St. James prides itself on a commitment to academic excellence for all of our students. Our Preschool program is dedicated to providing a warm, developmentally based program in an environment designed especially for your young child. Our teachers work closely to develop caring, respectful, and responsive relationships with the children by partnering with families to support the growth and development of each student. 

Children acquire knowledge through the active exploration of their environment. Because of this, our Preschool teachers provide a learning enriched environment, that promotes independence, creativity, and positive social interaction. Within our program, we strive to create a productive play experience by reinforcing attempts, questions, skill development and discoveries.
In the Preschool classrooms, we have a dynamic literacy curriculum that includes letter recognition and formation as well as book awareness. The classrooms are divided into areas for play and learning, which are designed and organized to help promote positive social interactions, along with higher cognitive skills.

At St. James, we believe that all great minds don't think alike. Our teachers recognize that all children learn differently. Each child is valued for their individual strengths and interests. Preschool-aged children learn together on varying levels of development and we recognize that skills are learned at different times, regardless of chronological age. Our teachers work to create stimulating environments and curriculum which will engage children at all levels of development.

Our preschool children enjoy weekly enrichment classes in Art, Music, World Language, and Physical Educations. During the school day, teachers interact continuously and are constantly monitoring your child's progress in all areas of development, including socialization and Kindergarten readiness.  In the Preschool, children are given an assessment in the Fall to evaluate social and emotional awareness, and then again in the Spring, to evaluate academic readiness for the next grade level. A portion of our curriculum is determined by the emerging skills and interests of the children based upon daily observation inside the classrooms.

At the Preschool level, we offer 3 day or 5 day weekly classes for both age groups. We also offer half-day, full-day, and extended care until 5:30 pm.