As can be seen from the Kentucky All STARS site, these ratings incorporate research-based standards including those of Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards. Every rating is calculated with several specific factors in mind, including “family and community engagement, staff qualifications, classroom and instructional quality, and administrative and leadership practices.”

Although it is an honor, our five-star rating came as no surprise to us at Gan Shalom Preschool, or to our students, parents or community. We constantly work together with our friends and parents here in Lexington, striving for excellence in the quality of our education, the expertise of staff, and the positivity of our environment.

Gan Shalom Preschool is founded by Ohavay Zion Synagogue as a place of true excellence in early childhood education. We’ve been providing Lexington families with a comfortable and nurturing, yet fun environment for their children to learn in since 1989. Our primary goal is to provide quality care and education, and we do everything we can to make a child’s first school experience a positive one. Through age-appropriate activities and instruction, your children will be prepared for a life-long love of learning.

We maintain a low child-to-teacher ratio, which helps ensure every child receives the perfect amount of individual care and attention. In addition to the dedication of our caregivers and teachers, we’re also guided by a devoted advisory board of Gan Shalom parents and other Ohavay Zion members with a background in education. Our advisory board consists of Gan Shalom preschool parents and Ohavay Zion members with a background in education, and they help to guide and support the program. This helps ensure your children have the best possible early childhood experience, and become as passionate about learning as we are.

Our program is balanced, so our students can be as well, and because we provide such a nurturing, positive learning environment, we give them their best chance for a similarly positive future, and a love of learning.

With a focus on both recreational and educational development, we emphasize social, emotional, intellectual and physical growth. Using developmentally-appropriate programs and lessons, encourage a smooth transition between home and school, helping our students feel more confident and prepared.

Because of our low child-teacher ratio, our preschool is able to provide individualized care and an intimate environment for each child. This is a preschool where your children will want to come to because it’s fun, but it is also a safe, positive, peaceful setting that helps encourage learning and personal growth.

A child’s first experience with school can be exciting or scary, and we do everything we can to make sure it’s a good one. We believe that if a child’s first school-experience is a positive one, it can engender a life-long love of learning, and ease the transition into kindergarten.

Students enjoy our thematic curriculum, emphasizing elements of reading, writing, art, math, science and the natural world. We tailor our lessons to all types of learning, promoting skills in individual and social strengths, including the emotional, intellectual, and physical. The subjects and teaching styles in our lesson programs are always diverse: music classes to encourage a love of language and rhythm; fitness classes to enhance motor skills and improve coordination, strength and flexibility; exposure to Hebrew words and a variety of Jewish holidays; and so much more. We also encourage interaction with our community of other preschool families who celebrate diverse backgrounds and experiences.