Children

 Registration for St. Paul's Sunday School can be found by clicking here.

Sample Classroom Rotation:  Moses Chronicle

Welcome to St. Paul's! We are so very glad that you have chosen to worship with us. Children are welcome at all of the worship services at St. Paul's. On Sunday (from the first Sunday after Labor day until Memorial Day) our services are held at 7:45 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 5:00 p.m. During the summer, we hold services at 7:45 a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. We include children, youth, and adults in all of our services, but especially in the 9:00 a.m. service. You will find the 9:00 a.m. service to be very child-friendly with music and messages geared to our littlest worshipers, while the 11:00 a.m. service has a children's sermon that is offered separately during the Gospel reading, sermon, and prayers.

Child Care

St. Paul’s believes that children deepen and enrich our parish family and we desire to see families with children of all ages to worship together, but we also understand that there are times when an age-appropriate play environment may be more suitable for our preschoolers.

These are our child care offerings during Sunday Worship:
Infant and Toddlers up to 2: Nursery care offered by weeSIT located on the 2nd floor of Wilmer Hall. Elevator and stroller access is available through the Duke Street entrance.
Children age 2 to 5: A combination of supervised play and childcare offered by weeSIT on the 1st floor of Wilmer Hall. Direct access through Pitt St. Entrance.
Parent’s who use childcare are welcome to pick up their child during the Peace so that the family can participate in the Holy Eucharist together. Children of any age are welcome at the altar rail to receive Communion or a blessing.

weeSIT is an organization which has been providing the best childcare service to St. Paul’s for nearly 20 years. All of weeSIT’s caregivers are trained professionals with a gifted ability to care for our youngsters. You will recognize the weeSIT staff by their nametags and brightly colored shirts. Please be sure to sign your child in and out with the weeSIT staff each morning. 

   
Childcare is also available at the following times:
First Fridays: A relaxing and fun dinner for parents and young adults of St. Paul’s held the first Friday of each month from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Childcare is extended to all children during this time including Youth Group for 6th – 8th grade.

For any inquiries or questions about nursery and childcare at St. Paul’s please contact Bill Campbell, Director of Education for Children and Youth, at 703-549-3312 ext. 20 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Christian Education for Preschool

At St. Paul’s we realize that every child has his or her own unique way of understanding and learning. We strive to engage our children at their level, respecting our youngest Christians' eagerness to discover God’s presence in their world. Our preschool Sunday school lessons provide just the right amount of movement and learning with the earnest experience of a worship service designed just for this age group.
 

Preschool Sunday School
During the Sunday school hour (10:00 a.m.--10:50 a.m.) preschoolers aged 3-4/5* participate in Wee Worship and Sunday school. Wee Worship is a short, interactive service that includes lessons, prayers, and songs. During the Sunday school time our volunteer teachers implement the Movers' & Shakers' curriculum. This program is designed to get children involved in art, music, and dramatic play while reinforcing each week’s Bible lesson.

The two-year-olds will stay with Parky and the staff of weeSit for fun activities and age appropriate play.
Preschool Sunday school takes place on the first floor of Wilmer Hall in the same classrooms used by the St. Paul’s Day School. The Wee Worship and Sunday School Schedule are shown below:
Location            Age                           Activity
Room 114        2-year-olds             weeSIT with Parky and staff
Room 117        3-year-olds             Wee Worship and Sunday school
Room 120        4/5-year-olds*         Wee Worship and Sunday school

If your child is in weeSIT during the 9:00 a.m. service, they will be automatically transferred to their classroom. However, if you pick your child up during the Peace before communion, it is necessary to escort your child to their appropriate Sunday school room.
For any questions related to preschool education please feel free to contact Bill Campbell, Director of Education for Children and Youth, at 703-549-3312 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

* Children who are five but not yet in Kindergarten at their school will be in the 4/5 year-old-class during Sunday schools. Exceptions will be made after review and consultation with the Children’s Education Director.

Vacation Bible School (VBS)
Every June during the last full week, St. Paul’s offers VBS to any child ages 3 through entering 3rd grade. The cost is $35.00 per child with a $70.00 maximum fee per family. It is also necessary for parents to volunteer to help with VBS at least once during the week. Detailed information and sign-ups will be available in the late spring.

