanted for her son. She approached developers and talked about introducing a program that can maximize a child’s potential. After some research, they found out that no school offered that level of quality. Thus, the developers encouraged her to start her own school with a special curriculum.

A private preschool and elementary school, Daybreak Academy takes in children from all over Salt Lake Valley and Utah County. We offer a unique “whole child” education that is based on academics, music, and the arts. All of our classes from prekindergarten and up are led by teachers who have bachelors’ or masters’ degrees in early childhood education or other related fields.

The quality of early childhood education can significantly improve the future of your son or daughter, both academically and socially. Socioeconomic studies have shown that children who receive outstanding education during their early years tend to excel academically later on. When they reach adulthood, they are more likely to have stable, high-income jobs. 

Early education covers the most formative years of a human being's life. From birth to age 5 is viewed as the most critical period for developing the foundations for thinking, behaving, and emotional well-being.

Child development experts know that it is during these years that children develop linguistic, cognitive, social, emotional, and regulatory skills that predict their later functioning in many domains (Trawick-Smith, 2014 Trawick-Smith, J. (2014). Early childhood development (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.; Woolfolk & Perry, 2012 Woolfolk, A., & Perry, N. E. (2012). Child and adolescent development. Boston, MA: Pearson. ).

Daybreak Academy is committed to surpassing the usual standards of early childhood education by establishing a new level of excellence in this field. We are recognized as a leading educational institution because of our professional, experienced, and degreed teachers–an important element in the development of our students.

Our school is also a trailblazer in incorporating scientifically validated enrichments. For instance, prekindergarten and higher level students receive private, in-house piano lessons from a professional instructor every week. On the other hand, the younger students participate in music classes to prepare them for future lessons on the piano and other instruments. Research suggests that learning how to play the piano/keyboard at a young age can permanently increase the IQ of a child. Click here to view clips of three- and four-year-olds in actual piano and music lessons.

Although many preschools in Europe incorporate fine arts into their curriculums, this integration is relatively uncommon in the United States. Daybreak Academy believes in seeking out innovative ways to provide a more comprehensive early childhood education in a safe and healthy environment. One strategy we have employed is making fine arts an integral part of our curriculum. For instance, every child in our school is taught a foreign language (currently Mandarin Chinese) by a native-speaking instructor. Click here to view clips of three- and four-year-olds in foreign language classes.

Students who study foreign languages tend to score higher in standardized tests compared to their monolingual peers, particularly in math, reading, and vocabulary. Early childhood is the perfect time to start learning a foreign language because children’s brains, specifically the neural pathways and dendrites, are forming new connections and are geared toward language acquisition. When a child reaches the age of five, he or she slowly loses that sponge-like ability to absorb a new language. Click here to learn more.

Our arts curriculum is unique, inspiring, and comprehensive. Every week, students participate in martial arts, language arts, choir and music, applied creative sciences, theater, gymnastics and dance, as well as creative technology, which is the art of using new technology to improve their creative expression.

In the realm of academics, our age-appropriate early childhood curriculum is second to none. Most of our students graduate with reading and math skills that are above the core standards. More importantly, they graduate with confidence, an ability to succeed in life, and an appreciation for the arts.

All of our arts enrichment lessons are handled by professional instructors who are experts in their fields and who only teach enrichments they are qualified in. In addition, all children in our school participate in every enrichment class without any extra charges on top of the basic tuition fees.

From the very start, we decided that no child will be ever left out of these art enrichment classes. We believe that music and the arts are not merely extracurricular activities, but are part of the fundamental core of education that every child deserves. This mindset sets us apart from other schools that either have limited or no arts and music enrichment opportunities, or only offer them to a select group of students whose parents pay extra.

Our passion for nurturing every child in both the arts and academics is further strengthened by the benefits illustrated by scientific research. Studies have shown that there is a close correlation between the arts and achievements. Americans for the Arts reported that young individuals who regularly immerse themselves in the arts are four times more likely to gain recognition for scholastic achievements compared to children with no exposure to the arts. For instance, they are more likely to participate in math and science fairs and receive awards for essays and poems. Click here to learn more.

Our whole child curriculum revolves around the belief that that it’s not what you do, but how you do it that truly matters. That is why our classes are uniquely hands-on. The students do not just learn about science. They also experience it through projects and practical activities. Instead of just learning about music in class, our students deeply experience it through individual piano lessons, choir practices, and recitals. We believe that by making classes fun and interactive for young students, they will embrace the learning process. This positive mentality sets them up for future academic success because they will be highly motivated to excel in school and absorb as much knowledge as they can.

Our curriculum and learning philosophy are both designed to incorporate scientifically proven “best practices” in educating children. Daybreak Academy also draws a lot of inspiration from the teachings and ideas of Jean Piagét, Rudolf Steiner, and Maria Montessori. This is because we understand that no single method has all the answers or is better than others. Rather, we believe that every approach has distinct, valuable elements that can be implemented into any well-rounded curriculum. Also, we believe that every child is “YOU-nique” and deserves a certain level of customized education that complements their learning style and abilities.

Your child will not experience holistic development if he or she spends the whole day behind a desk. Our academic program includes many opportunities for hands-on learning. The active minds and bodies of children are geared toward movement and self-expression.

For instance, our students recently built their own hovercraft under the guidance of our science teacher. In the process, they learned about friction, force, and other physics principles. After several unsuccessful attempts and hands-on tinkering, they finally made it work end even took turns riding it (with the appropriate safety precautions and helmets).

Others may say, “Why let such young kids build a working hovercraft?” At Daybreak Academy, we say, “Why not?” Preschoolers are a lot smarter than they are given credit for, and we absolutely recognize that. Click here to view some of the children’s action shots!

Another hands-on activity your child can look forward to is our organic gardening program. Research has linked school gardening with health, general self-esteem, as well as a deeper understanding of life sciences and language arts. We have one designated, organically raised garden bed for every class, and each child helps out with planting and making the garden grow. These gardens are not just plots of land with vegetables and berries. Rather, they serve as a catalyst for hands-on learning and individual growth. Click here to view a video clip featuring our students participating in the organic gardening program.

“Gardening offers hands-on, experiential learning opportunities in a wide array of disciplines, including the natural and social sciences, math, language arts (e.g., through garden journaling), visual arts (e.g., through garden design and decoration), and nutrition. With recent concern over relatively weak science and math skills among American children, the need for innovation in science and math teaching is apparent. There is mounting evidence that students who participate in school gardening score significantly higher on standardized science achievement tests.”
(Klemmer, et.al. 2005)

More research materials related to this topic can be found at Cornell University’s garden-based learning website and at the California School Garden Network. Click here to learn more.

“After gardening, children have shown more positive attitudes toward fruit and vegetable snacks.”
Lineberger (1999)

As a parent, you definitely want to encourage your child to eat more fresh produce. Our gardening program encourages students to eat healthy organic meals and snacks.

“In a summer school project that used a whole language approach with gardening as the central theme, the most significant student gains were in self-esteem and achievement in reading, reading comprehension, spelling, and written expression.”
Sheffield (1992)

We serve organic lunches and snacks to all students at no extra charge. Our in-house chef prepares these meals using produce from the school gardens as much as possible. As a result, the children become excited about the meals and feel a sense of pride, having grown their own lunch.

A lot of parents have complimented Daybreak Academy, expressing their amazement at how much healthy food their children eat at school. This is a clear indication of how successful our student-driven approach is. The children do not learn by being told. Rather, they learn best through experience.