Foundations & Friendships: Where intuitive care meets high-level education

Welcome to Foundations & Friendships

Where Quality Education Meets a Safe, Nurturing Community

At Foundations & Friendships, we believe that early childhood education is the launchpad for a lifetime of success. Operating as a premier early learning academy, we bridge the gap between warm, attentive care and high-level educational standards. Our facility is engineered to provide infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with a secure, highly structured environment where they can discover, play, and grow.

Every Stage of Growth At
Foundations & Friendships, we know that children learn differently at every age. Our programs are strategically structured to provide developmentally appropriate milestones, ensuring a seamless transition from infancy all the way to kindergarten readiness.
👶 Infants: Foundations of Trust & Security Age Focus: 6 Weeks – 12 MonthsProgram Core: Creating a secure, responsive environment where our youngest learners build baseline cognitive and motor skills.Key Learning Focus Areas:Sensory Exploration: Textures, sounds, and visual tracking to stimulate early brain development.Motor Skill Milestones: Tummy time, rolling, sitting, and reaching in a pristine, safe environment.Responsive Bonding: Consistent, warm care interactions to build early emotional security and trust.
🧸 Toddlers: Foundations of Discovery & LanguageAge Focus: 12 Months – 3 YearsProgram Core: Channelling boundless energy into structured curiosity, vocabulary building, and early social interactions.Key Learning Focus Areas:Language Explosion: Immersive storytelling, sign language, and verbal expression to expand communication.Early Social-Emotional Skills: Guided peer play where toddlers learn the early concepts of sharing and parallel play.Independent Motor Skills: Fine motor coordination (stacking blocks, finger painting) and gross motor stability (walking, climbing).
🎓 Preschool & Pre-K: Foundations of Academic ExcellenceAge Focus: 3 Years – 5 YearsProgram Core: Full implementation of The Creative Curriculum framework to ensure absolute school readiness and advanced critical thinking.Key Learning Focus Areas:STEM Foundations: Hands-on math patterns, early counting, sorting, and guided scientific sensory experiments.Phonics & Literacy: Letter recognition, phonemic awareness, pre-writing skills, and print concepts.Advanced Social Dynamics: Emotional self-regulation, conflict resolution, cooperative teamwork, and building deep peer friendshipsore our programs

Our story

We are a dedicated team committed to crafting exceptional experiences. Our focus lies in providing reliable and innovative solutions, driven by a deep respect for quality and a genuine desire to exceed expectations.

Our history

From modest beginnings, we've grown through unwavering dedication and a commitment to continuous improvement. Each step has reinforced our core belief in the power of collaboration and the importance of integrity. We're passionate about what we do, and we're excited to share our story with you.

Our commitment to your child's future

We offer a comprehensive approach to early childhood development, focusing on cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth. Our services are designed to bridge the gap between intuitive care and high-level educational standards, preparing children for a successful academic journey.

Evidence-based curriculum

We utilize The Creative Curriculum, a nationally recognized and research-backed framework that promotes learning through play and exploration. This approach ensures children develop critical thinking skills and a strong foundation for future learning.

Learn About Our Curriculum Research-Backed Frameworks for Future LeadersAt Foundations & Friendships, we do not believe in passive babysitting or unguided play. Every activity, every classroom setup, and every lesson plan is intentionally engineered.We proudly utilize The Creative Curriculum®, a nationally recognized, research-backed framework that targets the whole child. Our curriculum is designed to respect how children naturally learn: through active, hands-on exploration, inquiry, and the building of meaningful social connections.The Four Pillars of Whole-Child DevelopmentOur curriculum does not just focus on flashcards. It integrates four core developmental domains into your child’s daily routine:

Optimal staff-to-child ratios

Our commitment to optimal staff-to-child ratios guarantees personalized attention and care for every child. This allows our dedicated educators to understand and cater to individual learning styles and needs, fostering a supportive environment.

Meet our staff

School readiness programs

Our programs are specifically designed to ensure children are well-prepared for elementary school. We focus on developing essential academic and social skills, making the transition to kindergarten smooth and successful for every child.

