Prekindergarten Accredited Educational Program

Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons is pleased to announce that it will be implementing a new Pre-K program for our 4 year olds this fall.

The Investigator Club is a culturally rich, fully integrated preschool curriculum that focuses on ten critical domains of learning, including literacy, math, science, social studies, oral language, and creative arts. Children are taught basic readiness skills, such as the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors, and they are also encouraged to experiment, build structures, appreciate fine art, sing, dance, and engage in dramatic play.

The preschool program uses engaging stories, charming characters, and children’s own curiosity to motivate them to think, solve problems, communicate, and investigate their world. The curriculum focuses on social and emotional needs as well as physical abilities for young children. Great care is taken to ensure that adaptations and suggestions are offered to accommodate a multitude of special needs. The teaching approach emphasizes interactive learning and invites the entire family to get involved.

Components, lessons, and activities in the InvestiGator Club are the results of extensive classroom testing, teacher input, and the latest childhood research. Written by teachers for teachers, each Teacher Guide offers flexible lessons plans with built-in staff development features. Teachers can teach the way they want, knowing they are meeting key national standards and learning goals for pre-K.

The InvestiGator Club provides everything the research says a good preschool curriculum must include:

            ● oral language development

            ● support for second-language learners

            ● a print-rich environment

● quality children’s fiction and nonfiction books

● rich, in-depth and integrated content across all domains      

● “best practices” in literacy for early readers and writers

● opportunities for problem solving

● math and science processes

● individualized instruction for reaching all learners

● provisions for social-emotional growth

● ongoing assessments tools

● staff development

The InvestiGator Clubs aligns with and supports:

● Early Reading First

● Head Start Child Outcomes

● NAEYC/IRA Joint Position Statement, “Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally   Appropriate Practices for Young Children”

● Selected State Guidelines

APPLICATION PROCEDURES:

To be considered for admission to Our Lady Star of the Sea School, an Archdiocesan Catholic school, prospective students must submit the following documents:

• Application for Admission form and $150.00 fee. This reserves space for your child and is non-refundable unless space is not available in the requested class.

Upon Acceptance, the following documents are required:

• Immunization Policy Acknowledgement/Health Assessment, completed & signed by physician
• Copy of Birth Certificate
• Copy of Baptismal Certificate (Catholics only)
  • Please enclose a copy of the first semester report card of the current year if your child is currently enrolled in another elementary school.

Nondiscrimination Policy:

Our Lady Star of the Sea School admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, or athletic and other school-administered programs.

Admission Priority:

In order of priority, Our Lady Star of the Sea School will accept children:

1. Whose parents are active, contributing parishioners of Our Lady Star of the parish.

2. Whose brothers and/or sisters are presently students at Our Lady Star of the Sea School.

3. Whose parents are contributing members of another parish.

4. Whose parents are Catholic but do not contribute to any parish.

5.  Whose parents belong to another religious denomination.

Beginning with the open house on February 1, 2012, OLSS will accept applications for prospective Pre-K students, along with the $150 fee. Fees will be held until February 10. If we have less than 18 students with paid fees on February 10, then all checks will be deposited, and you will be informed that your child has been accepted into the Pre-K. If we have more than 18 students with paid fees on February 10, then the admission priority will be applied, and fees will be returned to those who did not make it into the Pre-K. Families who are accepted into the Pre-K program, and whose fees are received by February 10, will be entered into a drawing for a $500 tuition credit for the 2012-13 school year.

If financial assistance is requested, a PSAS form (available from the School Office) must be filled out and postmarked by February 10, 2012.