Mary Merly was appointed as the new director of Wesley Learning Center in August, right in time for the start of the new school year.

Merly has a long history with early education, having been in the field for over 20 years as both a teacher and director, working in elementary schools that have early childhood programs. While she has worked with older children as well, she has continued to work on and run various different types of programs for children over the years.

According to Merly, the position feels like a perfect fit. Merly beamed with pride as she described Wesley as a homegrown preschool experience.

“I am just so excited,” Merly said when asked by The Newtown Bee how she felt about her new position at Wesley. “I’ve been looking for this type of opportunity off-and-on for a while … And I was very excited to find a place that looked like it; that really felt like an extension of my own values.”

Merly was drawn to the fact that, from the moment she went into the interview, she could already feel Wesley shared her commitment to safety and communication.

Wesley is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which Merly says means that they follow the tried and true national standards as far as how they interact with children and the curriculum. As far as communication, she was excited to see the practices, policies, and procedures Wesley has in place for strong early childhood development.

“So it’s a growing, vibrant place where I thought, ‘this is a place that I can bring my passion for early childhood in a way that really fits for me,’” Merly explained.

Creating A Supportive Environment

To her and the others at Wesley, they feel passionate about fostering a love of learning at a young age and to have children be inquisitive of the world around them. Merly said that what she and her colleagues love so much about early childhood from seeing how children interact with and try to understand new material to observing that “aha” moment where everything finally clicks for them.

“The teachers really observe them and give them positive feedback on whatever it is they’re trying out,” Merly said. “You know that the children feel comfortable taking chances.”

Another highlight, she notes, is seeing parents be proud of their children as they become independent and learn the academic skills that they need when starting kindergarten. Merly feels passionate about the welcoming and accommodating environment at Wesley. She knows that all families are different, and wants to work with parents and teachers to create the best environment for the children.

“We really want to work with parents to make sure that they’re happy, too,” Merly continued. “We have open communication here, and my door is always open as the director. Teachers know to address parents’ concerns, and if they don’t know the answer, they come to me … We all work together to make sure that everybody’s feeling comfortable.”

Merly says that transitioning into Wesley has been a learning experience for her, but that she has been incredibly happy and proud of how community-oriented it is, and how the teachers are as joyful as they are invested in what they are doing.

She has had several meetings leading up to the 2024-25 school year with Wesley staff, as well as meetings with parents of incoming students. Parent meetings gave the chance for parents to hear a few words from Merly as the new director, talk about what will happen in the coming year, and what they want to see going forward. Afterwards, parents get to take a look at the classroom and meet their child’s teacher.

“And then the children come in before the first day to sort of take a tour of their classroom and meet their teacher, spend a little time together, just so that on that first day, it’s not as intimidating,” Merly said.

Everything about the education experience at Wesley, Merly says, is designed to accommodate the children. She and the others understand that every child learns differently, so Wesley classrooms have different types of materials.

To that end, Merly said that every classroom needs to have materials for different levels of development because even if kids are the same age, it doesn’t mean that everybody is at the same point.

“They’re little humans, but they still have all those different characteristics, so you need a classroom that has something for everybody; something that has a place where you could play by yourself if you wanted to for a little while, and then you can go over and try to socialize and get in with a group,” Merly explained.

Each of Wesley’s five classrooms, Merly says, are designed to be neat, child-friendly, and organized, and has sensory objects such as a sand table and Play-Doh where they can use their senses and develop their fine motor skills. She says she wants children to feel like the classroom is their space, too.

Programs And Heading Into A New School Year

Merly takes pride in the several different programs that Wesley offers. These include a program for two-year-olds, a preschool program for ages three and four, and an extended day for four-year-olds.

In those programs, children will have the opportunity to learn with hands-on learning activities during what Merly calls choice time. In this small meeting time, children learn to listen, participate, take turns, communicate, develop language, and more.

“That’s a time to sing songs, to read books; to go over what is going to happen on that day and the schedule so that it’s predictable,” Merly said.

As the year goes on, Wesley has a music teacher that comes in. There is a Lunch Brunch for whoever wants to stay a little bit later in the day, which is a time for the children to have lunch, socialize, and enjoy more fun activities. They also have an enrichment program that runs a couple of days a week, where teachers will do a different activity depending on their expertise.

“Like if they know a little bit about science, they might do a Science Enrichment class. We have a teacher that’s a florist, and she may do some flower arranging or more into art and things like that, or a yoga class, and then that’s a couple of days a week,” Merly said.

She is also excited for all of Wesley’s special events, such as the picnic dance at the end of the year for parents and kids, and for all of their other events and activities throughout their programs.

Adjusting into the new leadership position, Merly says that she wants to do a lot of observing; to honor the teachers there and be of assistance to them and how they want to grow. She says she wants to do the same for the parents as well.

“I want to get to know the community and the parents’ needs as well, and really build upon the goodwill here. There’s so much to build. It’s already sort of set up so well, in terms of the staff and support staff that are there, everyone is very welcoming,” Merly said. “So it is really a process of observing for me and not coming in and making any huge changes, just holding up the program as it is and bringing new things as they come.”

Wesley Learning Center is located at 92 Church Hill Road. To learn more, visit wesleylearningcenter.org, call 203-426-6149, or email director@wesleylearningcenter.com.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.