Spring Planting

The Turtles class at King of PeaceEpiscopal Day School planted flowers in front of the church this morning.

Center of Distinction

A photo for the Tribune & Georgian article on King of Peace Episcopal Day School being named a Center of Distinction. While that is old news here at Irenic Thoughts, it will appear in tomorrow's newspaper with this photo of some of our children.

King of Peace Honored as Center of Distinction

Press Release: King of Peace Episcopal Day School in Kingsland was recently named one of the top child care centers in the state. The honor came this past Friday (March 20) as the State of Georgia’s Bright from the Start department named the school a Center of Distinction.

This is the premier award given by the State of Georgia to recognize the centers that provide the highest quality care for children from birth through four years of age. The Center of Distinction honor is part of the Standards of Care program which seeks to encourage centers to improve well beyond the minimum requirements of licensing. King of Peace was the only center in Camden County considered for this prestigious award.

The honor comes after a year long process with the state’s licensing division that culminated in a two-day on site evaluation looking into every detail of the school’s operations. Consultant Denise Jenson evaluated the school using the nationally recognized Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale which provide a basis for objective assessment of preschool classrooms. Jenson rated the school as “excellent,” and noted that King of Peace is unusual in being “supportive of both staff and parents.”

“Our director, Gillian Butler, and her team not only provide a quality preschool education, but they do so in a loving environment,” said Frank Logue, pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church and president of the school.

He added, “We are pleased to have the State of Georgia affirm the hard work our teachers do every day to meet the highest of standards in preparing the children entrusted to us for school.”

Bright from the Start is the department of state government dedicated to child care and early education for children from birth through four years of age. The department administers Georgia’s Pre-K Program, licenses child care centers, registers home-based child care providers, administers the Standards of Care program, and works collaboratively with other agencies and stakeholders to enhance early care and education.

Nativity Pageant

King of Peace Episcopal Day School held its annual Nativity Pageant this past Friday to a packed house. The show was a resounding success as the preschoolers taught told the story of Jesus' birth through words and song. Mary and Joseph gave the show two thumbs up.

Dress Up Day at The Preschool

Superheroes and princesses abound today at King of Peace Episcopal Day School. Most will be sticking around for the fun tonight as Trunk or Treat starts at 6 p.m. See you there!

Playground Sun Shade

Mike Waldron and Al Virgin are hard at work today in the blazing heat to put up a sun shade for our preschoolers. They got a little help from the staff, but are doggedly working in the dehydrating sun to get the shade up for our kids.

Today at King of Peace Episcopal Day School

We Are Thankful

Victoria and I were asked to go to the Episcopal Church Women meeting for the Diocese of Georgia this weekend to report on how the $24,000 grant we received in 2002, which helped us create King of Peace Episcopal Day School has continued to help our church and community. Victoria came up with the idea of doing a video report and the result is the video above. It gives a good glimpse into our school while thanking the diocesan ECW for the money received from a United Thank Offering grant.

Preschool Graduation

King of Peace Episcopal Day School held its preschool graduation today. Some of the 11 graduates included students who were with us when we opened our doors for business with just nine students in July of 2004. Now three years later, we have a full enrollment of 64 students. It was a teary goodbye for our first graduates to go through all the classes at The Preschool.

A Supportive Community

Yesterday, I was honored to give the keynote address for an awards breakfast hosted by the TASC Force, a community-based instruction program for the midly to profoundly intellectually disabled in our school system. King of Peace Episcopal Day School has been a partner in this program for two full school years. We are proud to be of service to the community and thankful for the students we have come to know through the program. Our school's director, Gillian Butler was on hand to receive an award for our ongoing support of the program.

In the keynote address, I said in part,

We have deeply theological reasons for supporting the belief that “all persons, regardless of their disability, have the right to a comprehensive and appropriate education that will lead to active participation within one’s own community.” But I will trust that persons of faith already understand our belief that every person should have the God-given gifts within themselves nurtured and so I don’t need to dwell on that. Instead, I prefer to ask you to let your imaginations wander to the place where anything seems possible, the land of fairy tales and make believe.

I went on to demonstrate why I consider TASC a fairy tale program and why I think it is essential to a happily ever after ending. The full text of the address is online here A Fairy Tale Come True.

Then having given the speech, I sat to watch and listen as dozens of students came forward and I learned how they were integrating their learning to practical aspects of shopping or work. So that math is not just something in a book, but a task undertaken in a store while calculating a sale price. And vocabulary is not just on a test, but is written on the signs at a restaurant. I was impressed with the obvious love and devotion of the teachers and their paraprofessionals and the obvious hard work put forth by students on gaining important life skills. It is an honor to be a part of the supportive community which makes this program possible.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

Weblinks concerning people from King of Peace:

Carlene is a therapist new to our area and the church and this news article on the web tells something about her: Dog, horses help therapist reach patients

Bob, is a church member who serves on the Mission Vestry, and is the author of: Parris Island Daze: My Drill Instructor Was Tougher Than Yours