Welcome

The Bridge Preschool (formerly Meredith Drive Preschool) has been a life-shaping ministry of The Bridge (formerly Meredith Drive Reformed Church) since 1971! We offer an outstanding faith-based preschool program for 2-5 year olds at The Bridge in Johnston. We have been highly accredited by the Iowa Preschool Quality Rating System since 2012.

Our preschool has an excellent staff who all have early childhood experience and love working with young children. They teach using a developmentally appropriate preschool curriculum that is designed to nurture each child's social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth with a positive introduction to the school environment.

Start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

Curriculum

Preschool children possess a wide range of abilities. We provide an enticing learning environment using The Creative Curriculum, The Iowa Early Learning Standards, and study topics of interest to young children to enable our preschoolers to interact positively with others and become enthusiastic, independent, and self-confident learners!

We believe that a child's first and most important work is their play and that much learning occurs through play. Our daily schedule allows for large blocks of time to play with a large variety of "centers."

The Creative Curriculum is a well regarded, research-based early childhood curriculum identifying thirty-six goals and objectives in the developmental process during the preschool years. These are not rigid expectations or benchmarks, but guidelines on a loose continuum as a child moves through our program in preparation for kindergarten.

At The Bridge Preschool, we teach children how to learn, not just in preschool, but as a solid foundation for a lifetime of learning. Our goal is that through the activities we plan, the way we organize our classroom, and our positive interactions with the children, we will give your child a well rounded, successful start in school.

Classrooms

The Bridge Preschool provides a variety of learning experiences for a well-rounded preschool education. We want your child to feel secure and transition from one activity to another with confidence, so we plan a daily schedule with these goals in mind. Our schedule has few transitions to allow children large blocks of time for exploration and discovery. Following the same general schedule each day, our preschool time is orderly yet flexible enough to allow for the day-to-day differences that occur in a dynamic early childhood classroom.

Family Connections

The Bridge Preschool is blessed to have the privilege of shepherding your child during his or her preschool years, and we encourage you to take advantage of opportunities we offer to be involved in your child's preschool experience with us. We truly believe that a close preschool/parent partnership is foundational to enhancing a quality preschool experience.

Here are some examples of ways parents may engage with preschool:

• Parents of 3's and 4's are welcome and encouraged to sign up to visit the classroom
• Parent-Teacher conferences are held in both fall and spring semesters
• Attend special preschool events
• Volunteer opportunities to be done at home or in the classroom
• Families are invited to participate in activities at The Bridge - Kids Ministry at The Bridge has activities throughout the year: Vacation Bible School, Christmas and Easter events, and other family-oriented activities