ABOUT US

Risen Savior first opened its early childhood program in 2002 with three classrooms and 88 students. We have had three building campaigns over the years, adding the education wing, a modular building, and the second floor. We are currently operating with ten classrooms – four toddler and twos classes on the first floor and four preschool/Pre-K classes on the second floor, along with one Kindergarten class. The facility also features a MultiPurpose Room, Library, STEAM room and the Indoor Play Area for toddlers. Many of our young children enjoy their specials – music, library, yoga, science, and art in these classrooms.

Risen Savior’s Early Childhood Center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This is indicative of our commitment to excellence in early childhood education.

We opened our Preschool in 2002 and added six classrooms to meet market demand in 2004. In 2007 we added a second floor to expand class offerings, including Child Care & Free Kindergarten.

In 2005, we became recognized as a Top Tier early childhood provider by securing and maintaining NAEYC (National Association for the Education Of Young Children) accreditation for all of our programs. Only 2 other Chandler centers have earned NAECY accreditation. We are also leading participants in the State of AZ First Things First & Quality First programs.

Since 2002, our early childhood program has been led by Linda Pauley, Director of Early Childhood Education. Ms. Pauley holds a B.S. Business, from ASU, and a M.A. Ed., Early Childhood Education, from Concordia University. She is a Fellow, NAEYC Legacy Leaders, and a Fellow, Harris Institute of Infant/Toddler Mental Health. Over 60% of our Lead Teachers and Senior Administrators have served since 2002.

We make learning fun everyday because developing the  love of learning in children is one of our highest priorities. We know that children learn best when they are completely engaged in an activity, so we develop hands-on lesson plans ... that are FUN! Our learning strategies embrace the long-proven early learning philosophy that PLAY is the WORK of children.

Experience has taught us the tremendous importance of family involvement in their child's school activities.  For this reason, we have instituted an extensive offering of free, or very inexpensive, Family Fun Events, (held on our campus) that set us apart from all other centers. Included are: The Spring Picnic, Bunny Breakfast,  the Annual Food Drive, Water Day, Fall Festival (Halloween Gala), Give Thanks Breakfast, and the School Christmas Program & Catered Family Dinner.

All tuition fees include breakfast, lunch and morning/afternoon snacks prepared in the fully-equipped and inspected kitchen. All meals and snacks meet the standards set and monitored by State of Arizona.

Risen Savior Early Childhood Center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. NAEYC sets high standards for the schools that elect to undertake the rigorous self-study, program improvements, and annual reporting requirements. The organization sets standards based on 70 years of research that has indisputably proven that PLAY is the WORK of young children.

Academic standards are critical in any school, but how they are built into the curriculum vary greatly among early childhood centers. Risen Savior incorporates academic standards into activities that are hands-on and are most importantly… FUN! The reason for this is that children learn best when they are completely engaged in what they are doing. If you have to coerce a young child to sit still for large group instruction or a variety of worksheets, their minds are already looking for something else to do. Risen Savior prides itself on developing a love of learning in children. Teachers plan their lessons so that children have the opportunity to develop a hypothesis, experiment a little and adjust their hypothesis, if necessary. We don’t want them to be afraid of being wrong. It lessons their willingness to take risks in the classroom, which is paramount in learning to read and developing greater breadth and depth of knowledge throughout their education.

Obviously, the spiritual development of children is of the utmost importance to the pastors and teachers at Risen Savior. Jesus Time happens everyday in the classroom and the students attend Chapel every two weeks. They pray before meals and they pray for and with each other on a daily basis. They learn about various Bible stories through stories, songs and finger plays.

Teachers at Risen Savior are trained in both the Infant/Toddler Developmental Guidelines and the Early Learning Standards as published by the Arizona Department of Education. The work of the young child is to play. The work of the teacher is to complicate the play. We do this by embedding learning standards into classroom activities throughout the day.

The faculty bring a variety of teaching methods and resources into our early childhood classrooms. The Creative Curriculum® is widely regarded as a forward-thinking, comprehensive, rigorously researched curriculum approach that honors creativity and respects the role that teachers play in making learning exciting and relevant for every child. We are also proponents of emergent curriculum where the theme ideas come from the children themselves. Teachers embed standards in center based activities related to the interests of the children.

Risen Savior is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. As such, it qualifies for your tax deductible donations. We appreciate your support of our mission to engage all generations to be passionate followers of our Risen Savior. At the Early Childhood Center (ECC), we do this by planting the seeds of faith in a high quality learning environment.

Donations can be done in multiple ways. You can elect to donate directly to the church on their website's Give page and enter the amount you wish to donate in the Special Offering box. In the text box to the right of the amount enter a brief description (i.e. ECC, school, tuition for ____).

This is even better than a tax deduction, it is a tax credit. That means you can get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on Arizona state taxes. Learn more by watching the video below or going to www.ACSTO.org.