Warren Belvedere Church in North Augusta Offers New Preschool | North Augusta Community News

Warren Belvedere Church on Edgefield Road in North Augusta will offer a new weekday preschool program beginning in mid-August.

The preschool is not limited to church members, but is open to everyone in the area, and parents have the choice of a two- or four-day program. The calendar is the same as that of the Aiken County Public School District.

The curriculum is play-oriented and God-centered.

“Everything we do is going to relate back to God. I mean, everything academically, socially, emotionally,” said Joanna Herndon, director of Warren Belvedere Preschool. Herndon has been teaching preschool for 20 years, about half of which have been in a church setting.

Introducing age-appropriate Bible stories and memory challenges and, for older children, a weekly chapel service to “go a little deeper” are part of the curriculum.

“We definitely focus on the faith aspect first, but then we also focus on the academic side and getting them ready for Big School and the social and emotional changes that they go through at this age,” she said. “Our job is to teach them how to live in this world with other people.”

Shannon Kilpatrick-Hagan will be one of those teaching the kids “how to live in this world.” She’s the head of the 3K room.

Kilpatrick-Hagan is a former teacher who has returned to work after being retired for two (almost three) school years.

“God gave me this gift (of teaching), and I just didn’t feel right not using it,” she said. “I’m excited to invest in the 3-year-olds in every way I can, especially with God and Jesus. … We have to build the foundation.”

Registration for Warren Belvedere Preschool is open until enrollment is full, Herndon said. All registrations are done online: $215 per month for the four-day program and $155 per month for the two-day program.

The preschool is suitable for children from six months to 4K and programming runs from 8:30am to 12pm, Monday through Thursday.