Academics

Our Curriculum

Early Childhood | 3K/JK/SK

The early childhood classrooms provide an interactive environment rich in experiences and resources to aid children in their growth and development. Children actively engage in center-based learning, with guided play and instruction as the foundation of this time. We celebrate emerging literacy—the ability to read, write, speak, and listen. Children work as investigators, authors, mathematicians and scientists as they explore a central theme and discover God’s truth in the world around them. As children mature, we increase the focus on discovering God’s world through math, reading, writing, and science while still providing play opportunities.

Lower School | 1st-4th Grades

The Lower School employs a balanced literacy approach which includes shared, guided, modeled, and independent reading and writing instruction. Word study is given specific instructional attention and is embedded in the study of literature and writing. Students explore and analyze truths in God’s world through units that incorporate social studies, science, Bible, and literacy content. Mathematical study includes numeration, geometry, measurement, probability, operations, and algebraic-readiness.

The Summit | 5th/6th Grades

In preparation for secondary school, our 5th and 6th Grades are departmentalized. Four teachers communicate and invest in the growth of each child while viewing him or her as a scientist, mathematician, linguist, historian, and theologian. Teachers instruct within their areas of expertise and passion while collaborating to preserve our signature curriculum across math, science, literacy, social studies, and Bible. Our unique approach provides a nurturing environment for students to build a bridge between the lower and middle school years. We emphasize building skills in interpersonal communication, organization, study habits, and time management.

Mathematical studies in the intermediate grades move into more advanced exploration of mathematical concepts and procedures. This includes work with positive and negative integers, long division, fraction or decimal based operations, geometric work with angles and lines, measurement work in all areas and conversions of units, probability, basic statistics, algebra, and more.

Field Trips

At Central, we value the way field trips can deepen our students’ learning. From 3K through Sixth Grade, students go beyond the walls of our school to deepen their current curriculum studies. From touring The Hill on foot, to appreciating masterpieces at the St. Louis Art Museum, to contemplating and grieving oppression at a local Holocaust museum, we immerse children in deeper learning experiences that classrooms alone cannot provide.

Fathers, mothers, and even grandparents, accompany many field trips as chaperones, providing guidance and transportion. The cost of most field trips are included in tuition.

Because of restrictions related to Covid-19, field trips have been paused at this time. It is our intention to incorporate field trips back into our curriculum with the 2021-22 school year.

Academic Assessments

List of 3 items.

  • For Students in 3K/JK

    We give ongoing developmentally appropriate classroom assessments to measure fine and gross motor skills, phonemic awareness, rhyming skills, letter identification, letter/sound correspondence, concepts of print, 1:1 correspondence, patterning, and rote counting. Each trimester in Junior Kindergarten, we give a comprehensive assessment to determine student progress prior to Parent-Teacher Conferences. We also provide feedback to parents on their child's social-emotional and spiritual development.

  • For Students in SK-2nd Grades

    All SK through 2nd Grade students participate in benchmark assessments throughout the year in three areas—math, reading, and writing. We use math benchmark assessments, DRA2, and writing prompts to measure progress during the school year and from year to year.

    To help us measure students' reasoning ability, we administer the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) each spring. When compared to other classroom and benchmark assessments, the NNAT guides individual student instruction and gifted identification.

  • For Students in 3rd-6th Grades

    All 3rd through 6th grade students also participate in benchmark assessments in math, reading, and writing. Math benchmark assessments, Teachers' College Assessment, and Central writing prompts help teachers gauge student progress.

    As an outside measure of student progress, we annually administer the ERB Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP5). The CTP5 is a combination of achievement and reasoning tests and is widely recognized as the most rigorous and respected standardized test. View more details on how Central students compare using this data.

Feedback to Parents

We provide trimester progress reports on all students (3K-6th Grade) to provide feedback on a child's journey toward educational goals and standards. Our standards-based report cards are issued three times per year prior to parent-teacher conferences.

Outside of the formal trimester reporting season, Touchpoints offer parents insight into their child's ongoing progress in core disciplines. Parents receive written communication at least once a trimester with individualized suggestions and strategies to promote parent partnership and student ownership in learning.

Central Christian School

700 South Hanley Road
Saint Louis, MO 63105
ph (314) 727-4535 | f (314) 727-8006
info@centralschoolstl.org