Dear friends,
Our beloved lead teacher for St. James’ Nursery School, Ms. Kim Illuminate, and beloved assistant teacher, Ms. Kathleen Craft, will be retiring at the close of this 2022-2023 school year, after decades of faithful service. Kim has been with us since 2001, and Kathleen since 2007.
We are so thankful to Kim and Kathleen, and we will miss them. They have been a true blessing to so many Hyde Park families (including many of us here at St. James’, over the years!). In creating a safe, loving environment for little ones to play and grow, Kim and Kathleen have consistently modeled what it looks like to follow Jesus, who said, “let the little children come to me.” Please stay tuned for details of a farewell celebration for Kim and Kathleen on Sunday, June 4th.
The St. James’ Nursery School is now in its sixtieth year of serving Hyde Park families. The program is offered on weekday mornings and provides an enriching Christian environment for three-, four-, and five-year-olds to play, learn, and build cooperative and social skills.
Our teachers’ retirement is a moment of significant transition for the Nursery School. Therefore, the Vestry has commissioned a Nursery School Committee, including a number of educators and former Nursery School parents. Members are: Joe Gasparini (chair and Vestry liaison), Patty Glancey, Tanya Hall, Irene Kipp, Bobbie Wells, Charles DeSimone, Georgia Verven, and me (ex officio).
The Nursery School Committee’s long-term purpose is to support the Nursery School by strengthening relationships between the school and the wider St. James’ congregation, and to support the Vestry and congregation as we discern how St. James’ is called to continue the Nursery School’s decades-long mission of supporting the children and families of Hyde Park. In the immediate term, they will assist and advise me in the hiring of a new lead teacher and assistant teacher for the 2023-2024 school year, and lead the planning of June’s farewell party. I am grateful to all the Committee members for their leadership and service to St. James’ Church.
If you have any questions about the upcoming transition or next steps for the school, please speak to any member of the Nursery School Committee or Vestry.
Please pray for the work of the Nursery School Committee, especially that God will guide us in selecting teachers who will build on Kim and Kathleen’s legacy of loving care. I also ask your prayers for Kim and Kathleen, that they will know God’s abundant joy in this new chapter of their lives.
Faithfully,
Meredith+
The Rev. Meredith Kadet Sanderson
St. James’ Episcopal Church
