DEDICATED TO NURTURING MINDS AND INSPIRING FUTURES
Established in 1959, St. Thomas Day School has been a cornerstone of educational excellence for families in Columbus, Georgia, and its surrounding communities. Our Preschool is dedicated to fully preparing children for a seamless transition into elementary education, fostering a love for learning that lasts a lifetime.
At the core of St. Thomas' educational philosophy is our exceptional and devoted staff. From the Director to teachers and enrichment instructors, our team is committed to providing individualized instruction and attention to each child. Through a well-established program of captivating learning, we instill in our students not only knowledge but also a passion for attending school.
The unique charm of St. Thomas lies in its nurturing environment, where Christian love and encouragement flourish. Our staff, well-trained and dedicated, creates an atmosphere that supports the holistic growth of every child at every stage of development. We prioritize continuous professional growth for our teachers, providing them with the necessary training to excel in their roles.
St. Thomas Day School is proud to be a Christian school affiliated with St. Thomas Episcopal Church, governed by the Day School Board. Comprising representatives from both the church and the school, the Board meets regularly to discuss ongoing school developments, ensuring strategic planning for the continued success of St. Thomas Day School. We are dedicated to nurturing not only young minds but also a sense of community and shared values.
CHILD-CENTRIC CURRICULUM
St. Thomas Day School recognizes this is a critical time in which strong educational foundations are built. Since preschool age children are impressionable, it is important that they have positive experiences and develop confidence in their ability to learn. Through creative teaching and hands-on activities, St. Thomas Day School instills a passion for learning in its Preschool students as they discover the wonders of the world around them.
The Dayschool Program is designed to offer students rich, varied experiences while building classroom proficiency and social skills. Our interdisciplinary curriculum provides a powerful and balanced educational experience, including focused teaching in reading readiness, math, social studies, science, and fine arts.
Day School students are lovingly supported as they develop responsibility for age-appropriate tasks, promoting a sense of accomplishment and high self-esteem. Daily routines encourage students to grow socially and exhibit respect for self, others, and materials. We maintain small classrooms so that our teachers are not strained and students are encouraged to actively participate.
St. Thomas Day School provides a loving environment where children are exposed to a school environment and basic concepts in an engaging, supportive setting appropriate for their age.
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Social and Interpersonal Skills - Playing cooperatively, sharing, turn-taking, self-control, following classroom rules
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Classroom Preparation - Listening to instructions, following daily routines, participating in learning activities
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Curriculum Readiness – Introduction to name, letter, shape, number and color recognition.
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Fine Arts - Singing, simple art projects coordinated with monthly themes and weekly letters
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Social and Interpersonal Skills: Listening, cooperating with peers, sharing, turn-taking, self-control, following classroom rules, playing cooperatively
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Fine Motor Skills: Painting, stacking, tracing, cutting, puzzles, manipulatives
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Classroom Skills: Following instructions, participating in activities, potty training, hanging bags, cleaning up, walking in line, sitting on the rug
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Reading Readiness: letter identification, story time, interest in and respect for books, imagination, increased attention span, story recall and retelling, introduction to phonics
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Math Readiness: Shape identification, number identification, number sequencing, counting items, simple patterns, matching
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Social Studies: Awareness of family, classroom, and community
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Science Skills: Weather, seasons, animals, lifecycles
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Fine Arts: Music class, participation in holiday programs, exposure to variety of art materials and mediums, color identification
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Social and Interpersonal Skills: Exhibiting respect for self, others, and materials, listening comprehension, following classroom rules, cooperating with peers in play and during work, verbal conflict resolution, self-control
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Fine Motor Skills: Proficiency in tracing letters, shapes and name, cutting, gluing, puzzles, and manipulatives
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Classroom Skills: Following instructions, sitting during circle time, participating in activities, hanging bags, cleaning up lunch and activities, walking in line
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Reading Readiness: letter identification, letter-phonic correspondence, syllable counting, story time, interest in and respect for books, imagination, increased attention span, story recall and retelling
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Math Skills: Shape identification, position identification, number identification, number sequencing, counting items, simple patterns, matching, graphing
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Social Studies: Simple history lessons (examples: Christopher Columbus, pilgrims), simple lessons on national structure and presidents, exposure to cultures through books demonstrating different countries, people, and lifestyles
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Science Skills: Weather, seasons, animals, lifecycles, weight, measurements, balance
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Fine Arts: Music class, participation in holiday programs, creative expression, hands-on use of variety of art materials and mediums, color identification
St. Thomas Day School is proud of our Pre-K program's ability to prepare our children for success in Kindergarten and beyond.
