Preschool Welcome Letter

I am very honored and excited to have been involved with this remarkable faith based community as the Preschool Director since July, 2010. Having been previously employed at St. Joan of Arc Preschool as both a Pre K and a Kindergarten teacher in 2003 & 2004, I feel as though He has brought me back home! It is truly a blessing to be a part of this Catholic preschool where I am able to share my faith and His love with our families. Pursuant to this wonderful opportunity, I was the Director at Our Lady of Joy Preschool & Kindergarten for 5 years. I am a native of York, Pennsylvania where I received a BA in Psychology, with a Minor in Early Childhood Education from Penn State University and pursued my Masters in Clinical Child Psychology at Loyola College. I have lived in Arizona since 1989 and have a son, Donny. Upon the death of my sister, my mom moved to Arizona in 2013, and presently lives with me. She also assists with our Atrium program. I feel truly fortunate to be part of this caring and giving community! It always amazes me how often we are given the opportunity to experience His undying love through the selfless actions of our fellow parishioners.

St Joan of Arc Catholic Preschool & Kindergarten is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach and we believe children thrive when authentic relationships are formed amongst each child and his/her teacher, family, and community. Our intentional nurturing environments open the door to each child’s imagination, curiosities, and love of learning. Our program engages the whole child with developmentally appropriate materials. Our project-based emergent curriculum gives our children ownership of their learning with support of our teachers. I am proud to say that with the determination of our quality staff, our intentional environments, and our low ratios, we have been awarded a 5 Star rating from Quality First. I am so grateful to be part of this active, caring, and giving community!

I believe that your child is one of God’s most precious beings and He created each and every one of us for a very special part in His plan. It is important that your child acknowledges God’s immeasurable love that resulted in his/her uniqueness. It is my goal that our school will help your children to become enthusiastic learners, both spiritually and academically, so that they may become independent, self-confident, inquisitive learners...to gain a true love of learning that will remain with them throughout their entire lifetime. I want our school to nourish their souls, as well as their minds.

Our play-based curriculum identifies specific goals in the following areas of development: Spiritually by expanding their love of God and others with a prayerful life that emphasizes faith formation, moral development, and service to others; Socially by feeling comfortable in school, to trust their new environment, make friends, and feel that they are part of a group; Emotionally by helping them to experience pride and self-confidence, develop independence and self-control, and to have a positive attitude towards life; Cognitively by helping them become confident learners, to acquire learning skills such as the ability to solve problems, ask questions, and to use words to describe their ideas, observations, and feelings; and Physically by helping them increase their large and small muscle/motor skills, and to feel confident about what their bodies can do.

I look forward to meeting with you and giving you a personal tour of our remarkable campus.

Many Blessings,
Debbie Allen

Our preschool follows the Diocese of Phoenix Schools calendar. To learn more about our school, we welcome you to call the preschool office at 602-867-9179.

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