Created with funds from Thelma M. McCullough, God’s Little Ones Preschool (GLO) was originally a separate entity from Grace United Methodist Church, although it operated on the church premises. In 2007, it was determined that GLO should become a ministry of Grace.

GLO is a two-year program with a morning and an afternoon class for three-year olds (Tuesday & Thursday) and a morning and an afternoon class for four-year olds (Monday, Wednesday & Friday). We remain committed to a small teacher-child ratio. We limit class size to 12 students and have 2 teachers. If a student is enrolled as a three-year old, the child will automatically “move up” to the four-year old program. Periodically, we will have students move or drop out, thus creating vacancies in the four-year old classes.  Priority placement for children of Grace members is provided as long as the application is received by March 1 of the year the child enters the three-year old class. After class assignments have been made (March of each year), all applications will be acted upon as a first come, first serve basis. Please note that it is not too early to submit an application, in fact we already have applications for the 2012-2013 school year.

GLO has the following objectives for the children:

• To become more familiar with Jesus through prayer and Bible stories
• To gain an understanding of God’s love for them and how special and unique they are
• To support development by helping them learn about cooperation and promoting self-esteem
• To provide a safe learning experience for the whole child – physically, mentally, socially and spiritually
• To encourage and foster independence and socialization in preschoolers within a safe, caring and Christian environment

While GLO does charge tuition, tuition only covered about 59% of our expenses in the 2009-2010 school year. With a tuition increase in place for the 2010-2011 school year and classes almost at capacity, we anticipate that to increase to 76%. The rest of our income comes from fundraising activities such as sale of bulbs, gift card purchases, Italian Taxi pizza sales, recycling of computer ink cartridges, a draw from the invested funds from Mrs. McCullough, application fees and general donations.

What can you do to help GLO continue to provide a safe, Christian learning environment for students?

• First and foremost, please pray for our children, teachers, and advisory team.
• Recycle computer ink cartridges. We receive $2 in Staples Rewards for each ink cartridge that we turn in – those Rewards are then used to purchase supplies for GLO. Please place your ink cartridges in the box provided directly outside the GLO classroom. We are no longer taking cell phones.
• Participate in the fundraisers. Spring bulbs will be offered in September, various gift cards will be available for purchase in November and December, and Italian Taxi pizzas in February & March. We receive a portion of all sales.
• Sign up for the school rewards programs at Nell’s and Giant. Nell’s has an ongoing program, so if you’ve signed up once, you’re still on the list. Giant’s A+ Rewards program is an annual program, with registration occurring every September. Forms will be provided to link your Giant Bonus Card to the program. Neither of these will impact your accumulation of points toward gas, discounts on turkeys, etc.
• Donate items that we use regularly, such as reams of white or colored paper, paper towels, glue sticks, band aids, stamps, etc. Consider a monetary donation. Consider becoming a member of the GLO Advisory Team.

As we begin the school year, we know that with the thought and prayers of the Grace congregation, GLO will have another succesful year. Thank you for your continued support.