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OVERBROOK SCHOOL
PREKINDERGARTEN

Overbrook School roots children in truth,
inspires them to wonder and challenges them
to give their best to the world.
The Overbrook prekindergarten serves students with its teacher-directed,
Montessori-based program. The prekindergarten program uses Montessori
materials and teacher-led activities to prepare preschoolers for success in the
traditional kindergarten and elementary grade classrooms. Overbrook prekindergarten
teachers focus on teaching preschool students practical, sensorial, language,
social and math skills.

GOALS FOR OVERBROOK’S PREKINDERGARTEN
Say daily prayers
Learn order and concentration skills
Develop sensorial learning
Begin language skills such as progression and orientation
Become comfortable with numbers
Create art freely
Practice proper social skills

Overbrook opened its early childhood
program in 1986 with two teachers
dedicated to providing an environment
that is innovative, energetic and loving.
The teachers, along with the two aides,
work together to provide students
with age-appropriate curricula
and enrichment activities that will
be enhanced as they continue their
journey through Overbrook School.
The lead teachers have over 30 years
each of experience teaching at the
prekindergarten level.
OVERBROOK’S
PREKINDERGARTEN
PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY
Educate the entire child
Develop a love for learning
Teach students independence
Foster respect and love for self
and others

FOUNDING TEACHERS
Angela Siefker and Ellen Herman are the founding teachers of Overbrook’s
prekindergarten program. They have led the program together since 1986. Both
are trained in early childhood education and the Montessori method.
Ellen Herman is an Overbrook alumna from the Class of 1968. She graduated from
St. Cecilia Academy and Spring Hill College. She holds a master’s degree in early
childhood education from Vanderbilt University and is American Montessori
Society certified. She has taught for more than 37 years.
“I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of the children as they
experience Overbrook for the first time.”
— Mrs. Herman
Angela Siefker received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from
Bowling Green State University. She received her Montessori training for 3-6
year-olds at Memphis Montessori Institute. She has also taught for more than
37 years. She has been named Teacher of the Year, served as the chairperson for
the SAC’s reaccreditation committee and is the director of the prekindergarten
ExtendedCARE program.
“I just know that God put me on earth to teach. I love what I’m doing; I
love teaching.”
— Ms. Siefker
Each class is also staffed with a degreed teacher’s aide.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION
At Overbrook, faith is the foundation of every grade, including prekindergarten. In
the pre-k program students become aware of God’s goodness and learn to care for
and love people. They listen to Bible stories and pray daily. The spiritual formation
of the child blossoms in the Overbrook Good Shepherd Atrium which students visit
weekly.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a religious formation program that allows the
child to be gently led by the Holy Spirit into a deeper relationship with Jesus, by
surrounding him or her with the beauty and doctrine of the Church. Children
experience their faith in a hands-on way in a specially created environment called
the atrium. The teaching principals of Maria Montessori are incorporated into the
program, though the primary goal is not the acquisition of information but rather
encountering God through the Scripture-based hands-on activities.

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES AT OVERBROOK
In addition to classroom lessons, our youngest students grow in grace
and knowledge through many activities that enrich their faith.
Dominican sisters (atrium teachers and administrators)
School chapel visits
Monthly Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Daily prayers
Visits from campus chaplain

A TYPICAL DAY IN OVERBROOK’S PREKINDERGARTEN
Group lessons
Independent work time
Story time
Art
Atrium visit
Outside play
Dismissal or lunchtime for those who stay in
ExtendedCARE
ENHANCED LEARNING
Overbrook’s prekindergarten students are
offered special classes in the following areas:
Music
Physical education
Library

Wonder is the desire
for knowledge.
— Thomas Aquinas
We discovered that education is
not something which the teacher
does, but that it is a natural process
which develops spontaneously in
the human being.
— Maria Montessori

“We have had children in both the pre-k and kindergarten grades at Overbrook.
We were extremely impressed with some of the unique and creative ways in
which they taught subjects such as arithmetic and reading; the teachers and
assistants are experts at their jobs and always a pleasure to partner with, in the
education of our children.
While the academic rigor and excellence is very important (and greatly
appreciated!), we were even more impressed with the way in which the faculty
and staff surrounded the children in an environment in which they can openly
wonder at God’s creation, understand the great love that God has for us, and,
most importantly, learn what it means to be a child of God. The children not
only learn the fundamentals of the subjects they’re taught, but they also learn
how to live out their faith in a very integrated and natural way on a daily basis.”
— Christa Burbage,
Overbrook parent

NEXT STEPS:
To learn more about Overbrook’s entire program, visit Overbrook’s website at
www.overbrook.edu.
Schedule a tour by calling the admissions office at 615-292-5134, ext. 3636 or by
emailing os-admissions@overbrook.edu.
Applications are online at www.overbrook.edu under the admissions tab, or
request a printed copy from the admissions office.
Attend a special event at Overbrook School. Overbrook School’s calendar is
filled with special events for visitors and current families, including story time
in the library, Friday morning Mass, drama productions and more. View the
school calendar at www.overbrook.edu

“On the lips of the catechist the first proclamation must ring out over and
over: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is
living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.” This
first proclamation is called “first” not because it exists at the beginning and
can then be forgotten or replaced by other more important things. It is first
in a qualitative sense because it is the principal proclamation, the one which
we must hear again and again in different ways, the one which we must
announce one way or another throughout the process of catechesis, at every
level and moment.”
— Pope Francis,
from his first major statement
on Catholic education in November 2013
4210 Harding Pike Nashville, Tennessee 37205 615.292.5134 www.overbrook.edu