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Enroll for 2024-2025 school


Enrolling for Ages 16 months – Kindergarten for the 2024-2025 School Year

New Extended Hours Offering: Before Care from 8:00-9:00am & After Care from 3:00-6:00pm

Application Form 2024-2025


Thank you for visiting the St. James School website! St. James School is a non-sectarian program that has been serving Upper Montclair and its surrounding communities for nearly 30 years. We are dedicated to developing the emotional, intellectual, social and physical growth of our students. We believe that education is a cooperative effort among students, parents and staff, designed to stimulate the creativity and achievements of each child. Our teachers place emphasis on the process and the joy of learning and creating, rather than on the finished product. Each young person entrusted to us is important, and we consider it an honor and a privilege to be a part of his or her life!

We are a small school. Our student ratio of 6:1 compares favorably with other schools in the area. Each class has two teachers consisting of a lead teacher and an assistant teacher, except for our Toddlers/2’s class, which has a lead teacher and two assistant teachers. All teachers are CPR/First Aid certified and are required to complete a minimum of 20 additional professional development hours of early childhood education training annually.

St. James Preschool in Upper Montclair

St. James School focuses on the development of the whole child, utilizing The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, a NJ state-approved curriculum, designed to have children learn through hands-on experiences and play. Each learning interest area touches upon all development areas:

Creative Development Skills

Language & Literacy Skills

Mathematics Skills & Processes

Science Knowledge & Skills

Physical Development Skills

Science Prosocial Behavior Skills


young child development preschool Montclair

student art at St. James School in Upper Montclair