Cornerstone Educational Preschool

Cornerstone Educational Preschool began with five students in fall 2008 in partnership with the Waiokeola Church Preschool in Hawaii. Two years later, Dr. Jennifer Dustow, a globally recognized autism specialist, researcher and author, created an independent nonprofit preschool and purchased a former church in Lanai City, Hawaii. She soon began renovations to open Cornerstone, offering a fully equipped classroom setting for virtual classes with the ability to reach students and their families around the world. The nonprofit Cornerstone Educational Preschool's innovative approach to early education reaches and nurtures children diagnosed under the autism spectrum. More than children in the U.S. are receiving services for autism, a type of brain processing that begins in early childhood and persists throughout adulthood. Cornerstone Educational Preschool reaches dozens of preschool-age youth (2 ½ to 5 ½ years old) and their families each year through virtual classes that follow a research-based curriculum created by Dr. Dustow. Parents and caregivers can schedule class sessions, which are led from a fully equipped classroom in Lanai City, Hawaii. The program has successfully mainstreamed children with autism into successful, productive educational environments. Cornerstone is committed to fostering a variety of learning styles, which are important components to the identity of a student and as an individual. By building on a student’s strengths, Cornerstone provides the gateway for academic learning while uncovering each child's hidden social abilities. Children need to know, just like adults, that transitions have purpose and meaning, and that the act of transition is a movement that is beneficial to human existence. The school's "Bridging Realities Bilaterally" curriculum focuses on developing sensory, academic and real-life skills, with the goal of mainstreaming the student.