Written by Paige Mustaro |

The preschool has been running for more than twenty-five years, but Mrs. Nunan has been in charge of it for the last nine. Each year child development teacher, Mrs. Nunan, teaches a handful of students the fundamentals of parenting and caring for children from birth to preschool age. She prepares her two child development classes by teaching the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development that a child goes through from the time they are born to the time they reach the preschool age.

I interviewed Mrs. Nunan about the way she is preparing the students for the incoming preschool class. “The students went on a field trip to nearby preschools around Clinton to observe the toddlers plus the teachers. They were able to learn proper ways to interact with the children from a teacher’s standpoint” says Mrs. Nunan. Each time the preschool class is in session, two or three students work together to creat a lesson plan and become the teachers for the day. Each lesson plan is based around one main topic. For example, it could be fish, numbers, or even the ocean. Mrs. Nunan stated that the first lesson will be about fish. Since the first lesson is about fish, arts and crafts, circle time, and snack will all be based on fish. Each lesson will have the same routine but will be based on different topics. Each class also includes play time where the students can interact with each other and the other high school students. They can play with cars, a kitchen set or even read books. A variety of toys are offered each class to the children to interact with either independently or with one another.

Mrs. Nunan accepts a  total of fifteen children into the preschool class every fall. These fifteen students must be between the ages of three and five, and they must be potty trained in order to attend. Mrs. Nunan explained, “The preschool times are different each class since the school schedule rotates each day making it difficult for parents to bring their children in to attend.” If the school schedule was not a rotating schedule then parents would not have a difficult time making sure their child has a way to attend the preschool. Fellow senior, Katie Costello took the child development class and participated in the preschool. “I liked how everything was organized, and we always knew what was happening. We always followed the same routine so there were never any surprises happening” explains Katie. I was in the same class as Katie and I agree with her one hundred percent.

The preschool has been running smoothly since it has been started, but Mrs. Nunan would like to improve it a little bit. When The New Morgan School is built, she hopes to see an outdoor play area where the children interact with each other outside in the fresh air. She would also like to see different centers or stations set up inside like they do at a childrens museum. It is a great idea to have an outdoor play area for the children because they would be able to play outside for thirty minutes or so and then countinue with the same routine they follow every year. Starting October 17th, the school will start to see the preschoolers wondering the halls down stairs.