FAQs

We offer the following program options:

Infant and Toddler Program: This is a 5 day per week, full day program. Parents can drop off and pick up their child any time during our operating hours.

K-Prep 2-4 Programs: There are 3 program options available to families:

Full Day: This program allows parents the flexibility of dropping off and picking up any time during our operating hours of 7:00am-6:00pm.
Academic Day: Children that attend our Academic Day program can attend from 9:00am-3:30pm.*
Half Day: Children that attend our Half Day Program can attend from 9:00am-12:00pm.*

*There is no before/after care option for these programs. Parents choose the program that best suits their family’s needs.

Our classroom ratios change with the major ages and stages.

Infants: 1: 3 ratio with a max group size of 6 children
Toddlers: 1:3 ratio with a max group size of 9 children
K-Prep 2 Program: 1:6 ratio with a max group size of 12 children
K-Prep 3 and K-Prep 4 Program* 1:10 ratio with a max group size of 20 children

*Our K-Prep 3 and 4 programs fall under the Maryland Non-Public Schools certificate of approval, which means that during the academic day hours of 9:00am-3:30pm, our ratio is 1:12 with a max group size of 24 children.

Columbia Academy believes in redirection and getting to the root of what is causing the behavior or issue that the child is displaying and helping to guide them through their feelings so they learn how to handle the situation in the future. We utilize both a Peacemaking curriculum and Responsive Classroom strategies in our K-Prep 2, 3, and 4 programs to help the children gain the tools to process their emotions, and our teachers model behaviors for them. With our Peacemaking Curriculum, children learn about relationship building, conflict resolution, anger management, how to speak to friends in a peaceful way, and each month children learn about a different virtue and how to display those virtues in the classroom. Virtues include respect, honesty, gratitude, responsibility, fairness, and more.

Our preschool classrooms are set up in centers, including Math and Manipulatives, Art Exploration, Science, Technology (for K-Prep 3 and 4 programs), Language and Literacy, Music and Movement, Dramatic Play, a Blocks center, and a Library/Reading Center. The primary benefits of having centers in the classroom are oral language development, self-regulation, and social skills. When children can explore hands-on activities at each center, it also increases their engagement.

Each day, students choose activities from the classroom centers, including math, art, science, and (for K-Prep 3 and 4) Technology. While there is not a designated engineering center, every day in our preschool classrooms, children have opportunities to build, explore, and discover how and why the things in their world are built and how they work, and how to solve problems. In the Blocks center, children use their imaginations and may discover the best way to build a bridge or a tower, or a variety of other fun building challenges.

For our Toddler program through K-Prep 4 program, morning and afternoon snacks* are included. We also offer an optional hot lunch program* that parents can sign up for at an additional cost. Meals are prepared daily at our Elementary and Middle School and delivered hot to our preschools.

In our Infant program, all food must come to school prepared by the parents and labeled with the child’s name, contents, and date.
*We are a completely nut-free school and do not serve or permit any food with peanuts or tree nuts.

Children play outside 2 times per day (weather permitting) for 30 minutes each during the academic portion of their day. In our Toddler program through K-Prep 4 program, each classroom has designated outside time and in our Infant program, they go outdoors based on the individual classroom schedule and routines.

All of our schools utilize The Creative Curriculum® by Teaching Strategies for our Infant through K-Prep 4 programs. The Creative Curriculum ® allows the teachers to tailor lesson plans to the needs of the children, and meet each child where they are academically, with additional focus on their social and emotional development.

Our Infant Program is 100% individualized to meet the needs of the children. Not only are they on their own schedule based on the routine care they need (i.e. diapers, feedings, naps, etc.) but each child has their own individual lesson plan each week that the teachers execute and track their progress based on their age and stage to ensure they meeting their developmental milestones.

All schools are equipped with a keyless entry system that only allows individuals with assigned door codes access to the building. This allows the school to monitor who is coming in and out of the buildings.

All doors and playground gates are always locked from outside access.

Each child is required to have an emergency card on file. Only the individuals listed on the emergency card will be permitted to pick up the child if the parents are not able to. If the school has not met the individual prior to picking up, they will be asked to bring their state-issued ID, and a member of the management team will walk the individual back to the classroom.

All schools also complete monthly fire and tornado drills as well as quarterly shelter-in-place drills

Our preschools are in the process of becoming accredited through the National Accreditation Commission (NAC). Two of our 4 preschools have submitted for validation visits and are waiting for their visit windows.

We are not a Montessori school. At Columbia Academy, we utilize The Creative Curriculum®, which is a play-based curriculum with a whole-child approach to education that teaches children to be creative, confident thinkers. Children are offered opportunities for hands-on exploration and discovery that help build lifelong critical thinking skills and foster confidence.

Children with similar birthdays are intentionally grouped together to promote and enhance their social, emotional, and academic development. This facilitates the evolution and strengthening of those peer-to-peer relationships since they will have been with the same children from the start of the program to the end.

Our curriculum is tailored to meet the children where they are academically on an individual level. All activities, whether done in a large group, small group, or one-on-one setting, have questions and activities tailored to the group that they are working with.

All schools participate in the Holiday Giving campaign, Souper Bowl, and Art Show. During the holiday we have a holiday shop which allows the preschools to come to the elementary and middle school to shop for holiday gifts.

Additionally, we structure all of our program levels based on the whole-child and our preschools work closely with the elementary and middle school each year to ensure there is a seamless transition from one stage to the next. Children that attend our K-Prep4 program are offered priority enrollment into Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten at the Elementary and Middle School. There are many benefits to continuous enrollment, and we have many children that attend our schools from 6-weeks old through 8th grade.