St. Mary’s Early Childhood Center Preschool Program

St. Mary’s Early Childhood Center Preschool Program includes activities such as exploring different tools and learning what each one does, planting and caring for seeds, and exploring the inside of a car as part of a classroom project on cars. The program is part of a not-for-profit agency that offers both a Preschool Program and a Professional Development Program.

• Ages: 0–5 years old
• Schedule: Monday–Friday, 7:00 am–5:30 pm
• Price: Children are able to attend the high quality preschool program for as little as $10 per week. The cost per child exceeds $15,000 per year. The cost per child is $10,000 per year.

St. Mary’s Early Childhood Center’s mission statement is based on the premise that the children served are inherently competent, capable, and strong. The center integrates highly effective professional educators with a proven learning philosophy and uses qualitative measures to show impact. It focuses on preschool children in poverty who are at life and learning risk and states that it impacts these children with high quality cognitive, creative, social, physical, and emotional learning experiences that will transition into a foundation for lifelong success. The center states that it is accountable to the children and families served, stakeholders and contributors, and the early childhood learning community.

The program has a stated focus on serving preschool children in poverty who are at life and learning risk, and 93% of students are living in poverty. One hundred percent of the children who qualify for free or reduced lunch receive substantial assistance. Through generous community support, children are able to attend the high quality preschool program for as little as $10 per week, and the Board, donors, and funders are dedicated to funding the participation of children who live in poverty in the Preschool Program. The program states that 85% of children leave at a 5-year-old developmental level, and that the great majority of children enter kindergarten at a 5-year-old level in all domains of development.

The organization states a belief that all children have the right to the highest quality early childhood education and emphasizes children’s rights, including recognition as citizens, high quality early childhood settings, health care, nutrition, safe environments, multiple ways of learning and expression, and highly qualified educators. The Professional Development Program focuses on the Educational Philosophy from Reggio Emilia, Italy, and Applied Educational Neuroscience research and practices for behavioral health. The Professional Development Program provides professional development opportunities for community educators, with the intention of sharing practices that can improve program quality for other programs and improve outcomes for young children.

The leadership team includes Michelle Radomsky as Executive Director, Ashley Flaumenhaft as Director of Programs, Shannon Mason as Chief Development Officer, Diane Pike as Director of Outreach & Professional Development, and Maria Janik as Director of Operations. All schools operated by schools and parishes under the guidance of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and do not discriminate on that basis.

Last updated May 13, 2026.