After waiting four years for the property issues to be settled, Mrs. Marge Mecca, school principal, is happy to announce the start a new preschool program and a new full-day kindergarten at St. Pat’s.  Citing space as the number one issue affecting class expansion, Marge says the classes will be held in the house at 227 Lafayette Street.  Because of previous legal complications with the borough, the parish has been unable to use the house until now.

After some minor renovations to the building, the classes will begin this fall.  The preschool will be a new venture for St. Patrick Church.   There will be a three- year-old class that will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a four-year-old class that will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The program will follow the Archdiocesan preschool curriculum and will include some religious education.  “Imagine the richness of a preschool through eighth grade Catholic education!” said Marge.  “God is blessing St. Patrick school children abundantly.”

The full-day kindergarten will run the same hours as the rest of the elementary school, 8:30a.m.-3:10p.m.  With more mothers than ever working outside the home, the demand for full-day kindergarten is high.  Additionally, many see the full-day kindergarten as a necessary preparation for first grade in today’s rapidly advancing and competitive educational system.

For those who wish, a traditional half-day kindergarten class will continue and will be held in the afternoons.  Marge reports that registration for the next school year has begun and classes are already nearly full.