CHRIST CLASSICAL ACADEMY

Parents

Welcome to the Christ Classical Parent Page. Here you will find quick links, answers to frequently asked questions, and other resources to better enable you to partner with us in your child's education.

Calendar

Download 2019-2020 Academic Calendar

Contact Information

Justin Hughes
Head of School
850.656.2373
jhughes@christclassical.comView Faculty & Staff Page
Zack Latham
Asst. HOS
850.656.2373
Karen Stark
Comptroller
850.656.2373
kstark@christclassical.com
Charlotte Brocco
Dir. of Comm
850.656.2373
kedwards@christclassical.com
Alyssa Bernath
Office Mgr
850.656.2373
abernath@christclassical.com

School Uniforms

Please reference the Family Handbook 2023-2024 for the most up-to-date uniform pieces. 

Follow the link below to access Christ Classical Academy's Lands' End page. 
LAND'S END
TOMMY HILFIGER

Magnus Lector

The human soul longs for beauty. The aim of Christ Classical's Magnus Lector or "Good Reader" program is to provide our students with a feast of true, good, and beautiful stories throughout the whole course of their education at our academy. Just as good, nutritious food is necessary for the body to grow, so too, are good books necessary for the growth of the mind.

Magnus Lector for the Grammar School Grades 1-5
Magnus Lector for the Logic School Grades 6-8

Summer Learning

Christ Classical Academy encourages parents to take an active role in helping children avoid the inevitable “Summer Slide.” Preventing this academic slide will not only help children retain the knowledge and skills gained during the school year, but it will also prepare them for next Fall, allowing them to feel more confident and prepared on the first day of school. We recommend a daily routine of reading quality literature, writing, and practicing math skills.

Reading (required): Please refer to the Summer Reading Lists below for each grade level:
- Rising Kindergarten
- Rising First Grade
- Rising Second Grade
- Rising Third Grade
- Rising Fourth Grade
- Rising Fifth Grade
- Logic and Rhetoric

Writing for Grammar School (recommended): Scholastic’s Success with Writing workbooks provide quick, purposeful practice in the areas of writing composition and mechanics. We recommend you select a workbook from the grade just completed.

Writing for Logic School (recommended): Author Keri Smith has a number of creative writing journals that CCA recommends for older, emerging writers. Two recommended titles are How to be an Explorer of the World and Finish This Book.

Math (recommended): Scholastic’s Success with Math workbooks provide essential practice in a variety of different math skills for reinforcement. We recommend selecting a math skills workbook from the grade just completed. Find free online math practice at IXL and Khan Academy.

FAQ

What Are School Hours?
8 am-3 pm.  Student drop-off begins at 7:30 am. Dismissal is from 3-3:15 pm. After 3:15pm students will go to Extended Day to await pick up. See Parent Handbook for more information on late pick up fees and Extended Day. 

Do You Offer School Transportation?
CCA does not offer transportation. 

Do You Offer Any After School Care?
CCA offers after school care for K-8th grade students Monday-Friday from 3:15-5:30pm.

What Is Your Cell Phone Policy for Students?
We have a no-cell-phone policy during school hours. To contact your student during the day, please call or email the Front Office.

When Do I Keep My Student Home From School?
Students are expected to come to school healthy, well rested, and ready for class. To avoid infecting others, students should not be in school until they are symptom-free. If your student is staying home from school due to illness, please notify us by calling or emailing the Front Office. Review the Family Handbook below for further details. 

What Is Your Admissions Process?
Please refer to our Admissions page.

Forms and Family Handbook

Parents Reading List

As a community of learners, CCA has created a collection of helpful resources for parents. These resources (book titles, websites, audio books, etc.) have been suggested by our own faculty, staff, and parents. Copies may also be available at the school to check out.

The Well-Trained Mind
This educational bestseller has dominated its field for the last decade, sparking a homeschooling movement that has only continued to grow. It will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school. Two veteran home educators outline the classical pattern of education—the trivium—which organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child’s mind. With this model, you will be able to instruct your child in all levels of reading, writing, history, geography, mathematics, science, foreign languages, rhetoric, logic, art, and music, regardless of your own aptitude in those subjects.

Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning
Public education in America has run into hard times. Even many within the system admit that it is failing. While many factors contribute, Douglas Wilson lays much blame on the idea that education can take place in a moral vacuum. It is not possible for education to be nonreligious, deliberately excluding the basic questions about life. All education builds on the foundation of someone’s worldview. Education deals with fundamental questions that require religious answers. Learning to read and write is simply the process of acquiring the tools to ask and answer such questions. A second reason for the failure of public schools, Wilson feels, is modern teaching methods. He argues for a return to a classical education, firm discipline, and the requirement of hard work. Often educational reforms create new problems that must be solved down the road. This book presents alternatives that have proved workable in experience.

Repairing the Ruins
As parents, it is easy for us to look back and see the shortcomings of our own education. Since many of us were taught in public schools, we often have a pretty good idea of what we don’t want our children to learn. But what exactly should we give them instead?

The authors of Repairing the Ruins, a group of experienced teachers and schools administrators, faced this same question when they first embarked on the journey of education. They found a tried and true answer in classical Christian education. Here they explain what makes classical Christian education different from modern methods and why it offers a distinctly Christian alternative. Building upon this foundation, the authors provide parents with the “Whys and Hows” of the Trivium, tips on planning curriculum, wisdom in designing education to serve the heart as well as the mind, and advice on starting up schools.

Till We Have Faces
Haunted by the myth of Cupid and Psyche throughout his life, C.S. Lewis wrote this, his last, extraordinary novel, to retell their story through the gaze of Psyche’s sister, Orual. Disfigured and embittered, Orual loves her younger sister to a fault and suffers deeply when she is sent away to Cupid, the God of the Mountain. Psyche is forbidden to look upon the god’s face, but is persuaded by her sister to do so; she is banished for her betrayal. Orual is left alone to grow in power but never in love, to wonder at the silence of the gods. Only at the end of her life, in visions of her lost beloved sister, will she hear an answer.

Wisdom and Eloquence
To succeed in the world today, students need an education that equips them to recognize current trends, to be creative and flexible to respond to changing circumstances, to demonstrate sound judgment to work for society’s good, and to gain the ability to communicate persuasively.

Abolition of Man
In the classic The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis, the most important Christian writer of the 20th century, sets out to persuade his audience of the importance and relevance of universal values such as courage and honor in contemporary society. Both astonishing and prophetic, The Abolition of Man is one of the most debated of Lewis’s extraordinary works. National Review chose it as number seven on their “100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century.”

Norms & Nobility
A reissue of a classic text, Norms and Nobility is a provocative reappraisal of classical education that offers a workable program for contemporary school reform. David Hicks contends that the classical tradition promotes a spirit of inquiry that is concerned with the development of style and conscience, which makes it an effective and meaningful form of education. Dismissing notions that classical education is elitist and irrelevant, Hicks argues that the classical tradition can meet the needs of our increasingly technological society as well as serve as a feasible model for mass education.

Discover Classical Christian Education

The Lost Tools Of Learning By Dorothy Sayers

Christ Classical Parent Association (Formerly PTO)

CCPA's goal to promote meaningful opportunities to bless teachers and encourage the student body. We hope to accomplish this with 100% of families volunteering a minimum of 10 hours/semester. We believe in a partnership/covenant model of education, where everyone shares in the responsibility of providing a healthy and loving environment for learning.

Security

One of Christ Classical Academy’s four core values is Covenant Partnership. A key aspect of this value is a dedication to the safety and security of its students. Christ Classical incorporates several safeguards, including but not limited to:
  • Physical and social barriers to funnel all visitors through the school office
  • All doors and entry gates are lock and key access only
  • Faculty and key volunteers undergo state and national background screenings
  • Faculty are trained in several emergency protocols
  • Campus and faculty are connected through various lines of communication
Christ Classical Academy strives for excellence in the safety and security of our students and campus. For any questions or concerns, please contact our Assistant Head of School, Zack Latham at zlatham@christclassical.com.

COVID Procedures & Updates

September 3, 2020 Update

The CCA administration and our consultants have launched a helpful User Guide to orient our parents and students with Canvas, CCA's new learning management system. The guide covers how to create a Parent observer and Student user accounts, viewing grades, viewing and submitting assignments, and adjusting notifications. 
To download and review the guide, click here. 

