City Gate is an urban ministry in Washington, DC, seeking to open doors of opportunity, empowerment, and friendship. Our primary focus is on children and youth in the city and on internationals. We welcome the participation and support of all who want to serve and share in building a community of inclusion and hope.
We are now enrolling for the 2011-2012 school year.
Classes offered:
For our summer programs:
June 27th - July 8th
July 11th - July 22nd
July 25th - August 5th
You may choose to send your child for 2, 3, or 5 mornings a week.
Currently the Caterpillar Preschool includes a full immersion program in the French and Spanish Languages for 2 ½ to 5 year olds. Both classes are taught by highly-experienced native French or Spanish speaking teachers. Each lead teacher is aided by a native-speaking assistant teacher, and employs a fun, play-based and full immersion curriculum appropriate for pre-school age children.
Our class sizes are small and have multiple ages in them. This allows for more individual teacher attention, and for the older children to help younger children, giving everyone a learning responsibility in the classroom.
| Month | Day | Event |
|---|---|---|
| September | 6 | First Day of Class |
| October | 10 | No Class — Columbus Day |
| October | 31- Nov 4 | Parent- Teacher Conferences |
| November | 11 | No Class — Veteran's Day |
| November | 24- 25 | No Class — Thanksgiving Break |
| December | 19- Jan 2, 2012 | No Class — Winter Break |
| January | 16 | No Class — Martin L. King, Jr. Day |
| February | 6-10 | Parent- Teacher Conferences |
| February | 20 | No Class — Presidents' Day |
| April | 2- 9 | No Class — Spring Break |
| May | 28 | No Class — Memorial Day |
| June | 15 | Last day of Class |
The brain is able to learn a new language most efficiently in early childhood. Experts agree that the earlier a child is exposed to and begins to learn a new language the better. In infancy, even short periods of interpersonal exposure to a new language can make a big impact on brain development.
Those that have studied another language; score higher on standardized tests in math and reading, have increased creativity, mental flexibility and better listening skills. Bilinguals have lower rates of dementia.
Researchers have discovered that children who learn a world language outside of their native tongue have a multitude of cognitive benefits. On standardized tests in reading, language arts and mathematics, they outscored those who had not studied a foreign language. SAT scores were significantly higher in both the verbal and math sections. These scores also increased in correlation with the increase in the number of years the foreign language was studied. Children that have studied a foreign language have enhanced listening skills and memory, greater cognitive development in areas of creativity, divergent thinking and higher order thinking skills, and mental flexibility. Moreover, they advance more rapidly in these cognitive abilities. Children that have studied a foreign language also are more open to and have a greater appreciation of other cultures. Additionally, these children have improved self-concept and sense of achievement.
The children are in a total immersion classroom and our curriculum is play based. Our goals are to provide a nurturing environment and make learning a language fun! All of our teachers are native speakers and have teaching qualifications and experience. The teachers interact with the children only in the target language except in emergency situations, or in the case of certain behavioral issues, English will be spoken. However for the inappropriate behaviors, the teachers will speak English to the children and afterward the target language.
A child's day may include art, crafts, music and singing, stories, active outdoor play, and many other enjoyable and creative activities. Our goal is to make learning French or Spanish exciting and fun, allowing children to learn through play, not noticing that they are learning a (new) language.
Our classes are small so we can offer individual attention. Our classes have multiple ages giving everyone in the classroom a responsibility to learn and help teach the others.
Our goal is to give education opportunities to all children, which is why we offer a strong immersion program at an affordable cost. If some families are unable to pay the tuition, scholarships are available.
The children have lunch at school. Lunch is a great time for children to keep learning either French or Spanish. We describe what each of us has for lunch. It is also a good time to learn about manners.
We strongly encourage prospective families to visit the School with their children. To schedule a tour, please call (202) 237-1799.
Download the Caterpillar Preschool registration form
Download the (Half Day Registration)
Caterpillar Preschool registration form
Download the (Full Day Registration)
Caterpillar Preschool registration form
Application fee for all students: $35
In order to reserve your child's place in the class, a first month deposit is required. Deposit will apply to last month's tuition and is non-refundable.
The program is a 10 month commitment.
| No. of Days | Days | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 5 days | M-T-W- TH-F |
9:15am-12:30pm |
| 3 days | M-W-F | 9:15am-12:30pm |
| 2 days | T-TH | 9:15am-12:30pm |
We follow the DC Public School System for emergency closings:
The Caterpillar Preschool is located at Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church, 3920 Alton Place, NW Washington, DC 20016, approximately 1.5 blocks from the Tenleytown-AU stop on Metro's Red Line.
For more information on the preschool and how to enroll, please email or call (202) 237-1799.
