|
|
|
|
Click here for NEW
St. Peter's Lutheran
School photos from Spring, 2003!
|
|
St. Peter's Lutheran School
Clara DelValle, Director
(718) 647-1014
St. Peter's Lutheran School
- 28 years of serving the Cypress Hills community
- Quality
- Caring
- Christian
- Serving all children
- Licensed by the City of New York
History
Leadership:
St. Peter's Pre-School was begun by action of the Church Assembly in 1975.
Attempts had been made since 1917 to initiate a parish school, but nothing had come of them. In its first year there were 17 students in two classes. Judy Benke
was the program coordinator and Director of the school for its first ten years. She continues to serve the school, for the past two years as Educational Director.
Diane Miller followed Judy as the Director, and continued to serve as teacher and Educational Director until 2000. Clara DelValle replaced Diane as Director ten
years ago, and serves in that capacity today.
 Program Development:
Begun as a Pre-School, St.
Peter's added Kindergarten along with full-day and extended class options for three through five year olds through the years. In 1997, St. Peter's entered into a contract with the Board of
Education, City of New York to provide Universal Pre-Kindergarten classes. 72 students now participate in these half-day sessions for four year olds. In 2000,
Kindergarten parents petitioned Clara for the ability to keep their children at St. Peter's in first grade. A classroom was created upstairs, and the parents' desire
was honored. Last year second grade was added in the same room. The total student enrollment of the school thus increased dramatically to close to 150
children in all programs, many of them on-site for half day programming, some of them involved in care that extends from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. An arrangement with
Academy of Christ's Children (Our Savior and St. John Lutheran Schools) is being finalized to allow St. Peter's children the option of Lutheran education through the
rest of the grade school years, as they are bused to the other sites after second grade.
Mission:
St. Peter's School has always been an integral part of St. Peter's Lutheran Church,
and many of the leaders of the congregation have come to St. Peter's through the school, and/or have sent their children to the school. Still, the school enrollment is
mostly composed of non-member children, some of whom are not Christian or whose parents are not active members of a church. This means that the
presentation of the Gospel in the classroom and by the example of the staff and director are most important. Weekly chapel devotions are also held under the direction of the Assistant to the Pastor.
Curriculum:
The curriculum at St. Peter's has always been held to high standards of quality.
The curriculum of the Universal Pre-K class is authorized through the City of New York, and has worked well with the existing curriculum at St. Peter's. District 19
Early Childhood Coordinator Terry Hecht has been a tremendous resource person for St. Peter's.
The academic curriculum initiated particularly in the Kindergarten, First and Second
Grade classrooms was researched through the Lutheran Schools Association and its Executive Director, Marlene Lund. St. Peter's is truly proud that its students
have performed on average in kindergarten and first grade at a level more than one year in advance of the norm in all areas, including reading, math and
comprehension, after taking an annual Stanford Achievement Test.
Finances:
St. Peter's attempts to balance very carefully the economics of the families in its
community with the needs of running a balanced school budget. St. Peter's School tuitions are low and affordable; however, this means that balancing the budget is
always difficult, because St. Peter's also believes that its staff should be paid fairly – "the laborer is worthy of his hire."
St. Peter's School Scholarship Program
St. Peter's Lutheran School desires to serve all the children of the neighborhood.
The Universal Pre-K program allows us to reach four year olds with a half-day program that is tuition-free. This is a tremendous blessing to children in the
community, preparing them well socially and academically for the challenges of future school experience. However, the rest of St. Peter's programs are
tuition-based. There are students who have special needs, some of them based on developments since 9/11. The scholarship fund of the Lutheran Schools
Association has been of help in that regard in special cases at St. Peter's.
There are many remaining scholarship needs. If you would like to participate in St.
Peter's Scholarship Program, simply make your donated check out to that cause, send it to the church address, and your gift will bring quality Christian education to a child at St. Peter's.
St. Peter's is a unique school. Many of its alumni return years later to give thanks
and tribute for the great early start they received. Former students are now sending their children to St. Peter's, and some of our alumni even work at the school. It is
this generation to generation sense of love and well-being that is encouraged through St. Peter's Scholarship Program.
|
