To those outside of our community, Saint Constantine can look a little strange. A campus that hosts preschool-aged children alongside college students? It’s different here, but those who spend a little time on campus will soon discover a school community that reflects what a flourishing Christian community should look like.  

As someone whose job is split between the roles of college administrator and PreK4 play supervisor, my days are spent serving the oldest and youngest students on our campus. Setting aside the matter of age and executive reasoning, these students aren’t so different from one another. They come into the Saint Constantine community wondering if they will fit in, find friends, be able to keep up and be successful. They ask the same questions that all people ask of a community: Do you see me? Do you need me? Do you delight in me?  

As adults, I think it’s a common experience to participate in a community with caution. We attend church events and bring dishes to potlucks; we send our parent friends silly memes and commiserate about the latest phase our kids are in; we cordially greet our coworkers around the office and share our desk snacks with them. And while these things are all good, we short sell how much more profound a community can be if we would dive in. It’s easier to protect ourselves from the vulnerability that’s required to be fully immersed in a community. But the human need to be seen and known is still there. Flourishing Christian community — reflecting the true love of our Creator — answers those fundamental questions we so desperately want answered: We see you. We need you. We delight in you. 

In the world of PreK, teachers are always striving to confirm to our young students their membership in and importance to the community. Listening sincerely to their triumphs and woes, noticing their particular interests and yearnings, inviting them into meaningful work, giving them jobs, and laughing with them are just a few simple ways by which they are established as people who are valued and known. If this is what little children need, how much more do older children, teenagers, college students, and adults — who have increasing awareness of the pain and suffering in the world — need the same?  

Certainly, no community will serve each member perfectly. But if you stick around Saint Constantine, you’ll see the daily effort of our faculty, staff, and students to participate in this community well, even when (especially when) it calls for the vulnerability to be known. Students, both preschoolers and college-aged alike, know when they are seen, valued, and loved, and this is where flourishing begins.