St. Paul's Preschool will hold an open houseTuesday, Aug. 27, 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. for prospective students and parents. St. Paul's Episcopal Church will provide a picnic meal.
Conveniently located at 1013 Indiana Avenue, LaPorte, St. Paul’s Preschool will provide your child the opportunity to explore a variety of materials, engage in physical activities, and to interact with peers and adults. It offers a balance of child-initiated and teacher-selected activities, developing preschoolers’ verbal, artistic, and spatial skills through a variety of games, building materials, music, dramatic play, and art. Special activities include Bookmobile visits, piano time, field trips, and story times. There is also a fenced outdoor play area for the children to enjoy.
St. Paul’s Preschool offers classes for children aged 3, 4, and 5 by Aug. 1. Preschoolers must be potty trained. Classes are Tuesday and Thursday for 3- and 4-year-olds, either from 9 to 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 to 3 p.m. The Pre-K class for 4- and 5-year-olds is Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 to11:30 a.m. or 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The extra hour is offered for more kindergarten readiness skills. The maximum number of students for the Tuesday-Thursday class is 15. The Monday-Wednesday-Friday class maximum is 20. There are always two teachers and sometimes volunteers.
Curriculuum used is Handwriting Without Tears (HWT.com). It is initiated in the younger class and built upon the following year. Lots of fun tools are manipulated to learn the alphabet/shapes/numbers/ and other skills through music, art, building, and more.
The school's director, Sue Osborn, a graduate of Blackburn College, has been at the preschool since 2004. Teacher Michelle Sager, a graduate of William Raney Harper College, taught at Building Blocks Preschool in La Porte from 2002 to 2009, joining St. Paul's Preschool in 2011.
Parking is available behind the building and in front on Indiana Avenue. The main entrance is off St. Paul Court, entering from Michigan Avenue. Volunteers in the classroom are welcome after the first month, either on a regular basis or for special projects and parties.
The calendar schedule compliments the La Porte Community Schools schedule. The preschool begins the first Wednesday and Thursday after Labor Day and ends the Thursday and Friday before Memorial Day. It follows cancellations called by the LaPorte School System but its two-hour delays do not affect the preschool.
Visit the Web site at www.stpaulslaporte.org. Staff can be contacted with questions to set up a visit at 219-362-1013 or stpaulpreschool@frontier.com
Parents of Preschoolers, this is an exciting time for your child’s developmental growth. Many families decide that at ages three, four and five years old it is appropriate to introduce their child to a preschool environment. When choosing a preschool, prioritize your goals for your preschooler.
*Are you looking for child care or for a more or less structured curriculum? What about the other students in the classroom – are they there mostly for child care or are the families also interested in participating in the educational process.
* Does this particular setting encourage volunteers and participation?
*Location, hours, and costs are tangible items that are the easiest to compare.
*Consider the environment that your child will learn.
*Environmental Factors: class size, child/teacher ratio, physical layout of the preschool classroom, availability of a bathroom close to the classroom and assistance, personal safety
*The teaching staff will play an important part in your child’s learning experience. How long have they been teaching preschool age children? How long have they been at this location? Is there a lot of teacher turnover?
*Ask how different situations are handled: discipline issues? Inattentiveness? Allergies? Bathroom hygiene? Sudden illnesses? What happens if your child is falling behind? What happens if your child is more advanced in the learning process?
*Ask about the curriculum description and for visible samples.
*Will you get feedback on how your child is doing?
St. Paul’s Preschool offers a safe, colorful environment, with multiple opportunities to challenge and enrich your child. We hope to see you there!