Central Presbyterian Church Preschool

Melissa Garvin

The mission of Central Presbyterian Church Preschool is to provide the young children in our community with a loving, Christ-centered environment where they may grow, develop, and learn. Our team vision is for every child to know Jesus Christ, to be equipped for their future education, and for their families to be transformed.

How is this happening? God has blessed the school tremendously with 75% of the children from families "Outside of these Walls" being ministered to by a dedicated, Christian staff. The curriculum encompasses the spiritual, physical, emotional and academic aspects of a young child's life. Our children experience a "Chapel" where they may sing and/or hear a story about Jesus' love for them. Pastor John Schmidt was one of these storytellers. At Christmas time many of our children were asking about this Jesus who was born in a manger. Some had never even heard his name before. At the Christmas program on December 17th our Sanctuary was filled with families who heard about this Jesus that we love. It is with heavy hearts that we celebrated this day without, our director Melissa Garvin, due to her pneumonia and hospitalization. We look forward to the testimony to our families that will come seeing God's hand at work even in this tragedy.

We have grown from 73 children in 2002-2003 to 89 children in 2003-2004. Our preschool structure this year includes:

• 2 Two-Year-Old classes (Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday)
• 1 Older Two/Young Three class (Monday/Wednesday)
• 2 Three-Year-Old classes (Tuesday/Thursday and Monday/Wednesday/Friday)
• 1 Four-Year-Old Class (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
• 1 Pre-Kindergarten class (Monday/Wednesday/Friday)

All of our classes are at capacity. We also have a wait list for each class.

Our new 2/3 class and our Pre-Kindergarten class have both worked out well this year. These classes were added to meet the needs of the new state mandates that will change the entry dates for Kindergarten. The classes are thriving and the children are receiving some challenging curriculum. The preschool looks forward to another full enrollment year for 2004-2005. As a service to our parents and an extended time of socializing for our students we offer our PAL (Preschoolers at Lunch) and ASAP (A Special Afternoon for Preschoolers) programs. These programs take place Monday through Thursday after our morning sessions. PAL meets from 11:30 am-1:00 pm. ASAP meets from 11:30 am-3:00 pm. These programs provide the children extra time to interact and eat lunch with children of different ages. Our extended programs have really grown in number this year. We are happy to say that every Monday and Wednesday is at a capacity level.

Our families are being transformed. Some of the families have visited Central on Sunday morning and a few have continued to attend. A newly formed PIC (Parent Interaction Club) by our own Sharon Westra has allowed many new parents to be involved in the school. We are excited about Sharon's leadership and the initiatives that the PIC is undertaking. God has given this church an awesome opportunity to be involved in many people's lives through the Preschool.