Come Visit Us! Schedule a Tour! We Would Love to Meet You!

Early Childhood Center

Saint Joseph School offers Pre-Kindergarten programming for ages two, three, and four.
Call (304) 267-6447 for more information.

Learning Objectives

Faith formation:

  • Introduce the sign of the cross
  • Daily morning prayer and at mealtimes
  • Reading Bible stories and singing songs about Jesus

Social & Emotional Learning:

  • Introduce sharing and taking turns
  • Encourage empathy, understanding the feelings of others
  • Learning how to express feelings and communicate needs appropriately
  • Helping in the classroom with weekly jobs

Language Development:

  • Recite alphabet
  • Introduce and practice manners
  • Understand that using words, not acting out, is the proper way to communicate
  • Listen to others
  • Expand vocabulary
  • Follow simple two-step directions

School-Readiness Skills:

  • Potty training
  • Self-help skills
  • Introduce how to clean up, and put toys away, and personal items in the cubby

Pre-Reading Skills:

  • Participate in story-time activities
  • Recognizing name
  • Introduce letters

Cognitive Skills:

  • Introduce numbers, colors, shapes
  • Hands-on science and cooking activities
  • Ask and answer questions
  • Introduce opposites
  • Introduce math concepts such as counting, sorting, one-to-one correspondence

Fine Motor Skills:

  • Use play dough to strengthen fingers
  • Painting with brush or fingers to gain control
  • Coloring with crayons
  • Using a glue stick
  • Use a fork or spoon while eating

Large Motor Skills:

  • Jumping, dancing and running on the playground
  • Gym time with instructor
  • Bounce, kick, throw and catch balls at recess and gym

Faith Formation:

  • Learning fundamental Catholic prayers and the sign of the cross
  • Daily morning prayer and at mealtimes
  • Weekly lessons based on stories from the Bible

Social & Emotional Learning:

  • Focus on sharing and taking turns
  • Learning to work in a group setting with small- and large-group activities
  • Making choices
  • Learning how to recognize and respect the thoughts and feelings of others
  • Following directions
  • Use words to express feelings, resolve conflicts and communicate needs
  • Helping in the classroom with weekly jobs

Language Development:

  • Following two-step directions
  • Using words to express feelings and solve problems
  • Introduce and practice manners

School-Readiness Skills:

  • Learning daily school routines
  • Practice putting on coats and shoes
  • Hanging up coats, backpacks and putting folders away
  • Eating snack/lunch independently and cleaning up afterward
  • Learning to take care of personal needs like washing hands and cleaning nose

Pre-Reading Skills:

  • Participate in story-time activities
  • Recognizing and writing name
  • Introduction to writing letters and letter sounds

Cognitive Skills:

  • Identifying basic numbers, colors and shapes
  • Hands-on science and cooking activities
  • Exploring math concepts: one-to-one correspondence, pattern recognition and counting
  • Learning opposites

Fine Motor Skills:

  • Use play dough to strengthen fingers
  • String beads
  • Painting with paintbrushes
  • Learn to hold pencils, crayons and markers with a proper grip
  • Begin using scissors

Large Motor Skills:

  • Jumping, dancing and running on the playground
  • Gym time with instructor
  • Parachute play
  • Bounce, kick, throw and catch balls at gym and recess

Faith Formation:

  • Learning fundamental Catholic prayers and the sign of the cross
  • Prayers at snack and lunchtimes
  • Daily prayer and religious activities
  • Relating Bible teachings to real life
  • Prepare students to attend weekly Mass with students in grades kindergarten through eight

Social & Emotional Learning:

  • Identifying emotions
  • Encourage empathy
  • Learning to work in a group setting with small- and large-group activities
  • Communicating wants and needs in an appropriate way
  • Using verbal communication and maintaining eye contact
  • Helping in the classroom with weekly jobs

Language Development:

  • Encourage questions and answers
  • Speaking in front of a group through show and tell, student of the week and special events
  • Practice using manners
  • Encourage social interaction and conversations
  • Singing songs

School-Readiness Skills:

  • Following directions
  • Understanding and completing classroom routines
  • Showing respect to teachers and other students by following directions when outside the classroom
  • Using listening skills to complete tasks
  • Take care of personal belongings
  • Eating snacks and lunch independently
  • Cleaning area after eating and playing

Pre-Reading Skills:

  • Identifying upper- and lowercase letters
  • Identifying letter sounds
  • Recognizing letter sounds and how they relate to words
  • Understanding text and its uses
  • Identifying parts of a story
  • Sequencing events in a story
  • Identifying and creating rhyming words

Cognitive Skills:

  • Identifying numbers 1-100
  • Identifying same and opposites
  • Drawing conclusions
  • Hands-on science and cooking activities
  • Exploring math concepts: estimating, comparing shapes and sizes, creating and identifying patterns, and counting to 100

Fine Motor Skills:

  • Hold pencils, crayons and markers with a proper grip
  • Uses scissors to cut straight, jagged and curved lines
  • Use play dough to strengthen fingers
  • Using buttons, zippers and snaps

Large Motor Skills:

  • Jumping, dancing and running on the playground
  • Jumping on both feet and one foot at a time
  • Gym time with instructor
  • Parachute play
  • Bounce, kick, throw and catch balls at gym and recess
  • Using hula hoops
Pre-Kindergarten Handbook Supplement
2022 Pre-K Summer Information and Schedule

Frequently Asked Questions

Children must be 2 years old to enroll in Little Crusaders.
Children must be 3 years old by July 1 to enroll in Pre-K Jr.
Children must be 4 years old by July 1 to enroll in Pre-Kindergarten.
All children enrolled in Pre K- Jr. and Pre-Kindergarten must be fully potty trained.

