IMPACT
Thompson’s work touches the lives of children of all ages in the Mecklenburg County and Union County areas. With IMPACT, we focus on changing the developmental paths of children ages 0-5 through early intervention and helping youth work toward meeting developmental milestones.
Making an IMPACT with Charlotte Youth
IMPACT, an acronym that stands for “Improving & Maintaining Programs through Assessment, Consulting, & Training” is our department that provides early intervention and support to early childhood centers and preschool programs in Mecklenburg and Union Counties, through partnerships with local agencies.
IMPACT’s services are aimed at increasing social and emotional development for youth, building resiliency in children and families, and supporting teachers in reducing challenging behaviors in the classroom.
The Polliwog Program
Our Polliwog program provides child-focused classroom support for teachers and multi-level behavioral intervention. We provide behavior support and developmental therapies to children experiencing challenging behavior in their early childhood school setting and prevent expulsion. A Behavior Intervention Specialist works with the teacher, parent, child and other professionals to support success for the child.
Evidence-Based Practices
With a program model based around the Pyramid Model Framework for Early Childhood Education, IMPACT uses the Teaching Pyramid Observational Tool (TPOT) for Preschool Classrooms. We also use the Positive Early Childhood Education Program, or PECE, a skills training program designed to enhance the capacity of teachers in supporting the learning experience and behavioral competence of children in their care.
We focus on improving the social/emotional development for children up to 5 years old, as well as professional development for early childhood providers and families. Children that may express difficulty in expressing emotions, that habitually use aggressive behaviors to communicate, or have difficulty participating in classroom routines and activities, or display other challenging behaviors, are a good fit for IMPACT services. IMPACT provides technical assistance for early childhood professionals through modeling, coaching, support, and training.
Fiscal Year 2020-2021
Programs funded by
these partnerships:
Mecklenburg Partnership for Children (Smart Start) funds:
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- Polliwog Project – Provides behavior support and developmental therapies to children experiencing challenging behavior in their early childhood school setting and prevent expulsion. A behavior specialist works with the teacher, parent, child and other professionals to support success for the child.
The Alliance for Children (Smart Start) funds:
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- Union Inclusion – Provides behavior support, coaching, and technical assistance to early childhood teachers and parents of young children with persistent challenging behaviors. The goal is to ensure that all children are provided with the support and strategies needed to thrive in school and in the community.
- Masters NC Pre-K – Provides a classroom environment specialist to support NC Pre-K teachers in Union County to meet and maintain high quality standards and environments for better outcomes with children in their classroom.
- Program Quality Masters – Provides a classroom environment specialist to support infant and toddler classrooms in Union county to meet and maintain the highest quality standards and environments in their classroom.
For more information about any of our programs, please contact Mark Eberhardt, Director of Early Childhood Services at meberhardt@thompsoncff.org
Our work positively impacts the youth and the community
Every day, we find examples here at Thompson where IMPACT directly impacts the lives of not only the youth we serve, but the families they both come from and live with, as well as the greater community:
We impact lives, for example, when we work with children to support and promote positive behavioral development that ultimately prevents that youth from expulsion.
We impact lives when our work helps children to better express their emotions and not resort to aggression to communicate.
We impact lives when our work builds resilience in teachers
We impact lives when the parents of our children express positive feedback for the growth they see in their children.
We succeed when we develop positive behaviors within the youth, build resilience within educators, and support the family.