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Academics / Lower School / Pre-Kindergarten

Pre-Kindergarten

Pre-Kindergarten 3 and Pre-Kindergarten 4 at St. John’s Episcopal School are theme-based, academic programs nurturing character development and faith for children ages three to five years old. Our primary mission is to provide a safe, caring, and positive environment that fosters a lifelong love of learning.

Our engaging programs encourage the social, emotional, physical, creative, spiritual, and cognitive development of the whole child. We proudly focus on teaching our students our core values of kindness, honesty, respect, and compassion. These values are integrated into the daily routines that form a strong basis for all our academic and social/emotional learning throughout the school year.

A Typical Day

Our daily schedules are designed to balance teacher-guided and child-initiated activities, along with both active and quiet time. There is a balance between individual, small group, and large group activities. We promote and provide numerous opportunities for our children to explore, interact, imagine, create, make decisions, and solve problems. Our curriculum teaches readiness skills in reading, math, science, and social studies through discovery and creative activities both inside and outside the classroom. Our children are engaged and involved in a literature-rich classroom that also provides many opportunities in art, music, movement, dance, and dramatic play. Our program is enhanced by our “specials,” which are STEM, Spanish, Library/Media, PE, Religion, and Hands-On Chapel.

A Theme-Based Model

A theme-based model encourages children to form those patterns. When all the learning activities are connected around a “theme,” children see how learning is interconnected. For example, science isn’t just a subject that stands alone but is very closely related to reading, math, and social studies. Our programs promote children’s knowledge and skills, helping them make connections about the world around them.

Spanish

In Pre-Kindergarten Spanish classes, students are immersed in the Spanish language. They start with greeting one another and singing a morning or afternoon song for each class in Spanish. Music, art, and movement are added to each learning unit when students learn about colors, food, shapes, family, parts of the body, seasons, and the calendar. When learning about nature and the outdoors, learning takes place outside on the beautiful school grounds. The teacher interacts with the students in a Spanish-speaking environment including conversing with students outside the classroom in Spanish as well.

Our Teachers

Our Pre-Kindergarten teachers focus on each child’s age and stage of development, help each child meet the goals that are right for him or her, and value and include each child’s family, language, and culture. Materials, activities, and strategies are chosen and adapted with these outcomes in mind. Teachers plan activities and experiences that build upon, support and enhance children’s well-being, a sense of belonging, confidence in their capacities to explore and learn, growing skills in communication, and the opportunity to contribute to the life of the classroom.

The Play Garden

Our Pre-Kindergarten program is fortunate to have our own Play Garden. This outdoor space, just outside our back door, is an oasis for the children where they can play, run, build, and explore nature and the outdoors with their friends. In the spring, we enjoy planting and releasing butterflies in the beautiful flowers! Our students are also able to enjoy the school’s larger playground.

Ages and Attendance

Pre-Kindergarten 3 is for students who will turn 3 years of age by September 1 of that school year. Pre-Kindergarten 4 is for students who will turn 4 years of age by September 1 of that school year.

Attendance options are:

Before and aftercare are available. Please visit our Extended Day Program page to learn more.

The school year follows the same schedule as the St. John’s Kindergarten through Grade 8 calendar.

Questions?

Lee Winter, Director of Admissions and Marketing — lee.winter@stjes.org — 301-774-6804, ext. 160