The experienced faculty is one of the preschool’s strongest assets.

The director and the assistant to the director both have long affiliations with the preschool, including as parents of children in the school. They lead a team of dedicated teachers who have college degrees in an array of fields and/or many years of experience caring for children.

The entire faculty takes continuing education classes every year to stay current in the latest methods for teaching young children. Their goal is to nurture and encourage each child’s optimal growth.


Director
Katherine F. Malone, M Ed

Mrs. Malone brings exceptional credentials and more than 20 years of classroom and school supervisory experience to her role as preschool director. Her involvement with Grace Church Preschool began in 1989, when she worked as a substitute teacher while completing her bachelor's degree in elementary/early childhood education at the University of Delaware. She later earned a master's degree in early childhood education with a concentration in literacy development from Widener University. Her teaching experience includes time as a first-grade teacher in the Colonial School District, where she was named Pleasantville Elementary School's Teacher of the Year in 1998. In 1999, Mrs. Malone was appointed to the Grace Church Preschool board of directors, serving first as vice chairperson and then as chairperson from 2004-2011. Before being promoted to director of the preschool, she worked as a Childhood teacher for two years. She also has an outstanding institutional knowledge of the preschool. She is a lifelong member of Grace United Methodist Church and the mother of three children who attended the school over 12 consecutive years. Her association with the preschool even includes time volunteering as a homeroom mother

“I am committed to maintaining and enhancing a quality early childhood program at Grace Church Preschool where children can grow spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially and cognitively while developing positive feelings of self worth and esteem.”



Assistant to the Director
Mary Jo Miller

Mrs. Miller’s association with Grace Church Preschool began when she enrolled her children in the school in 1973. Since then, she has served a parent representative to the preschool board, board vice chairperson, board chairperson and board member-at large. She was the volunteer director of Mother’s Day Out, a predecessor to the current Childhood program, and a teacher of 2-year-olds before accepting her current position in 1992. Mrs. Miller has a bachelor’s degree in secondary business education and experience as a public school teacher in Ohio. She also has taken more then 100 hours of continuing education in the early childhood field during her tenure at Grace.

“I am convinced more than ever that early education is the most important element in the education of a child. To develop a love of learning at an early age is the most wonderful gift we can give a child.”