About Us
WHAT ARE WE?
The Little Jags Preschool is a high school preschool lab is designed to educate high school students in the areas of child development, early childhood education, and careers with young children. The students that take these classes choose it as an area of interest in their 9-10th grade years, and then may move on the advanced levels in their 11-12th grade years. Lab schools are an amazing way to bring affordable childcare and preschool opportunities to families in our community, while offering students a high quality learning experience in a professional setting. Our program articulates with PCC's early childhood program as well, and so is assessed and required to meet levels of standards equal to an NAEYC accredited program. That is a rare achievement!
WHO TEACHES MY CHILDREN?
The high school “teachers” are trained by myself, Mrs. Laack, in most areas concerning the running of the preschool. Students spend a great deal of time learning about relationships, positive guidance, and supporting children's play and learning through conversations and open-ended questions.
I facilitate and assist our advanced students as they plan developmentally appropriate art, language, and math activities. The "student teachers” are responsible for observing and assisting children when needed, planning, preparing and leading activities, and making sure that they are interacting as much as possible throughout the school session. We also have an amazing lead preschool teacher, Anne Stansell, who oversees all of the curriculum happening during the day, coordinates her own lessons with those of our students, and is an active role model and facilitator in the classroom. This creates a very well-rounded, professional environment.
WHAT WILL MY CHILDREN LEARN IN THIS PRESCHOOL?
Your children will develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally throughout their time in preschool. They will do movement activities daily, a variety of art activities daily that focus on different fine motor skills, listen to stories and learn the alphabet sounds. We offer science, math, and language daily as well as large group activities that range from graphing, games, experiments, and recipes. Children will begin learning to write letters, learning a new letter each class day, and then moving on to writing their first and last names. They will learn about a new theme topic each week or two, which all other activities will be related to. This allows preschoolers to explore a topic in a wide variety of ways. A key aspect of our preschool is learning how to behave in a classroom setting, how to share, how to take turns, and how to deal with their emotions when things don't go their way, and to provide learning through age appropriate exploration and play! Center and large group activities throughout the day are planned, but we also value free play and the creativity that comes from that. Our teachers are trained in engaging children, questioning, and leading their students' learning. Best of all, preschoolers will make lots of friends and learn to LOVE school!! Our goal is to make your child’s transition into kindergarten as smooth as possible.
WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE FOR THIS PRESCHOOL?
Our schedule is at the mercy of high school enrollment and could change from year to year. Because of this, our preschool schedule can change from year to year in either hours, days, or both! Tuition will be adjusted accordingly, depending on number of hours per week and fluctuating costs of running the preschool. You will be notified of the schedule and tuition for our upcoming class in June/July, prior to the start of your school year. Families do not get detailed calendars until the Fall, as I need to plan our specific dates based on the school calendar that I receive just before school starts. Flexible families have a great advantage in these types of preschools, as you are essentially enrolling your child not knowing for sure what the schedule will be! Please do not enroll your child if you feel that your schedule is not flexible. Visit the "enrollment" page to see examples of schedules that we have run in the past. You can be sure that it will be one of those options.
WHAT IS THE COST??
The cost for the Little Jags Preschool is determined by the preschool director, Alia Laack, and approved by the Hillsboro School District. Tuition can be adjusted based on rise in costs and/or program needs. However, our goal is to provide our community with as affordable a preschool program as we can, while offering the quality that we deem important. We are not a profit organization, and get no reward from charging more than we need to operate. We do however, attempt at saving funds for the purpose of larger program investments, such as those described below. For the most accurate tuition information, please visit the enrollment page on this site. There is also a participation fee for field trips and school clothing. This cost depends on what you decide to purchase but would be at least $40.00 extra for our four annual field trip experiences. For the 2022-23 school year, our 4 hour/3 day a week program will cost $185/month, while our 4 hour/2 day a week program will cost $125/month.
WHERE DOES MY TUITION MONEY GO??
