Early Childhood Center
- The Early Childhood Center is composed of the Preschool Three, Preschool Four, Kindergarten and 1st Grade classes, which are all located on the first floor of the school building.
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Students pray frequently throughout the day, and receive Religion instruction in a developmentally appropriate manner.
- Classrooms in the Early Childhood Center are staffed with Assistant Teachers to maintain appropriate student-to-teacher ratios.
- The Preschool classes offer two options – a half-day session from 7:30 am to 11:30 am and a full-day session from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm. Children must be age 3 as of September 30 and potty trained to be eligible for enrollment in the Preschool 3 classes; children must be age 4 as of September 30 and potty trained to be eligible for enrollment in the Preschool 4 classes.
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All students in the Early Childhood Center, including the Preschool classes, are eligible for the After School Program, which runs until 6:00 pm.
- St. Gregory the Great has three Kindergarten classes with a maximum student-to-teacher ratio of 20 to 1. It offers a full day session only from 8:05 am to 2:30 pm, with drop off available beginning at 7:20 am. Children must be age 5 as of September 30 to be eligible for enrollment.
- All grades in the Early Childhood Center follow curriculum guides which are developed and published by the Department of Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Trenton. The curriculum guides are rooted in the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and the Common Core Standards. Teachers strengthen skills of the their students through developmentally appropriate activities for the various learning styles and individual abilities of the students.
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In Kindergarten and 1st Grade, a Math Enrichment program is offered for students who qualify.
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All Early Childhood Center students explore rhythm, harmony, melody and dynamics through song, dance, instrument playing, and skits through a weekly music classes; learn the fundamentals of rhythmic movements, creative play, dance, body imagery, and locomotor, manipulative and non-manipulative skills, which help to develop fine and gross motor movement in weekly physical education classes; and develop awareness of color, texture, and images in weekly art classes.
- St. Gregory the Great introduces students to the Spanish language with a focus on listening and speaking skills beginning in Preschool.
- Students in Kindergarten and 1st Grade have a regularly scheduled library period, instructing them in library and research skills, and a bi-weekly Science Lab class which provides hands-on lab experiences.
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St. Gregory the Great Academy employs two full-time Resource Room teachers who plan and implement alternative reading and writing programs for qualifying students in Kindergarten through 1st Grade. The Resource Room covers the same essential Language Arts curriculum at each grade level as instruction in the regular classroom does, but does so using alternative methods in small student groupings.