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Sutterville’s Curriculum
Daily Schedule
Our Teachers
Participating Parent Role
Board of Directors
Parent Commitment to the School
Summer Camp
The instructional program at Sutterville Preschool is based upon the understanding that children are individuals and can only develop skills when they are ready to undertake them. Our focused areas of learning are:
- Physical Development (both large and fine motor skills)
- Social and Emotional Development
- Intellectual Development
- Language Development
- Imaginative and Creative Development
Our curriculum is designed to meet the California Pre-K state standards. Below are some of the more detailed ways we approach the focused areas of learning listed above. This is not a complete listing of our curriculum, but a sampling of our activities. We also use periodic field trips as an enhancement to the daily preschool program. These give children the opportunity to interact in different environments and provide them with hands-on learning experiences.
Physical
- Allow children to walk, run, jump, skip, crawl, roll, climb, balance, throw, push and pull through organized and informal non-competitive activities inside the classroom and outside on the playground.
- Provide puzzles, blocks, scissors, glue, paint, playdough, chalk, felt pens, children’s hammer and nails, beads and laces, sewing cards and other small motor activities.
Social & Emotional
- Give the child security, love and a chance to succeed by feeling important about him/herself.
- Encourage respect for others’ individual space and feelings.
- Learn to take turns and to share.
- Learn to live outside the family with independence and self-confidence.
Intellectual Readiness
Mathematics
- Children learn Number Sense by doing important aspects of counting, number relationships and operations.
- Children learn Classification through patterning, classifying and sorting.
- Children learn Measurement through length, weight and capacity.
- Children learn Geometry by learning shape, size and position.
Reading
- Children start to become Phonologically Aware by playing with sounds and rhymes.
- Children begin to recognize print conventions and understand that print carries meaning.
- Children display book handling behaviors and demonstrate understanding of age appropriate text read aloud.
- Children begin to orally blend and delete words and syllables without visual support.
- Children recognize letters and letters in their name.
- Children demonstrate motivation for literacy activities.
- Children demonstrate emergent writing skills.
Science
- Children are given Hands On opportunities through experiments, crafts and challenges that help them find their own route to scientific discovery.
- Children learn about themselves and the human body.
- Children learn about nutrition, weather, magnets, physics, matter and conservation.
Community
- Have police officers, dentists, doctors and fire fighters visit the school.
- Grow plants, provide touch boxes and scent/smelling trays.
- Discuss nature and wild animal conservation methods.
Language
- Children are encouraged to use their imagination and answer prompts such as: How, What, Where, When, Who, followed by “Tell me why you think that?”
- Children demonstrate knowledge/comprehension of stories by verbally finishing a story themselves.
- Children demonstrate unique vocabulary by narrating their own stories around a prompt.
- Children are encouraged to “Show and Tell” each week by expressing their own language about a personal item.
- Children are encouraged to resolve conflict through language with their peers.
Creative
- Sing songs, make up songs, use simple musical instruments.
- Encourage use of the imagination through the availability of housekeeping items, dress-up clothes, dolls and accessories, work hats and tools, puppets, pretend phones, keyboards, etc.
- Provide a large variety of blocks (from very small to very large) and small trucks and houses to be used in conjunction.
- Allow children to build and experiment with sand, water and dirt.
- Make art available daily with a variety of mediums.
Our daily structure and schedule are the same for both the morning and afternoon programs. All teacher-planned activities are repeated for both sessions.
AM Class / PM Class
9:00-9:45 am / 12:30-1:15 pm
Transitional Time: Free play with a choice of activities. Outside play when weather permits. Classroom clean-up before circle time.
** This structure provides an opportunity for your child to transition from home to the school setting.
9:45-10:00 am / 1:15-1:30 pm
Circle time: Discuss the weekly/daily theme, calendar, counting, group participation activity, songs, story, teachers and parents explain activities
10:00-10:25 am / 1:30-1:55 pm
Activity Time: Crafts and Language Arts activities
10:25-11:00 am / 1:55-2:30 pm
Outside Play
11:00-11:10 am / 2:30-2:40 pm
Snack Time
11:10-11:25 am / 2:40-2:55 pm
Second Circle: Music, games, sharing, story time
11:25-11:30 am / 2:55-3:00 pm
Dismissal
We have an incredible teaching team! Two teachers work each day on a rotating basis to provide an exceptional level of instruction to our students. Their love of teaching and dedication to our children shows in everything they do. Not only do we have an enthusiastic, creative and caring set of teachers, but all of them have children who attended the school. Needless to say, they are tremendously experienced and committed to Sutterville!
Mrs. Ruffaine has been a part of the Sutterville teaching team for more than 10 years. After earning her bachelor degree, she has gone on to continue her schooling with early education classes.
Mrs. Shannon became part of the Sutterville team in 2017. After earning her bachelor degree, she has gone on to continue her schooling with early education classes.
Mrs. Sam became part of the Sutterville team in 2017.
Ms. Kim became part of the Sutterville team in 2022.
Our Sutterville teachers are part of the Race to the Top Pilot-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC). RTT-ELC is a three-year pilot program designed to improve early learning systems and ensure children are ready to succeed in kindergarten.
Participating Parent Role
Sutterville Preschool is exceptional in part because of the time and love that the parents put into helping our dedicated teachers. As a participating parent, you sign up to work one morning or afternoon session each week. During your work day, you will help with a variety of activities in the classroom from playing with the children to coordinating activities and doing light housework. The participating parent role is a great opportunity for parents to enjoy and engage their children while using their imaginations, interests and strengths to enrich our program for the benefit of all children.
Executive Director: Jenny Ruffaine
Assistant Director: Shannon Dugan
President: Rosemary Livaich
Vice President: Courtney Calrmark
Secretary: Sarah Soderborg
Treasurer: Shoanie Young
Membership: Meryl Nielsen
Hospitality: Katie Lubawy
Auction: Borina Yamamoto
Fundraising: Lauren Jenkins
Health: Amy Rominger
Maintenance: Jaimie and Craig Ortega
Technology: Miranda Loera
Parent Commitment to the School
As a cooperative preschool, all parents are asked to attend monthly parent meetings, complete maintenance hours and participate in fundraising activities. It is through these commitments that Sutterville Preschool is able to maintain its non-profit status, keep our tuition rates at an affordable level and still maintain an environment with a high standard of learning for our children.
Sutterville Preschool can be designated as a charitable choice for United Way. If you would like to support the school program through this avenue, our United Way designation number is: 08549. We thank you in advance!
Join us for some fun in the summer!
Sutterville has Summer Camps each year in June and July. Summer Camps are from 9 a.m. to noon on Monday through Thursday. Sessions are open to all children 3-7 years of age. Preference is given to students currently enrolled at Sutterville Preschool. Previous themes have included Outdoor Adventure, Space, Art, Music and Creative Dance, Sewing and Woodworking and lots of other fun topics. Camp details and schedules are usually posted in May.
Sutterville Preschool 