It is with great pride that we announce that our preschool has been awarded national accreditation through The National Association for the Education of Young Children. NAEYC is a leader in early childhood education; does much research in the field and have published many books on the topic of early childhood education. Developmentally Appropriate Practice guidelines used in early childhood programs were developed by NAEYC. The accreditation process is an in-depth study where parents and teachers evaluate the program to ensure the school meets the necessary standards. At the end of the self study NAEYC validators come to the school where teachers and administrators go through a lengthy observation process and are also interviewed to ensure they understand and implement appropriate practices in the classroom. The accreditation has to be renewed every five years and the schools are monitored annually by NAEYC. I am very proud of our staff who worked so hard to achieve this prestigious stamp of approval. They are a professional group of teachers who deserve the recognition! www.NAEYC.org.

The goal of Mary Help of Christians Preschool is to provide a safe nurturing environment where children can come and simply be themselves. We will challenge the children and help them grow in an atmosphere where failure is never an issue. We will help them develop to their full potential.  We will help each child see the wonder of the world God has provided for him/her. We will instill in them the fact that they are special in the eyes of God and in the eyes of those around them. Our goal is to have the children leave us with a strong self image, to be risk takers and to be ready and excited about moving on to ‘Big School’.

Play is the work of childhood. At Mary Help Of Christians Preschool we will provide a nurturing environment that in essence is a lab where your child can explore, experiment and stretch the limits of his/her imagination.  Each child is unique and deserves to be allowed the time to develop socially, emotionally and physically in his/her own time and in his/her own way. To process information, children need to be allowed to learn through all of their senses. In order for a child to internalize information, it needs to go through their hands.  Hunting for bugs, mixing colors, building towers develops a child’s imagination and helps him/her process how things work.  We recognize the fact that preschool children are in a transitional stage and trial and error is the foundation of their development. Our teachers are trained to meet the developmental needs of your child.  They will allow your child the time and materials needed to experiment and grow without the fear of failure.

Our curriculum is developmentally appropriate and child-centered. Our program is open-ended and very hands-on. Children need to be able to experiment and try new things without the fear of failure. No child is forced to participate in all activities though we will encourage them to try new things. Academics are best learned in a play environment where children touch, feel and manipulate the alphabet and numbers. Our children are exposed to academics in a developmentally appropriate way. There are many opportunities offered throughout the day to explore letters, numbers and print, especially for children in the four year old program. Speech and language are in the developmental stages and we encourage their use through story writing and storytelling. Art is always open-ended and rarely "crafty". We encourage the children to develop their creativity through their art and through imaginative play. We allow the children to be independent thinkers and we encourage them to be problem solvers. Since music develops both the cognitive and creative brain it is a big part of our program. We stress competence and independence and allow the children to take responsibility in choosing most of their activities. We feel that if all the activities we are providing in the classroom are good ones then no matter which ones a child chooses to participate in he or she is learning. Outdoor play is offered daily to help the children develop their large muscles.

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