All classes, from nursery through high school take place in the education complex across the parking lot from the sanctuary. We offer all classes every Sunday except when we are having a multi-age worship service or all age game days. Parents are welcome to stay with their children if either or both parties need! There is no fee for our Sunday morning faith formation classes or nursery care.
Preschoolers through 5th graders begin in the sanctuary with their families. Registered children are signed in on tablets, located at the Faith Formation welcome table, with just a click of the icon! Following a short “Time For All Ages” the children meet their teachers outside the sanctuary, and the classes walk to their classrooms in the education complex. Classes end at 11:45 am. Adults need to sign out their children at the classrooms before they are released from the education complex.
Middle School and High School classes start in their classrooms (room 2 and 5 respectively) and sign themselves in on tablets in their classroom, at 10:30 am.
Visitors are always welcome! Children visiting our campus will need a One Day Registration form, available at the Faith Formation Welcome table in the back of the sanctuary. If you wish to register your children, use this link.
Nursery
The nursery, room 6 in the education complex, opens at 8:30 am on Sunday mornings. Children play while their adults attend the Dalai Lama and Friends workshop, meetings, or choir rehearsal. We offer a loving and stimulating environment for the very youngest in our church family. Our nursery is staffed by two paid caregivers and allows our little ones to move around and play with people their own size while learning cooperation skills and having fun.
All age childcare is offered after the faith formation classes in room 6, until 12:30 pm every Sunday, allowing adults to join the Visitors circle in the sanctuary and/or get a cup of coffee and get to know some of our congregants.
Class Curricula
Classes are divided by school grades in order to offer age appropriate content to all participants. Our Preschool through 1st grade classes focus on Unitarian Universalist values, while the older classes have curricula that rotate through three different pillars: Unitarian Universalism, Service/Justice, and World Religions.
Preschool
This class is for 3-5 year olds who are able to follow simple instructions and are toilet confident.
- Rainbow Connections: An introduction to the 7 Unitarian Universalist Principles, the values that unite us as Unitarian Universalists. Picture books, activities, crafts, songs and games will help our children appreciate and act on these UU values in their own lives.
Kindergarten & 1st Grade
- Wonderful Welcome: The Wonderful Welcome curriculum engages and challenges leaders and children alike to explore how and why we are willing to welcome others into our lives. We welcome not only strangers, but family, our peers, our neighbors and even entities that are not people such as our animal friends and nature itself.
- Love Surrounds Us: At the core of our Unitarian Universalist community are our seven Principles. The Principles encompass all the ingredients of a good and faith-filled life based on equality, freedom, peace, acceptance, truth, care, and love. This program explores all the Principles in the context of Beloved Community of family/home, school, neighborhood. Participants engage in activities that emphasize the love they feel in our community.
2nd-3rd Grade
- World of New Friends: This curriculum begins each unit with an introduction to a new “friend,” a fictional child who belongs to a different faith tradition. Children will have the chance to explore the beliefs, traditions and celebrations of various cultures and faiths through the eyes of this fictional peer with stories, discussions and hands-on activities.
4th-5th Grade
- Holidays and Holy Days: Holidays are the natural, age-old vehicle of religious socialization. Their festivities tell a story which children absorb with delight, through experiences far more than through words. Decorations, colors, costumes, dances, lights, songs, foods, festivity, gifts, excitement, pageantry, solemnity, ceremony and ritual…it is of these that tradition is woven, that memories, beliefs, values, fears, hopes and reverence are transmitted. A holiday is not some-thing to talk about; it’s something to DO.
Middle School
- Crossing Paths: This curriculum takes a deep dive into some of the more popular world religions in four week lessons. Weeks one through three are spent in the classroom learning and discussing the religions, while the final week includes a field trip to the sacred space of the religion to experience the worship first-hand. Parent drivers will be necessary for this curriculum.
High School
- High Schoolers will also be taking a deep look at some of the more popular world religions. Weeks one through three are spent in the classroom learning and discussing the religions, while the final week includes a field trip to the sacred space of the religion to experience the worship first-hand. Parent drivers will be necessary for this curriculum.
All children and youth must be registered in order to attend classes or childcare on Sunday mornings during the regular church year.
Please make regular attendance a family priority. Children and youth who attend every Sunday build deeper connections and derive the greatest benefits from their lessons and church community. When the same group gathers each week they get to know one another, explore together, grow together, and look forward to being together again. Your family’s presence enriches the experience for everyone.