Dr. Michele Haney Celebration and Dedication

Please help us honor the life of our Co-Founder Dr. Michele Haney by donating funds towards a playground communication board to foster the communication development of CHIME toddlers and preschoolers. The communication board will be dedicated to Dr. Haney and unveiled during a celebration at the CSUN Child and Family Studies Center where the CHIME Infant/Toddler and Preschool Programs are housed.

CHIME History

The CHIME Institute, a nonprofit organization established in 1990, is a national leader in the development and implementation of a unique model of inclusive education. The institute began with an early childhood program based at California State University, Northridge. The success of the early childhood program, coupled with the needs of the community and sound research, prompted a group of parents and Cal State Northridge faculty to develop a charter elementary school in 2001 and a charter middle school in 2003. The two schools were merged into kindergarten through 8th grade in 2010 and named the CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School.

Inclusive education at CHIME Institute means that children with and without disabilities who reflect the demographics of the surrounding region learn side by side. CHIME’s model allows for the individual needs of each child to be addressed in a manner that enhances each child’s strengths while also addressing learning needs.

In addition, CHIME serves as a model for educators through its partnership with Cal State Northridge’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District. It facilitates research opportunities and regularly hosts visitors from surrounding districts and as far away as Japan and the United Kingdom who are interested in replicating CHIME’s successes, in their own schools and communities.