School Term

Children’s Country Day School offers a nine-month school term program. School term program options include half-day or full-day, and the choice of a three, four, or five day a week schedule. Indoors, we have 8,000 square feet of child-sized space, divided into learning centers, including a mini-gym. Our learning centers offer age-appropriate materials and activities such as Dramatic Play, Art, Daily Living, Manipulatives, Nature, Language, Math, Blocks, and Music.

HOURS AND DAYS OF OPERATION

Children’s Country Day School is open from 7:30-4:30 Monday through Friday. Our days of operation run closely to that of the 9-month school calendar of School District #197. A complete school year calendar for CCDS is given to each family upon enrollment. You can view the 2024-2025 school term calendar here.

Child Drawing on Pavement with Chalk
Children Observing

CAPACITY, AGES SERVED AND RATIOS

CCDS is licensed to serve 135 children between the ages of 16 months through age 6. The school year runs September through May. Programming is scheduled based on a full-time or part-time basis with 3 half days being our minimum requirement. CCDS strives to provide lower child-to-staff ratios (fewer children per teacher) than required by the state.

ToddlersPreschool 1
Ages: 16 months to 30 months*Ages: 2.6 years – 3.6 years
Group Size: 12 childrenGroup Size: 14 Children
Ratio: 1 teacher per 6 studentsRatio: 1 teacher per 7 students

*Child must be walking to attend

Preschool 2Preschool 2
Ages: 3.6 years – 4+ years**Ages: 4+ to 5 years**
Group Size: 16 childrenGroup Size: 18 children
Ratio: 1 teacher per 8 studentsRatio: 1 teacher per 9 students

**Preschool 2 children must be fully toilet trained

Nature

The Nature Program at Children’s Country Day not only gives children an opportunity to explore and learn about our natural world, but also provides a foundation for social, emotional, and academic growth. Nature based learning takes place through hands-on experiences like:
• apples & pumpkins
• sap to syrup
• planting and harvesting

Animal Adventures

Animals are an important part of every child’s time at Country Day. From fish and guinea pigs, to ponies and llamas, children are never far from a friendly animal at school. Children have the opportunity to interact with a variety of animals on a daily basis through both informal visits with their classes, and more focused activities during “Animal Adventures”. Children learn how to interact safely with animals:
• through feeding and grooming
• through observation
• by helping perform a variety of farm chores

Hands-On Learning

At Children’s Country Day School we believe that children learn best through hands-on learning experiences. Throughout our indoor and outdoor classrooms you will find children cooking, building, creating art, playing instruments, caring for animals, measuring, writing and more. Children are learning about the world around them by doing.

Music & Sign Language

Singing, playing and dancing are part of every child’s time at Country Day! During Sylvia’s Thursday music groups, the children learn new songs and sing old favorites. Students are introduced to a variety of string instruments, percussion instruments, and different dances and movement activities. Music helps young children:
• to develop their language skills
• to develop their listening skills
• stimulate new brain connections

Even for children who are able to communicate verbally there are a number of benefits from teaching sign language to young children. On Tuesdays, Sylvia teaches children sign language through the use of puppets, stories, and songs. Learning to sign:
• improves fine and gross motor skills
• teaches the diversity of abilities in the community
• boosts vocabulary skills