Our School Philosophy

The Gabriel Park Preschool curriculum is based on a "learn through play" philosophy. Through their natural love of play, children explore and manipulate their environment to discover and learn new things, developing and growing at their own rate.  To encourage this type of learning, the GPPS classrooms are set up in Learning Centers.  With the teacher’s gentle guiding, children will explore each area at their leisure.  Learning Centers emphasize socialization, group skills, fine motor skills, literacy, match, science and artistic expression.

Our Environmental Philosophy

Gabriel Park Preschool supports all efforts to instruct members in environmental consciousness and responsibility. All school purchases and disposals are made with consideration for the immediate as well as long term effects they will have on our planet and our children’s future. In particular, we practice daily recycling, grow a garden each spring and fall, and save snack food scraps for our worm barn.

GPPS Teacher Profile: Teacher Jill Cortner

“Play is often talked about as if it were
a relief from serious learning, but for
children play is serious learning.
Play is really the work of childhood.”
— Fred Rogers

I look forward to the school year as teacher at Gabriel Park Preschool. My passion is working with children. Gabriel Park Preschool and I share the same philosophy - “Through play comes learning.”

Both my Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education and Bachelors Degree in Social and Behavioral Studies help me to apply the necessary knowledge needed to work with both parents and children. Since 2000 I have been working with children from ages two through four in a preschool setting as both a preschool teacher and parent educator.

It is my belief the teacher is responsible for offering learning opportunities in physical, social, emotional and cognitive domains that will increase the development of each child. Through observing their abilities and personalities, appropriate activities will be offered to stimulate their growth in all these developmental areas. Learning through play offers children the opportunity to explore interesting environments with many things to do and learn at their own pace while interacting with other children and receiving assistance from adults.

My husband and I are originally from Kansas and have lived in Oregon since 1988. We consider ourselves Oregonians now since we have two children who were born here and can not imagine living anywhere else. We are both Duck & Beaver fans now.

Aside from working at the preschool my favorite past time is with my family. We have two daughters who are both busy with sport activities such as soccer, basketball and track. When we are not busy busing them all over town we enjoy a round of golf, reading, playing cards, volunteering, watching football and college basketball and going on walks.

I am thankful for the opportunity to teach at Gabriel Park Preschool and am looking forward to an eventful and exciting year for the children and parents!

Teacher Jill

Examples of Themes and Dramatic Room Set-Up

Starting School
House corner

Feelings/Emotions
House corner

Oceans
Ocean, beachfront

Camping
Camping, tent, campfire

Trains
Engineer hats, trains, etc.

Pumpkins/Halloween
Pumpkins, scarecrows, costumes
Field Trip

Fall
Trees, leaves, rakes
Field Trip to park

Thanksgiving Harvest
Trees, leaves, rakes

Winter Celebration
(A cultural study)
Holiday items

Monsters/Dragons
Castle, drawbridge, dragons, shields, princess clothes

Snow
White foam, snowflakes, gloves, mittens, hat, scarves

Firefighters
Add firefighter to house corner
Field trip

Post Office/Valentines Day
Post office

Rain
Restaurant with piano

Musical Instruments
Restaurant with piano

Musical Instruments w/Pajama Party, Parade
Restaurant with piano

Colors
Beauty Parlor

Seeds
Beauty Parlor

Bugs
Open to Ideas

Spring/Birds
Tee-Pee
Field Trip to Park

Worms
Tee Pee

Dinosaurs
Puppet Show

Special Friends Day
Hollow Blocks
Special Friends Tea Party

Friends/Graduation
Hollow Blocks