Apex UMC Preschool

Our curriculum is deeply rooted in the knowledge that children learn through play.  A typical day for our children includes ample free play, circle time, music and movement, art experiences, playground time, games, language development, sensory experiences and snack. We offer chapel with music and bible stories and music class each week.

AUMC preschool loosely follows the Wake County School System’s traditional calendar for holidays, teacher workdays, and inclement weather days. We begin our school year in early September and end the last week of May. Classes start at 9 a.m. and end at 12 p.m.  An optional Lunch Bunch program is offered two days a week to the students in the four and five year old classes, providing them an opportunity to stay for lunch which extends their school day to 12:45 p.m.

All of our teachers are carefully selected for their backgrounds in education, their experience, and their love of children. All classes have a teacher and an assistant. Our 2-year-old classes have 10 children, 3-year-old classes have 12 children, and 4- and 5-year-old classes have 14 children.

• Children enrolled in our 3, 4 and 5 year-old classes must be toilet-trained and able to use the bathroom independently.
• Children must be up-to-date on immunizations as required by the NC Immunization Branch of the NC Department of Health and Human Services.
• We follow the WCPSS age cut-off date of August 31st for placement.

Registration for the 2023-2024 Preschool year is complete. We have a few openings throughout the preschool that will be filled on a first come first serve basis.  To inquire about openings, please email us at preschool@apexumc.org

The Registration window for the 2024-2025 preschool year is complete.  Class placements were communicated to families via Brightwheel.  We have a few openings throughout the preschool that will be filled on a first come first serve basis.  To inquire about openings, please email us at preschool@apexumc.org

Registration fee: $125 for the first child and $100 for each additional child. Please note the registration fee is non-refundable.

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**Important Information**

Once your child has been enrolled in our preschool, please download the Brightwheel app on your phone.  Make sure to enable push notifications within the app, as well as in your device settings.  We communicate exclusively through Brightwheel and do not want you to miss any important information!

Click here for help turning on notifications.

All payments are collected through the Brightwheel app.  Through Brightwheel, parents have the option to pay tuition using a credit or debit card, by setting up an ACH bank draft or using the auto pay feature.

The class offerings listed below have been updated for the 2024-2025 preschool year.

Please keep in mind that it can often take a few days for payments to process and go through.  If you choose to use the auto pay feature, please designate an end date after your April tuition payment, since May has been pre-paid.

Tuition payments are due by the 1^st of each month.

A $10 late fee will be assessed for payments received  after the 5^th of each month.

AUMC Preschool is open between Labor Day and Memorial Day.

We generally follow the WCPSS Traditional Calendar for Teacher Workdays and Holidays.  The calendar for 2023-24 Preschool Year is below.

If you a financial related question, please contact:

Kelly Debevec, Business Administrator  kelly.debevec@apexumc.org

Currently enrolled families can easily access the necessary information to complete their taxes.  Click on the link below for step-by-step directions.

Self-Serve Tax Info from Brightwheel

• AUMC Preschool is a front-door ministry of Apex United Methodist Church.
• We firmly believe that children learn through play.
• Our staff is experienced and chooses centers and activities to facilitate the development of gross and fine motor skills and provide opportunities to share, take turns, follow directions and more.
• Each class has a Lead Teacher and a Teacher Assistant and class sizes are limited to 10 in the 2’s, 12 in the 3’s and 14 in the 4’s and 5’s.
• We have a dedicated staff of Christian women who are here because they love working with preschoolers and have great love and passion for children this age.
• We use the age cut-off date that WCPSS uses for class placement – August 31.
• For the most part, we follow the WCPSS traditional calendar – we may make occasional exceptions, but holidays and Teacher Workdays usually line up.
• Children must be up-to-date on immunizations and a copy of their immunization record is due by the first day of Preschool.
• Preschool hours are 9 am – 12 pm, with our 2’s dismissing at 11:45 am.
• “Specials” include Music and Chapel weekly. We have a Music teacher that meets individually with each class weekly and leads music during chapel.
• For Chapel we follow the Preschool Curriculum that our Sunday School uses and our Pastors and Children’s Ministry Director come share the Bible stories with us.
• We use carpool drop-off in the mornings and everyone parks and walks in for dismissal.
• We provide each child with a red Preschool bag that will have a class tag and his/her name on it. Each class has an animal name, and this helps us know where each child belongs.
• Each class has snack, circle time, center time, and playground time daily with music and chapel weekly.
• Snack is done on a rotating basis. When it is your child’s turn to bring snack, he/she brings enough for the class, other days you don’t worry about it but will still need to send in a water bottle/cup daily. No nut products are allowed.

Two-Year-Old Classes

Our main goals for our two-year-olds is to learn that preschool is a fun & safe place and that their parents always come back.  They will also begin to learn how to follow directions, share toys & tools, take turns, and make transitions.

• They do not have to be potty trained and teachers will work with you if this process happens during the preschool year. We have teeny-tiny potties on the 2’s/3’s side of the preschool hallway so they may show interest after seeing some of their peers use it.
• At this age they do not have an official circle time each day, but will gather as a group to sing songs, listen to a story or play a game.
• Classes make transitions to music and the playground either by holding hands with a friend (“two by two”) or holding on to rings on a rope to help guide them along.
• Students will begin learning some responsibility, like throwing their trash away after snack and helping clean up toys.

Three-Year-Old Classes

• Children must be independently potty trained starting in the 3s. There are bathrooms in the classroom they can use at any time and our 3s take a class/group trip to the big lobby bathrooms mid-morning for everyone to go.
• Circle time is introduced with an age appropriate length of time with visuals, songs, stories, etc. to capture their attention.
• Students learn to line up and walk together in a line when they go places.
• Independence is encouraged and students hang up their own school bags and coats. They are taught how to put coats, art shirts, etc. on independently.
• Children in these classes are continuing to learn how to share and take turns, express how they are feeling and be apart of a classroom community.

Four-Year-Old Classes

This is a big year to prepare for kindergarten…. but it’s still preschool!

• Foundational literacy skills are included in circle time.
• Children begin to display more independence and complete jobs in the classroom.
• We use Handwriting Without Tears as our handwriting curriculum and classes work on letter formation and introduce basic letter sounds each week.
• We also introduce them to Second Step, a social skills curriculum, that allows for additional instruction, transition, and lessons.
• Students begin to learn how to write their names and receive assistance to write other things when they show interest and are ready.
• Once the school year in underway and the children are settled, we offer an optional Lunch Bunch  for our 4’s and 5’s that extends the day to 12:45 pm.

Transition Class (Five-year-olds)

This class is for children who are age-eligible to go to kindergarten but for either social, developmental or academic reasons are being given the gift of time to spend one more year at preschool.

• More independence is expected and encouraged.
• Children participate in fine motor building activities, to build & develop the muscles in their hands.  They also work on developing a proficient pencil grasp.
• The children often receive more individual instruction and the teacher can meet them where they are academically.
• Handwriting Without Tears is continued and each student gets a workbook to use, taking it a step beyond what they did in the 4s.
• Children continue to receive support with social skills and conflict resolution with peers.  They continue with the Second Step program, learning how to name their feelings/emotions and strategies on how to regulate them when needed.