Our Story

In 2000, the leadership of Grace Church began discussions about establishing a weekday preschool ministry at Grace. Due to the interest from the community and a desire to create a ministry intentionally focused on outreach, the church leadership decided to move forward and establish the preschool ministry at Grace to begin in the fall of 2001. Diana Abbott was hired to direct the ministry. Two teachers and one assistant were hired to staff the ministry and registration opened on June 1, 2001. In September 2001, twenty students were registered for the program. Classes were offered for 3 year olds and 4 year olds on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm September through May.

2001, Diana established a relationship with ACSI to provide a solid foundation for the ministry, and in 2004, GEM became licensed with the state of Texas.

After hours of dedicated effort and work from our Accreditation Team, the initial ACSI Accreditation was granted in June 2014. Accreditation renewal given July 2019, and we are preparing for our next renewal July 2024.

The ministry has grown from the original 20 students registered to 167 in 2023. And staff has grown from the original four to over 40 currently serving on the GEM staff 2023-2024.

GEM has been voted “Favorite Best Early Childhood Center” by the readers’ choice in the Allen American paper in 2017 and 2021.