School: Elementary School

2024 Christmas Program

On Tuesday, December 10, the sanctuary of The MET Church was filled with the sounds of Christmas. Our youngest TK Warriors opened the evening with a song, followed by amazing performances from the secondary choirs. With the help of high school drama students, our K-5 students honored the Lord Jesus while performing “Wrapping All the Way.” Thanks to the CCS fine arts directors, faculty, staff, students, volunteers and the staff at The MET Church for making this event a joyful and God-honoring occasion. Merry Christmas! 

2024 Kindergarten Graduation

The Kindergarten class of 2024 entertained an audience full of family and friends during their graduation ceremony on Monday evening, May 20, at TheMET Church. 46 kindergarteners recited 27 scripture verses and sang three songs – the last of which was a show-stopper about moving up to first grade. Our four kindergarten teachers presented each of their students with a character trait award, and each student told what they wanted to be when they grew up. It was a sweet time of celebration. Congratulations to our new first graders!

Bridgeland Campus Groundbreaking

We were blessed to hold the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, February 23 for the new Cypress Christian School campus in Bridgeland, opening in August 2025. Dr. Jeff Potts and the Board of Directors prayed over the campus before the ceremony.

Mike Slabic, Dr. Potts and Scott Mestayer spoke, fifth-grader Berkleigh Elsner led the pledges and junior Ryan Fisk said a prayer over the ceremony. The ground was broken by the Board and Dr. Potts and Board Member Stacy Fransen closed the ceremony in prayer. “We are not only here today to celebrate groundbreaking, we are also here to recognize that there has never been a greater need in our nation for what will be happening under the roof of this building and out on the fields of this campus. Increasing the scope and impact of Christian leadership in our community and our country through an academically rigorous and Christ-focused education experience is what we believe this new campus will do.” – Mike Slabic, Chairman of the CCS Board of Directors

Community Impact article

Lemonade Day Results

When Junior Achievement was no longer an option for our elementary school students, Dr. Allen began searching for alternative curriculum that matched our mission of cultural impact. Ryan Fisk, Rowan Smith and Ian Barrow approached Dr. Allen to suggest Lemonade Day, whose mission is to help today’s youth become the business leaders, social advocates, community volunteers and forward-thinking citizens of tomorrow…one lemonade stand at a time.

With strong support from the elementary faculty, Fisk, Smith, Barrow, our NHS students and our fourth and fifth-grade students were challenged to build a business plan, purchase required supplies and run a lemonade stand. Each group of students worked in teams to identify pricing and marketing strategies and plan execution. They completed the curriculum on January 25, as the East Gym hosted 15 lemonade stands, alongside the bustling activities for Run-4-Fun. 

But it wasn’t just about the lemonade or learning — it was about the impact. Every dollar of the over $3,000 raised went directly to three local charities, amplifying the reach of these young changemakers far beyond their lemonade stands. With each donation, they planted seeds of hope and kindness, nurturing a culture of giving back that will continue to flourish for years to come.

Spiritual Emphasis Days 2024

Monday and Tuesday, January 22-23, CCS held Spiritual Emphasis Days to provide students with a pause from their ordinary academic schedules in order to hear from God’s Word, participate in worship through song and think through what it looks like to follow the Lord with their everyday lives. Champion Forest Baptist Church graciously hosted both days, providing hospitality, a worship team and a myriad of activities for students to participate in. 

Middle school welcomed Mr. Taylor Stricklin, middle school pastor at Champion Forest, as the keynote speaker. He passionately unpacked lessons from the Bible that all dealt with individuals who fell asleep and the consequences that came to them and others. Whether exploring the story of Eli from the Old Testament or Eutychus, who fell asleep as Paul preached and then fell to the ground from the third story window, Taylor’s impassioned plea was for students to encounter the Lord Jesus and not spiritually sleep. After each of his talks, students gathered into discussion groups to dig in to the teaching. Forty juniors and seniors served as small-group leaders. Ten middle schoolers publicly committed their lives to following Jesus during the last large group session on Tuesday. 

