The School, our Philosophy and our Emergent Curriculum, Reggio Inspired Program

St. Andrews United Church preschool has been operating in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for nearly four decades. The philosophy of the school reflects its core values including the provision of a safe and caring environment. At St. Andrews children develop intellectually, socially and physically and are encouraged to participate in a variety of activities including art, music, group projects, drama, puppets, story time and free play. Parents are encouraged to participate and to support their child in the program. Emphasis is placed on building community, self confidence and developing a positive attitude toward learning.

St. Andrews staff view the child as imaginative, strong and capable of directing his own learning according to his individual needs and interests. Inspired by the teaching practices and methodologies of the Reggio Emilia preprimary schools in Italy, children are given ample opportunities to explore ideas and to express themselves creatively using a variety of objects and materials. They are encouraged to collaborate and work together on various projects throughout the year. These experiences allow children to learn to negotiate and solve problems. They learn to deal with conflict and failure and they experience the joy of success in completing project work.

This is a very exciting time for St. Andrew's Preschool as we are currently in the process of moving to a new location! We have been with St. Andrew's United Church for decades and will greatly miss our space, however we are committed to finding a new space where the children of the community can continue to grow, learn, and develop their minds.

We will post our new location once the details have been finalized.

For more information regarding the Reggio Emilia approach and philosophy see:

The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance
Reggio Children

Wikipedia has an entry that describes the Reggio approach to teaching, it can be found here.

Registration and Rates

The process for registration has 4 steps:

1. Contact the preschool to determine if there is space available
2. Completion of the registration form
3. Completion of the health form
4. Signing the waiver form and discipline policy

Our registration is now being handled by our instructors, they can be reached by calling the school number 403-258-1308. Please leave a message with your contact information and details regarding the program (3 or 4 year old morning or combined afternoon) you are interested in. Email enquiries can be sent to registrar@standrewspreschool.ca. Once the necessary forms have been completed please drop them off at the school or mail them to us.

We currently have three programs available for enrollment: a 3 year-old program, a 4 year-old program, and a combined three and four year old afternoon program.

Rates for September 2012 are:

• Three Year Old AM Class: $120 CND per month (2 days per week - 9 months)
• Four Year Old AM Class: $165 CND per month (3 days per week - 9 months)
• Three and Four Year Old PM Class: $165 CND per month (3 days per week - 9 months)

Registration for 2012-2013 begins:

1. 7:00 PM March 5, 2012 - for current and previous students (families), or for St Andrews United Church members.
2. 7:00 PM March 12, 2012 - public registration.

Schedules

Three Year Old Morning Class:

• Tuesdays and Thursdays - 8:45 AM to 10:45 AM

Four Year Old Morning Class:

• Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - 8:45 AM to 11:15 AM

Combined Three and Four Year Old Afternoon Class:

• Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - 12:15 PM to 2:45 PM

St. Andrew's Preschool follows the Calgary Board of Education public school holiday schedule.