Child Development Center Reaches the End of a Great School Year

Most of us with children likely faced the 2020-21 school year with some trepidation. The concerns and fears surrounding COVID-19 made sending children back to school a bit scary and uncertain. Most fortunately, however, the school year at the Child Development Center at St. Philip Neri went very well, with very few issues regarding the pandemic.

“We had a wonderful year,” says Mrs. Audra Hesse, Director. “We couldn’t have asked for a better year.”

Temperature checks and health assessments became a normal part of the day for students and teachers. Extra cleaning and frequent hand washing were the norm. Teachers and staff also wore masks and face shields. Mrs. Hesse believes all these precautions, along with parents keeping their children home when they were sick, helped to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

“The parents have been overly cautious, which has been so helpful,” Mrs. Hesse says.

Having served in her role as Director since the 2016- 17 school year, Mrs. Hesse previously worked in the office and was a volunteer for the program before that.

She first became involved at the Child Development Center when her daughter, Gabriela, was 2. Her son, Cole, was also a student at the center.

This program is for students from ages 2 to 5. Depending on age, students are there from two to five days per week, with classes running from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. There is space for 124 students each year.

“This is an important ministry of our church,” Mrs. Hesse says. “Getting children involved at such a young age is important. It’s part of their first exposure to school.”

Mrs. Hesse has enjoyed being a part of this program, which Debbie Strait helped start more than 20 years ago. In particular, Mrs. Hesse is thankful the children could have some normalcy in this abnormal year. In fact, a few of the parts of the school year that had changed ended up working better. For instance, the Open House night had time slots instead of a drop-in event. This allowed the teachers to have more one-to-one time with each family. There was also a carpool lane drop-off, instead of parents walking their children into the building. Also, instead of students being together in the lobby during pickup, they stayed in their classrooms. These new approaches will continue in the future.

The Child Development Center religious curriculum is based on Child-friendly virtues. In October, they focus on kindness, while in March, the focus is on forgiveness and February is loving others, just to name a few. Mrs. Hesse feels blessed to be a part of this program. She appreciates not just helping guide the students through a curriculum but also being a part of their lives.

“To see their smiles and hear their stories, that’s the best part for me,” she says. “I love seeing things through their eyes.”

Families need not be members of St. Philip Neri or Catholic to send their children to the Child Development Center. All are welcome! For more information on the Child Development Center at St. Philip Neri, please email or call Mrs. Audra Hesse at childdevelopmentdirector@saintphilipneri.org or 803-548-8789.

Students participated in a December service project benefitting the Fort Mill Care Center. They collected 864 pounds of non-perishable food items.