St. George Pre-school To Close

Yvette Bowen, an assistant instructor at St. George Pre-School, looks over a group of 3 year olds as they attend their final week of classes at Le Mars oldest pre-school facility.

(Le Mars) — A Le Mars pre-school that has been teaching young students for more than 50 years will soon be closing its doors. St. George pre-school located at 400 1st Avenue Southeast will hold classes for the last time on Thursday, May 17th. Linda Van De Water has served as the instructor at St. George Pre-school for the last few decades. She says the pre-school had its
start back in 1964.

After teaching for 26 years, Van De Water has decided it is time to retire, and the board of directors didn’t feel they could afford a new instructor that would require benefits such as insurance, and a retirement pension.

St. George Pre-school has taught 3, 4, and 5 year olds. Van De Water explains the options parents now face in choosing another pre-school facility.

Van De Water admits seeing the pre-school close its doors for a final time holds bitter-sweet feelings. The long time pre-school teacher says other pre-schools have inquired about having access to their educational materials.

Van De Water says the last day will be spent at a local park and having a day of recreation.

The long time pre-school teacher says she has had several other teachers tell her that they knew the children that had attended St. George Pre-school because they were better prepared for Kindergarten than many other children.
Van De Water says they don’t focus so much on the alphabet and numbers, but rather teaching manners, and discipline and how to listen to lessons.