2023-2024

Our "soft start" school year began on August 23rd with excitement all around! Students, teachers, and parents were thrilled to participate in the beginning of a brand-new school and eager to see what the year would bring! The preschoolers and kindergartners learned one another’s names, explored everything both inside and outside the classrooms, and practiced routines for school and play. 

In September, we took our first field trip to the fire station! The Little Lions learned all about fire trucks, the fire stations, and fire safety. They even got to spray the fire hose! 

CCA teachers and students celebrated Grandparents Day by inviting grandparents to see their new school. Preschoolers and kindergartners showed grandparents their classrooms, made a keepsake craft, ate donuts, sang songs, and visited the “recess playground.” 

By October, our daily routines for learning were in full swing! Reading, math, science, and Scripture instruction focused on early literacy, number sense, exploration, and whole child development. We read books, sang songs, played games, and danced our way through each day! We spent lots of time outdoors, including a field trip to the Powder Valley Nature Center.

Our month concluded with a Halloween party complete with costumes, games, snacks, and a bounce house!

The month of November saw many Thanksgiving-themed learning activities at CCA. We learned about turkeys (both real and fictional), played Colonial games in PE, formed letters in shaving cream pies, and made a “friendship fruit salad” to celebrate our own “Friends-giving.”

We wrapped up this exciting month with a field trip to the World Bird Sanctuary, where we learned about and observed many varieties of birds (although ironically, we didn’t see any turkeys).

December at CCA was full of Christmas cheer! We took a field trip to the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company where we learned how chocolate was made and even got to taste-test some. 

Our December festivities culminated with CCA’s first annual Christmas Program. Family and friends gathered to enjoy a performance featuring singing, dancing, and a live-action movie starring the CCA Little Lions!

From a field trip to the History Clubhouse at the Missouri History Museum to making homemade bird feeders, we worked hard to explore the world around us despite the cold weather. All of the students had acquired so many new skills since  the start of the school year: writing and reading new words, mastering playground equipment, taking turns, conversing well with one another, putting on their own coats, and much more. They made new friends and developed more confidence and curiosity. CCA was filled with firsts—including our very first snow day!

So many exciting things happened CCA in February! We celebrated Valentine's Day with a valentine exchange and eagerly counted days until our approaching 100th day of school. 

We had so many hands-on opportunities for learning during this month. We had a mini music field trip to learn about different instruments, we had a guest from the Missouri History Museum come to teach us about transportation, and we began the EGG-citing task of incubating chicken eggs!

After three anxious weeks of counting down, our chicks “finally” hatched! We spent two weeks caring for seven adorable chicks before they went to begin their new life on a farm. 

In the midst of our excitement over hatching chicks, we also celebrated the 100th day of school with homemade 100th day shirts, a snack mix with 100 snack pieces,  100th day glasses, and of course, counting to 100!

Our March field trip took us to the St. Louis Zoo! After a visit to the creepy, crawly Insectarium, we rode the train and had lunch together.

The Little Lion Lemonade Stand was a huge success and taught our students so much about entrepreneurship, marketing, production, handling money, serving customers, and above all, stewardship and giving to those in need.

We spent part of our month observing caterpillars as they transformed into Painted Lady Butterflies. We also took a field trip to the farm at Suson Park and made some four-legged friends!

Our last month of school was full of fun and memories. We went on our final field trip of the year to Watson Trails Park and spent the morning catching bugs, exploring trails, and playing with our friends on the playground. The highlight of the month for our students was "Bikes N Trikes" day at school. We learned traffic and road safety while having fun riding our bikes and trikes!

The school year concluded on May 23rd with a water game day and a family picnic later that evening. We are grateful for God's love and provision for us during the 2023-2024 school year!