What are your school hours?

Our school hours prioritize healthy mornings for growing bodies, honoring the need for good sleep and plenty of downtime. Our doors open at 8:30 a.m., with the school day starting promptly at 8:50 a.m. Dismissal is at 3:15 p.m. every day, with the exception of our 1:15 p.m. Wednesday dismissal. This midweek, 2-hour early dismissal allows parents to invest in extracurricular activities without overcrowding evenings and provides the time required for faculty and staff to collaborate on our unique curriculum and engage in professional development. We also offer before care beginning at 8 a.m. and after care that extends until 5:30 p.m. each day.

MTThF: 8:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.

W: 8:30-1:15 p.m.

Before Care: 8:00- 8:30 a.m daily.

After Care: after school until 5:30 p.m daily.

What are your class sizes?

Our current class sizes range from 12-20 students. Kindergarten is always staffed with two teachers to provide the needed support for children making the big transition to a full day class schedule. Classes are provided additional support based on both overall class size and need.

What is your discipline policy?

We use restorative practices at Cambridge School, meaning we train teachers to address feelings through caring questions and careful listening that guide students in identifying their own thought processes, emotions, and the emotions of others. This helps them reflect on natural consequences and the process of relational rupture and repair. Teachers and staff facilitate discussions that reach the heart of the behavior, rather than settling for surface-level behavior modification. Teachers address student behavior in the moment with redirection and re-engagement and follow up with students as needed to guide them to reflect on their decisions and repair relationships where needed.

How are parents involved in the school?

Parent involvement enriches our school and strengthens our community bonds in significant ways we couldn’t achieve otherwise. We’re so grateful for parents that organize our talent show and student experiences (like Narnia Day in first grade) that make Cambridge a unique, fun, and rich learning environment! Cambridge invites parents to share six hours of their time a month (three hours a month for single parent households) to support the school in a variety of ways. Field trips, prayer support, organizing events, lunch and recess duty, subbing, native plant cultivation, and library read alouds are just a handful of ways Cambridge parents invest in the lives of our students.

How is technology used at your school?

Technology (in the form of occasional learning-related videos to amplify concepts) is used very judiciously in our lower elementary. Students have the option of doing 1-2 projects digitally starting in third grade, and students begin typing practice during the summer following fourth grade as they are introduced to Chromebooks and receive their first safe, secure school email address in fifth grade. The supervised use of Chromebooks is limited to school, and students are not permitted to take them home. Phones are not allowed at any time during the school day and must be turned off and remain in the student’s backpack if brought to school. If parents need to contact their child during the day, communication is handled through the school office.

Do you offer separate Bible classes?

We are a Christ-centered school, so faith and truth are infused in everything we do and say. Because we believe we are made in the image of a good, powerful, just, and wise God, every part of our curriculum flows from that truth. Rather than treating faith as a separate subject, it naturally shapes how and what we learn, with everything being viewed through the lens of Christ as Creator. Each day begins with a devotional study that helps students understand the overarching narrative of Scripture, and that truth is then woven into everything they learn about in history, science, literature, and art. Our chapel curriculum also reinforces this faith-rooted understanding of the world and our place in it. We want to communicate to children that the Bible isn’t a separate piece of learning to add on, but the well from which all other truth flows from.

Does Cambridge offer learning support?

With our small class sizes, supportive teaching assistants, and unique curriculum, Cambridge is adept at identifying students that benefit from additional scaffolding. Our curriculum is structured to naturally lend itself to multiple learning modalities and skill levels with the use of small group exercises and evaluations, a variety of visual aid formats, and narration techniques. Communication is open and frequent between teachers and parents, allowing for a partnered approach to student support. Cambridge employs a Learning Support Coordinator who aids in the process of identifying and supporting children who learn differently during their elementary and middle grade years. They specialize in providing assistance to faculty and families to scaffold student learning, lend support, and employ informed intervention where needed (using outside referrals and providers as necessary). They closely monitor student progress and ensure accommodations agreed upon by Cambridge are being implemented appropriately.

How does Cambridge provide a safe learning environment?

Cambridge carefully considers how to protect the health and safety of our students in a variety of ways. All staff members undergo health and safety training, which includes administering allergy medication, recognizing warning signs, and reviewing cross-contamination prevention procedures. Our on-call delegating nurse provides detailed guidance to support students’ health needs, offers additional training for our designated certified medication technicians (CMTs), and is available for on-call assistance.

Cambridge staff and students are instructed to leave visitors at the door so that entry can be granted by the office, as all doors and gates remain locked during the school day. Entry points are carefully monitored via video surveillance, and fire drills and safety procedures are routinely reviewed and practiced multiple times throughout each school year.

Cultivating community and mutual care and respect for every student in our classrooms is something teachers model and frequently encourage our students to become more sensitive to and skilled in as they grow in their social-emotional learning. Rooted in our understanding of being made in the image of God, children are taught their innate worth, and that of their classmates’, a point we naturally reference throughout our curriculum at every grade level.

This social-emotional learning is extended and supported by our Outdoor Education program and facilitated by our Outdoor Education Coordinator (who is also a licensed occupational therapist). In Cambridge’s educational philosophy, we are deeply aware that getting children outside has social, emotional and mental health benefits for our entire community. We have seen the implementation of our Outdoor Education program cultivate these rich rewards for our children, teachers, and families, allowing us to serve the needs of our community not only in words but in actions.