Methodist preschool to celebrate turning 50

The Community United Methodist Church Preschool Huntington Beach will celebrate 50 years of providing education to young children Sunday with a party for its current and past staff and families.

The church incorporated the school on May 31, 1966, and opened its doors in July of that year with 42 children, said Vicki Compean, director of the preschool.

Back then, a barn providing shelter for ducks, sheep and bunnies stood on the side of the school, but it was torn down in the late 1980s to make way for a church expansion, said Denise Lydon, who has been teaching at the school for nearly 40 years.

Now the school has only insects, like walking sticks, butterflies and silk worms, in its six classrooms because of students’ allergies to animals.

But not much else has changed, Lydon said.

“We’ve had a really good dedicated group that really cares about children and their needs,” she said.

The school now serves an average of 110 children ages 2 1/2 to 5 each year, Compean said, noting with pride the student-teacher ratio of 12 to 1.

Classes are offered for three hours a day, five days a week.

Lydon, who remembers teaching some of the current children’s parents more than 20 years ago, said the school has always been developmentally focused, with students using their hands and objects like building blocks to improve motor skills. Academics are “developmentally appropriate,” added Compean.

She said preschool is important for acquainting students with basic subjects like reading and writing but also for developing emotional and social skills. Students are offered at least an hour of play time every day.

“We want them to feel good about themselves and know they can do things and interact with adults and other children,” Compean said. “They learn how to problem solve. It’s not just the reading, writing and arithmetic. They will get all that. They need this time to pull it all together.”

Compean noted that many other schools have changed to full-time day care but that some parents “still want that half-day program.”

“We’re still able to fill our classes and offer a very good program,” the director noted.

A 50-year anniversary celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the school, 6652 Heil Ave. in Huntington Beach. It is open to the public and will include food, bounce houses, a photo booth, face painting, a balloon artists and crafts.

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Brittany Woolsey, brittany.woolsey@latimes.com

Twitter: @BrittanyWoolsey