Joyful Learning

Our Pre-K program fosters curiosity and inquiry through stimulating experiences and supportive interactions. Children learn through exploration, play, and relationships in a developmentally appropriate, child-centered environment that includes dynamic learning centers, language development, and outdoor play. Each child’s uniqueness is appreciated and respected throughout their developmental progression. Our 10:1 student-teacher ratio promotes this individual attention.

The Pre-K classroom and experiences are developed with The Creative Curriculum and International Baccalaureate guidelines in alignment with Louisiana’s Birth to Five Early Learning & Development Standards (ELDS). Teachers regularly communicate with families regarding their children’s progression on the developmental continuum in social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, and mathematics dimensions.          

Caring, Experienced Faculty and Staff

Each classroom has up to 20 students with a certified teacher and a full-time assistant. Together, our Pre-K team of 8 teachers and assistants have 125 years of experience in early childhood education! The Pre-K team scored in the highest range and achieved an excellent performance rating based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). CLASS measures the frequency and depth of meaningful classroom interactions in the domains of Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support. Classroom interactions are a key factor proven to drive children’s academic and life-long success.

The school’s current Early Childhood Performance Profile has not yet been updated on the Louisiana Department of Education website. The results of this measure are below:

Overall Score Performance Rating for Overall Assessment Level Children Per Teacher Pre-K Curriculum Quality
6.17 Excellent 3 Stars 3 Stars 3 Stars
Percent of Teachers with Bachelor’s Degree Percent of Teachers with Louisiana Certification
100% 100%

Tuition and Application

  • Pre-K applications open January 4, 2024, for the 2024-25 school year.
  • 2024-25 Application deadline is February 21, 2024.
  • Apply online at apply.avela.org/nolaps
  • Learn more about the process at EnrollNOLAPS.com
  • Tuition rates/eligibility: Free for families who qualify through Enroll NOLA for a LA-4 seat  (determined by qualification for Free/Reduced Lunch status) and approximately $5500.00 for families who do not qualify.
  • Age requirement: Students must be 4 years old by October 1 to apply.
  • Contact
    • Elementary School Office at registration@morrisjeffschool.org
    • Director of Admissions at rsintes@morrisjeffschool.org

What does IB mean for Pre-K

As a fully authorized IB World School. PreK students experience 4 student-centered Units of Inquiry as they learn through play-based inquiry. The themes and central ideas of the PreK units include:

  • Who We Are: Relationships include the ways we help and care for each other.
  • Where We Are in Place and Time: Understanding geography and citizenship shows us how we are connected in our community.
  • How We Express Ourselves: Emotions can be expressed in many creative ways. 
  • Sharing the Planet: Nature has many roles in our world.

World Languages and the Arts are an integral part of an IB education. Pre-K students have daily Spanish language classes with teachers who are fluent in Spanish. Students also participate in enrichment classes that rotate daily between music, visual art, library, physical education, and social-emotional learning. Our enrichment teachers have both expertise and passion for their subject areas.

A Typical Day in Pre-K

  •  A daily afternoon 90-minute nap or rest time
  • Two outdoor recess times: 20  minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon 
  • Meal time including breakfast, lunch, snack, and supper for students in after-school care
  • Restrooms in the classrooms
  • Exploratory learning in various settings including whole groups, small groups, and learning centers
  • Opportunities to participate in before-school care and after-school care

Supporting Families at Home

We offer a Meet the Teacher Day before the first day of school, a Goal Setting Conference in September, Report Card Conferences, and a Student-Led Conference in May. These events are typically in-person and allow the family to communicate directly with the teachers and staff about their child’s progress and achievement in school.

Teachers communicate with families via a weekly newsletter providing information about what children are learning, celebrating, and experiencing together at school.

The school partners with Family Engagement Lab to provide weekly text messages through FASTalk. These messages are in the family’s home language and focus on at-home activities that reinforce what students are learning at school. FASTalk also enables communication between teachers and families translated into the family’s home language.