The preschool is “self-sustaining,” which simply means that all of the tuition that you pay goes directly back into sustaining the preschool program. I use this money to buy art supplies, storage supplies, cleaning supplies, toys, furniture for the room, books, etc. The majority, about 85%, of our tuition goes to our amazing lead preschool teacher's salary. It is also used for food and gifts for parties that we have throughout the year, field trips, and sometimes things as large as an outdoor play structure or landscaping for our playground. Whatever it is, you can rest assured that it is money spent to better your child’s experiences and to keep our wonderful program alive.
HOW DO I GET MY CHILD INTO THE LITTLE JAGS??
Enrollment occurs at the end of January. However, we have a waiting list that likely has been collecting names since the previous year's enrollment date. Currently enrolled families, as well as Century Staff, always get the first spots, which we call "priority enrollment." The remaining spots will be filled in by new families from the community. You can place your name on a waiting list throughout the school year, simply by sending me an email requesting a spot. There is a contact box on the preschool main page that goes directly to my email!
In the email, please send me :
Parent's Names
Child's Name and Birthdate
Best contact phone
Best contact email
Please note, if you are contacting me in January or after January, our waiting list is likely very long already and chances of getting a place in our upcoming class will be very slim. However, if your child is three and you are also interested in the following year, then I advise you add to our list for that year as well. In January, after priority enrollments have been completed, I will contact families on our waiting list to determine if they still want to enroll. Those families will be placed on a permanent list and will complete enrollment information in the spring. Families not getting enrolled will stay on the waiting list in case spots become available. Enrollment is very competitive, as we only have one class to offer for 20 children.
Please be sure not to request enrollment unless your child is eligible and you are sure you want to enroll. We only serve children who will be ages 3 – 5 years old as of September 1st of the school year you plan to enroll them in and they must be fully potty trained and able to communicate that they need to use the restroom.
WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS??
Because I am teaching a full schedule, my preferred method of contact is email for any questions or information. If you would like to meet in person, please call or email me first to set up a time. Email is the best and quickest way to reach me.
You can contact me via:
phone: 503-844-1800
email: [email protected]
The Little Jags Preschool is a high school preschool lab is designed to educate high school students in the areas of child development, early childhood education, and careers with young children. The students that take these classes choose it as an area of interest in their 9-10th grade years, and then may move on the advanced levels in their 11-12th grade years. Lab schools are an amazing way to bring affordable childcare and preschool opportunities to families in our community, while offering students a high quality learning experience in a professional setting. Our program articulates with PCC's early childhood program as well, and so is assessed and required to meet levels of standards equal to an NAEYC accredited program. That is a rare achievement!
WHO TEACHES MY CHILDREN?
The high school “teachers” are trained by myself, Mrs. Laack, in most areas concerning the running of the preschool. Students spend a great deal of time learning about relationships, positive guidance, and supporting children's play and learning through conversations and open-ended questions.
I facilitate and assist our advanced students as they plan developmentally appropriate art, language, and math activities. The "student teachers” are responsible for observing and assisting children when needed, planning, preparing and leading activities, and making sure that they are interacting as much as possible throughout the school session. We also have an amazing lead preschool teacher, Anne Stansell, who oversees all of the curriculum happening during the day, coordinates her own lessons with those of our students, and is an active role model and facilitator in the classroom. This creates a very well-rounded, professional environment.
WHAT WILL MY CHILDREN LEARN IN THIS PRESCHOOL?
Your children will develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally throughout their time in preschool. They will do movement activities daily, a variety of art activities daily that focus on different fine motor skills, listen to stories and learn the alphabet sounds. We offer science, math, and language daily as well as large group activities that range from graphing, games, experiments, and recipes. Children will begin learning to write letters, learning a new letter each class day, and then moving on to writing their first and last names. They will learn about a new theme topic each week or two, which all other activities will be related to. This allows preschoolers to explore a topic in a wide variety of ways. A key aspect of our preschool is learning how to behave in a classroom setting, how to share, how to take turns, and how to deal with their emotions when things don't go their way, and to provide learning through age appropriate exploration and play! Center and large group activities throughout the day are planned, but we also value free play and the creativity that comes from that. Our teachers are trained in engaging children, questioning, and leading their students' learning. Best of all, preschoolers will make lots of friends and learn to LOVE school!! Our goal is to make your child’s transition into kindergarten as smooth as possible.
WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE FOR THIS PRESCHOOL?
Our schedule is at the mercy of high school enrollment and could change from year to year. Because of this, our preschool schedule can change from year to year in either hours, days, or both! Tuition will be adjusted accordingly, depending on number of hours per week and fluctuating costs of running the preschool. You will be notified of the schedule and tuition for our upcoming class in June/July, prior to the start of your school year. Families do not get detailed calendars until the Fall, as I need to plan our specific dates based on the school calendar that I receive just before school starts. Flexible families have a great advantage in these types of preschools, as you are essentially enrolling your child not knowing for sure what the schedule will be! Please do not enroll your child if you feel that your schedule is not flexible. Visit the "enrollment" page to see examples of schedules that we have run in the past. You can be sure that it will be one of those options.
WHAT IS THE COST??
The cost for the Little Jags Preschool is determined by the preschool director, Alia Laack, and approved by the Hillsboro School District. Tuition can be adjusted based on rise in costs and/or program needs. However, our goal is to provide our community with as affordable a preschool program as we can, while offering the quality that we deem important. We are not a profit organization, and get no reward from charging more than we need to operate. We do however, attempt at saving funds for the purpose of larger program investments, such as those described below. For the most accurate tuition information, please visit the enrollment page on this site. There is also a participation fee for field trips and school clothing. This cost depends on what you decide to purchase but would be at least $40.00 extra for our four annual field trip experiences. For the 2022-23 school year, our 4 hour/3 day a week program will cost $185/month, while our 4 hour/2 day a week program will cost $125/month.
WHERE DOES MY TUITION MONEY GO??
The preschool is “self-sustaining,” which simply means that all of the tuition that you pay goes directly back into sustaining the preschool program. I use this money to buy art supplies, storage supplies, cleaning supplies, toys, furniture for the room, books, etc. The majority, about 85%, of our tuition goes to our amazing lead preschool teacher's salary. It is also used for food and gifts for parties that we have throughout the year, field trips, and sometimes things as large as an outdoor play structure or landscaping for our playground. Whatever it is, you can rest assured that it is money spent to better your child’s experiences and to keep our wonderful program alive.
HOW DO I GET MY CHILD INTO THE LITTLE JAGS??
Enrollment occurs at the end of January. However, we have a waiting list that likely has been collecting names since the previous year's enrollment date. Currently enrolled families, as well as Century Staff, always get the first spots, which we call "priority enrollment." The remaining spots will be filled in by new families from the community. You can place your name on a waiting list throughout the school year, simply by sending me an email requesting a spot. There is a contact box on the preschool main page that goes directly to my email!
In the email, please send me :
Parent's Names
Child's Name and Birthdate
Best contact phone
Best contact email
Please note, if you are contacting me in January or after January, our waiting list is likely very long already and chances of getting a place in our upcoming class will be very slim. However, if your child is three and you are also interested in the following year, then I advise you add to our list for that year as well. In January, after priority enrollments have been completed, I will contact families on our waiting list to determine if they still want to enroll. Those families will be placed on a permanent list and will complete enrollment information in the spring. Families not getting enrolled will stay on the waiting list in case spots become available. Enrollment is very competitive, as we only have one class to offer for 20 children.
Please be sure not to request enrollment unless your child is eligible and you are sure you want to enroll. We only serve children who will be ages 3 – 5 years old as of September 1st of the school year you plan to enroll them in and they must be fully potty trained and able to communicate that they need to use the restroom.
WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS??
Because I am teaching a full schedule, my preferred method of contact is email for any questions or information. If you would like to meet in person, please call or email me first to set up a time. Email is the best and quickest way to reach me.
You can contact me via:
phone: 503-844-1800
email: [email protected]