Preschool

From The Director...

Dear Parishioners,

I am very honored and excited to be joining this remarkable faith based community as the new Preschool Director. Having been previously employed at St. Joan of Arc as both a PreK and a Kindergarten teacher, I feel as though He has brought me back home! It is truly a blessing to be a part of this Catholic preschool where I am able to share my faith and His love with our families. Pursuant to this wonderful opportunity, I was the Director at Our Lady of Joy Preschool & Kindergarten for the last 5 years. I am a native of York, Pennsylvania where I received a BA in Psychology, with a Minor in Early Childhood Education from Penn State University and pursued my Masters in Clinical Child Psychology at Loyola College. Having lived in Arizona for the last 21 years with my son (Donny), I was recently blessed to receive the Sacrament of marriage with my soul mate, Michael Hilliard, and have added two wonderful girls (Emma and Tess) to our family! Our newest edition (Bella) is a 7 month old lab + ? who “picked us out” at the pound! Since returning to this parish, my husband and I have become Adorers for the Perpetual Adoration, in which I also assist as an hourly captain. I feel truly blessed to be part of this caring and giving community! It always amazes me how often we are given the opportunity to experience His undying love through the selfless actions of our fellow parishioners.

I believe that your child is one of God’s most precious beings and He created each and everyone of us for a very special part in His plan. It is important that your child acknowledges His immeasurable love that resulted in his/her uniqueness. It is my goal that our school will help your children to become enthusiastic learners, both spiritually and academically, so that they may become independent, self confident, inquisitive learners...to gain a true love of learning that will remain with them throughout their entire lifetime. I want our school to nourish their souls, as well as their minds.

Our curriculum identifies specific goals in the following areas of development: Spiritually by expanding their love of God and others with a prayerful life that emphasizes faith formation, moral development, and service to others; Socially by feeling comfortable in school, to trust their new environment, make friends, and feel that they are part of a group; Emotionally by helping them to experience pride and self confidence, develop independence and self-control, and to have a positive attitude towards life; Cognitively by helping them become confident learners, to acquire learning skills such as the ability to solve problems, ask questions, and to use words to describe their ideas, observations, and feelings; and Physically by helping them increase their large and small muscle/motor skills, and to feel confident about what their bodies can do.

Debbie Hilliard
Preschool Director

Our preschool follows the Diocese of Phoenix Schools calendar. To learn more about our school,
we welcome you to call the preschool office at
602-867-9179.