SUMMER CAMP

Summer Camp is also offered through the Program. Your child must be pre-registered to attend summer camp.

For questions about summer camp, please contact the school director, at (703) 671-7715.

PARENT'S HANDBOOK

Click here to download the Parent’s Handbook which details information such as the School Calendar, Hours, Tuition, Curriculum, etc.

OUR STAFF

Our staff is chosen for their moral standards, emotional stability and their desire to work with and nurture children. Our lead teachers have a bachelors degree or higher and our assistants have each more than 100 hours of experience in the field or are enrolled in early childhood development programs. Our staff members are CPR and first aid certified. In addition, all staff members attend regular training sessions to enhance their teaching abilities.

OUR APPROACH TO TEACHING

We believe in active learning in a Christian centered environment, which will prepare the children to their next developmental level while enhancing their moral and cultural growth. Recent studies have shown that a window of opportunity for learning languages occurs between the ages of one to five years old. Capture this “window of opportunity” at St. Katherine Paideia Bilingual Preschool & Nursery, where the Greek language is taught in a semi-immersion program.

A qualified staff of early childhood educators is dedicated to provide a warm, nurturing atmosphere, which goes beyond the provision of routine childcare. Children are offered a preschool program with age-appropriate learning opportunities. They learn letters, colors, shapes, numbers and writing while singing, cooking, dancing, drawing and painting. A music program will include introduction to various musical instruments and tones and a dance instructor will teach the children traditional Greek dances. Father Costa, our priest, will teach religion and enrich their knowledge of the Orthodox faith. Children will be involved in various play activities both outside at the playground and inside in our playroom. Young children learn through their play and we include fun activities as part of our daily routine.

The daily schedule will provide a balance of activities with attention to the following dimension of scheduling:

• Daily outdoor play, weather permitting
• Altering periods of quiet time and active play
• A balance of large muscle and small muscle activities is provided
• Various small group or large group activities through most of the day
• A balance of child-initiated and staff –initiated activity is provided. The amount of time spent in staff-initiated, large group activity is limited.

The school is open to media, such as television, films, videotapes, and computers, that have been previewed by adults prior to use. The staff discusses with the child what is viewed to develop critical viewing and thinking skills. The goal of the school is to emphasize concrete experiential learning. Some highlights of our curriculum include the following:

• Immersion Greek language and culture instruction for the morning session of each school day
• Church time (weekly visits to light candles and attend liturgy)
• Weekly music lesson with our certified music instructor
• Numerous field trips (pumpkin patch, Greek Independence Day parade, fire house trip, etc.)
• Weekly dance lessons (Greek folk dance and other)
• Theater (children participate in various plays)
• Physical education in indoor Gym and outside
• Science experiments

Children are not always required to move from one activity to another as a group. Unregimented transitions are also used as a vehicle for learning. Routine tasks such a toileting, eating, dressing, and sleeping are incorporated into the program as a means of furthering children’s learning, self-help, and social skills. Through complimentary actions at home, parents are expected to assist and cooperate with staff to make feeding and the development of other independent skills a positive experience for children. 

Provisions are made for children that do not nap or are early risers. Each week our Curriculum will be centered around a central educational Theme such as 'Sharing', 'Clean up', 'Going places', 'School time', 'Being Healthy' and many more that will be explained in detail in later postings.  The Curriculum below is the basic outline of activities for the week. Activities involving role-play and interactive instructional aids - such as Music and Dance, Religion and History and Myths of Hellenism will be regularly scheduled for once or twice a week.