EQUIPPING STUDENTS TO JOYFULLY SERVE

2023-2024 admissions

What is classical Christian education?

Modern education trains your children for college and career, focusing on activism and power. Classical Christian education rightly orders students' loves and equips them to live good lives with joy and grit, focusing on truth and virtue.

in operation since

2019

91

students

now offering grades

K-9

located in

Okemos, MI

CLASSICAL ED'S TRACK RECORD

OUR FOUNDING STORY

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OUR OPENING YEARS

Cedar Classical Academy is a full-time classical Christian school located in Lansing Chinese Christian Church in Okemos, MI.

Hear the story of our partnership here.

Support from parents:

"We came to Cedar as we were looking for a school that would invest in our children's character and faith in addition to academics and that is why we have stayed; we are truly thankful for the community here."

Josh & Colleen

"We want our kids to go to Cedar Classical Academy so that they will appreciate beauty and see God's hand in the world, learn self-discipline, learn how to approach learning a new subject, learn Latin as a bridge to other languages, and have community with peers who are like-minded but not exactly like us."

Alex & Chetta

"Cedar Classical Academy is a long-term investment in the lives of our children and, through the partnership model, we as parents are growing as well. Goodness, truth, and beauty are all evident - they flow through every part of the Academy - and our family is falling more in love with the glory of God in all of life because of it."

Barry & Sarah

"Cedar Classical Academy has gone above and beyond in exceeding any expectations that I had for a private, Christian school. The academics push students to work hard, be self-disciplined and provide the framework for lifelong learning."

Ryan & Kate

"What a blessing this school has been to our family. Teaching from a Christian worldview and framework, the school does not shy away from hard topics but aims to build up students to face ease and hardship with grit and joy. Our kids love going to school every day and are forming good, positive friendships with the other students in their classes."

Jesse & Amber

"Sending our 4th and 5th graders to CCA this year was life changing for them. My husband and I had only heard about classical education, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. It was entirely different than public school! Learning at CCA feels like an adventure to our kids compared to the drudgery of trying to learn with the (often) boring curriculum in public elementary school."

Nathanael & Mari

Communities We Serve:

Bath

DeWitt

Dimondale

East Lansing

Grand Ledge

Haslett

Holt

Lansing

Maple Rapids

Okemos

Saint Johns

Williamston

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Friday morning Latin in Miss Stieren's 3rd Grade Latin class.

BLOG

Why We Have High Expectations in Kindergarten

This is adapted from a talk that Mrs. Ackerman gave at a parent education event called Lightning Talks on September 28, 2022. On the front end I want to warn you that this talk may make kindergarten sound like a battlefield, but in this short time I don’t have time to go into the wonder […]

In Defense of Mastery: Our Approach to Assessment Pt. 2

In our last installment in this series, we discussed the universality of assessment, the history of grading, and who grades are for, concluding that systems of assessment which serve institutional aims do not best achieve our aims for the student. Our aims for your students are self-government, self-control, virtue, mastery of the material, love of […]

Small Beginnings

Our founding story was recently featured on The Classical Difference which is published by the ACCS. Cedar Classical Academy was founded over 3 years, 2016-2019. Check out the story here. For more details, check out this blog post.

The Adventure of Reading Alone

Congratulations! Your child can read. He has mastered the first stage of reading: decoding and recoding. Now that he can sound words out, he has even started reading chapter books on his own. Supporting your child in this next big step is a little bit like un-babyproofing the house. Once the baby gate is stowed […]

Cedar Hallways

You come into Cedar Classical Academy for the first time and many unique practices fill your first impressions. You notice our uniforms, the orderliness of the students’ boot mat, the friendly greetings of students when you enter a classroom. You say, “Wow! A school in a church!” (To see how the Lord orchestrates this weekly, […]

In Defense of Mastery: Our Approach to Assessment

One of the primary goals outlined in our mission statement is to “offer a rigorous course of study in the Western liberal arts tradition, teaching students to discover goodness, truth, and beauty in every discipline as a reflection of God.” A great deal of preparation goes into the fulfillment of this statement. The governing board supports the school by upholding the […]

Harvesting Where We Did Not Plant: The Story of a Brick-and-Mortar School

In the summer of 2017 on a sweltering weekday morning, I parked just south of the Capitol and walked to the Michigan Department of Education, holding the hands of my two toddlers, in order to get a letter of approval declaring us a school. I had tried and failed to register our school with the […]

The Value of Reading Together

If you have a student in Cedar in Kindergarten, 1st Grade, or 2nd Grade, then you are familiar with this instruction on their take-home sheets: “Read at home with your student.” But what exactly does that mean? What should reading at home with your student look like? The Secret Sauce Let’s start with an encouraging […]

The Magic of Reading Aloud

Think of the turning points in great stories that have shaped you. What are the moments you remember? These moments still feel as vividly real to me as my own childhood memories: Bilbo in the tunnel just before he meets Smaug, Aslan coming back to life, Mole apologizing to Rat after upsetting the boat, Puddleglum […]