An important idea for elementary students was that we need to confess (spit out) our sin. If we confess, Jesus promises to forgive us and Satan can’t make us feel guilty. We can also struggle with the idea of turning the other cheek, being slow to anger and being loving to others.

Takeaways from elementary students/classes:

• TKA: We learned about God and being a real Christian.
• KD: Being an authentic Christian means you’re the real deal. Christians feel bad when they don’t obey God. They always say sorry. They walk away when people are rude.
• 1A: Being an authentic Christian means to be a real Christian. A real Christian loves God, loves others, prays, reads the Bible and follows God’s commands. 
• 1B: Being an authentic Christian means you are the real deal. You can ask God for forgiveness when you sin. You love and forgive others. 
• 2C: God is the Lord and Savior. Authentic Christians share the gospel, feel bad when they sin and are doers of the Word. 
• 4B: To be an authentic Christian, you have to love others, believe Jesus is Lord, be a real deal Christian, be a “doer” for Christ. 
• 5B: Being an authentic Christian, aka the real deal, means being doers of the Word. You can see from one of their journal entries what it means to be a doer of His Word. 
• Kendall’s friends in their own words: Being an authentic Christian is to be the real deal, to lay your life down for God, to love one another. If you want to be an authentic Christian, God has to be the King of your life. Authentic means you are the real deal. I learned how to know God and come closer to Him. We are to love one another and be kind.

CCS would like to thank the entire Champion Forest Baptist staff and volunteers who contributed to welcoming us and caring for our students for these two days. Our prayer is that each student who participated will find their walk with God deepened as they take the next step toward Christlikeness.

Elementary Basketball Night

The CCS basketball programs were pleased to offer our first Elementary Basketball Night last week. It was a festive and fun atmosphere as we celebrated our fourth and fifth-grade teams and cheered on the future stars of the basketball program while they performed at the halftime of the games. Their energy and enthusiasm propelled both teams to victory vs. Logos Prep.

2023 Christmas Program

On Thursday, December 7, the sanctuary of The MET Church was filled with the sounds of Christmas. Our youngest TK Warriors opened the evening with a song, followed by amazing performances from the secondary choirs. With the help of high school drama students and members of the drumline, our K-5 students honored the Lord Jesus while performing “The Little Drummer Dude.” Thanks to the CCS fine arts directors, faculty, staff, students, volunteers and the staff at The MET Church for making this event a joyful and God-honoring occasion. Merry Christmas! 

Fifth-Grade Retreat at Carolina Creek

Fifth graders had the opportunity to attend a Fifth-Grade Retreat at Carolina Creek Camp. The fifth-grade students who attended were able to spend three days and two nights working on team building, getting to know each other better and growing spiritually.

Students were broken into four small groups to enjoy Bible study and group activities. The theme for the retreat was Isaiah 43:1-4 and students learned that God has not forgotten them, God knows them by name and God restores them. Students enjoyed a keynote speaker and small group Bible discussions each day. Students also learned about the attributes of God while enjoying team-building activities like crate stacking, climbing the giant ladder, kayaking, cable park (knee-boarding), adventure park (ropes course), arrow tag, ziplining and target sporks (archery and tomahawks). On the last day, our teams got to practice working together to solve several puzzles and gather the tools they needed to rescue their group leader who was “kidnapped” and stranded in the middle of the lake. It was great to watch the students learn how to work together and encourage one another while completing different tasks. Overall, the students grew closer together as a group and closer to God.

Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve

Daddy Daughter Dance

Last Friday evening, elementary dads and daughters gathered for our first Daddy Daughter “Candyland” Dance. They had a sweet night that included tiaras, dancing, playing games, face painting, a balloon artist, craft station and candy bar complete with cotton candy machine. The night was full of laughter and fun was had by all. We are looking forward to this becoming an annual event. Thank you to all the volunteers who made it possible.

Spelling Bee Winners

Our second through fifth-grade students have been working hard preparing for the spelling bee! We are so proud of all of them! Ten to 15 students from each grade level made it to the final round and competed for first, second and third place on Friday, January 27.

