St. Paul's Preschool
714.832.8201
1221 Wass Street · Tustin, California 92780
About Us: Philosophy
We are a community of children, parents and teachers committed to supporting one another in raising competent and caring children while respecting and nurturing their unique gifts and potential. We believe that children are curious and capable learners. Our goal is to provide a warm, safe and nurturing environment for children in a developmentally appropriate program. The experiences that we offer are in an anti-bias, multi-cultural setting.
Our program is unique in that it focuses on helping children mature in five developmental domains or areas. These include (1) cognitive (includes creativity); (2) social / emotional, (3) fine and (4) gross motor, as well as (5) spiritual growth.
We are influenced by the social constructivist practice put in place by theorists, Piaget, Vygotsky, Malaguzzi, Erikson, Dewey and Gardner. We continue to be influenced and learn from the Reggio School philosophy from Reggio Emilia, Italy. Additionally, our school is recognized as an "Outdoor Classroom" Demonstration site and we adhere to their quality standards and philosophy (www.theoutdoorclassroomproject.org)
Our curriculum emerges from the child’s interests. Topics for study and project work come from children’s experiences, conversations, questions and ideas. They are provided with many opportunities for authentic learning, discovery and investigation. Collaboration and small group work is supported by the staff who encourage exploration in an enriched learning environment.
Children have the opportunity to express their ideas and hypotheses in a variety of ways that include art experiences (painting, sewing, wire and beadwork, woodworking and clay), writing, construction, music and gardening. The larger the variety of ways children are able to express themselves the deeper their understanding grows.
Our staff carefully listens, observes and documents each child’s work and growth. Their role is to provoke, co-construct and stimulate the children’s thinking and assist him/her in scaffolding new ideas. Our goal is to support each child in their ability to think critically, reason logically and act responsibly. As a group teachers reflect upon the classroom activities each week and provide visible documentation of the learning taking place. They integrate basic academic skills and standards into this project work in authentic and meaningful ways.
Parents are recognized as valuable and vital partners in their child’s learning experiences. We strive to provide a variety of opportunities to work together with you in our school community.
Mission Statement
Our faith-based community believes children are curious, capable, and creative individuals deserving a rich environment that nurtures lifelong learning through playful discovery.