Our Atrium (Level I and Level II) at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Sierra Vista, AZ.

This is a common atrium setup with a few variations.  We have a holy water font and as the children enter, they learn to bless themselves with holy water.

In the small basket on the left is where we serve small paper cups of water for the children whenever they are thirsty as we have no water fountain in the room or nearby.




We also have a table with files where the children keep their artwork or letters to take home.  There is a date stamp on the table for them to stamp their work that day.






Also, as we don't have a sink with running water, there is a pitcher and bowl, typical in a Montessori classroom.  We keep the pitcher filled with some water and they are taught to wash their hands after polishing or pasting.  They throw the excess water into the bucket below when finished.

On the left bookcase is "The Tomb," "The Eucharistic Presence," and on the bottom shelf, "The Eucharistic Presence with International figures."

Most importantly there is the stationary bookcase with colored pencils, paper, glue sticks and scissors.  The first thing they learn in the atrium is how to collect their materials and put them away at the end of class.  It's wonderful to see three year olds in Level I become so comfortable with this structure.  They become competent and learn responsibility.

You can see blue name cards on the top shelf.  These I use for my Level II atrium because so many different family members drop off and  pick up during the year.   In addition, it is dark at 6:30 p.m. by the time they pick their children up.  The parent passes the name card to the relative or friend who will be picking up.  I have found that this makes it so much easier for me when they hand me the card.   I can look directly into their face and after a while I recognize them.  We have a sign in/sign out policy as well.  The sign up sheet is outside the atrium on a stand.

Our Level I atria meet on Sunday.  There are two sessions.  We also have a Thursday, Level I atrium for home school children.  Our Level II is during the week on Wednesday and Thursday.  These classes prepare our children for their First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion, ages 7 to 9 and sometimes older.  Now we have a Family Class for the older children and their parents attend as well.