St. Mary's Nursery School
Nursery School Director,
Chris Thorson 652-7264
email: preschool@stmaryslutheran.org

www.smlns.org

Nursery School

St. Mary's Lutheran Nursery School provides a Christian early childhood setting where young children are helped to learn and develop as God's children, physically, socially, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually.

The goals of the program are:

• to provide an environment which supports the growth of the whole child in developmentally appropriate ways.
• to guide children as they experience and learn about God's love through Jesus Christ.
• to encourage children to acquire self esteem, concern for others, a sense of community and a spirit of sharing.
• to foster creativity, exploration, self discipline and a love for learning.
• to assist parents in guiding the development of their children.

School Information

St. Mary's Lutheran Nursery School is licensed by the State of Wisconsin. This assures families that high standards have been met regarding space, program, equipment, health, safety, and staff.

The nursery school is a non-profit mission of St. Mary's Lutheran Church; however, the school is non-denominational. The school is administered by a Nursery School committee of the Congregation Council in conjunction with the teaching staff and Director. This committee is comprised of ten individuals; Director, a council representative, parents of students, bookkeeper, and Pastor of Education. This committee meets monthly to address issues regarding school policies, procedures, and budget review. Committee members name and phone numbers are posted outside the Director's office.

Our curriculum is one that is based on active learning through play in a variety of interest centers;  active learning is learning by doing; investigating new things; problem solving, experimenting, and exploration.  When touring the classrooms, the different areas can be observed.  Some interest areas are: math and science center, dramatic play area, sand and water table, small manipulatives, and an art area.  The teachers develop unit themes and then incorporate the theme into as many interest areas as possible.  During "freechoice" time, (which we feel is the most important) children are actively involved with their peers, moving freely and experimenting with activities and materials.  Teachers encourage language, (speaking and listening), literacy development, and most importantly prosocial behaviors.