Pre-K 3's and 4's

Thanks to our Pastor, Father Peter McGeory who spearheaded the Saint Joseph School Best in Class Committee, after 18 months of diligence, in consultation with Early Childhood experts in classroom and curriculum design, our long-anticipated SJS Pre-K 3s and 4s Program is in full bloom! Our state-of-the-art facility is second-to-none, and provides the ideal setting for your youngster's most important "introduction to school".  Our PreK Dream Team of Ms. DiSanto, Mrs. Feldmeth, Ms. Sperlongano and Ms. Morales have exceeded our very high expectations in our inaugural year (and unfortunately, I must add, during a pandemic). Our SJS PreK Program weaves the values and tenets of our Catholic Faith into our atmosphere and activities. We celebrate the uniqueness of each of God's children, and focus on our students' spiritual, personal and social development, interactive and language skills through play, fine and gross motor/physical development,  and literacy development and pre-academic skills in the arenas of arithmetic, science, and social studies. Our program is child-centered and experientially-based; immersion in hands-on learning fosters the multiple intelligences.

From the moment our children arrive at the SJS PreK each morning, they are greeted warmly by their teachers as they enter through their private PreK gate and play area. Staff welcomes them into their brand-new, state-of-the-art classroom, and immediately their daily routines, the foundations of future organization and study skills, begin. Our daily program consists of lively movement and music activities and stimulating learning-center play; during daily small group instruction, the children are immersed in a developmentally-appropriate, multisensory pre-academic activities. Concepts and vocabulary are reinforced through carefully-planned delivery of curricula that fosters the development of language understanding and use, the precursors to reading. Pre-writing skills are blended with fun lessons that incorporate fine-motor development. Arithmetic and mathematical reasoning is developed through everyday activities and engaging games. Simple science investigations support our students' abilities to think critically and use observation to draw conclusions.  Special projects provide valuable opportunities to learn social-studies lessons about our community, customs, holy day and holidays! Snack time and lunch time are supervised; the children delight in (distanced) socializing while eating their lovingly-packed snacks and lunch. By early afternoon, a nap is in order-soft music is played and the lights are dimmed to encourage relaxation. After a refreshing rest period, the children are again ready to participate in learning. At 2:30, the PreK day comes to an end and one-by-one, our littles gems leave through the private PreK gate, and joyfully reunite with their families by an orderly dismissal.