Teachers and Volunteers in the Preschool
Everyone who teaches in the Sunday school for St. Paul’s provides a wonderful and important service to our children and youth. If you are interested in joining this dedicated group of volunteers please feel free to contact Bill Campbell, Director of Education for Children and Youth, at 703-549-3312 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

St. Paul’s Day School
Since 1948 the St. Paul’s Nursery and Day School has been offering members of St. Paul’s and the community at large one of the best early childhood educations in Alexandria. Its program encompasses a wide variety of activities and learning opportunities designed to meet the needs of each individual child.

St. Paul’s Nursery and Day School’s mission is to provide a balance between the development of language skills, social skills, and perceptual/motor skills with art, music, movement, dramatic play, science, cooking, field trips and experimentation. If you have a three-, four-, or Kindergarten-aged child and would like to inquire about the St. Paul’s Nursery and Day School, please contact Martha Schafer at 703-549-1974.
 

Christian Education for Elementary Age Children
Our goal at St. Paul’s is to provide every child an age appropriate lesson and activity that is fun, creative, and educational. We strive to create young disciples—children who learn about the history of our Church, as well as feel the warmth and love of God personally. With these goals in mind, we offer several programs to capture the attention and hearts of this age group.

Workshop Rotation Model
WoRM is an acronym for Workshop Rotation Model, the curriculum we are using for our Kindergarten through 5th Grade Sunday School.

This style of Sunday School has quickly become the leading method of teaching for elementary-aged students, utilizing Howard Gardner’s “Theory of Multiple Intelligences,” also known as the “Seven Ways of Learning.”  This widely-accepted theory states that we learn through a combination of linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily- kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal learning modes. We will engage our students in all seven modes of learning using workshops designed to stir different parts of their brains.

Let's look at what a month for a WoRM might look like (see chart). Each classroom has become a specific workshop for a specific learning style. Rather than each grade having its own room, the grades rotate from room to room. The schedule may look confusing, but when you come to the second floor, it will be very easy to find the right classroom as every workshop is marked with the workshop name and the grade level for that day.

Once the children enter the workshop, our Workshop Leaders will begin to guide the children in their lesson. Workshop Leaders sign up for a single rotation. This makes planning around teaching easy. A Workshop Leader can teach for 4 or 5 weeks and then not teach again all year!

Another person devoted to your child’s Christian Education is the Shepherd. The Shepherd will move with the class from workshop to workshop, helping the Workshop Leaders and the children each week. This person is a jack-of-all-trades. He or she will be the constant presence in the children’s Sunday School and will be able to understand each workshop’s lesson and theme. Shepherds are individuals committed to a year-long Sunday school experience.

One of the main assets of WoRM is that it’s fun. Children love to come into Wilmer Hall and find out which workshop they are going to be in.  As a parent, you will find WoRM to be easy and stress-free… no more fighting with your kids to come to Sunday School. As we begin to get into the swing of this process, look out for all manner of rotation workshop ideas. We can do knitting, computers, Godly Play, story telling… you name it!

This method of teaching is also wonderfully educational. Our experience with WoRM in the past has shown that our children will remember Bible stories far longer. At the end of the year, our kindergartners are usually able to remember vivid details of the stories we cover from August!

Another bonus of WoRM is that it is seasonally-based rather than lectionary-based. When we are in Advent, we can do Advent. When we are in Christmas, we can do Christmas. This approach allows us to concentrate more on the practice and foundations of what we are doing in church each week. The Liturgics workshop, where we explore why we do what we do in church, will solidify these ideas. The children will have an opportunity to manipulate the Eucharistic elements, learn about the creeds and prayers, and practice parts of the service. As we progress throughout the year, the students will be able to put together practice with belief.

Vacation Bible School
For more  information about VBS, please click here.

Teachers and Volunteers for Elementary-Aged Children
Everyone who teaches in the Sunday school at St. Paul’s provides a wonderful and important service to our children and youth. If you are interested in joining this dedicated group of volunteers please feel free to contact Bill Campbell, Director of Education for Children and Youth, at 703-549-3312 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Choirs

Angel Chorus (pre-K through grade 2) meets weekly on Wednesdays during the choir year from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. Spiritual formation, learning to belong, and musical fun are all included. The Angel Chorus participates in occasional 9:00 a.m. services.

St. Cecilia Choir (Grade 3 through changed voices) is an affiliate-graded choir program of the Royal School of Church Music training scheme, "Voice for Life." The St. Cecilia Choir leads worship at the 9:00 a.m. Sunday service from September through May. Choristers meet weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. The choir gathers at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning to prepare to lead the 9:00 a.m. service.

For more information about St. Paul’s music ministries for children, please contact the organist and choirmaster, Grant Hellmers at 703-549-3312 x17 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .