Albany First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has a long term mutually beneficial relationship with the First Christian Pre-Primary School. While the preschool is housed in our building, they are a separate, independent organization with their own Board and not-for-profit status. We enjoy a very positive relationship with the preschool and believe they do amazing work with their students. Many of our members are alumni themselves and/or parents and grandparents of children who have attended the Preschool. Some members of our church have served on their Board. Our Congregation supports the mission and values of the First Christian Pre-Primary School, which provides a high quality preschool education, as well as badly needed speech and language services. The Director and teachers work with the utmost integrity and dedication to provide the best education possible to their students. The members of Albany First Christian Church believe the preschool is a valuable asset to our community and it is a wonderful and joyful way to utilize our upstairs space.
The Board of Albany First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Paula Moore and Nadine Wood, Co-Chairs
My relationship with First Christian Pre-Primary School started back in 1975 when my son attended.
Since then my grandchildren and great grandchildren have attended the program.
Over the years we have experienced a variety of teachers and they have all been very approachable and understanding of any concerns that we might of had. They genuinely have a strong love for teaching the young. The teachers have always been open and welcome visitors to the classroom. I have always felt the children were safe, welcomed, and allowed many educational opportunities. We are very thankful that the Preschool program offered speech and language therapy on-site. One of my grandson was able to take advantage of this service at a young age instead of waiting till elementary school. I wish them many more years of service to the children of the community.
Review from Guidestar
I tried to meet with the director of this preschool on multiple occasions because I had heard unsavory reports about her staff, and I had concerns about the fact that the school refused to include anti-discriminatory language regarding the LGBTQ+ community. Despite using the same name, the school is completely unrelated to the church and only usurps space in the church's building. It does not share any of the church's distinguishing values, especially not its inclusive approach to certain, marginalized demographics. As it turned out, I only got one meeting with the director, and we never even got to discuss my main concerns. Beth had brought in an emotionally disturbed woman to disrupt the discussion, which she, along with the director's father, did with considerable dramatics.
After the failed attempt to have a reasonable discussion, the director told me that I needed to speak with the preschool's board members, not her. But when I tried to meet with the members I didn't already know, they made it clear that she had instructed them not to talk to me. This not only proves the director to be a coward, but also a liar. None of my concerns were ever addressed or even given a fair hearing. Absolutely disgusting.
I remain thankful that I never entrusted my children to this feckless and dishonest preschool director and her non-church board members. I encourage other parents to find a more reputable pre-primary school as well.