After more than 30 years of teaching preschool and kindergarten, Carol Switalla continues to turn to her pupils for inspiration. “The longer I teach, the more respectful I have become of all that children have to offer,” she says. “If I give myself the opportunity, I continue to learn from the children, and it only makes me want to give them more.”
Switalla is the assistant principal and the preschool teacher at Queen of Angels School, which has been educating children in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood since 1911. In September, its preschool program, an early provider of pre-kindergarten education on the North Side, celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Switalla’s openness and breadth of experience—as well as her ability to connect with her young students—are just three of the strengths that continue to make this preschool program one of the city’s standouts. “Queen of Angels provides the highest quality early-childhood experience that is available,” says Switalla. “We give children a peer-social experience that is warm and caring and led by nurturing adults. It is an education that is enriched by the Catholic faith, and it is an experience that welcomes and includes the entire family.”
The preschool program at Queen of Angels was an offshoot of its kindergarten, which began in 1974. Given the popularity of that program, parents approached Mary Lou Young, the principal at that time, and Rita Morano, the kindergarten teacher, and asked if there might not be an opportunity for their pre-kindergarten children to spend a few hours at the school interacting with other children. With the help of Father James Voss, then pastor of Queen of Angels Church, Young and Morano devised a plan to convert the vacant convent adjoining the school into a space for both preschool and kindergarten classes.
“The preschool program was successful almost immediately,” says Switalla. “At that time, not many other schools had ventured into the preschool area, so we were sort of pioneers. Apparently, as soon as the word got out into the community that there was going to be an opportunity for parents to enroll their three- and four-year-olds in a kind of social gathering, people just swarmed in.”
With a thriving enrollment, Young and Morano initiated the innovative programs that became the foundation for today’s preschool. They created separate areas for active and quiet play and put an emphasis on allowing the children to explore and create. “We still continue Rita’s philosophy today,” says Switalla. “She felt that children learn most successfully by doing. ‘If it’s in the hands, it’s in the brain.’ Consequently, we try to give the children as many hands-on experiences as possible, rather than just have them sit and listen.”
An early supporter of their efforts was Father Voss, who made daily visits to the preschool, taking his special seat in an old leather chair and gathering the children on his lap. “He would read to them or talk with them or play with them,” says Switalla. “He had a way of really tuning into the young children. Sometimes it can be hard to anticipate what they are going to do. Young children can be kind of unpredictable, but that didn’t phase Father Voss a bit.”
The first preschool class convened in September 1980, meeting for a half day in the morning. Today, the preschool program attracts more than 70 young students who have the option of attending one of the two full-day sessions, the two half-day morning sessions, or an afternoon session that meets three days a week. Following an extensive remodeling in 1999, all classes are now held within the school at 4520 N. Western Ave.
The preschool program at Queen of Angels earned full accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children under Switalla’s tutelage. “The archdiocese has provided wonderful services in terms of providing early childhood consultants who visit the classroom and make suggestions to us,” she said.
At Queens, preschool classes mix three- and four-year-olds together—an arrangement benefiting both age groups. “We have been putting the three- and four-year-olds together since the beginning, and it’s something I really like,” says Switalla. “It gives the four-year-olds a great opportunity to share their knowledge. They are more socially adept, and they are usually a lot better at cooperative play. They can really assist the three-year-olds, who are wonderfully inventive and terribly enthusiastic. There is nothing like having that three-year-old zest and excitement about being here and learning.”
“Parents ask me, ‘Will you teach my preschooler to read?’” says Switalla. “Well, perhaps not in the traditional workbook, fill-in-the-blanks kind of way. But hopefully we will instill a love for words and the shapes of letters. We want them to know that reading is a joyful experience. That’s the kind of thing I want to stay in touch with: the excitement of learning.
“This is, after all, a community of learners,” she concludes. “And as a community, we listen to each other, and we interact with each other. We work together toward creating a positive environment where everyone learns, shares, and works together. I guess that’s a combination of my goal and my ideals.”
To learn more about Queen of Angels, stop by for a tour and a live classroom visit during the Catholic Schools Week Open House from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29. For additional information, please contact the school at (773) 769-4211 or visit www.queenofangelschicago.org.
This article is reprinted with permission from the Queen of Angels newsletter.
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