Young children need and deserve personal attention and care. Small class sizes and low student-to-teacher ratios are a fundamental element of The Chastain School at St. John program. Our student-to-teacher ratios are far below state and align with 3 Star Quality Rated requirements which allow our teachers to provide each child with personal, one-on-one attention they need. As an extension of your home teacher, parents and students build relationships to meet the unique needs of each family and child.

The ratio is 4:1 in infant and toddler classrooms with a maximum class size of 8. For ages two to three, the ratio is 5:1 with a maximum class size of 10, and for preschoolers the student-to-teacher ratio is 9:1 with a maximum class size of 18.

Our program places emphasis on educating and building self-esteem in young children through play, consistency, and nurturing. Our professional faculty, comprised of dedicated, experienced teachers and our personalized, intimate approach are among the many factors that make us unique.

Each teacher has an educational background or equivalent practical experience in early childhood education, childhood development, psychology, or related fields. Each year, our teachers complete nearly twice the state requirement in additional training. Furthermore, we are proud to have earned extremely high loyalty and longevity from our teachers. The Chastain School at St. John’s culture and investment in our teachers significantly reduces turnover in our faculty. The majority of our teachers have been with the program for over 10 years. This is outstanding when you consider the industry average turnover is 50% per year.

Our children learn through a wide variety of creative play activities, including imaginative play, interaction with peers and teachers, story time, sensory experiences, art, music, playground, and outdoor exploration.

Our teachers use WINGS: The Ideal Curriculum for Children in Preschool. Our GA Pre-k teachers use Creative Curriculum. With this approach, we are able to customize lesson plans according to current interests and natural curiosities of the children. Each week teachers in each class create a lesson plan which is circulated to parents so they may complement the classroom activities at home.

Each fall and spring, our teachers schedule parent/teacher conferences to individually evaluate progress and set age and developmentally appropriate goals for each child.

Each day, parents receive a daily report or a weekly parent letter and lesson plan tracking your child’s activities. Our teachers make note of everything from diaper changes or restroom visits and what your child ate, to naps, and favorite activities.

The Chastain School at St. John offers a warm, exciting environment for children to learn and grow in. Each classroom is divided into 6 areas of learning or interests. They are:

• Music – helps develop rhythm, movement, and creative thinking.

• Dramatic Play – is used for role play to develop an understanding of real-life experiences.

• Science -develops math concepts measuring and following two-step directions.

• Library – used to develop language skills and identification with pictures and stories.

• Writing – develops fine motor skills, application of letters, and prepares children for Kindergarten.

• Art – introduces colors, textures, shapes, drawing, painting, cutting while developing dexterity, creativity, and imagination.

• Manipulation – promotes and develops problem-solving and math concepts by building sorting and classifying things in order.

Our playground is broken into 3 developmental areas, waddler, toddler, preschool/afterschool, and they are designed to develop large muscle groups (gross motor skill) through climbing, running, jumping, and sliding, as well as the creative (fine motor skills) with our sensory tables filled with sand and water.

Children are always supervised, indoors and outdoors, and the toys/equipment available to each class are ever-changing to stay appropriate to the children’s developmental stage. 

From an early age, we teach children proper bodily care. Frequent handwashing, personal hygiene, and a stringent cleaning regimen protect against the spread of illnesses. The school is professionally cleaned and disinfected nightly to ensure cleanliness and significantly reduce or eliminate the spread of illness. 

The Chastain School at St. John has a state-of-the-art security system including closed-circuit cameras in each classroom and controlled-access entry. We have protocols and regular drills to ensure preparedness for emergency situations ensuring the safety of your child.

Selecting the best program for your child is a personal process best shaped around your child’s personality, temperament, and learning style. Key points to evaluate include health and safety, teaching style and curriculum, tenure, experience, and education of staff and whether the program is accredited by a national organization. It is also very important to consider the student-to-teacher ratio so your child will be assured personal attention, care, and an individual learning experience.

A diet that consists of fruits, vegetable, protein, diary, and grains is key to the development and growth of children. We partner with Chef Advantage, www.chefadvantage.com, an established caterer with a specific focus on the dietary needs of children, to offer a well-balanced lunch as well as two healthy snacks. With the exception of some holidays and birthdays, refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and junk foods like chips, tater tots, French fries, candy, and soda are prohibited in the school. The monthly menu features wholesome, varied food groups that are nutritious and appealing to young palates. In addition, we serve only hormone-free milk. The menu is available online at www.chefadvantage.com, password SJCC.

We are open Monday through Friday, 7:00am – 6:00pm. The Chastain School at St. John is closed on select national holidays.

Our core, full-time program is open to children ages 8 weeks - 5 years old. Our preschool starts at 2.5-3 years old and goes through our Pre-K class which is typically 5 years old. We also offer afterschool, full-day summer camp, and full-day Kids Club care for school age children.