Early Childhood

Preschool – Kindergarten
St. Edmund’s Academy’s distinctive emphasis on social, emotional, and cognitive development begins from students’ very first day in our Early Childhood Program and extends to the end of their 8th grade year. From the beginning, we place emphasis on the whole-child, meeting all children at their own levels and helping them progress forward.

In the Early Childhood Program, the climate is nurturing while still challenging students to learn, to discover, and to be a good friend. Our teachers foster an excitement and passion for learning in students that we maintain and enhance throughout their years at SEA. Our students explore a lot each day—in the classroom, at lunch, on the Playdeck, on field trips, or while interacting with their buddies from the older grades, or engaged in community service activities. Classroom activities are thematic and enriched with creative, hands-on activities centered on literacy, numeracy, science, social studies, art, and technology. 
Music, library, art, and physical education – along with lots of outdoor playtime—round out very busy and fun days for our students. Teachers work with students to develop problem-solving skills, foster cooperation, and support the mastery of new skills. They support each child’s learning while creating caring relationships with every student by modeling and teaching our Core Values through each lesson and each interaction. 

Student independence increases with each grade, and students are given opportunities to make developmentally-appropriate choices that promote positive self-esteem, ownership of learning, and a strong sense of compassion and kindness in our students. By the time they are ready to move on to 1st Grade, our students have made significant advancements in their cognitive development, but they have also had a lot of fun and made good friends—firmly on the path to becoming Lower School students who are not only smart, but also good and kind. 

Preschool

Preschool at SEA is a warm nurturing environment that promotes the growth and development of each individual child. Preschool focuses on the child’s unique developmental levels and individual learning styles and is designed for 3-year-olds and young 4-year-olds. Preschool facilitates growth in a child’s social, emotional, cognitive, language and physical development through play in our child-centered environment. Young children learn by doing and “play” is the richest tool children have for exploring their world. The children are exposed to hands-on learning through all modalities. Our aim is to provide Preschool children with process-oriented experiences that build a positive self-esteem and a sense of respect for others in the classroom and school communities. Our Preschool program promotes problem solving skills that enable the children to deal with life both now and in the future. 

Preschool Program Options

Preschool families can choose between three possible schedule options based on the needs of the family and child. Students can change schedule choices as desired and appropriate, during the school year. The three options are: 

List of 3 items.

  • 3/2 Program

    On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and finish their day at 3:25 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, student arrive at 8:00 a.m. and depart at 12:00 p.m. right before lunchtime. 
  • Full Day Program

    Children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 3:25 p.m.
  • Half Day Program

    Children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 12:00 p.m., just before lunchtime. 

PreKindergarten and Jr. Kindergarten

PreKindergarten and Jr. Kindergarten are Kindergarten readiness programs that use developmentally appropriate practices to provide a safe, supportive and nurturing environment where children develop physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. The program shapes curious minds, capable of creative and critical thinking, cooperative peer relationships, age-appropriate impulse control, as well as essential social and academic building blocks for school success. Through thematic learning units, the program immerses children in enriching experiences in concepts of science, culture, art, music, dance, history, and social responsibility. 

The SEA Jr. Kindergarten Program is exclusively meant for students who are age-appropriate for Kindergarten but who could benefit from that extra year, the gift of time, to better support Kindergarten readiness. It offers a pathway to Kindergarten for students with summer birthdays after completing a year in a PreKindergarten program. This program is a cohort extension of our PreKindergarten program. Junior Kindergarten children spend their social time and attend Core Extension classes with PreKindergarten children since most will move on to Kindergarten the next year. Jr. Kindergarten is a 5-day, full-day program.

PreKindergarten Program Options

PreKindergarten families can choose between three possible schedule options based on the needs of the family and child. Students can change schedule choices as desired and appropriate, during the school year. The three options are:

List of 3 items.

  • 3/2 Program

    On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and finish their day at 3:25 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, student arrive at 8:00 a.m. and depart at 12:00 p.m. right before lunchtime. 
  • Full Day Program

    Children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 3:25 p.m. 
  • Half Day Program

    Children arrive at 8:00 a.m. and leave at 12:00 p.m., just before lunchtime. 

Kindergarten

Kindergarten at SEA is designed to develop children’s self-esteem, sense of competence and positive feeling towards learning. Each child is viewed as a unique person. Our program is responsive to individual differences in ability and interest. Different levels of ability, development, and learning styles are expected, accepted, and used to design activities. Instruction is differentiated to enable each child to reach his or her potential. The Core Values are an integral part of our program as well. 

Mrs. Casey Hinds, SEA Kindergarten Teacher

You can see impressive character traits displayed in even the youngest of children at SEA. Having the Core Values as a foundation for character education helps our students to develop into kind, respectful, empathetic, and confident children.
Guided by our Core Values and commitment to high standards, St. Edmund’s Academy provides a diverse, inclusive, and nurturing learning community where students are known, valued, and challenged to achieve their potential.