by Dennis Dalman
Sartell and St. Stephen parents of soon-to-be pre-school or kindergarten students should write down and remember some very important upcoming dates and times.
Oak Ridge Early Learning Center has scheduled a fun night and informational-registration nights in the coming weeks. These events are for current Oak Ridge families and for other Sartell-St. Stephen residents who want to learn more about early-childhood programming at the Oak Ridge school.
Frosty Fun Family Night: from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16 at Oak Ridge.
Pre-School Registration Information Night: 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 at Oak Ridge.
Kindergarten Information Night: 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3 at Oak Ridge. The event is for parents and guardians only so they can learn more about the “Kindergarten Experience” and the registration process for the 2025-26 school year. (there will be no childcare provided at the event so please do not bring children.)
The Frosty Family Fun Night is a new offering at Oak Ridge Early Learning Center. Oak Ridge Principal Julia Bjerke discussed the event with the Newsleaders.
“It’s for families and children to explore together the Oak Ridge Early Learning Center,” Bjerke said, adding that participants can learn about options for pre-school and kindergarten and which program fits their needs.
The event will also be a good way for parents and children to meet one another and school staff so they can all have fun together while learning. Free pizza will be served.
Some features of the Fun Night include the following:
Several stations will be set up throughout Oak Ridge, such as an infant and toddler play room in the pre-school wing, a station for children to enjoy sensory play in what’s called the STEAM Room (STEAM meaning Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math).
The students can have fun working with tactile play activities involving Play-Doh, rice and beans and shaving cream.
In half of the Oak Ridge gymnasium there will be big building blocks, tubes and links and large Lego blocks that will comprise a kind of fun obstacle course for kiddies.
Bjerke said the Frosty Family Fun Night was inspired by a similar event that took place in the St. Cloud Area School District that was very successful.
Bjerke is a third-year principal at Oak Ridge and has served 13 years in the Sartell-St. Stephen School District, first as a reading interventionist at the middle school and after that as an instructional coach for four years.
Oak Ridge Early Learning Center is a school for children ages 0-5, pre-school and kindergarten, and the school district’s Early Childhood Family Education program takes place there.
Oak Ridge is located at 1111 27th St. N. in Sartell.
School schedule
Parents and/or guardians might also want to know the days and times for the variety of registration options that are open to them. Here they are:
Full-Day Classes
Monday-Friday 7:50 a.m.-2:20 p.m.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 7:50 a.m.-2:20 p.m.
To register for those classes, children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2025.
Half-Day Classes
Monday-Friday 7:50-10:20 a.m.
Monday-Friday 11:50 a.m.-2:20 p.m.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 7:50-10:20 a.m.
Children must be 4 years old by Sept. 1, 2025
Three-Year Olds
Monday/Wednesday 7:50-10:20 a.m.
Monday/Wednesday 11:50 a.m.-2:20 p.m.
Tuesday/Thursday 7:50-10:20 a.m.
Tuesday/Thursday 11:50 am.-2:20 p.m.
Children must be 3 years old prior to Sept. 1, 2025.
Isaac Hensel, a student at Oak Ridge Early Learning Center, has fun at a “sensory table” at the school. Similar play tables will be available for play at the upcoming Frosty Family Fun Day at Oak Ridge.