View our School Readiness:
Ready to Learn, Ready to Lead Bridging the Gap Between Preschool and Kindergarten Success
At Foundations & Friendships, our ultimate goal is to ensure that every child graduating from our Pre-K program steps into kindergarten with absolute confidence. School readiness is not just about memorizing the alphabet; it is about developing the critical thinking, emotional maturity, and social skills required to excel in a modern elementary classroom.By combining The Creative Curriculum® with objective, data-driven milestone assessments, we eliminate the guesswork and ensure your child is fully prepared for the next step in their educational journey.The 4 Pillars of Foundations & Friendships School ReadinessOur school readiness framework aligns directly with national and state educational standards, focusing on four essential pillars
1. Academic & Cognitive Foundations
We build the core structural skills your child needs to master early elementary academics without frustration.Literacy & Language: Letter-sound recognition (phonics), print concepts, sight word recognition, and proper pencil grip for early writing.Mathematical Thinking: Number concepts, counting with 1-to-1 correspondence, sorting by multiple attributes, and recognizing shapes and patterns.Executive Functioning: Training children to follow complex multi-step directions, sustain focus on a task, and transition smoothly between activities.

2. Social-Emotional & Behavioral Maturity (The "Friendships" Pillar)A child cannot learn if they are overwhelmed by the social dynamics of a new classroom. We explicitly teach the behavioral skills kindergarten teachers value most:Self-Regulation: Managing big emotions, practicing patience, and using words to express needs.Collaborative Play: Sharing materials, working in small groups, and building positive peer relationships.Independence & Self-Help: Taking care of personal belongings, managing restroom needs independently, and taking initiative in clean-up routines.programs
3. STEM & Problem-Solving CuriosityKindergarten requires children to think critically. We foster an analytical mindset through hands-on discovery.

Strict compliance & safety

AMGMANUEL DAYCARE dba Foundations & Friendships adheres to strict state licensing regulations and maintains the highest safety standards. We prioritize the well-being and security of your child, providing parents with peace of mind.

Our Commitment to SafetySecuring the Environment So Minds Can GrowAt Foundations & Friendships, we know that true learning can only happen when a child feels completely safe, secure, and protected. We look at safety through a multi-layered compliance framework. From the front door of our building to the design of our indoor and outdoor exploration zones, every square inch of our facility is structured to protect your child.The Core Pillars of Our Safety Framework
🛡️ 1. Secure Facility Access & Active MonitoringWe maintain a strict perimeter to ensure our academy remains a safe haven for our students and staff.Controlled Entry Points: All entrance doors remain securely locked at all times. Only authorized personnel and cleared administrative staff control access to the building.Strict Identity Verification: No child is ever released to an individual without prior written parental consent and verified, government-issued photo identification.Visitor Protocols: All visitors, auditors, and maintenance professionals must sign in at the main administrative office, verify their identity, and remain escorted at all times while on the premises
.👩‍🏫 2. Highly Trained, Credentialed StaffOur safety protocols are only as good as the educators who enforce them. We invest heavily in professional development to keep our team sharp.Optimal Staff-to-Child Ratios: We strictly enforce state-mandated staff-to-child ratios in every classroom. By keeping ratios optimized, our teachers can provide the deep, responsive supervision your child deserves.Comprehensive Background Clearances: Every single employee—including administrators, lead teachers, assistants, and support staff—must pass rigorous state and federal criminal background checks, fingerprinting, and child abuse registry screenings before entering a classroom.Emergency Preparedness: 100% of our instructional staff are certified in Pediatric CPR, First Aid, and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) usage. Our team participates in continuous safety bootcamps to ensure immediate, calm, and effective responses to any medical or environmental situation.
🧼 3. Pristine Health & Sanitization ProtocolsA safe environment is a clean environment. We implement rigorous health routines to protect our community from illness.Daily Multi-Point Sanitization: Classrooms, toys, learning materials, and high-touch surfaces are sanitized throughout the day and deep-cleaned every evening using child-safe, medical-grade disinfectant solutions.Proactive Health Screenings: We monitor the health of our environment daily. Children or staff displaying symptoms of contagious illness are safely and comfortably isolated in our administrative suite until they can be picked up, preventing the spread of germs.Rigorous Handwashing Routines: We teach and reinforce proper handwashing techniques as a core part of our daily routine—before and after meals, after outdoor play, and during classroom transitions.
🛝 4. Standard-Aligned Active Play SpacesPhysical activity is vital for a child's development, and we ensure our play spaces meet the highest safety benchmarks.

"Foundations & Friendships has been a blessing for our family. The staff are incredibly nurturing, and we've seen our child blossom both academically and socially. We highly recommend them!"

—Satisfied parent, Port Gibson, Mississippi

Connect with us

AMGMANUEL DAYCARE dba Foundations & Friendships
Port Gibson, Mississippi United States

Hours of operation

Monday - Friday: 7:30 to 4:30

Call us

601-448-1159

a.graves@amgmanuel-daycare -dba -Foundations-friendship.com

Beyond the ordinary

This is where our journey begins. Get to know our business and what we do, and how we're committed to quality and great service. Join us as we grow and succeed together. We're glad you're here to be a part of our story.