About CHDS

History

Children’s Happy Day School opened a beautiful new West Roxbury facility in January 2004 after operating in Brookline Village (1987 – 1997) and 70 Corey Street in West Roxbury (1998 – 2003). CHDS focuses on the early childhood years, offering preschool and kindergarten programs for children ages 2.9 – 7 years.

Philosophy

CHDS strongly believes that children benefit most from child-centered environments (library, writing center, drama area, block area, etc.) designed to promote interaction with other children and adults.

The goal of CHDS is to develop and foster each child’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive development by providing a safe and nurturing environment.

At CHDS, respect for the child as an individual is paramount while he/she learns the concepts of sharing, fairness, and respect for others. We are committed to eliminate social, religious, marital, sexual and disability discrimination.

Staff

At CHDS, each child’s growth and development is supported and guided by our director/ founder, Helen Rafiy, and the professional teachers and staff. “Ms. Helen” (as she is best known) has been working with children for over 35 years. She has operated Happy Day since 1987 and received her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from Wheelock College. She uses her many years of experience as an educator to work with families from different backgrounds and children with different needs.

Our Happy Day teachers have a nice balance of education and experience working with children. They have received their BA’s from universities with recognized Early Childhood programs and have spent many hours teaching in preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Our School Head Teacher, Ms. Jamie Buskey, has been with Happy Day since 2002 and received degrees in Early Childhood Education from Boston College and Wheelock College. In addition to being the School Head Teacher, she is also the Lead Teacher in one of our preschool classrooms.

Children love their weekly Music and Movement classes with Mr. Evan! Evan Haller, a Berklee School of Music graduate and licensed Kindermusik instructor, has many years of experience working with preschool aged children and has been with Happy Day since 2002.

CHDS students also enjoy weekly yoga classes led by instructor Abigail Davies. Ms. Abbie is the owner and founder of My First Yoga, located in Newton Centre. A graduate of Harvard University, she received her degree in psychology, focusing on building children’s self esteem through exercise.

CHDS also works with different local universities to provide internship and practicum opportunities for students interested in pursuing teaching careers in the early childhood field.

Visit CHDS!

Our beautiful new school is located down the road from the Millennium Park and conveniently accessible by way of I-95, Route 1, Route 9, Route 109, the VFW Parkway and Mass Transit.

Children's Happy Day School
5 Charles Park Road
West Roxbury, MA 02132

telephone: 617.325.0606
email: info@childrenshappyday.com