Dilworth Church | About | Childcare

Dilworth United Methodist Weekday School is a small preschool located in the heart of Dilworth. We are a school where children thrive both socially and academically and families feel a strong sense of community.

Our school was created in 2004 by Dilworth United Methodist Church in an effort to offer the community a preschool of excellence for children ages one through five (pre-kindergarten). Our mission is to provide children a place to learn and grow through active participation in a variety of developmentally appropriate activities in a nurturing Christian environment.

The program runs Monday-Friday and has several schedule choices for students. The school hours are 9:00-12:30 with an extended day option available. The Extended Day Program allows children the opportunity to stay an extra half hour either before or after school.

We are proud that we are able to offer children:

An open ended, developmentally appropriate curriculum where problem solving is encouraged and learning is exciting.
Classrooms that focus on the development of the whole child. Intellectual, social and self-help skills are taught in an effort to have each child reach his/her potential.
Experienced teachers who enjoy teaching and understand how young children learn best. Their goal is to offer each of their students the tools necessary to begin their journey as engaged, life-long learners.
A variety of enrichment activities. Students participate in a weekly music class that is brought to campus in an effort to expose children to a variety of musical activities including singing, movement and instrument exploration. Students also participate in a fitness class every other week as well as attend several on-site programs for preschoolers presented by experts in the field of science and education. Older children participate in several off-site field trips. Some of these include visits to our neighborhood fire station, Discovery Place, Imaginon and plays at Children’s Theatre.
A Prekindergarten class whose goal is to prepare children for a successful year in kindergarten.
A nurturing Christian environment where every child feels that they have infinite worth because he/she is a child of God. Chapel lessons are taught on a regular basis by church staff. Blessings are given each day before lunch.

The Dilworth Weekday School does not discriminate against any applicant because of religious affiliation, race, age, gender, or handicap.

Enrollment Choices:

Toddler Class/Ones (must be one by August 31st, walking, and able to use a sippy cup)

Tuesday/Thursday
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
All Five Days

Twos Class

Tuesday/Thursday
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
All Five Days

Threes Class

Monday/Wednesday/Friday
All Five Days

Pre-Kindergarten Class (Fours/Fives)

All Five Days

Tuition Schedule:

2 days per week $225 per month
3 days per week $250 per month
5 days per week $320 per month

*Financial assistance is available for a limited number of spaces. Please contact the director for more information.

Registration and Fees

A registration form and non-refundable registration fee must be turned into our school in order to complete the registration process. This registration fee is fixed and applicable any time during the school year when a child enrolls.

$100 first child (non church members)
$90 each additional child (non church members)
$75 first child (church members)
$65 each additional child (church members)

**Registration for current families for the 2013-14 school year will begin on February 11. We will open registration to Dilworth UMC members and the community on Feb. 19. Notification regarding placement in the program will be sent the following week.

Summer Camp

Our school offers three weeks of fun filled summer camp for children one year of age to rising kindergarteners. Because camp is offered to children as young as one, many new families find that enrolling in camp is a great opportunity for their children to meet future classmates as well as some of our teachers. Camp dates for the summer of 2013 are as follows

Session 1. June 3-7 "The Great Outdoors" Session 2. June 17-21 "Treasure Hunters"

Session 3. July 8-12 "Story Time Adventures" Session 4. August 5-9 "Beach, Blanket, Bingo!"

Cost is $120 per child per camp

Forms and a $25 deposit (per session) must be turned into the office by May 1st to secure your spot.

Please see below to download the summer camp app..

After May 1st, camps are filled on a first come, first serve basis.

(*One year-olds must be walking and drinking from a sippy cup in order to attend)

Our Curriculum

Classroom teachers use The Creative Curriculum as a guide for their lesson plans. Each day allows for children to have circle time (whole group instruction), choice time in a variety of classroom centers as well as individual and small group instruction. The curriculum focuses on four areas of development: cognitive, social/emotional, language and physical.

A focus on developing important literacy skills is central.

“Children need regular and active interactions with print. Specific abilities required for reading and writing come from immediate experiences with oral and written language. From these experiences children learn that reading and writing are valuable tools that will help them do many things in life.” - The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s position statement on learning to read and write

Our teachers understand that learning to value reading, learning to understand the parts of a book and comprehend the subject matter of a book are important as well as learning letter and sound recognition. These objectives are all taken into account when planning various literacy lessons.

Children are well prepared for kindergarten because of early exposure to important pre-reading and writing skills. Math and science are also incorporated into classroom lesson plans even for the youngest of students. Math activities and manipulatives are used in many ways in order to teach children number sense, patterning, counting, sorting and measurement. Older children have many opportunities to participate in science lessons and experimentation.

Exposure to the outside world and creative experiences are also an important part of each school day. Our school supports the belief that:

“In play, a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself.” - Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist, Educational theorist

Family Events

Families have many opportunities attend events at The Weekday School. Some events include:

A Beginning of the Year Outside Ice Cream Social
Gatherings for Moms to enjoy coffee talk and scrapbooking
Dilworth United Methodist Church’s Fall Fun Day
The Weekday School’s Annual Book Fair & Spaghetti Supper
Classroom Christmas Celebrations
The End of Year Summer Send-Off Celebration and Slideshow
An Invitation to children ages three+ to attend DUMC's Vacation Bible School

*Parents are also welcome to volunteer in the classrooms or chaperone field trips. Parents are invited to come and have lunch with their child anytime.

What Parents are saying about the Dilworth Weekday School

“Before attending the DUMC Weekday School, my son had not been left with anyone but family. I can honestly say because of the positive, Christian and family atmosphere of the school, I didn’t think twice about leaving him in the care of his teachers. Our experience with DUMC has been everything we hoped for and more!” - Catherine McLester

“Both of my children have attended the DUMC Weekday School and our family has truly enjoyed watching our children develop their individual personalities with the support of the teachers, staff and other families at school. After two years with the school, my daughter had developed a love for school, music, creative expression and making friends. More than anything, I am happy that she had the chance to get a head start on her love of learning before heading off to kindergarten. And my son, now in his second year with The Weekday School, is following the same path- making friends, sharing and learning to love his special time at school.

I can’t say enough about the teachers at DUMC- always supportive and looking for ways to make the school day fun and exciting for the children and also finding ways to share news and updates about the children as well as inviting feedback and ideas from the families. They are truly caring partners in my children’s special preschool years.” - Shannon Medina

“I have had children at the DUMC Weekday School for nearly five years now, and have never wanted to go elsewhere. The small classes, loving teachers and active days are just what I wanted for my children. My current kindergartener found the transition to ‘big school’ a breeze after the things she learned at DUMC, which made it wonderful for both of us.” - Lisa Rasmussen

Contact Us

For more information or to schedule a tour, please contact:

Mary Royall Byrum

Dilworth UMC Weekday School, Director

605 East Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28203

(704)333-4173 ext. 191

maryroyall.byrum@dilworthchurch.org

Applications for current families are due to the school on 2/11/13. Applications for community members are due to the school on 2/19/13.

Download the 2013-14 Preschool Application

Download the 2013 Summer Camp Application