- Social and Interpersonal Skills: Effective communication with others, assisting others, cooperation, verbal conflict resolution, exhibiting respect for self, others, and materials, listening comprehension, following classroom rules, cooperating with peers in play and during work, self-control
- Classroom Proficiency: Motivation to learn, listening, following instruction, participation in activities, focus on task, independence in task completion
- Reading Skills: Listening comprehension, oral language skills, expanding vocabulary, letter identification, letter phonic sounds, sight words, simple sentence structure, writing words, consonant/vowel/consonant words, syllable recognition and counting, simple sentence structure, phonemic awareness
- Math Skills: Writing numbers, simple addition and subtraction, ten squares, one-to-one correspondence, graphing, understand relationship between a numeral and set of objects, matching, memory, sorting, number sequencing, understand comparative terms such as big/little, more/less, etc. Recognize and name geometric shapes, comprehend practical daily uses of numbers (calendars, clocks, money), use of logic
- Social Studies: study of traditions around the world, Simple history lessons (examples: Christopher Columbus, pilgrims, hieroglyphs), simple lessons on national structure and presidents, exposure to cultures through books demonstrating different countries, people, and lifestyles, personal safety and emergency resources
- Science Skills: Introduction to hypothesis, simple science experiments, comparison and classification, ordering, classifying, patterning, length, size, weight and capacity, set recognition and comparison, seasons, life cycles, animal traits, spatial relations, different ecosystems, awareness of environment and interconnection between living things
- Fine Arts: Music class, participation in holiday programs, creative expression, hands-on use of variety of art materials and mediums
St. Thomas Day School is blessed to offer weekly chapel classes for Day School students each Wednesday. During chapel, students learn Bible stories, verses, songs of worship, and prayers.
St. Thomas Day School is grateful to have a vibrant bi-weekly music program for Day School students. Students learn a wide variety of fun songs, play instruments, and explore concepts of rhythm, sound, and movement. Our music classes build up to several programs throughout the year.
In addition to being just plain fun, time outside on the playground develops gross motor skills, increases social development and communication skills, provides opportunities for dramatic play, and is mentally and physically beneficial for children.
Weather permitting, students will engage in outdoor activities on a daily basis. St. Thomas Day School is grateful for a recent donation of new playground equipment that has enhanced the playground area. If weather is questionable, the Director makes a school-wide determination.
St. Thomas Day School offers a wide variety of wonderful enrichment classes for Day School students. S.T.E.P is offered every day and occur immediately after the normal school day from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
Examples of past enrichment classes include zoology, baking, physical education, art, architecture and engineering, cheerleading, dance, music and movement, team sports, and Spanish.
Preschool operates from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. Children can be dropped off in carpool line between 8:50 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. each day. Please walk children to the door after 9:05 a.m. Early drop off is available upon request at 8:00 a.m.
Your child will qualify for the age appropriate class that is determined by the age they are on or before September 1st. We require all of our children in the three and four year old classes to be toilet trained.
*Your child is enrolled upon payment of the registration form and fee. The fee is $100.00 and non-refundable.
The regular preschool day ends at 1:00 PM. Enrichment classes end at 3:00 PM. Please be courteous and ensure that students are picked up promptly. If a student is not picked up by 1:10 PM, the parent will receive a reminder. After the first reminder, subsequent incidents will result in a $10 fee per incident. It is especially important to pick up students promptly from enrichment classes. After the first reminder for an enrichment class, subsequent incidents will result in a $15 fee per incident.
The withdrawal policy is intended to ensure St. Thomas Day School receives notice of a student’s withdrawal within a reasonable period of time. St. Thomas requires a minimum 30 day notice and submission of the Withdrawal Form. The notice is effective on the date the withdrawal form is received by the Director. The Withdrawal Form is available on the school website.
Teachers model and encourage Christian behavior in actions and attitudes. Students learn to be considerate of peers and respectful to adults through simple acts of sharing, taking turns, assisting classmates, following instructions and using good manners. Our discipline approach involves verbal warnings, time-outs, teaching moments and trips to the Director’s office. Students are guided toward positive behavior with praise, acknowledgements, and love.
St. Thomas is committed to maintaining open dialogue with parents, including on the subject of discipline and behavior issues. The Director has the right to suspend or dismiss a student from St. Thomas Day School if the student’s inappropriate behavior continues and disrupts the learning of others.
School must be a safe environment for all students, teachers, and staff. Certain behaviors, such as hitting, biting, or kicking staff members or other students, will not be tolerated.
