St. Mark's Preschool
Providing a caring, Christian developmental environment for young children 2-6 years old.
Linda Culley, Director
Pat Medder, Administrative Assistant
CONGRATULATIONS TO ST MARK'S PRESCHOOL
For winning the Chronical Newspaper
READER'S CHOICE AWARDS
We were voted “One of the Best Preschool/Daycare”
for 4 years in a row!
2008 * 2009 * 2010 * 2011
Click for Class Descriptions for 2013-2014
Click for Registration forms for 2013-2014
*****
Click for Enrichment Schedule 2013-2014
YOU ARE INVITED to our FAMILY FUN LITERACY NIGHT at ST. MARK'S PRESCHOOL.
Friday May 3, 2013
6:30 TO 8 PM
Click Here for all the details!
OPENINGS FOR THE 2012-2013 SCHOOL YEAR:
We still have spaces available for the 2011–2012 school year. Please email or call us for availability or to tour our facility.
Operation Christmas Child
In November we participated in our mission project, Operation Christmas Child – the shoebox project. These shoeboxes go to impoverished countries where children not only receive the gift of a shoebox, but also the gift of learning about Jesus Christ. We were able to collect 136 shoeboxes!
Electric Christmas Parade
If you were around on Saturday, Nov 24th you may have seen us at the Electric Light Parade. For the very first time, the preschool had a float entry. What a fun way to get the church and preschool out to the community. 
I would like to give special recognition to St. Charles Toyota. They graciously donated the pick- up truck, trailer and generator. What a blessing that was for us!
We give thanks to God for providing us with glorious winter weather. No rain, snow or ice to deal with and enough of a chill in the air to make it feel like Christmas.
What a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit. We all decided that it was so much fun, we'll have to do it again next year!
About Us
Meet our Staff
1. Registration for church members, currently enrolled students and their siblings and alumni will be held in December. Due by 12/14/12.
2. Registration for new families will begin the week of January 7th.
To request more information, or to set up a tour, contact us by Email by clicking here or call the Preschool office at 630-584-4850.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
St. Mark's Preschool is a ministry of St. Mark's Lutheran Church. St. Mark's Nurturing Center assists families in building a strong Christian foundation for their children, and in cultivating the love of learning about the world in which they live. This is achieved by employing staff who will bring the love of Jesus Christ and His teachings into the classrooms each day, and by celebrating the inquisitiveness of the young mind.
GOAL
Our goal is to establish a relationship of love, trust, and support that will nurture the child and to help his/her their young mind to bloom. We seek to have a developmentally appropriate environment that encourages and inspires not only a love of acquiring knowledge but also the joy of loving the Lord with all their heart.
OUR PROGRAM:
- is state licensed
- has qualified, caring staff
- has a religious curriculum
- has a developmental curriculum
- has a parenting library
- provides center orientated classrooms
- provides a safe, challenging playground
- has an indoor gymnasium
- includes a pre-kindergarten class
- provides cooking experiences
- has a computer in each room
- builds positive self-esteem
- allows free choice time
- has circle times
- provides field trips(4's & 5's)
- promotes learning concepts through play
Our Staff...
We are very blessed to have a loving, caring staff with long term experience and very little turn over rate. Most of our staff has been with us from 6 to 20 years. In 2008 we expanded our program and added 3 new staff members. All of our teachers have their 4 year teaching degree as well as many of our assistants.
Our Teachers for the Pre K Children
Our Teachers for the 2 year old children
Our Teachers for the 3 year old children
Our Teachers for the 4 year old Children
Shown below is our music enrichment time that is offered twice a month within the regular classroom day through “B Sharp Music” . Music is encouraged through a multi-sensory experience. Musical concepts, such as rhythm, pitch, tempo and dynamics are introduced through singing, instrument playing and moving and listening to music.
The Children...
We are a Christian preschool that teaches to the whole child. We address their social emotional, their physical, their academic and their spiritual well being. Learning how to share and work together, as you see in the picture above is just as important as knowing their ABC's. We also help the children to become independent learners and thinkers. Skills such as zipping their coats and packing their school bags, are important for kindergarten readiness.
Each class has two circle times a day. One circle is their Jesus time, where they hear Bibles stories, apply the Bible story to real life, and sing songs. We are in a Lutheran church, but we teach general Bible stories that you are probably familiar with. We have families from many different faiths as well as families that are un-churched.The second circle time relates to the theme the children are learning about.The children hear stories, sing songs, and do finger-plays.
The classes work on numbers and the alphabet- talking about the sound and shapes of the letters. Above you see a class brainstorming words that begin with the letter V.
We teach academics through developmentally appropriate ways. The children learn in a way that makes sense in their world. Learning takes place all throughout the day. Parents ask their children, What did you do at school today? The response, I just played, is what we like to hear. We don't use a lot of worksheets, drilling or memorization.
Here on this birthday board, you see an example of academics through play. The children decorated the people to resemble themselves and then created a bar graph according the months of the year.
Above, the children are making observations of an insect that someone found in their backyard. After observing they could then use markers and paper to draw the bug. Many times in preschool, the learning that takes place is not always in the lesson plan, but prompted by the students.
The children are doing sign language while they are singing the 'ABC' song. Also included in our curriculum for the 2009-2010 school year will be Spanish and music through B Sharp Music.
There are computers in every classroom. The games are academic and we view computer time as a choice, just like playing playdough or building in the blocks.
The social aspect of preschool is very important. Learning how to get along and take turns are important life skills. Making and playing with friends is a highlight of the day. Above you see two friends hanging out in the snap house in the classroom.
Snack time is a very important part of the preschool day as well. On this particular day, the weather was a hot 86 degrees and juicy watermelon was the perfect treat! We are DCFS licensed so the snacks need to be pre packaged. We are very aware of the growing population of children that have food allergies and have committed to be a“nut free” school. A snack list with specific brands listed is sent home. When it is your child's turn to bring snack, you may refer to this list. We encourage fruits and vegetables as a first choice. If your child has a food allergy, we ask you to bring a supply of non perishable snacks as an alternative. We want snack time to be a safe environment for all children.
We are very fortunate to have both an indoor gymnasium and an outdoor playground for the children. The children need time in the preschool day to be able to run around and get their wiggles out. Then when it's circle time, they are able to sit and be a listener.
A Peek Inside the Class Room...