Winners are as follows:

Second Grade – first place: Clara, second place: Nathaniel, third place: Rebecca

Third Grade – first place: Jovi, second place: Evan, third place: Mila

Fourth Grade – first place: Bryce, second place: Eisley, third place: Landry

Fifth Grade – first place: Justice, second place: Kami, third place: Tripp

Spiritual Emphasis Days 2023

Last Thursday (1/19) and Friday (1/20), CCS held “Spiritual Emphasis” days to provide students with a pause from their ordinary academic schedules in order to hear from God’s Word, participate in worship through song and think through what it looks like to follow the Lord with their everyday lives. Champion Forest Baptist Church – Champions Campus graciously hosted both days, providing hospitality, a worship team and a myriad of activities for students to participate in. 

Elementary students enjoyed learning about the importance of being a Warrior for God, starting and ending each day with large group sessions full of worship and biblical lessons led by the Champion Forest Baptist Church elementary and preschool staff. Students learned how to pray using the acronyms TPPP (Time, Place, Plan & Person) and PB&J (Prayer, Bible & Journal). Students also enjoyed making prayer bracelets and journals in small group sessions, connecting the lessons to their science knowledge by making elephant toothpaste (when you fill yourself with the Lord, it bubbles over into everything you do) and slime (prayer can make messy situations better) and getting their wiggles out with a scavenger hunt to find all the pieces to the armor of God.  

Middle school and high school were blessed to welcome back Mr. Bill Paige as keynote speaker, and he passionately unpacked lessons from the ministry of Jesus. Whether exploring the restoration of a demoniac or the healing of the sick (and even the dead!), his impassioned plea was for students to encounter the Lord Jesus and leave these two days “a different way than they came in”. After each of his talks, students gathered into smaller, faculty-led discussion groups to respond to the teaching and to receive prayer and encouragement from their teachers and peers. 

CCS would like to thank Stephanie Chase, Justin Holcomb, and the entire Champion Forest Baptist staff and volunteers who contributed to welcoming us and caring for our students for these days of “Spiritual Emphasis”. Our prayer is that each student who participated will find their walk with God deepened as they take the next step toward Christlikeness.

Celebrating the 100th Day of Kindergarten!

Wow! What a great day celebrating 100 days of kindergarten! Students rotated through stations and STEM activities all surrounding the number 100. One of Mrs. Roberts’ favorites was seeing the students’ creations when she gave them a bag of mini marshmallows and toothpicks! The students were excited and loved showing off their 100-day shirts!

Special Guest Author, CCS Alumna Koedi Nealy

The TK and kindergarten classes had the opportunity to meet former CCS alumna and published child author, Koedi Nealy (’21). Students were mesmerized by her, loved hearing her read her story (“Pennies from Heaven”) and share her heart. Koedi gave all the students a bookmark and a penny as a reminder of how important they are to God and that even at their age, they can make an impact for His kingdom. Visit GracedMinistry.org for more information about Koedi’s ministry.

Christmas Program 2022

On Thursday, December 8, the sanctuary of The MET Church was filled with the sounds of Christmas as K-12 students honored the Lord Jesus through drama and song performing “All About that Baby” at the annual Christmas program. Thanks to CCS fine arts directors, faculty, staff, students, volunteers and the staff at The MET for making this event a very joyful and God-honoring occasion. Merry Christmas!

View Performance Video

Run-4-Fun Results 2022

We are so proud of our elementary students and their effort at raising funds through Run-4-Fun! Students raised over $55,000! Funds will be dispersed between flexible seating and updated technology in the library, playground equipment, a scholarship established in honor of Mrs. Tammy Otts, equipment for the computer lab to increase curriculum for the STEM program and library books for classrooms and the book vending machine.

