Is this a religious school?
No. Ponderosa Preschool is a secular school located on the site of St. Andrew Presbyterian church. It is not an outreach effort of the church; it neither receives funding from the church, nor does it engage in Christian pedagogy. St. Andrew does use the building for Sunday School classes, but not during Ponderosa Preschool operating hours. Spiritual education follows the indications of Rudolph Steiner, which are not classically religious. However, Steiner's philosophy does incorporate the celebration of festivals throughout the year. At Ponderosa, we pull from a variety of different cultural backgrounds, including Jewish and Christian traditions, for our festival calendar. Ponderosa aligns its PS3, PS4 and Kindergarten classes with the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia which states "Children’s learning is dynamic, complex and holistic. This means that cognitive, linguistic, physical, social, emotional, personal, spiritual and creative aspects of learning are all intricately interwoven and interrelated" (EYLF 2.0, 2022). Therefore, spirituality in a universalist sense will be addressed and children may be exposed to ideas such as honoring the Universal Spirit in all beings, animistic beings such as angels and gnomes, and mindfulness practices.

 

Is our family welcome here?
We hope so! Please read our Community, Equity and Diversity Commitment to decide if Ponderosa is a good fit for your family. We support free choice in education and child care. You have the right to choose a facility or caretaker that best fits your family. Ponderosa retains the right to refuse service to families that are not a good fit. We stand in solidarity with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in their support of Anti-Bias education, and the inclusion of all families. Other than minor revisions, our Community, Equity and Diversity statement copy is from a 2017 statement published by NAEYC.

 

Is this a daycare?
No. A daycare is designed to provide wrap-around care to families who work during the day. We provide half-day preschool for 3s, preschool for 4s and Kindergarten 1 classes, and full day Pre-First (Kindergarten 2) classes. See our schedule here. Our morning preschool programs run from 9 AM- Noon, and include breakfast and lunch. Our afternoon Kindergarten 1 program runs from 1 PM-4 PM and includes an afternoon snack. The only full day program we offer is Pre-First (for 6 year old children, or 5 year old students who have already completed a year of Kindergarten). Families wishing to enroll children under three years or over six years of age should inquire individually. Generally, we are able to make accommodations for children whose birthdays fall in the first six weeks of term.

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Children may register for the full year beginning in August, or in January for a partial year. Tuition for both schedules can be found at our Admissions page. We do not offer summer-only classes as Ponderosa is a year-round school. If the class that fits your child is full, you may request to be added to the waitlist. Waitlists for full classes open in January and reset the following January. Classes are filled from the waitlist according to the Eligibility Policy.

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What is the schedule?
We are a year-round school with a "six on-one off" break schedule. Preschool for 3s (PS3) is held T/Th from 9 AM-Noon and includes breakfast and lunch. Preschool for 4s (PS4) is held M/W/F from 9 AM- Noon. Kindergarten 1 is held daily from 1 PM- 4 PM and includes an afternoon snack and weekly field trip. Kindergarten 2 is held M-F from 9 AM-4 PM. If your family is willing to commit to a year-round school, Ponderosa Preschool may be a good fit. 

Are there Health & Safety policies should I know about?
Yes! Ponderosa requires all staff and students to be fully vaccinated, and to provide proof of vaccination. This includes the COVID-19 vaccine and recommended boosters. We also strongly recommend that our students and families get an annual flu shot. We do not require masks, but families and students are invited to wear them, if desired. If your family has individual questions or concerns, please contact us.

 

Is Waldorf the same as Montessori? What about Reggio?
No. While all three honor the child and see childhood as a unique period that provides special rights and protections for those in it, they are very different in their pedagogy (science of teaching). In short, Montessori is about independence; learning materials are designed to teach one specific concept and be self-correcting. Reggio Emilia inspired methods are about inquiry; Reggio classrooms have two classrooms (an "atelier" and a classroom), and are full of open-ended materials used in different ways. Steiner Waldorf education is about imagination. Between birth and age 7, we envision the child's soul slowly acquainting themselves with their body and others on the earth. As teachers, our focus is to present children with models of beauty, truth and goodness in a gentle, home-like environment. Materials are open-ended, and often made of natural materials such as wool, beeswax and wood. Non-material "things" like songs, oral story telling, and festivals have more emphasis in the Waldorf approach than in Montessori or Reggio inspired classrooms. Stories and artistic representations are often the primary tools teachers use to deliver information, rather than lecture style or demonstrations, as other approaches may use. Instead of worksheets, children create their own textbooks as records of learning.

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Ponderosa Preschool does not follow a strict Waldorf curriculum, since Gifted students develop asymmetrically. If your five year old is mathematically advanced and ready to do multiplication, we have the skills, experience and materials to support them. If your seven year old is socially delayed and struggling with collaborative play, we have the skills, experience and materials to support their development, too.  Like your pediatrician, our teachers rely on developmental checklists and direct observations of the child to inform their teaching and assess a child's holistic development. We respond to the child in front of us with research-based approaches instead of following an artificial timeline created by a publishing company.

 

What are the admission requirements?
Ponderosa Preschool requires aptitude tests for children entering Kindergarten 1 and upward.   Children under 4.5 years old should NOT be tested; the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) is not valid for children under 4.5 years of age. Therefore, Ponderosa does not require aptitude tests for its students in preschool (PS3 or PS4 classes). Ponderosa PS4 students seeking to continue to Kindergarten 1 should submit an individual IQ test when registering for Kindergarten 1. Enrollment in preschool classes is not a guarantee of Kindergarten admission, and any placement agreement is conditional on test results, regardless of prior enrollment.

All prospective Kindergarten 1 or Pre-First students must submit the results of an individual IQ test administered by a licensed psychologist or other qualified clinician that measures verbal and non-verbal cognitive aptitude or learning potential. (It is NOT an achievement test, which measures learned academic content and children should NOT be "prepared" for this test.) To be considered for admission to Ponderosa Preschool, applicants must achieve a full scale or composite score at the 85th percentile or above. This score is an indicator of a child’s potential for success with the other students of high academic potential at Ponderosa Preschool. Families with Twice Exceptional children who believe their child's learning profile impacted their score should contact Ponderosa Admissions directly.

For children between 4.5 and 6 years old, Ponderosa accepts the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV). Children older than 6 years of age should submit Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) scores. Ponderosa is also willing to consider the Stanford-Binet, V; the KABC-II NU; or the DAS-II. If your student previously attended a full-time public school gifted program, we are willing to accept the test results that qualified them for that program, provided that those results are less than two years old. Ponderosa strongly suggests families schedule their test early, as psychologists may book several months in advance.

Because the IQ test is designed to measure how the brain works, rather than what a child knows--which is an achievement test, like the SAT-- children should not be exposed to test content, preparation exercises and testing tasks ahead of time. Children who are "prepped" in this way often exhibit test-taking behavior that indicates this prior exposure. Psychologists are bound to report this prior exposure in their full report, and Ponderosa will not be unable to accept such results as valid. (For helpful advice on what to do instead, click here.)  Families should be advised that children must wait one year before being re-administered the same cognitive test.