GOLD COAST — Forty school years have come to pass at St. Chrysostom’s Day School, but not much has changed about the young children who attend.
“Except the names,” said Mary Ellen Christy, who opened the Day School in 1974. “The names have definitely changed. We have a ‘Sailor’ this year and we wouldn’t have seen that in the ‘70s.”
Christy opened the school in fall 1974 with 27 3-year-old children. Her husband was on the vestry of St. Chrysostom Episcopal Church and she saw an opportunity in the church’s “beautiful buildings” that were mostly unused. Christy had recently had her first child and quit her teaching job in the suburbs, so she pitched her idea for a preschool to the church.
“They decided to take a chance on it,” said Christy, who started the school with two other teachers and still serves as headmistress. “It was full almost immediately.”
Jackie Kostek says the headmistress has been there since the beginning:
Now, the school — which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year — has a staff of 22 and offers five programs for children ages 2-5. Christy plans to begin offering full-day programs next year.
Christy said although the fundamental principles of human development have not changed in the four decades since she opened the school, methodology and the types of materials available have.
“When I started the school, if we wanted to make macaroni necklaces, we dyed our own macaroni,” said Christy. “Now you can buy that.”
Each class maintains a 5-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Christy said each program works from a “fully developed curriculum” in which students “learn by doing.”
“It’s very experiential,” said Christy, adding the curriculum emphasizes literacy and communicative skills.
The preschool program’s emphasis on communication and inclusiveness applies outside the classroom as well.
“One big part of the school’s success is the sense of community here,” said Cinnie Siragusa, who has taught the 3-year-old program at the school for 18 years. “It’s a very nurturing community and Mary Ellen works very hard to make that happen.”
The school is a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools but accepts children of all religious backgrounds. It partners with a school in Haiti, St. Simeon in Croix des Bouquets, sending it offerings from the Children's Chapel Service and proceeds from the sale of St. Chrysostom spirit wear.
The school is also part of a church effort to buy Christmas stockings for needy children in Chicago.
According to the school's website, the outreach efforts will "set [the children] on a path to an adult life that values living their lives as men and women for others, full of faith and the spirit of a loving an empowering God."
Inside the school, bulletin boards line the hallways, showcasing the students' latest work: two-foot-high self portraits made from construction paper, yarn, glitter and googly eyes. In one classroom, two apron-clad students rolled thick paint onto construction paper while the rest of the students sat on a rug flipping through picture books.
Christy's own office doubles as a library, where students visit weekly to check out books. Aside from the literacy benefits, Christy said the library helps develop a sense of responsibility in the students because they have to return the book the following week.
Christy said she sometimes thinks of herself as a station manager, overseeing the trains filled with children moving in and out.
“Every teacher worth their salt feels such a sense of victory because when the students come in the front door at the beginning of the year, they are so young,” said Christy, “When they leave at the end of the year, they are so unbelievably competent. In that way, they move beyond us.”
Christy said preschool is where the “real action” happens in a child’s education and where teachers have an opportunity to have a real impact.
“Plus, there’s no happier group of people on the face of this earth than young children,” Christy said. “It’s a very joyous way to spend your day.”
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