Preschool Program
The Saint Monica Academy preschool program provides developmentally appropriate activities for your child. We promote the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical, and social development of the young child. Children also have the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities such as free play, religious education, story time, snack, music, movement, math, and arts.

Preschool Basics

Arrival & Departures

For the safety of the children, parents are expected to bring children to school on time and check them with the teacher. The children enter and exit through the Northeast doors (by Rectory parking lot). For the first few weeks, the teachers will greet the children at the tree and bring them to the classroom. Teachers will only release your child to another adult with a guardian written and signed letter.

Session times: 8:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Half Day

                      8:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  Full Day

Attendance

Regular attendance and punctuality is important. Try to develop a regular school routine while your child is young. If it is necessary for your child to be absent, please notify the office before 9:00am at 773-631-7880. Your child should bring a parent signed and written letter when they return to school.

Communication

In order to keep parents informed about classroom and school activities, a School Communication Folder will be sent home with your child. Your child will receive a folder from the office EVERY WEDNESDAY which contains tuition statements, notes from the principal, holiday party information, snack calendars, book orders, etc. We will also send home a classroom newsletter with the children about every other week to keep you informed and updated on class events.

Family Involvement

There are plenty of social opportunities for you and your preschooler to be involved in our school community. Make sure you put some time aside to join us in parish events such as: Family Movie Nights, Breakfast with Santa, St. Monica Academy Gala (adults only), Sunday Family Mass (10:30am Weekly), and more! Also there will be a few product fundraising events that you may want to participate in.  All of these activities and fundraising opportunities really helps support our school and we would LOVE to see new happy preschool family faces there!!!

Clothing

Children should dress in comfortable durable clothes so that they can play freely and not worry about getting “messy”. Please label a complete change of clothing in a large Ziploc bag and leave it in your child’s back pack “just in case!” J Remember…socks, underwear, pants, and a shirt.

 

Snack & Show–n-Tell

Your child will be assigned a snack day in which s/he will provide a nutritious snack for the entire class. Snack Calendars will be sent home each month. On your child’s snack day, you are welcome to stay to help with the activities for that day and your child may bring something for show and tell. Here are some guidelines:

  1. Send a nutritionally sound small snack and drink for each child.
  2. Liters of juice and milk are easier to serve than Capri Sun and juice boxes.
  3. Remember that snack is not meant to be a full meal. A small portion of one type of food is all that is needed.
  4. Some great snack examples for preschool are: pretzels, Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams, cheese, yogurt, grapes, etc. PLEASE REMEMBER STUDENTS WITH PEANUT ALLERGIES!

Birthdays

Many children choose to bring a special treat to share with the class on their birthday. The teachers will schedule your child’s snack day on or near their birthday. We’ll make special arrangements with the summertime birthday kids.

Holiday Parties

On our Student Orientation Day, we will ask you to sign up to help plan one of our holiday parties for your child’s class. You are asked to work with a committee of 2 or 3 other parents to organize 1 fun game or art activity and provide snack for the children. Most parties are from 10:00-11:00 for the am class and 2:00-3:00 for the pm class.

 

Discipline

Our preschool motto is “use your words, not your hands”. At this age, the children are in a stage of egocentricity. As a result, the children work through situations by learning ways to cope with disagreements. The teachers usually try to give them the words to use and discuss alternative ways to handle conflicts in the classroom. It is also important for the children to learn to show respect for others feelings and belongings as well as their own self respect.

A St. Monica Playground Rule is (1) Walk (2) Talk (3) Rock

This rule, adapted from Peaceful Playgrounds, encourages children to independently problem solve playground disputes. Children are encouraged to make 1 of 3 choices…

  1. Walk away from the problem/game.
  2. Talk about the situation or dispute.
  3. Rock-Paper-Scissor to determine what to do in the given disputed activity.

 

Parent-Teacher Conferences & Report Cards

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held in November. This is a SHORT meeting to discuss developmental milestones in the life of your child and to express goals and expectations for the school year. A basic progress summary will be given at this time. Report cards are issued in January and in May.