Pitman First Presbyterian Church

Weekday Preschool letter to the Congregation--See below

All About Weekday

At the Weekday Preschool (formerly the Weekday Nursery School) we prepare children to live Christian lives and succeed academically. This is done through a Christian perspective by relaying that we are all God’s children and we should share his love with those in the classroom, community and beyond. This is conveyed everyday through teachings in the classroom, as well as participation in many different mission based projects throughout the school year.

We are a non-denominational Christian program and “All are welcome here”. We encourage parent participation and have an “open door” policy in this regard. Being we are located within walking distance to downtown Pitman, NJ, this allows us to expand our program with walking field trips to the center of town such as the library, bakery, florist and more. In addition, the children have a safe off street place to play on our secured, fenced in playground. We offer affordable tuition which includes field trips and a t-shirt and scholarships are available.

Visits are encouraged and applications are available online at www.pitmanpres.org or by calling our director, Susan Varallo at 589-5021.

Our program includes but is not limited to the following skills or subject areas:

Math- counting skills, identifying shapes, patterning, money recognition and sequencing

Language Arts- identifying safety signs, recognizing/printing name, identifying letters upper/lower case, identifying letter sounds and reading readiness activities

Social Studies- multicultural activities, community helpers, basic citizenship, sharing/caring for others in the world around them and

basic geographic concepts

Science- identifying/making of colors, ecological awareness, physical change (annual butterfly project), basic gardening and weather

Music and Art- cutting, painting, drawing, movement and dance

Classes Available for 2010-2011

(All children should be the appropriate class age by Oct. 1st)

Four Year Olds-

Full Day (M- F) (8-3pm) - $2500.00 year/$250 month

AM Class (T-F) (8:45-11:15 am) - $1805.00 year/ $180.50 month

PM Class (T-TH) (12-2:30pm) - $1530.00 year/ $153 month

Three Year Olds-

3 day AM (M, W, F) (8:45-11:15 am) - $1530 year/$153 month

2 day AM (T, TH) (8:45 -11:15 am) - $1200 year/120 month

Mommy & Me (2-3 year olds)

(All classes include craft, snack and instruction)

Class Info- (9:30-10:45 am) (Tuesdays)-$25 per 4 week session /

$100 year for all 16 classes

Toddler Mommy and Me-

(Class is intended for children ages 17 months – 2 years, includes snack and craft)

Class Info- (9:30am-10:30am) (Thursdays) - $20 per four week session/

$80 year for all 16 classes

Extended Day-

Program is available Mon- Fri, 11:15-1:15 for our 3 & 4 year old classes.

Cost- $10 hour

Regular Weekday staff provides care and children provide their own lunch.

Click on Cornerstone Article on Front Page for Weekday Preschool Article for the Summer.

Dear Congregational Members,

The Weekday Nursery School would like update you on what has been taking place this year in our school. We welcome you to take part in school programs and extend an open invitation to all we do!

This year WNS expanded its offerings by adding an Extended Care program that runs from 11:15-1:15pm, Monday-Friday. The children play, have lunch together, make art projects and enjoy outside activities with our regular staff.

We began a Mommy & Me program for 2-3 year olds as well as a Toddler Mommy & Me for ages 17 months- 2 years. Children in the 2-3 year old class are preparing for our three year old program by having circle time, art, snack and themed activities. Our Toddler program consists of songs, games and stories plus art, snack and gross motor activities all of which are age appropriate. Both programs run for 4 weeks at a time and we run four, 4 week sessions a year. Next year we will expand with a full day Mon- Fri., 8am-3pm, four year old program. This is for the convenience of those parents that work and would like to keep their children in a Christian family environment as opposed to a daycare setting. Our regular programming for threes and fours will still take place including our afternoon fours class.

We have added a few new items such as sand tables in the classrooms, new art easels as well as computers in the Extended Day room. We have placed a wish list on Target.com and are very thankful for those who have contributed. We still have valuable items that we need to help make the children’s learning environment a vibrant one. If you can help us out in any way, we thank you.

An application for grant money has been submitted to the General Assembly of the PC(USA) to help aid the school in its efforts to make it a more viable Christian learning environment. In an effort to give our children the best education possible, a request for $8500 was made in order to purchase technology, science and other educational material in order so we might meet the state standards for curriculum implementation. Children need experience with certain types of technology in order to thrive in today’s schools and we intend on providing them with those experiences with this monetary help.

We are partnering this year with the Sunday School program in the church in helping tend to the “Angel Garden”. In a joint effort, we have applied for a $2500.00 grant through Scholastic Books to further expand the project in order to better help those in need in our community. The proceeds of the garden are donated to the food pantry so they may have healthy choices when receiving their staples for the week. May God continue to bless us while we provide for others.

We currently have openings in our three year old program as well as our afternoon fours. Mrs. Crenco is celebrating her 24th year with us at Weekday. It seems like yesterday that her own children attended our school and many children have benefited from her preschool expertise over the years. This is most likely why some of our parents are previous students at our school. They like to see a familiar face when they come in each day. If you know of anyone that would like an application or tour, please have them call the school office at 589-5021.

We welcome any and all suggestions so please feel free to visit us in the office or drop us a line. We look forward to hearing from you!! May God continue to bless the Weekday Nursery School for many years to come as well as the members of our church family.

Sincerely,

Susan Varallo

Weekday Nursery Director