Welcome to First Presbyterian Church Preschool! We are committed to making this preschool an exciting learning experience for your child. Our staff is trained in early childhood development and education. It is our privilege to nurture and minister to your child.

We hope the information on these web pages will be useful to your family. Please do not hesitate to contact me at the preschool office if I can assist you or your child in any way.

Sherri Provencher, Director

The First Presbyterian Preschool is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Upland. We believe that within a Christian atmosphere early childhood should be a time of fun, security, exploring, and discovery. Preschool children are creative and receptive; the staff strives to nurture and encourage these qualities in the children who attend.

The preschool's purpose is to provide an atmosphere that encourages social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth and development of the child as a whole.

First Presbyterian Preschool, established in 1966, is licensed by the State of California's Department of Social Services, and complies with all the standards put forth by that department. A volunteer Preschool Board and a paid Director govern its operation. A fully qualified teacher teaches each class. Our classroom ratio is one (1) teacher and one (1) assistant to fifteen (15) students.

Children are admitted regardless of race, creed, color, sex, national origin, religion, or political belief. A child with special needs will be accepted if it is determined that the preschool is able to meet the individual needs of the child and there would be no adverse effect upon other children either through direct behavior of the child or through requiring staff time needed by other children.

Children must be 2 years 6 months old to be enrolled.

Children must be fully potty trained. Pull-ups are not acceptable for preschool.

Separation of a child from a parent before the child is emotionally ready to adjust may be difficult. The chronological age is not the absolute criteria for admission. The staff will observe your child during his/her adjustment period at preschool and will evaluate the child's readiness for a school experience. The best interests of the child will be kept in mind in determining admission.

The Preschool follows the Upland School District yearly calendar - closing for the same holidays and vacations. Because of state regulations concerning class size and teacher ratio, missed days may not be made up on nonscheduled days.

September 4	First Day of School for Tues/Thurs Students
September 5	First Day of School for Mon/Wed/Fri Students
November 12	Veterans Day
November 21, 22, 23	Thanksgiving Holiday
December 24 - January 4	Christmas Break
January 21	Martin Luther King Jr. Day
February 11	Lincoln's Birthday
February 18	Presidents' Day
March 1	Priority Registration Begins for Fall '08
March 8	Open Registration Begins for Fall '08
March 21	Good Friday
March 28 - April 4	Spring Break
Mary 23 & 26	Memorial Day
June 5 & 6	Last Day of School
June 9 & 10	PreK End of Year Program

Curriculum

We strive to choose curriculum for First Presbyterian Preschool that is fun, developmentally appropriate, academic, and stimulating to learning in all areas of development - physical, social, emotional, and spritual. Because we believe that children learn by doing, we provide "hands-on" activities that lead to concrete experiences, discovery, creativity, and interaction. Curriculum includes sharing and conversation time; stories, songs, and finger plays; creative art activities, and crafts; games and large muscle activities; food preparation; science and nature activities; readiness skills in reading, math and writing; exposure to shapes, colors, numbers, and letters; and celebration of holidays.

Chapel is included in the curriculum weekly. It is led by our preschool director. It is simple, child-like and teaches about Jesus and his love for everybody. We are an interdenominational preschool. We do not teach doctrine.

Each child is required by state regulations to have on file a physician's report, which includes a record of up-to-date immunizations and the signature of the child's source of medical care. If a child's health care physical is not complete at the time of enrollment of within forty-five (45) days after enrollment, the child will be excluded from the program.

2 day program Tues/Thursday   $140.00 per month
3 day program Mon/Wed/Fri       $170.00 per month
5 day program Mon through Fri     $310.00 per month

Giving positive verbal rewards encourages acceptable behavior. This reinforces a child's good feeling about his/her behavior and serves as an example to the other children to act in such a way as to receive this praise. Asking a child to stop and think about his/her unpleasant behavior enables that child to work at self control. If a child is not cooperating in a group listening situation, the child is seated by a teacher and reminded of acceptable behavior. Removal from the group for a period of time-out is the next tactic used for a child who continually demonstrates unacceptable behavior. This time-out in not a punishment, but rather a time when the child may calm down, remember what behavior the teacher is asking for, and then the child may rejoin the group within a few minutes with appropriate behavior.

If behavior problems persist, the child is brought to the director's office. Parents may be notified when a discipline problem exists. We need to maintain close cooperation between parents and school to work out the problem. If at anytime we feel a child has behavior problems so serious that we are not equipped to help, or, if we feel other students are being negatively affected, we will dismiss the child from enrollment.

