ABOUT US
Your Child is in Great Hands
Here At First Steps Preschool
We offer a quality Christian preschool education for members of our church family and the community of Lodi. We believe the family is the most important provider of care AND the most important teacher of values. First Steps Preschool’s role is to support and assist the family in this endeavor.
Our top priority is the nurturing and educating of young children in a Christian environment using a variety of experiences and materials to help the child grow spiritually, intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically in a secure atmosphere of warmth and love.
Each child is a precious individual, created in the image of God who learns and develops uniquely. First Steps Preschool provides a learning environment that strives to meet the individual needs of every child. It is a place where children will develop a positive self image and feel loved and accepted.
Children have freedom within limits to develop skills necessary to grow and practice foundational life skills. Children interact with peers and experiment with many forms of language, art, science, music and math, opening their eyes to the world around them and maximizing the potential Christ sees in each one.
Ms. Bethany | Site Manager
Ms. Bethany has worked with young children for over 16 years. She has enjoyed many years as a Children's Ministry Director at several churches, as a Preschool Teacher, and now as the new Site Supervisor here at First Steps Preschool! Bethany has 3 children of her own, and has been married to her husband for 15 years. Bethany grew up in the Santa Cruz area, but has lived locally the past several years.
Our Mission
The mission of First Steps Preschool is to glorify God through the training and nurturing of children in their spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development by providing a child centered program that conveys salvation through Jesus Christ and fosters a love for God and His word, a love for each other, and a love for the world.
“We will not hide them from the children, telling the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done.” ~ PSALM 78:3-4
"My daughter attends the First Steps Preschool 3 year old class and loves it! The teachers here have by far exceeded my expectations. My daughter has learned to write her name, and sounding out all the letters. I love that this is a Christian based preschool... she comes home telling me "mom do you know how much Jesus loves me!" I'm always impressed how clean and organized the staff are. Each day my daughter is excited to come to preschool because of the love and encouragement the teachers at First Steps gives her."
- Amber Gonzales
Statement of Faith
ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God and that it is, therefore, the final authority in matters of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
ABOUT GOD
We believe in one God who exists co-equally and co-eternally in three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20)
ABOUT CREATION
We believe the world was created by the will and word of God. (Genesis 1:27-31)
ABOUT JESUS
We believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, and that He is fully God and fully man. (Luke 1:26-35)
ABOUT HUMANITY
We believe that man was created in the image of God: that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death which is separation from God: and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and become sinners in thought, word and deed. (Romans 5:12)
ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit. (John 15:26)
ABOUT SALVATION
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the basis of His shed blood. (John 3:14-16; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
ABOUT CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, after being buried following His crucifixion on the cross at Calvary, rose bodily from the dead, and that He is the Savior, and the only Savior, through whom fallen man can find forgiveness and salvation. (John 1:29; Acts 4:12)
ABOUT CHRIST'S RETURN
We believe that Jesus Christ Himself will come again to this world to rule and reign in righteousness, and that His coming again will be literal, personal and visible. (John 14:1-6; Acts 1:11)
ABOUT FAITH
We believe in justification by faith alone, apart from human merit. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
ABOUT EVIL
We believe in the personal existence of Satan and demonic beings. (Job 1:6; Matthew 25:41)
ABOUT THE GATHERING
We believe in the importance of the corporate gatherings of the church and normally set aside time to meet on Sunday which is the day of Christ's resurrection. (Hebrews 10:24-25; Luke 24:1; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2)
ABOUT THE RESURRECTION
We believe in the resurrection of the dead, the righteous to everlasting blessedness and the wicked to everlasting damnation. (Matthew 25:31,46)
ABOUT FOLLOWING JESUS
We believe that each Christian has the responsibility to seek to honor God in everything he or she thinks, says and does and to shine the light of Christ into the world by word and deed. (Colossians 3:17; Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Peter 3:15)