The purpose of the A&HT Wyoming Preschool is to provide a safe and stimulating environment for preschoolers - one that promotes the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of each child enrolled.  Our classrooms are child-centered and offer many opportunities for experimentation, exploration, and creative social, emotional, cognitive, and physical growth.

We believe that trained, experienced teachers are the foundation of this child-sized world.  The teachers facilitate your child's learning experience and set loving limits within which your child can grow and learn.  We help all the children to have faith in themselves and to see themselves as worthy human beings.

"Who's seen Ratatouille?" Caitlin asked the Wyoming Preschool Very Hungry Caterpillar Class as she assembled her cooking supplies on the snack room table. Caitlin, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, started her presentation by showing the preschoolers the special clothes she wears when cooking, which included a chef's coat, a white chef's hat, a cravat, hounds-tooth pants, apron and steel-toed shoes. She also displayed her knife roll, which held her knives and other cooking utensils.

"When I was a little girl, I was a picky eater" said Caitlin who went on to explain that since she was so picky, when she was in third grade her parents decided it was time for her to learn to cook. Caitlin found that she loved cooking and making up her own recipes. Even to this day, Caitlin still uses the first recipe she created which consisted of boiling small shaped pasta in chicken broth, and then mixing in slices of American cheese.

During her presentation, Caitlin encouraged parents to spend time with their children cooking food together. Caitlin told the class that cooking is something she enjoys doing with her two sons, four-year-old Mac and two-year-old Miles Danger. In order to get them involved in the cooking process, Caitlin will put some toast in a small frying pan and let her sons practice flipping the toast. She also will put a pot of water on the stove and let her sons whisk the water.

"I want to be a policeman when I grow up," said four-year-old Lucas Miller during a recent school field trip to the Wyoming Police and Fire station. "I want to be a firefighter," said Connor Reifenberger, whose dad currently is living his childhood dream of being a firefighter.

During the field trip, the Wyoming preschoolers enjoyed a first hand look at the daily operations of the Wyoming Police Department, the Wyoming Fire Department, and Wyoming Emergency Medical Services.

In the Police Department, Officers Joe Klump, Tom Riggs, and Rusty Herzog led the children through the police offices, a tour of a patrol car, the interrogation room, and the jail. Officer Riggs talked about bicycle safety, and office Klump focused on gun safety. At the end of the visit, the friendly police officers handed out bags filled with stickers and coloring books explaining further safety tips.

In the Fire Station, firefighter Taylor Wood took the preschoolers on a tour of the fire trucks and garage. Wood explained how the firefighters use the hoses and the other equipment they have on the trucks to fight fires. He also had a fellow fire fighter dress up in all of the gear to help the preschoolers understand not to be afraid of firefighters, but to seek them out in a smoke filled room, or fire. At the end of the visit, every student received his or her own fire hat and badge.

In the EMS division, Joan Krieg brought the group of preschoolers into an ambulance. Krieg went around the ambulance and explained all of the equipment that is used during an emergency call. The preschoolers had the opportunity to have their heart rate read and to lie on the stretcher. The visit concluded with every student receiving his, or her very own pair of brightly colored medical gloves.

At the conclusion of the field trip, there was much discussion among the students about all the new things they had learned and about what department they liked best. "I want to be an ambulance driver" said Abe Rempe as he walked back to the preschool.

Paul Bartel, playing the electric violin and son, Jason Bartel, joining in with the Bass, bring down the house with a rousing rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus" for the enthusiastic A&HT Wyoming preschool students.

Father and son duo continued to play a compilation of favorite preschool hits in the form of "Name that tune", including "Mary had a Little Lamb", "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "The Flintstones", and even "Star Wars".

"Music really gets you started in the morning" said Paul Bartel, owner of the Baroque Violin shop and founder of the Wyoming Fine Arts Center as he begins to play his electric violin very fast for the attentive preschool students. "I liked that they went fast and slow, and we would go fast and slow" said student Meredith Guest.

During his seven years of teaching and developing a strong orchestra program at Finneytown schools, Paul Bartel realized the need for a great place to purchase, rent and repair instruments. Bartel decided to open the Baroque Violin shop in 1973 to fulfill this need. As the business kept growing, son Jason Bartel, decided to help his father with it. "I was a design student at the University of Cincinnati, hoping to have a career that I would be able to work with my hands", said Jason Bartel. "I then decided I would be able to do that with my father at the shop".

Paul Bartel's love of music and desire to inspire young people has led him to travel to schools all around Ohio and Kentucky to help encourage students to become involved in the musical programs at their schools.

To further encourage an interest in music, Bartel founded the Wyoming Fine Arts Center in 1995. The Wyoming Fine Arts center is home to the Cincinnati Strings Academy, the Art Works Academy, the Dance Workshop, the Summer String Fling, and the Summer Arts Express. The fine arts center also hosts many other groups and offers private lessons and summer camps.

At the end of the performance, four-year-old Sophia Hamel said, "I have a violin and it (the performance) makes me want to play it." Without a doubt, music to the ears of Paul Bartel.

For more information visit the Baroque Violin Shop.