The Connection

Helen Guest has been the director at St. Timothy’s Pre-School more years than Carrie Manetto has been alive.

Manetto, 36, of Herndon, attended preschool at St. Timothy’s 30-some years ago; her daughter now attends the school, her son is a graduate. Her other daughter is on deck.

“I have happy memories here,” said Manetto, 36. “It’s a special, a very loving place.”

For her children, Manetto wanted a place where they would be loved and be safe. Her older son was “very, very shy,” when he enrolled.

“When we came in, they said, ‘We give a lot of hugs here.’ I said, ‘Done.’ It’s like an instant bond,” she said.

“He blossomed here,” said Manetto.

MISS HELEN, as she is known in Herndon, taught at St. Timothy’s during the school’s first three years. It was established in 1975; she became the second director of the school in 1978.

“Miss Helen has held this place together. She is just such a support for whomever knows her,” said Manetto.

“I do remember the ones from way back,” said Guest. “There have literally been thousands of children over the years that have come through here.

We have wonderful families, we have multiple second generation families. They have good memories of their time here.”

Jean Werner’s children attended the school; now her grandson does.

“I really like the school, the kids like it a lot, too,” she said.

When she posited St. Timothy’s to her son for his children, she said his response was immediate. “He said, ‘that’s not a bad idea. I liked that place.’ He remembered it,” said Werner, of Reston.

Some of his friends have known each other since they were three-year olds, she said.

ST. TIMOTHY’S gave Guest a farewell celebration on Sunday, May 15.

Guest is retiring in June.

“She has touched so many people, she’s had a big impact on the school and community,” said Monica Despins, a teacher at St. Timothy’s who will be its new director once Guest retires.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be here this long,” said Guest. “I’m so fortunate to have found this place. It has given me so much more than I certainly brought to it. Seriously. When you’re in the right place, you just feel it.”

She started her career as a first-grade teacher in New Orleans, then in New Jersey before moving to Herndon in 1973.

“They give you energy. I like to think they keep you young,” she said.

“I’m surrounded by people who love the children, they really do. I’ve had parents who have told me that they’ve never been in a school that was as happy as this school,” said Guest. “I can’t go anywhere in Herndon without running into somebody I know.”

CHERYL ENGLEY is just one example of St. Timothy’s teachers who have stayed for long periods of time. Engley has worked with Guest for 37 years as an assistant teacher.

“We have children of children. It’s fun to see,” said Engley, of Herndon.

“She gave me this wonderful job,” she said. “How lucky I’ve been. I’m truly blessed to have had this experience, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

“I don’t know if I created it,” said Guest, “it’s just coming together of the right people.”

“My philosophy has always been with the staff, ‘You bring together good people and let them play on their own strengths.’ We have some incredibly talented people here,” she said. “When you get talented people together and they collaborate, it’s so creative and it’s so fun.”

While one teacher who is a fan of Washington Redskins teaches counting and geography via Redskins scores and their opponents, Despins said she uses her interest in cooking to teach.

“Before families register with us, I don’t do an open house, we have parents come and spend time here,” said Guest. “Warts and all, we want them to see the crazy, the whatever, so when their children come to us, they choose us and there is a level of confidence in what we are doing here.”

Werner recalls when St. Timothy’s teachers helped paint a mural of Noah’s Arc on the wall. They gave the children their own animal to select and pick the features to paint.

“Okay, bears are usually brown, but if you want a purple bear, that’s fine,” said Werner.

MONICA DESPINS will become St. Timothy’s third director in 40 years.

“She is ready to go, it was time for her to step a little out of her comfort zone,” said Guest, who asked Monica to be a teacher more than two decades ago after her three boys were students.

“Helen called me after I subbed a year when my youngest son was here. Do you have any interest? I said, ‘No, no.’ And I got off the phone and my husband said, ‘You know how many hours you volunteer every week?’

I haven’t looked back.”

“You have this team of people that are happy to be here and when you walk into that environment as a child, they immediately feed off that. They know it’s a happy place to come,” said Despins.

The preschool curriculum, for three-year-olds and also pre-kindergarten classes, includes reading readiness activities, science, art, mathematical concepts, nature, music, language arts, and sand and water play. But many parents say they are attracted to St. Timothy’s open classroom during the second portion of the day. Students can select an art room, a butterfly room for science and nature room, a ladybug room for math, a quiet room, a music room or a snack room.

“Open time program in the middle of their day allows children to pick and choose what they’d like to do,” said Despins. “It promotes a great sense of independence. These children that leave here are definitely kindergarten ready.”

“For me personally, Helen has pulled me along the past two years. I keep on introducing new ideas, and she is the first to say, ‘Go for it.’”

Such as a lunch bunch program that gives students (and parents) in the morning session a chance to stay at school until 1:30 p.m., and an enrichment program for children ready to stay for longer days.

“I want people to understand this school is not about me, it’s about what is being left here. It will continue on,” said Guest.