September 11, 2020
CCLS Families,
With a little more than three weeks behind us, CCLS remains people focused as we strive for academic excellence. We are continuing to look for ways to enhance our online instruction. In addition to the core courses, we are now providing two enrichment opportunities for our middle school online learners: Mr. Will’s Arduino Microcontroller course and the Student Ambassador LeadershipTeam (SALT) course that I teach. 

This week CCLS 3rd-8th grade students took the NWEA benchmark assessment. NWEA uses assessment data from over 10.2 million students to create national norms, placing our students and school within a representative national sample. By drawing from an incredibly wide pool of anonymized test records (pulled from more than six million test events, 23,000 schools, and 49 states), NWEA is able to accurately represent the US school-age population. This assessment will assist teachers in making data-informed decisions about instruction in order to meet the individual needs of our students. The assessment also provides students the opportunity to set learning goals throughout the year, as we encourage our students to have a growth mindset. While we take comfort knowing that only through something better in Christ does God make us perfect, we continue to strive for academic excellence as we transform lives through Christ-centered education at CCLS.

Have a great weekend in the LORD!
Matt Hoehner
Executive Director

...Early Childhood... Our three ECE classrooms are in full swing at Crestwood! Every time I stop by the campus, our children are deeply engaged in rich educational activities (not even realizing that they’re learning along the way)! Parents describe Crestwood as “family”, and that sense of community is palpable when you step on campus. Nestled in the midst of our expansive green space, under the massive shade tree, our new playground is finally installed! You can be sure that joy and laughter are a part of each day!

...Elementary... Thanks for your diligent work, third and fourth graders, in completing the fall NWEA testing sessions! We will be planning testing make-up times for those who were absent. We will also be planning NWEA testing opportunities for our third and fourth grade distance learners. We will give you dates and times for testing in the near future. All of the elementary students are working through Benchmark reading assessments, as well. We are certainly busy collecting a lot of data about our students.

...Middle School... Thanks to our Director of Communications, Jenna Dehn, there is a page on the website dedicated to the annual "Taste of Middle School". Typically, this event is an evening where parents spend time walking through the daily schedule of their child and learning about what transpires in middle school. This year, teachers have created videos for all the classes that would be regularly shared in person. Please enjoy the videos at this "Taste of Middle School" link.
Moms in Prayer
Join other moms for a powerful time of prayer!
Praying together provides hope and strength to moms who carry heavy burdens for their children.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 states, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

We have been blessed, in the past, to have had a group of moms that would meet and pray for students, families and staff of CCLS. The moms who previously led this group have graduated from CCLS (at least their children have), and we would like to reinvigorate the "Moms in Prayer" group at CCLS.

If you have a passion for praying and would like to meet (physically distanced) with a wonderful group of ladies who also have a passion for prayer, please contact Royce Hartmann. If this is you, you will be invited to be a part of this prayer group. If you are a mom, a grandmother, an aunt, any woman desiring to pray for children and schools, experience the joy of replacing anxiety with peace and hope when you pray, this is for you. If you want to be a part of a group that prays scripturally and specifically for your child and their school with other moms, this group is for you.

For more information or if you have any questions please contact Royce Hartmann at rhartmann@ccls-stlouis.org. Thank you!
SCRIP is a program in which you can purchase gift cards at face value and then receive a percentage of the gift card purchase back. That percentage goes into your TADS account to offset tuition and other charges. It is truly free money for purchasing gift cards to places you would normally shop. It is also a great way to buy gift cards for Christmas, birthdays, etc. without having to go to the stores directly.

If you are interested in using SCRIP, all you need to do is:
  • Fill out a registration form 
  • Fill out a SCRIP envelope (located at both campuses), 
  • Put a check in the SCRIP envelope for the cards you order
  • Place it in the basket provided. The orders can be brought in by your student and given to Meghan Morelan (elementary campus) or Marcia Luttrell (middle school campus). 

Orders are placed on Mondays and filled on Wednesdays. You can pick your order up on Thursdays or Fridays at whatever campus you specify on your registration form. Please turn your order into the elementary campus by 8:30am or to the middle school by 10:00am on Mondays. For those of you who have used SCRIP in the past, you will need to fill out a new registration form for the year.

If you have any questions about SCRIP, please email scrip@ccls-stlouis.org or call or text Sherry Jokerst at 314-537-1664. However, please identify yourself when doing so.
We're Hiring!
  • Morning Assistant, Crestwood: Mon.-Fri. mornings, 8:00am until 12:00pm. Pay rate: $12.26-$14.42/hr., commensurate with education level.
  • Afternoon Assistant, Kirkwood: Mon.-Fri. afternoons, 12:00pm until 6:00pm. Pay rate: $12.26-$14.42/hr., commensurate with education level.  

Apply online by clicking Careers at the bottom of the school webpage or email janderson@ccls-stlouis.org.
We Love Referrals!
CCLS has been blessed to welcome 58 new students in our K-8th grade classrooms this school year! Many of those students are here because they were invited by a current CCLS family to be part of our community.

If you have a friend, family member, or neighbor who may be interested in early childhood options this school year, CCLS currently has limited availability in ECE classrooms on each of our four campuses. Click here (http://ccls-stlouis.org/enrollment/) for connections to more information about those early childhood opportunities. We'd love more families to be part of "Something Better" this school year!