Philosophy: Immaculate Heart of Mary Preschool is a traditional Christian preschool dedicated to providing a warm and nurturing environment in which we encourage each child to learn and grow through meaningful play and challenging activities. The focus of our program is to foster the social, emotional, language, and cognitive development of all children creating a desire for lifelong learning while we prepare them for kindergarten.
Snack & Lunch: Please pack a snack for your child separate from their lunchbox. This snack should be nonperishable since it will be kept in their tote bag. No need to pack a drink for snack time; we will provide filtered water. Full-day friends please pack a drink for lunch if your child is not receiving milk through the school lunch program. Lunch boxes will be placed in the refrigerator until lunch time. If your child would like a warm lunch, it needs to be in a thermos and the needs to be separate from their lunch box. We can not heat up food!
Star Students: All children will be Star Student for a week.. I will give you materials to make a Star Student mobile which will be displayed all school year. During your child's star week, he/she can bring in special books to read and items to share at show-n-tell.
Field Trips: We take two field trips in Pre-K. One in the fall and one in the spring. The first field trip will be to Rodger's Farm. Shield Certification is necessary to attend!!!!
Show-n-Tell Wednesdays!! Every Wednesday throughout the school year is a share day. Children should bring in item in from home to show the class. They will be encouraged to tell us about their items. We love show-n-tell days!!
Book Boxes: Your child will be bring home several mini-books throughout this school year - approximately 40. This year I am providing a photo box for each child to easily collect and keep all of these books in one place. I encourage you to read these books with your child at home!
Representing All Children: At IHM preschool, we plan lessons according to the interests of the children in our class. We know that children learn best when they are engaged in activities which interest them. Throughout the school year, we strive to get to know our students and plan lessons based on such things as zoo animals, dinosaurs, weather, superheroes, and healthy eating. The cultural backgrounds of the individual students in our class are an important part of our lesson planning. We have books representing all cultures on our class bookshelves and in the school library. Students are each given the opportunity to be "Student of the Week." During their special week, students are encouraged to bring in pictures and items that represent their family and culture. Some examples of class learning/celebration days include activities for Black History month, MLK day, Cinco de Mayo, Chinese New Year, and Thanksgiving. The primary language of students is considered when planning activities. We communicate with families to assure that we are meeting the needs of all students. Family Involvement Opportunities We love when families get involved in our wonderful school. We have two room parents for our class. These parents help to organize parties and plan other special days in our classroom. All families are encouraged to join the HSA (Home School Association). Lots of great events are sponsored by the HSA. We would love to have our families volunteer and attend events such as the Fall Festival, Bingo Night the Spaghetti Dinner, Casino Night and more. The Father's Club welcomes all those dads and has great events like a golf tournament in the fall and spring beautification day. Race for Education is our school's biggest fundraiser and we ask for many volunteers for this important event.