Biting and causing physical harm are unacceptable behaviors and present an undue risk of harm to staff and students. If a student exhibits this type of behavior, the parent may be required to pick the student up early from school. If a student continues this type of behavior, or continues to attempt this type of behavior, the student may be dismissed from St. Thomas Day School after three incidents. The safety and well-being of all students and staff are paramount. Accordingly, students are not entitled to three opportunities in every circumstance. The Director has the right to immediately suspend or dismiss a student from St. Thomas Day School at any time if, in the sole discretion of the Director, the student’s behavior endangers other children or staff.
St. Thomas Day School uses washable markers, washable paints, smocks, and is conscious of the investment you make in your child’s clothing. We use our best efforts to keep clothing clean, but we cannot guarantee your child’s clothing will not get dirty. Please send your child in weather appropriate, comfortable play clothes bearing in mind your child will be completing art projects, playing outside, and eating in the outfit. Students should wear comfortable shoes with a back or strap for a secure fit. Please do not send your child in flip flops.
Each child must maintain a complete change of clothes in the classroom throughout the school year, including socks, underwear, shirt, pants, and preferably shoes. Please provide these items in a Ziploc type bag labeled with your child’s name.
Our Two Year Old Program teachers will gladly help you and your child with potty-training. While students are potty-training they must wear pull-ups or diapers until they can consistently verbally or physically communicate the need to use the restroom. Parents are required to supply wipes and pull-ups or diapers for their child.
If a student is consistently (2 or more times) having accidents, the parents will be asked to return the student to diapers/pull-ups for sanitation purposes. However, students will be given ample opportunities to visit the restroom to further potty training skills.
All Three and Four Year Old Program students must be completely potty trained by the start of the school year.
Please be considerate of other students and teaching staff by keeping your child out of school when contagious. If your child is diagnosed with a contagious condition or disease, you are required to notify the Director as soon as possible. This policy is not intended to single-out or ostracize a student. Illness spreads quickly among student populations and quick action can make the difference in preventing an outbreak.
Parents will be notified of exposure to communicable disease when there is a confirmed case. The affected child’s name will not be disclosed. Following diagnosis of a communicable disease, the Director reserves the right to require a physician’s written release prior to the child’s return.
FEVER
Children will not be permitted to enter or remain at school if they have a temperature of 100 degrees or higher.
Please do not return your child to school until they have been fever free for 24 hours after discontinuing fever reducing medicine. This means if a child has a fever at 4:00 PM, the child is not ready to return to school the following day regardless of the child’s temperature the next morning.
VOMITING & DIARRHEA
If a student vomits while at school, the parent will be contacted to pick up the student immediately.
The child should not return to school until they have been free of vomiting for 24 hours.
If a child has diarrhea and a fever, the parent will be contacted to pick up the student immediately.
If the child has diarrhea but no fever, the child may be permitted to stay at school unless a second incident of diarrhea occurs. In that case, the parent will be contacted to pick up the student immediately.
ANTIBIOTICS
Students being treated with antibiotics should be on the medication for at least 24 hours and not exhibit symptoms before returning to school.
HEAD LICE
Head lice is extremely contagious. If it is determined that a student has head lice, the parent will be notified to pick up the child immediately. Before returning to school, the child must be free of all lice and eggs. Proof of treatment is required prior to return (i.e. receipt of purchase/empty treatment container).
PINK EYE
Pink eye spreads among classmates very easily. If a student appears to have pink eye, the parent will be contacted to pick up the child immediately. Treatment with prescription eye drops for a minimum of 24 hours is required prior to return.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Examples of communicable diseases include but are not limited to strep throat, active chicken pox, mumps, influenza (flu), measles, impetigo, and hand, foot, and mouth disease. If a student appears to have a communicable disease, the parent will be contacted to pick up the child immediately. If the student is diagnosed with a communicable disease, the parent is required to notify the Director as soon as possible. The Director may require a physician’s release before returning to after diagnosis of a communicable disease.
SKIN CONDITIONS
If a student appears to have ringworm, impetigo, pin worms, rash (other than diaper rash), or skin lesions, the parent may be contacted to pick up the child immediately. The child will not be allowed to return to school until the condition is completed cleared up. If a student has a non-contagious rash or lesion, the student may return with adequate dressing on the affected area and a physician’s note confirming the condition is not contagious.
POLICIES & PROCEDURES
LOCATION
2100 Hilton Avenue
Columbus, GA 31906
HOURS
Monday - Friday
9:00am - 1:00pm
*Early Drop-off Available