St. Angela Merici Preschool

The St. Angela Merici Preschool program prepares 3 - 5 year old children for Kindergarten in an environment that ignites imagination, develops character and nurtures faith.

Our program maintains a low teacher/child ratio to encourage individualized instruction, and all of our classrooms are large, bright, and inviting.

The mission and goals of the St. Angela Merici Preschool are to:

  • Guide children in recognizing God's presence in everyday life experiences.

  • Help children develop the skills needed to interact with others; work toward a common goal; cope with conflict; and express feelings.

  • Expose children to a large variety of books, stories, and writing experiences to develop early literacy skills.

  • Provide children with a wide range of activities that promote effective communication.

  • Stimulate children to utilize reasoning in problem solving.

PA281478.jpg

Classroom Highlights

  • Religious Awareness and Formation: Helping the child to become aware of God in every aspect of their lives. Exposure to church setting, mini prayer services and awareness of God's community of believers.

  • Eurythmics: Uses music, movement and rhythm to develop sensory motor skills and build a foundation for love of music.

  • TechTots Program: Introduction to early engineering through integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

  • Fitness Play: Activities to encourage development of large motor skills (coordination and muscle strength) in an interactive and stimulating environment.

  • Literacy/Language Arts: Trips to the library to help cultivate the pleasure of reading and love of books. Reading, writing, speaking and listening are woven into our lesson plans on a daily basis and teach each child strategies for comprehending phonetic reasoning, vocabulary developement, and grammar.

  • Dramatic Play: Provides social interaction and opportunity for each child to express their individual thoughts and scenario for play.

  • Art: Art awareness and appreciation dovetails our themed units integrating a variety of media formats.

Preschool Happenings

Our state of the art curriculum is further enhanced by our enrichment activities that are scheduled throughout the academic year. Our parent volunteer group "Friends of the Preschool" hosts our classroom parties and are invited to join us on our outings/field trips.

FP Fire Station Visit                                                                           Book Buddies with SAM Grade 1
Cuyahoga County Librarian Visits                                                Fall & Spring Parent Teacher Conferences
Fall Family Night/Performance                              "Day with Dad"
Halloween Party                                                      Class Photo/Individual
Christmas Party                                                                                Grand Pals Day
St. Valentine's Day Party                                                                       Tech Tots/STEM Presentation
St. Patrick’s Day Party                                                                  End of Year Picnic
Easter Baskets for Westside Catholic Center                                       “My Mommy & Me”                   
Egg Hunt and Easter Prayer Service                            

Faculty

Program Director: Mrs. Christina Kutz

Our faculty is composed of state certified and degreed Early Childhood educated teachers and complimented by additional staffing of teaching assistants.

We consider all of our teachers our most important asset. Our teachers embrace the highest values of the Responsive Classroom Method which pinpoints the importance of the social curriculum in relation to the academic curriculum.

St. Angela Merici Preschool is fully accredited by the Ohio Department of Education and has consistently been granted full licensure in compliance with all required policies, procedures and a state-of-the-art curriculum.

Enrollment Options and Fees

*Fees reflect the 2023-2024 school year.

Three Year Old Program

  • The child must be 3 years old by September 30th.

  • Classes are held on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

  • Fee $1,372 yearly*

  • There is a $25 activity fee due with tuition payment.

Four Year Old Program

  • The child must be 4 years old by September 30th.

  • Classes are held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

  • Fee: $1,708 yearly *

  • There is a $25 activity fee due with tuition payment.

Pre-Kindergarten Program

  • The child must be 5 years old by March 1st.

  • Classes are held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

  • Fee $2,044 yearly*

  • There is a $25 activity fee due with tuition payment.

Pre-Kindergarten Enrichment Program

  • The child must be 5 years old by December 1st.

  • Classes are held on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 9:15 a.m. - 11:30 am.

  • Fee $2,380 yearly*

  • There is a $25 activity fee due with tuition payment.

Enrollment Information

If you are interested in enrolling your child in St. Angela's Preschool program, complete the preschool application below and email it to preschool@samparish.org. To schedule a tour of our preschool classrooms, contact our Preschool Director, Christina Kutz at (440) 333-2126, ext. 155.

What Can you do to improve your child's preschool readiness skills?

In advance of the transition into preschool parents can:

  • Parenting expectations: Increase expectations of your child around self care tasks such as dressing, toileting, eating, and getting ready to go out of the house.

  • Social skills: Encourage your child to develop relationships with known and unfamiliar children of a similar age.

  • Books: Expose your child to books to prepare them for sitting and listening to stories as part of group time at preschool.

  • Early preparation: Start preparing your child for preschool at the age of 3 by talking about expectations at preschool/kindergarten such as appropriate behavior and sit down activities.

  • Visual strategies: Use visuals, such as picture schedules, to help your child understand the routine of their day both at home and at preschool/kindergarten.

  • Outings: Prepare your child for group excursions when at preschool/kindergarten by going to places such as the library, the zoo, the shopping center, the post office and help your child to understand appropriate behavior in these environments.

  • Fine motor skills: Help your child develop fine motor/muscle skills by encouraging activities such as:

        Hold forks and spoons to eat                                                        Cut with child-safe scissors

        Wipe the table with a sponge                                                        Play with play dough and clay

        Help with meals—stir, shake and mix                                          Draw, scribble, or write with crayons, pencils, and markers

        Get dressed—button, zip, snap, buckle and fasten                   Build with small blocks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This is an area that will be a large part of the activities undertaken at preschool, so developing these skills early will enable your child to participate in activities much more easily and willingly.

For more information about preschool readiness visit

https://www.infohio.org/early-learning

https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/13-tips-starting-preschool