The 2- to 5-year-olds at St. Matthew’s School now have room to grow.

After a week of many volunteers painting and reorganizing the layout of the basement level, the former St. Matthew’s Gift of Love day care was opened Sept. 6 as St. Matthew’s Catholic Early Learning Center.

Before, the preschool program and day care occupied about half of the basement level. The day care children had one classroom, while the preschool children had two. Both shared a large main room.

The main room was multi-purpose for playing, eating, reading and other activities. Together, there were between 25 and 40 children ages 2 to 5 doing a variety of activities at once.

Administrators decided to divide the preschool and the Early Learning Center and give them each separate spaces.

Marlene Stevens, Early Learning Center director, said that with a lot of planning and the addition of a new teacher, the transition has gone well — so well that there is a waiting list for enrollment.

Preschool children are now housed in first-floor classrooms across from kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. This leaves three classrooms and the large main room for Early Learning Center children.

The three classrooms and children are divided by age, with 2- to 3-year-olds in one room, 3- to 4-year-olds in another and 4- to 5-year-olds in the third room. This allows for age-appropriate learning, Stevens said.

With separate classrooms, teachers are able to work with small groups of children. Andrea Hanson, the Early Learning Center’s 3- to 4-year-old teacher, said this allows for more individual attention.

“We get to know kids on a more personal level. Before, with 35 kids a day, even if you had four teachers it was really hard to sit with one child,” she said.

Hanson said she thinks children are also able to absorb more information in small groups.

Development varies widely between age groups this young. Being able to gear activities toward a particular age group is a plus.

Thursday morning, Hanson had just finished working on an alphabet activity using a puzzle.

“That’s something I couldn’t do in there [the main room] with 35 children, because we were constantly on our feet with 2-year-olds mixed in,” she said.

In addition to play and socialization, learning is a big component of the Early Learning Center.

“They’re getting a ‘pre’ preschool curriculum,” St. Matthew’s Principal Joanna Eichner said.

Eichner said moving the preschool near the other elementary classrooms allows children to familiarize themselves with the school before transitioning to kindergarten.

“It is a big difference,” she said.

While St. Matthew’s Catholic Early Learning Center is full, there are still a few spots available in the preschool program. For more information, call 752-6303.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.