For Little Crusaders, our student-teacher ratio is 5:1.
For Prek-Jr., our student-teacher ratio is 6:1.
For Pre-Kindergarten, our student-teacher ratio is 9:1.

Lunch is included in preschool tuition. All of our preschoolers eat family-style with teachers and
classmates.
We offer a healthy morning snack every day.
We ask that you provide an afternoon snack.

We offer a part-time option for Little Crusaders and Pre-K Jr. classrooms.
You may choose five half-days with pickup at noon or three full days.
Our pre-kindergarten program is full-time only to prepare children for kindergarten.

Little Crusaders and PreK-Jr. are offered gym and music.
Pre-Kindergarten students are offered gym, music, and art.

We follow Berkeley County Schools closings for inclement weather unless they delay for frigid
temperatures.
You will be notified by text and email if we are closed or have a two-hour delay.
In the event of a two-hour delay, our before-school care will open at 9 a.m. and our school day
will start at 9:55 a.m.

Up-to-date immunizations
Records from most recent well-child visit
Two copies of emergency forms with original signatures

Check out the supply list here.

We offer care before school, starting at 7 a.m.
Drop-off is from 7:55 to 8:10 a.m.
All students must be signed in and out by an adult.

2021-2022 Pre-Kindergarten Handbook

Faculty & Staff

Allison Ferrell
Pre-Kindergarten Director / Extended Day Program Director
Jennifer Sowers
Infant Teacher
Janelle O’Meara
Toddler Teacher
Beth Ferrell
Toddler Aide
Tara Milliken
Toddler aide
Vanessa Mercado
Little Crusaders Teacher
Sarah Kaltenbaugh
Infant Aide
Angelia Small
Little Crusaders Teacher
Deborah Mancilla
Little Crusaders Aide
Melissa Guenther
Pre-K Jr. Teacher
Liz Buscema
Pre-K Junior Aide
Jeannette Sharp
Pre-K Jr. Teacher
Russel Beach
Pre-K Junior Aide
Stephanie Dardaris
Pre-K 4 Teacher
Christina Hilton
Pre-K 4 Aide
Becky Mulvihill
Pre-K 4 Teacher
Debbie McAboy
Pre-K 4 Aide
Marilis Rivera Collazo

Tuition

Little Crusaders 2/3 Year Old Program - PreK Jr. 3/4 Year Old Program - Pre-K 4/5 Year Old Program

$7,10000Full-Time

Little Crusaders 2/3 Year Old Program - PreK Jr. 3/4 Year Old Program

$5,00000Half-Time

Catholic Rate - Little Crusaders, PreK Jr.& Pre-Kindergarten

6,60000Full Time Only

Pre-Kindergarten Tuition Includes

  • Academic programming, Monday-Friday, 8:10 am – 2:45 pm
  • Healthy snacks during morning snack time
  • Hot lunch with milk (students may also bring lunch if desired)
  • After school child care, Monday-Friday, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm with an additional fee assessed.

Enrollment Fees

  • Application Fee: $20 per child
  • Enrollment Packet Fee: $150.00 per child
  • Pre-K Supply Fee: $300.00 per child
  • Health & Safety Fee: $100.00 per child

Summer Session

A Summer Session is offered for incoming and outgoing Pre-Kindergarten students each year. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Allison Ferrell, Pre-Kindergarten Director, at aferrell@sjswv.org.

Details for the Summer Session can be found here!

Tuition Assistance

Tuition assistance is available for families enrolled in our school, regardless of religious affiliation. To be considered, complete the online application at HERE!, click on “Grant & Aid Assessment”.

There is a cost of $17.50 for submitting a TAP application.

The deadline for Phase 1 Financial Assistance is April 29, 2022

The deadline for Phase 2 Financial Assistance is August 31, 2022

Tuition Payment Schedules

All families are enrolled in the FACTS Tuition Management program as per Diocesan Policy. Saint Joseph School offers four ways to make tuition payments. Families may sign up for online and/or automatic payments on FACTS through Family Portal.

  • Single payment due by July 15. This plan is available through June 30th and must be selected to receive the 5% discount (receives a 5% discount). *
  • Two payments due August 5th or 25th and January 5th or 25th. This plan is available through August 12th. There is a $10.00 annual fee assessed by FACTS.*
  • 12 Monthly payments withdrawn between the 5thand the 25th of the month beginning in July. This plan is available through July 13th. There is a $40.00 annual fee assessed by FACTS.*
  • 10 Monthly payments withdrawn between the 5th and the 25th of the month beginning in August. There is a $40.00 annual fee assessed by FACTS.

Enrollment Schedule and Application

Enrollment for new families begins Monday, March 1, 2021 for the 2021/2022 school year. Class sizes are limited and space is reserved when the enrollment process is complete. The application fee is $20 application fee.

Private tours may be scheduled by emailing Allison Ferrel at aferrell@sjswv.org or calling (304) 267-6447.

2020-2021 Enrollment is Open for new families!
APPLY NOW

2021-2022 Enrollment Opens March 1st, 2021 for New Families!