St. Mary’s Catholic School
Early Childhood Education Program

The St. Mary’s Pre-school has programs for both 3 and 4 year old children. The classroom is child centered; a place where children feel secure and happy. The program is activity based and the children spend time in both group and individual activities.

The curriculum is designed to stimulate each child’s mind and excite their natural questioning nature. The classroom arrangement allows the children to explore, play, imagine, and create through the following areas: block area, library area, art area, and manipulative area. All activities are age appropriate and help the child to develop academically, socially, and emotionally.

3 Year Old Program:

The 3-year old program has a maximum of 15 children. Classes meet on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s in the morning from 9 a.m.–11:30 a.m. and afternoons from 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m. The goal of the 3 -year old program is to have the children begin to develop their interpersonal skills. These skills are taught through methods such as group play, art activities, singing songs, and listening to stories.

4 Year Old Program:

The 4-year old program has a maximum of 18 children. Three program options are available for 4 year olds.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and afternoons from 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m.

5 full days from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

3 Full days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from 8:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.

All 4-year old programs continue to develop interpersonal skills such as sharing, listening, and following directions that were introduced in the 3-year old program. Children in the full day program can participate in our Hot Lunch Program, offering a variety of health food choices. They can also make use of our After Care Program, educational childcare available until 5:30 p.m. each day. This 4 year old program is specifically designed to prepare children with readiness skills for kindergarten. The children spend time on:

Color recognition

Recognizing and counting numbers to 10

Fine Motor Skills

• Writing their name
• Cutting with scissors
• Tracing shapes and figures

Gross Motor Skills- a.m. Physical Education class involving hopping, skipping, jumping, and parachute.

Knowing their address

Reciting their phone number

Recognizing letters of the alphabet

Our Pre-K program readies children for an easy and stress-free transition into our Full day Kindergarten program in a building they are familiar with, staffed with teachers they recognize.