August 11, 2020 Update
The CCA Re-Opening Advisory Panel, in concert with the administration and CCA Board, has produced a detailed Re-Opening Guide. This document sets forth policies and procedures for this unique school year. They have been developed with the counsel of a group of faithful, thoughtful members of the CCA community representing a variety of interests and points of view. They are intended to reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19, to permit high levels of participation in on-campus learning, and to support at-home learning until all students are able to return to campus. These policies will be temporary and will likely change periodically as conditions change. 
To download and review the guide, click here


July 24, 2020 Update
The CCA Board of Directors has voted to delay the start of the school year until Monday, August 24. We don’t yet know how this will impact the end of the school year.

One important reason for extending the summer is to allow more time to train teachers and parents to use our new learning management system Canvas. We’re excited about the opportunities Canvas is opening for us! It will provide a single platform for all academic communications. There you’ll find lesson plans and assignments and materials for classes, and students will be able to submit assignments in a variety of formats.

Adopting Canvas is important for more than just being able to pivot to remote learning in the event of a school closure. Canvas also allows us to engage and support both students temporarily at home because of illness and families who choose to keep their children at home but engaged with CCA classes.

We want to provide you with all the information you need to make the best choice for your family. Are you comfortable with attending classes on campus, or would you prefer to participate remotely? In order to aid the administration with research, policy development, and communication the board of directors is helping assemble a COVID-19 advisory panel. This group of parents, teachers, and board members will help school administration stay aware of current guidelines and imagine the best ways to implement them responsibly at CCA.

We value you, and we think your children’s education is important. We’re also committed to keeping your family safe and healthy and supporting you in these uncertain times. Thank you for your hard work, care, and generosity. We pray you experience God’s grace and care and that you and yours remain faithful and healthy.
June 26, 2020 Update

Christ Classical Academy's leadership is working hard to plan for a safe and healthy school year. We intend to start school on campus on time, August 12, 2020. To do this wisely requires careful planning, sensitivity and respect for the members of our community, and responsible adherence to public policy and guidelines. We are preparing a COVID-19 policy manual that will provide specific procedures for the safe operation of our school during the 2020-2021 school year. Until its publication, we have included a list of our priorities, plans currently in development and additional resources available below. A weekly message updating you with the most recent plans and decisions will also be published in our weekly newsletter.
KEY POINTS
● All teachers, students, and guests will be screened for symptoms and receive temperature checks.
● Classes will be grouped into pods: K3 - K5; Grades 1 - 3; Grades 4 - 5; and Grades 6 - 8. Classes will share lunch, recess, and bathroom visits with their pods. Students will wear face masks when they encounter students from other pods, for example Morning Prayer and dismissal.
● Students will either wash or sanitize hands at transitions from one room or playground to another.
● Cleaning professionals will disinfect students' desks, door handles, and light switches every day after school.
● Any student or faculty member testing positive for COVID-19 will stay home from school for 14 calendar days.
● All CCA families will be notified in the event of a student testing positive for COVID-19.
● CCA intends to remain open for on-campus classes as long as absenteeism remains below 40%.

Priorities
● The health and safety of our students and faculty and their families
● Cooperation with our community to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus
● Fulfillment of the mission and vision of Christ Classical Academy
● Delivering the highest quality classical education and Christian formation possible by whatever means are appropriate and available 
● Partnering with parents in ways that support their long-term goals for the education and formation of their children and their short-term circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic
Ongoing Planning
● Daily protocols—screening, use of face-coverings, limiting students’ contacts, training and practice of personal hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting
● Response to symptomatic people or positive COVID-19 tests
● Academic policies—instruction, assessment, and support for students absent for extended periods; contingency plans to deliver high-quality content and support remotely in the event schools close again
Staffing
● Training for teachers in daily protocols
● Training for teachers in best practices for remote learning
● Daily support for teachers—IT, sanitation, remote learning
● Well-trained, on-call substitutes to step into classrooms in the event teachers are symptomatic or COVID-positive
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CHRIST CLASSICAL ACADEMY

Classical Christian Education for Pre-K through 8th grade in Leon County
2205 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308
850.656.2373
© CHRIST CLASSICAL ACADEMY - 2022. All Rights Reserved.