St. C Open House

Dear Logan,

The last school that we checked out last weekend was St. C. This school is a little farther away, but still in Sunnyvale. We first went into the Preschool/Pre-K room. Both rooms are decent-sized and brightly lit. Aidan was immediately attracted to the school bus in the little kids room. He didn't want to go over to the Pre-K room. Hank mentioned his nose was allergic to something when he was in the preschool room, and wondered if it was mold. Not a good sign! I talked to both Pre-K teachers, who are nice and young-looking. I got a feeling that the class is not academically-focused. I believe they follow the Montessori style of teaching. Not that it's a bad thing, but I think we're looking for more focus on academics.

They have music class once a week, Spanish once a week, computer class once every 2 weeks. there's a computer lab that the kids could go to. They have 3-4 field trips a year, Christmas pageants and performances. I think the curriculum is very similar to what Aidan is doing right now at CCLC. We didn't stay too long in this room, as we're running out of time already. We wanted to be able to go to the KG room.

We were escorted by the Vice Principal, who also teaches science and computer. The Vice Principal seems like a pretty young guy. He showed us the computer lab and the library, which I like. I spent a decent amount of time talking to the Kg teacher. She looks like she's my age, and appears very enthusiastic about teaching.

There are about 16-22 kids with 1 teacher and 1 part-time aide (shared with 1st grade). They have computer class once a week (30 mins), PE twice a week (30 mins), Spanish once a week (30 mins), Art once a week (50 mins) and music once a week (30 mins). They also teach religion everyday, and go to mass once a month. Religion appears to be a big part of the school curriculum. Classes are from 8-2:50 p.m. and then extended care. Before Christmas, kids all have nap/rest time. But after Christmas, they won't be able to nap anymore.

Kids are taught to read and write 1-2 sentences, and there are a bunch of sight words posted on the wall. They use a language arts program (phonics) from day 1. They also teach addition and subtraction within 1-10. The first couple hours in the morning are ability groups, when teacher can work 1:1 with students to improve their reading. Students have homework every Monday to bring home, and bring them back to school on Friday. There isn't any formal tests, but assessment of how they are doing.

There are about 1 field trip a month, except in the beginning of the school year when they're trying to learn the basic rules and schedules.

This school is OK, but I don't think it's one of the top ones, though I like the KG teacher.

What do you think, Logan?


Love,
Mommy