The director of West Virginia University’s Nursery School has received a $30,000 grant from the West Virginia Department of Education to develop a course for early childhood educators. Bobbie Warash, professor of child development and family studies in WVU ’s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, will offer instruction on creating inclusive educational environments for young children.

The major focus of the course will be on how to create an environment that welcomes all children and can be adapted to meet each individual’s needs,Warash said. The course is being developed in response to the Department of Education’s Universal Access to Early Education System policy.

You can no longer have a preschool classroom populated only by children with disabilities,Warash explained.All children need to be together in a classroom instead of having separate learning experiences, and teachers can benefit from training on how to set up an inclusive environment.

To achieve that, Warash has scheduled a number of experts to participate in the week-long session. Guest speakers will address specifics of the state policy and curriculum development for inclusive environments, and share success stories from preschools that have already made the transition.

The course will be held the week of June 14 at the WVU Nursery School on the Evansdale Campus. The course will be offered through WVU Extended Learning for undergraduate or graduate credit. For more information and to register, contact Warash at 304-293-2110.

WVU continues to increase its summer course offerings. For more information about summer sessions, go to http://www.wvu.edu/~summer/ .