BREMERTON — Taking care of children and students has been something that the Sylvan Way Christian School has always been known for.

In previous years, it offered childcare, pre-school and a kindergarten through eighth grade curriculum.

Due to finances, the school had to limit its services four years ago to just childcare and pre-school classes. But as of next fall, kindergarten will return to the Sylvan Way Christian Early Childhood Center.

“We’re very excited to have an opportunity to offer kindergarten again,” said Bonnie Linden, administrator at the school. “And our parents are really happy about it, too.”

According to Robin Breakey, who is now a preschool teacher, but who will teach kindergarten in the fall, class size will be an advantage.

“We have 10 students enrolled now,” she said. “But our classroom size will be limited to 20.”

If enrollment warrants it, the school may add another section of kindergarten.

“Smaller class size and more individual attention for each student is a very important aspect of our school,” said Breakey. “And the fact that we teach in a Christian-based environment.”

With the kindergarten and the preschool and childcare, all parents who enroll their children know and understand that the school is religion based.

“We don’t promote any specific denomination,” Linden said. “But we are able to talk about God and Jesus in the instruction that we do.”

It was 43 years ago that the school began. Today, teachers and administrators find that parents choose them for a number of reasons.

“Some of them are in school or working,” said Stephanie Devey, principal at the school. “Some of them are at-home moms, but want their kids in a school-setting where they can be around other children.

“But all of them respect that this is a Christian school and that their children will get much more individualized attention than at some other places.”

Linden said the school’s programs are “at the low end” of private tuition costs in Kitsap County. Tuition for half-day kindergarten is $280 per month per student.

Most families who use the school are not members of the church that it is affiliated with, but just choose the school because of its good reputation.

“We have so much longevity in our staff,” she said. “Our teachers stay here.”

Too, she said, some of the current parents have had other children attend the school, and some of them attended the school when they were young.

When kindergarten starts in the fall, teacher Breakey plans to take the class around the world.

“We’re doing a year-long trip,” she said. “We’ll visit each continent and our art, science and math lessons will have to do with where we are. We’ll also learn about cultures and about the animals that are native to each place we study.”

Linden said Breakey is typical of the teachers at the school.

“They think out of the box,” she said. “Robin is so motivated to teach. She has fantastic ideas.”

The curriculum does meet state standards, Linden said. And any kindergartener that attends Sylvan Way Christian, will be ready to advance to first grade at another public or private school.

In fact, the school works with the Bremerton Public Schools when preparing its curriculum, Linden said.

“They provide us with training and curriculum and they test our children,” she added.

The devotion of the teachers, who spend hours beyond the classroom working to educate the students, is what means the most to those affiliated with the school, Linden said.

“And just the joy on the kid’s faces,” said Devey. “That’s what makes our days.”

To find out more about the school and its programs, call 360-373-5028, or go to www.sylvanwayministries.com. The school is located at 900 Sylvan Way in Bremerton.