Santa Catalina Prepares Young Learners
In the late 1960s, Sister Jean Gilhuly identified the need for more preschool options on the Monterey Peninsula, so in 1970, she incorporated a coeducational preschool and kindergarten at Santa Catalina School. Her desire to instill values, character, and lifelong habits so early in formal education was visionary.
“We pride ourselves on fostering a faith-based environment that encourages children to explore, interact, discover, and grow,” says Lydia Mansour, Director of PreKindergarten and Kindergarten at Santa Catalina Lower and Middle School. “With the foundation of our Catholic heritage, we affirm, celebrate, and embrace the rich diversity of our student body.”
Based on Santa Catalina’s vision to prepare students to lead lives of meaning and purpose, the prekindergarten program seeks to educate the whole child as they grow academically and socially. School philosophy draws from several master educators, including Montessori and Dewey. “We believe in children and their abilities before they believe in themselves,” shares Dr. Barbara Ostos, Head of School.
Nestled within a nurturing environment with an eight-to-one student-to-teacher ratio, Santa Catalina pre-K incorporates exploration, constructive direct instruction, guided learning, and play-based engagement. “By striking this balance, we hope to instill a sense of joy for learning that stays with students for years ahead,” remarks Lydia Mansour.
Each preschooler is introduced to art, music, science, reading, and math using programs with multisensory, direct instruction, followed by guided teaching using manipulatives.
Pre-K Singapore Math builds number sense and students engage with phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading through the Orton-Gillingham Approach, which all teachers are certified in. Interactive Promethean boards are used daily, while iPads are available to practice phonics and math.
A typical half-day consists of free exploration followed by a morning meeting with song and movement as students complete “jobs,” then math instruction and a “mission enrichment” class such as P.E., library, dance, or religion. This is followed by snack and outdoor recess, phonics, small group work with teachers, “free choice time” where students can roam through and play in classroom centers devoted to activities such as dress-up and building, and a closing meeting with “jobs” and storytime. Full-day students continue to have lunch, thematic learning activities, another outdoor recess, rest time, then another snack time and storytime.
Hands-on engagement and fun are always priorities, as well as both structured and unstructured sections. The Santa Catalina team believes that “music is a teaching language,” and incorporates music throughout the day using the Orff/Shulwerk approach, with opportunities for free exploration and expression using classroom instruments. All current teachers are multilingual, so songs and stories are told in up to four languages. Additional physical and creative outlets include age-appropriate physical education three times a week, a weekly session in the Santa Catalina dance studio, and participation in several annual shows.
Developmental milestones, including language development, social and emotional development, physical development, cognitive development, number sense and phonics skills, and reading (for those who are already reading) are prioritized.
Santa Catalina Lower School uses the research-based Toolbox Project of social-emotional learning curriculum to help children develop social skills and emotional intelligence. Instructors embrace teachable moments and role-play to encourage conflict resolution and relationship-building. Prekindergarteners learn how to interact with others, communicate clearly, use their words, value one another, be kinder than necessary, and be gracious with themselves. They also join the rest of the Lower and Middle School for monthly service projects and Compass, the signature character development and leadership program.
Santa Catalina’s pre-K and kindergarten classrooms were designed for both free exploration and structured learning. Furniture is regularly wheeled around to facilitate activities. Science class includes outdoor and nature-based learning on the 36-acre school campus. For example, students visit the school garden to find and harvest plants whose edible parts are the root, blossom, flower, or seeds, and then get to taste them! Santa Catalina pre-K students also take at least four field trips each year, such as to the SPCA, The Farm, and the Hartnell College Planetarium.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to be involved in their children’s Santa Catalina education. Before each school year, there is a family orientation conference, and later, student progress is discussed at two formal parent-teacher conferences. Parents are invited to participate in Friday morning Lower School assemblies, pep rallies, special community performances, field trips, and special events: The First Christmas musical in December, Annual Dinner for father figures, and Annual Tea for mother figures.
“The sense of community and parent involvement is unparalleled,” says parent Christine (Torrise) Marotta, adding: “In just a few short months my daughter has become incredibly confident and increasingly independent. The school shapes not just the student, but the entire sense of self, including awareness and important values. The Pre-K teachers, Mrs. Fernandez, Mrs. Mansour and Mrs. Silk, have been the most remarkable part of our experience thus far. Their sincerity and passion for teaching was apparent from the moment we met them at open house. Their enthusiasm is so inspiring and perfectly summarizes why Catalina is a special place.”
As part of Santa Catalina’s new Strategic Directions, which prioritize health and wellness and real-world problem-solving, the school also plans to increase community service and integrate design and engineering concepts in a developmentally appropriate way. “At the center of the vision is a focus on healthy children who feel a sense of belonging, who continue to learn the skills to manage themselves, and who are curious and ask questions,” says Dr. Barbara Ostos, Head of School.
The values that inform the Pre-K experience continue throughout the rest of the school. The Lower and Middle School enrolls boys and girls through eighth grade, and the high school is all girls, with day and boarding options. As children continue through the school, they are guided under the same mission: “to develop in each student a striving for excellence, a maturing awareness of moral and spiritual values, a sense of responsible purpose, and a determination to serve the world with courage, grace, and compassion.”
Students who begin in Pre-K are set up for success as they continue their journey, academically, socially, and emotionally. As the Pre-K teachers like to say, “The beginning is everything.”
To register for SANTA CATALINA’S PRE-K OPEN HOUSE to be held on Thursday, January 16, from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
For more information on Santa Catalina Preschool
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