Top Ten Things to Know About CCNS

1. We're a program of Christ’s Church, the Episcopal church of the City of Rye, New York, and a member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools.

2. Our Pre-Kindergarten program meets or exceeds the New York State standards for this age group.

3. We're the only school in Rye to adopt the “Bank Street” approach to early childhood education, which links learning to the outside world, and sees education as an opportunity to build community. All children regularly play with blocks.

4. We're blessed with an active and caring Parents' Association, which raises funds through the annual Play Today Fair, an important event in the Rye year.

5. We're a school that places great emphasis on creative expression through the visual arts. All the stunning paintings that decorate this website were made by children in the five-day program in the 2005/2006 year.

6. We're often able to arrange class trips to local museums, the Rye Free Reading Room, and other important sites. (After a recent visit to the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, our children built Jackson Pollock's studio in our block room and painted there.)

7. Music and Storytelling, and sometimes movement are part of the curriculum through visiting teachers. We also have special visits from nature centers, and our children learn about safety from the Rye Fire Department.

8. We have the services of a psychologist, who arranges special presentations and is available for individual consultation.

9. The Bonnie G. Loflin Memorial Nursery School Scholarship Fund has been established to enable a child to attend the three-year-old or four-year-old-group, who might otherwise be unable to attend due to family financial circumstances.

10. We teach children how to think. As Eleanor Roosevelt said: "Every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young to use their own minds. For one thing is sure: if they don't make up their own minds, someone will do it for them."

Click here to download a copy of the 2008-2009 Application Form.