Our Mission
To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed through excellence in education with young children and their families
About Our School
Our History
Prince of Peace Lutheran School, known originally as the Christian Day School, opened in September 1969, with a staff of three and an enrollment of 39 children. Pastor Ralph Wiechmann conceived a quality Christian Pre-Kindergarten school that, despite modest origins, would grow with the community. He turned to Marianne Latall, a Prince of Peace Member and former Lutheran Kindergarten teacher to begin organizing such a school and to serve as its Director/Principal. The school’s mission at its inception is the same as it is today: “To share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed through excellence in education with young children and their families.”
In 1999, Principal Cina Deaton oversaw the planning and development of our beautiful new school facility and playgrounds.
The school has always featured a play-based model of learning and made process art, music, and worship integral to the curriculum. Art and Music Specialists work alongside our teachers to enrich the children’s school day. And we enjoy simple, liturgical, special music written and curated for our school by long-time church members and school staff: Kathy Forsythe, Lola Coyle, and Stacy Adducci.
The church/school campus has four playgrounds designed specifically for different ages of children, starting with our littlest 2 ½ year olds and extending to our elementary-aged Kindergarteners.
The church has loved and supported the school ministry since its inception, and the ministry has been blessed with strong staff retention and low turnover rates, and the privilege of serving several generations of families in our community.
Our Philosophy
We believe that ...
- children are gifts from a loving God
- children grow and develop at unique and individual rates, often unrelated to chronological age
- children's play and engagement are fundamental to their growth, development and learning
- children need experience in making choices
- children are active participants in their own learning and they learn from one another
- children flourish in an environment based on trust
We believe that children learn most effectively with a professional faculty and staff who ...
- are dedicated to teaching, nurturing and loving all children
- are knowledgeable and experienced in early childhood growth and development
- are committed to ongoing professional staff development
- are joyful and genuine in their ministry to children, their families, their colleagues, and the Prince of Peace Community
- are supportive of children's individual differences and learning styles
We believe that...
a child's early and first school experiences help form the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Our faculty and staff believe it both an honor and a privilege to be in partnership with parents as their children embark upon their first journeys into formal education. It is through experiencing school as "another ripple" in the ever-widening circle of their world that children continue to learn about attachment, trust, and community, and continue to develop a "disposition for learning" [Lillian Katz].
We believe in...
fostering a child's growth, development and learning in all the domains of learning (i.e., social and emotional, intellectual and language, spiritual and physical). We believe that all children grow and develop on a continuum and we know that in that continuum we accept and celebrate the range of individual differences that occur.
Our Curriculum
Our understanding of curriculum is one that is informed by constructivist theory and the Reggio approach. This view is one in contrast to curriculum planning based solely on a behaviorist theory that sees learning as a transactional process and understands curriculum as a product that is “covered” or “delivered” rather than created.
Rather, we believe curriculum is a complex, kinetic process and that deep and meaningful learning occurs in communities of learning that are influenced by the dynamic interaction of teachers, children, materials and the environment. Together, these participants and components create learning communities that value play as an important vehicle for learning, and that recognize and appreciate children’s curiosity, interests and desire for connection which promote an active role in learning. Our team meets regularly to review and develop the curriculum that we use in our classrooms. At the core of our curriculum is Christ’s love for us, a love that prompts us to love one another as He loved us in active, concrete and dynamic ways.
Our Program Goals & Objectives
The following are general assumptions held for all children at Prince of Peace Lutheran School. These principles guide staff and faculty in planning programs based on the understanding that significant and enduring learning for young children:
- is an ongoing, total process through which learners come to know the world
- is an active, interactive endeavor
- is individually planned and paced
- must be concrete and sensory-based
- moves from the concrete to the abstract
- occurs when it connects with prior learning
- occurs when it influences the behavior of the learner
- is dependent upon the total well-being of the learner
Objectives within Developmental Areas
Because Prince of Peace Lutheran School believes that fostering learning in children is supporting their growth and development, the school's learning objectives relate to each of the developmental areas. These learning objectives are planned for all children attending Prince of Peace Lutheran School and are cited with the understanding that they will be met in age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate ways, with an attention to individual differences. Teachers plan the environment, gather learning materials and resources, and design learning.
Physical Motor Objectives
Physical Motor Objectives are met when children:
- develop skills and strength in coordination of movement
- evidence fluidity and economy of movement
- feel comfortable and enjoy a variety of motor activities and pursuits
- develop skills and a lifelong disposition for body movement, exercise, and sports
- develop a respect, liking and caring for one's own body
Spiritual Objectives
Spiritual Objectives are met when children:
- assume there is a trusting relationship with a loving God
- experience this relationship as reflected in their own interactions with adults and others
- experience the interactions and modeling of staff as representative of their relationship with a loving God
- feel loved and honored and cherished by the God who made them
- communicate care and concern, kindness, helpfulness, and forgiveness to one another as a "friend of Jesus" the Savior
- begin to experience prayer as "talking to God"
Aesthetic & Creative Objectives
Aesthetic and Creative Objectives are met when children:
- investigate and explore music including singing, instrumentation and listening
- explore, examine and experiment with a variety of art materials
- develop a life-long disposition for creating and appreciating music, art, drama, and dance
- seek art, music, drama and dance opportunities as ways to communicate and express ideas, feelings, questions, wonderings, and interests
- experience music, art, drama and dance as individuals and in a group
Social/Emotional Objectives
Social/Emotional Objectives are met when children:
- enjoy and anticipate coming to school
- feel safe and happy in a place other than home, with adults other than their parents
- flourish as individuals and as members of a group
- adopt the notions of respect and esteem, forgiveness, and optimism for themselves and others in a community of caring
- seek to help others in effective and empathetic ways
- seek appropriate interactions with others
- are able to initiate, enter and sustain successful play situations
- forge friendships and successful relationships
- seek intervening help from trusted adult facilitators
