![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MLT-L-brownSJU-0428-01.jpg\")
The Children\u2019s School Executive Director Margot Adams, in consultation with School Director Sharon Walton and teachers, plans a monthly flyer for families to enjoy the various themed activities. (Submitted by Mary Brown)<\/p>\n\u201cThe best part of The Children\u2019s School was the care, of course, given to our children and the proximity to campus,\u201d stated SJU Hawks Women\u2019s Basketball Head Coach Cindy Griffin.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing that you could pop over to see your kids was a huge comfort for us. All three of my children, now ages 22, 20 and 17 attended.<\/p>\n
Coach Griffin continued, \u201cThe Children\u2019s School was my saving grace. There is no way my husband and I could have had successful careers and raise a family had we not felt totally confident in the teachers and the administrators, Margot Adams and Sharon Walton, at the Children\u2019s School.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy children were well taken care of and prepared for elementary school both educationally and socially.\u201d<\/p>\n
SJU Associate Professor of Philosophy Lorraine Keller, PhD remarks, \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to say what the best aspect of The Children\u2019s School is, there are so many great features.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe things that stand out to me are the teachers and staff, the programming, and the space itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone who works there is very friendly and welcoming, and the teachers are great.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put a lot of work into their curriculum, which is very developmentally appropriate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kids go outside a lot, which is great, and they also have music class, gymnastics (tumble tots), yoga, Spanish, and sports (soccer shots in the past, hoops currently).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to know that your child is engaged in such a wide variety of activities in school \u2014 it takes pressure off of parents to schedule a bunch of activities outside of school for their child.<\/p>\n
The classrooms themselves are very nice, especially the upstairs rooms (preschool and pre-K), which have high ceilings and lots of natural light.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the playground is great \u2014 it\u2019s totally fenced in, which I appreciate as an important safety feature, and has play equipment for all ages, including a big sandbox that the kids really enjoy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m part of a community there, and can trust that my child is well-looked-after.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially for those who work at SJU, the school is conveniently located close to campus, there are other SJU families there, and you receive a discount on tuition.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to notes from Executive Director Margot Adams, in 1996, the Children\u2019s School at Saint John\u2019s was established after an extensive feasibility study conducted by a subcommittee of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Administrative\/Staff Council\u2019s Child Care Subcommittee at Saint Joseph\u2019s University.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the study was to provide quality child care services for its employees and adult students.<\/p>\n
The Children\u2019s School Executive Director Margot Adams, in consultation with School Director Sharon Walton and teachers, plans a monthly flyer for families to enjoy the various themed activities. (Submitted by Mary Brown)<\/p>\n
The Children\u2019s School at Saint John\u2019s was founded as a collaboration between Saint Joseph\u2019s University and the Church of Saint John\u2019s in Bala Cynwyd.<\/p>\n
Generally, eighty children are enrolled on a daily basis in this non-denominational program.<\/p>\n
The school\u2019s Board of Directors comprises two members from Saint Joseph\u2019s University, two members from The Church at Saint John\u2019s, one Community Representative, one Parent Representative and the school\u2019s Executive Director and Director.<\/p>\n
Its Mission is based on the belief that young children need to be actively involved through play and opportunities to explore, experience, and succeed.<\/p>\n
The curriculum is designed to foster the social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs of the children, informed by widely accepted theories and principles of child growth and development.<\/p>\n
![\"SJU](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MLT-L-stjohns-0911-02_205117742.jpg\")
SJU President Dr. Cheryl McConnell\u2019s outstretched arms illustrate her story time selection \u201cI LOVE YOU THIS MUCH\u201d during her visit to The Children\u2019s School. (Photo submitted by Mary Brown)<\/p>\n
The curriculum includes an integration of those components to offer a well-rounded and hands-on set of daily activities.<\/p>\n
The Children\u2019s School has been successful since its inception by providing high-quality care and continues to be driven by its mission today.<\/p>\n
As a result, the school has obtained and maintained significant achievements: Certification by the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), Accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Children (NAEYC), and a four-star rating from the Pennsylvania Keystone STARS Initiative.<\/p>\n
In addition to being a child-centered organization, The Children\u2019s School at Saint John\u2019s acknowledges the invaluable role of the teachers and staff.<\/p>\n
Thus, The Children\u2019s School strives to attract and retain well-educated and well-compensated teachers to reflect and reward their skills, knowledge and experiences in the field of Early Childhood Education.<\/p>\n
Competitive salaries and an attractive benefits package are given to all employees, including health insurance, vacation, retirement and college tuition credit through successful coursework at Saint Joe\u2019s.<\/p>\n
As stated in the initial \u201cProgram Proposal for the Children\u2019s School of Saint Joseph\u2019s University,\u201d the major goals for the school included:<\/p>\n
Establishing a nurturing environment for the children of adult students and employees at a location that is safe and convenient
\nImproving the productivity and attendance of employees
\nProviding a lab school setting for students who are studying in a variety of disciplines
\nProviding an additional marketing tool for recruitment of new students and prospective faculty members and employees.<\/p>\n
The collaboration between Saint Joseph\u2019s University and The Children\u2019s School at Saint John\u2019s has provided numerous benefits for both institutions throughout the years and continues to be valuable today.<\/p>\n
Katie Shields, SJU Associate Vice-President of University Advancement, enrolled her daughter in the very beginning, December 1996 and her son started in September 1999.<\/p>\n
Both children stayed with The Children\u2019s School until they began kindergarten at their local parish.<\/p>\n
Shields recollected, \u201cIn those early years, The Children\u2019s School was new and growing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt expanded both in enrollment and in its footprint as the years progressed, especially adding the playground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kids both had a great experience and it gave us peace of mind that they were well taken care of while we both worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth kids were definitely prepared for kindergarten as a result of the foundation which they received at The Children\u2019s School.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fondly remember taking my daughter to Miss Margot\u2019s wedding at which she had a photo taken of all of the kids from The Children\u2019s School in attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christina and Bryan Brown of Narberth commented, \u201cOur daughter looks forward to school each day because of the welcoming community and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has thrived in its supportive and engaging environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
For information about The Children\u2019s School at Saint John\u2019s in Bala Cynwyd, call (610) 664-4588.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe best part of The Children\u2019s School was the care, of course, given to our children and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[182,186,200,139,28,69,71,70,199],"class_list":{"0":"post-177591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-local-news","9":"tag-lower-merion-township","10":"tag-montgomery-county","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-philadelphia","14":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","15":"tag-philadelphia-news","16":"tag-top-stories-mlt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}