Think of your child's comfort - and provide simple clothing that is free of complicated fastenings. Think of the messy art materials and other messy activities - and provide clothing that is washable. Think of our playground - and provide clothing that is sturdy. Think of the changeable autumn weather and dress your child warmly. Provide sweaters and jackets even on the first sunny fall days. It is much easier to remove an unneeded item than to put on something you don't have. Finally, think of our collection of unlabelled, unclaimed clothing - put labels on all outer garments including hats and umbrellas. Cowboy boots and dress shoes often have slippery soles and are not appropriate for preschool. All shoes must have a back to be safe.

The preschool gate will remain closed until it is time for the school day to begin. When the gate is opened, the children are to be brought directly to their classroom. An authorized adult is sign each child in and out each day. A full signature is required. Children will only be signed out and released to the persons who have been authorized to pick up the child. This authorization is stated in each child’s records. These authorized persons must be able to show the preschool staff a driver’s license or other acceptable identification before the child will be released.

The courtyard will be attractively prepared for the children’s daily recess time. Please do not allow your preschool child or siblings to play on the equipment when you are bringing your child to school, or picking them up.

If a child needs to be withdrawn from preschool, two weeks notice is required so that another child can fill the vacancy. Should more notice be possible, it would be appreciated. Please give the notice, in writing, to the Director.

Emergency school closure will be at the discretion of the Director when it is determined that the health, safety, and welfare of the children is compromised due to the following conditions:

Loss of power, heat, telephone, inclement weather conditions or disaster. Tuition refunds will not be granted for less than two (2) consecutive days of school closure. The Preschool Board, if necessary, will consider refunds.

Our state licensing agency is requiring that our preschool post a written snack menu in the classrooms at least one week in advance. To comply with this requirement, each month the school will post a snack menu in each classroom. Parents can sign up to bring snacks for their child's class, but because we are bound to the state licensing guidelines, we will ask that parents simply pick a day and bring the menu item already posted. That item may be brought to the class and given to the teacher on the day you have signed up for. We appreciate your help in staying compliant witht the state licensing guidelines. If your child has a birthday celebration, you may bring in a special snack treat along with your posted snack item. Please be sure and discuss any special celebrations with your teacher in advance. And please remember, our school continues to be a Peanut Free School.

Children’s birthdays are very important! If you would like to have a small celebration in the classroom, please sign up for that day to bring the snack. Please remember that our state licensing regulations require us to provide a nutritious snack. If you want to send a cupcake (or other sweet item), be sure to send it with a nutritious food item too.

Birthday invitations will only be passed out at school if all children are invited. Remember to be sensitive to the feelings of all the children in the classroom (and their parents). If all children are not going to be invited, please take care of the invitation off of school grounds.

Our school has students who are deathly allergic to peanuts, peanut oil, and peanut products. Their allergy is so severe that it is expected that they would go into immediate life threatening shock if the have any contact with these items. Our staff have been trained specifically on how to provide immediate life saving first aid if this were to happen. One of the steps we have taken to protect these children is to make our campus a Peanut Free School. No peanut products are to brought for snack or lunch time to our school.

Children must be fully potty trained in order to attend Preschool. We understand that young children are still developing the bathroom habits and they do have accidents periodically. We try to keep accidents at a minimum by taking all children to the bathroom after their courtyard outdoor playtime. We ask parents to please be sure their child uses the bathroom at home before arriving at school. If child become wet during their time at preschool, the child is immediately taken to a bathroom. The child is handed a baby wipe and encouraged to wipe the wet area. Dry clothes are handed to the child to dress him/herself, or an adult may dress the child. From the point the clothes are removed to the point the child is dressed, two adults are always present. If a child has a bowel movement accident, the child is immediately taken to the bathroom. If a child is uncomfortable with our staff assistance, parents may be called to ask if they would like to come to the school to change their child of if they would mind if staff member cleaned the child. Two adults will be present while the child’s soiled clothes are removed and a child is cleaned. Fresh clothes are handed to the child to dress him/herself, of an adult may dress the child. All soiled clothes are sent home to be washed.

Pre-School Board Members are:

• Voting Members:
  • Chuck Woodworth (Chair)
  • Carol Griffith (Elder, Representative to Session)
  • Jennifer Luebbers
  • Linda Cook
  • Sue Frazee
  • Leslie Borger
• Non Voting Members:
  • Melanie Saint James (ex-officio staff)
  • Helen Edmon (ex-officio staff treasurer)
  • Sherri Provencher (Preschool Director)

Faculty Members are:

• Ms. Guerrero 2 1/2 and 3 year old teacher
• Mrs. Redwine 2 1/2 and 3 year old teacher
• Mrs. Salinas 2 1/2 and 3 year old teacher
• Mrs. Struempf
• Mrs. Haus
• Mrs. Knight
• Mrs. Vargo
• Mrs. Patton
• Director - Sherri Provencher
• Bookkeeper - Debbie Roll