"The purpose of this school is to furnish a weekday nursery school for children within the church and the community; To provide a healthy atmosphere for the physical, cognitive, spiritual and social development of the children; To help parents toward a better understanding of their child's development and behavior." - From the RPNS Mission Statement

Brief Introduction & Philosophy The Rye Presbyterian Nursery School is a "Reggio" inspired and NAEYC accredited preschool, dedicated to providing age appropriate learning experiences for children, ages two through five.    We believe that young children learn through their play, as they interact with their peers in the classroom environment.  The knowledge that they gain as they play, construct, imagine, experiment, dialogue and socialize with other children and adults, provide the basis for fostering independent, intellectually competent, socially responsible and capable individuals.  Each of our ten classrooms have activity centers that provide experiences in art, music, block construction, sensory activities, dramatic play, science exploration, reading, writing and math.   Two playgrounds and a track area provide numerous gross motor play activities.   Inspired by the renowned Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, our staff uses a project approach and modern day technology to document children's work, providing the framework for parents, children and teachers to see what the children are learning throughout their day, as they play.

Message boxes are being incorporated into our 3s and 4s classes this year.  There surely is a buzz in the air as children prepare little notes and surprises and place them, often secretively, in the small classroom mailboxes of friends. From the developmental perspective of the preschool child, this new classroom experience encourages communication, early literacy, creativity, organization, fine motor work, and friendship.  This is also about the joy and fun of giving a “present” to someone special and starting to understand generosity in a very real sense.    Here is how it works…  The teachers set up this center to suit their classroom.  They choose wooden mailboxes, or heavy cardboard cubes – all labeled with combinations of symbols, names and photos that will aid the child in recognizing his classmates and teachers. The teachers prepare materials for these treasures: little pieces of interesting papers, all kinds of child-sized marking tools, letter stamps and stamp pads, tiny bins of cut out letters, glitter, tape, glue sticks, hole punches, ribbon and yarn, staplers, a variety of envelops, and pre-made blank books.    Children in this stage of early literacy are first interested in drawing and patterning and creating designs.  Letter like scribbles precede actual formation of ABC’s. As the children continue to develop, we see and encourage inventive spelling. The teachers also prepare notecards of common words for the children to copy such as “Dear, Mom, Dad, I Love you”. The children learn to indicate to whom the message goes with a photo of their friend or by “writing” the friend’s name, and to sign this communication with their signature, photo, or a symbol recognizable by all.  Parents are invited to join in and put messages in their children’s mailboxes.  We call this “RPNS FRIEND MAIL”. Making a pretend window in the STUDIO....... In one of our 4s classes, the children wanted a window on the wall in their dramatic play area.  Our studio teacher, Mrs. Price, worked with a group of children to research, plan, draw and paint a joyful representation of their "view" from the window, including a rainbow, a house, clouds, a playground and friends.  At the end of their project, they presented a slide show of their process to the rest of the class and their teachers.  The pretend window now hangs over the sink in the housekeeping area.      All Content Copyright © Rye Presbyterian Nursery School; All Rights Reserved. No content from this site may be copied and/or reused without the express written permission of the Rye Presbyterian Nursery School, Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580

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