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Ursuline Preschool and Kindergarten open to all faiths
By LINDA M. LINONIS
CANFIELD
Families representing many faiths enroll their children in Ursuline Preschool and Kindergarten.
For 50 years, Valley families have been sending their children to the faith-based school.
“We teach Catholic faith traditions — and the parents know that,” said Sister Charlotte Italiano, director and principal. “Values and respect for life are part of it.”
Mary Ann Critell, assistant principal and kindergarten teacher, added the school “welcomes all faiths and students are of various faiths and races.”
“Families like the Christian environment for their children,” Sister Charlotte said. “Generations have come here and remember it as a positive experience.”
Ursuline Preschool and Kindergarten (UPSK) follows and exceeds state-recommended standards, Critell said.
Kindergarten enrollment is 68 and the preschool’s is 161; there are 20 staff members. Preschool is for 3- and 4-year-olds who attend a morning session from 8:30 to 11 a.m. or afternoon from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Preschool sessions, Sister Charlotte said, help socialize children and teach them numbers and letters.
Five-year-olds are in all-day kindergarten from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There’s also a half-day transitional kindergarten from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for children whose parents feel they’re not quite ready for an all-day program.
UPSK also offers morning care from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and afterschool care from 2:30 to 6 p.m. for working parents.
The enrichment program includes creative movement and structured play, cooking and baking, art, dramatic play, foreign language and sign language, science experiments and creative expression. There’s also a computer lab.
Critell said the school began as the Ursuline Academy on Sept. 4, 1963, with the late Sister Edith Weir as director. After Sister Edith retired, she continued to be a part of the school and children called her “Grandma God,” Critell said.
“She would read to the children, and she volunteered as a tutor,” Critell said.
The 50th year has included various activities such as a fall harvest celebration, and in the spring, there will be a “royal ball.”
The school also sponsored a Thanksgiving food drive with items going to needy Youngstown families. The students and their families will participate in a prayer and pumpkin event — a prayer service and snack in recognition of Thanksgiving.
“The children and parents build a community among the families,” Critell said.
For Advent and Lent, there will be special activities on the meaning of the seasons.
Currently, UPSK parents are preparing for the annual craft show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 7; proceeds benefit the school.