St. Francis of Assisi Preschool Raleigh, NC

A Message From the Principal

Welcome to St. Francis of Assisi Preschool! From its inception over 30 years ago, our preschool has recognized the importance of igniting and encouraging that spark in early childhood which is carefully nurtured into a vibrant love of learning and care for all of God’s creation.

To help meet the needs of our families, we offer a variety of classes for children from 2-5 years, as well as before and after care options. The diocesan early childhood standards outline a continuum of developmental skills in all areas including social-emotional, spiritual, intellectual, creative, and physical. Hands-on opportunities in areas such as music and movement, Spanish, and community service provide additional activities for enriching a child’s growth. We believe in a cooperative effort with families and providing a safe place to initiate, explore, and partake in innovative and imaginative play.

As Catholic educators, we strive to guide each child to develop to his/her potential by providing a friendly, caring, safe, and faith filled environment. Nurturing a child’s faith is interwoven into all that we do!

We invite you to visit our website at preschoolatstfrancis.com to learn more!

Mrs. Heidi Hobler

Director

heidi.hobler@stfrancisraleigh.org

Mission

As a ministry of the Catholic Community of St. Francis, our preschool strives to create an environment where our children and families feel safe, welcomed and loved. We develop the whole child through developmentally appropriate practices and intentional play. We foster individualized social-emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical, and creative growth. Our child-centered curriculum is rooted in a Franciscan faith tradition, which emphasizes serving the needs of the community, care for creation, and respect for all. We send forth children excited about learning, aware of self, compassionate of heart, and bursting with God’s love.

Faith

At our preschool, teaching about God and his presence in our lives is interwoven into all that we do. Whether it's a blessing before meals, a morning prayer for a friend who was absent, a nature walk, or offering help to someone else, we strive to teach our children that God loves us and we are called to love, care for, and respect those around us and all that he created. While the whole school participates in faith activities such as those involving the feast of our patron saint or completing service projects, our 4 and 5-year olds attend Mass once a month as well.

Academics

We offer programs for children ages 2-5 which are three, four or five hours long. Our teachers are required to have a Bachelor's Degree in early childhood (or related field) or have the Early Childhood Teaching Credential in addition to experience working with young children.

Extracurricular

At our preschool, we not only incorporate meaningful service opportunities for our students throughout the year, but we offer weekly music and movement classes for all students and Spanish classes for our children in the 3-5 year old classes. Children also have the opportunity to go outside daily and enjoy a natural play area or a traditional playground setting.