The top runners were:

• Fifth-grade boys: Third place – Lleyton Brown, Second place – Sam Hickey, First place – Carter Boul
• Fifth-grade girls: Third place – Alianah-Grace Kahanek, Second place – Lorelai Waller and Joy Anderson, First place – Alise Andrade
• Fourth-grade boys: Third place Gabriel Johnston, Second place – Bryce Davey, First place – Jayce Wilson
• Fourth-grade girls: Third place – Savannah Waller, Second place – Cameron Stephens, First place – Elyse Laidlaw
• Third-grade boys: Third place – Jack Marble and Evan McClellan, Second place – Jack Anderson, First place – Kie Layton
• Third-grade girls: Third place – Caitlin Czagas – Second place – Macy Yaw and Mila Wolfswinkel, First place – Harper Yaw
• Second-grade boys: Third place – Brady Bush, Second place – Aiden Stablier and Colt Skipper, First place – Mason Gutierrez
• Second-grade girls: Third place – Bryn Luther, Second place – Emilia Skaggs and Marilyn Ward, First place – CeCe Boul
• First-grade boys: Third place – Levi Stablier, Second place – Asher Birmingham, First place – Christopher Boujaoude
• First-grade girls: Third place – Grace Almonte, Second place – Camila Cantu, First place – Mia Hall
• Kindergarten boys: Third place – Jake Dewitt, Second place – Nicholas Dababneh, JJ Choi and Colin Moreno, First place – Kai Chatman
• Kindergarten girls: Third place – Andrea Gfeller, Second place – Belle McGill and Selah Doan, First place – Moyin Adeyefa

Go, Warriors!

Dewberry Farms Field Trip

First grade enjoyed a fun day at Dewberry Farms on Friday, November 4. The rain held off and the children were able to: go down giant slides, be pulled by a tractor, ride on a train, be pulled on giant swings, jump off of hay bales, feed the goats, jump on an inflatable pillow, race pedal carts, eat a picnic lunch and do many other exciting activities. We appreciated all the parents who helped make this field trip a success.

Fifth-Grade Retreat

This year, fifth-graders had the opportunity to attend a Fifth-Grade Retreat at Carolina Creek Camp. The entire fifth-grade class attended, and were able to spend three days and two nights working on team building, getting to know each other better and growing spiritually.

Students were broken into three groups and each group had Bible study time each day and got to apply the attributes of God that they learned to challenging tasks like ziplining, climbing the rock wall, experiencing the giant swing and others. It was great to see the students encourage each other through each challenge. Students attended chapel each day where they worshipped together as a group. Overall, the students grew closer together as a group and closer to God.

TK Playdate at the Park

On Tuesday evening, eight of the 10 students in our inaugural Transitional Kindergarten (TK) class and their families met at Ross Poppe Family Park for a playdate. The kids enjoyed the playground while the parents visited and started forming lifelong friendships. We were thankful for some shade and a nice breeze. Sweaty smiles were on all of their adorable faces by the end of the evening. We look forward to welcoming our TK class to CCS next week! The kids enjoyed the playground while the parents visited and started forming lifelong friendships. We were thankful for some shade and a nice breeze. Sweaty smiles were on all of their adorable faces by the end of the evening. We look forward to welcoming our TK class to CCS next week!

Kindergarten Insect Research Projects

Last week, kindergarten started working on an insect research writing project. Groups from each class have been researching butterflies, bees, ladybugs and ants. By the end, students will have learned so much and have written a small research paper about what they have learned. We are so proud of their hard work in writing this year. 

We also have an exciting extra piece to our unit this year. One of our kindergarten parents’ family owns Bee Weavers in Navasota, Texas and graciously allowed us to borrow an observation beehive and send our kindergarteners home with some honey treats and information. Thank you to the Weaver family, we are so grateful for this addition to our project this year and for the yummy honey treats for the kindergarteners and staff. Victoria is in Mrs. Roberts’ kindergarten class and was thrilled to share the bees and treats with her friends!

Elementary Rodeo Art

The elementary school recently held its first Annual Rodeo Art Award Ceremony. Students whose art competed at the 2022 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo art competition were presented with their certificates and ribbons, along with 60 additional recipients who were also considered Best In Show. Congratulations to all of our winners! We are so proud of all the work you put into your artwork.

100 Days of Kindergarten!

Kindergarten celebrated their 100th day of school last Friday, January 28. The students wore their 100-day masterpiece and had a day filled with activities all surrounding the number 100. Some of the activities included making a necklace with 100 Froot Loops, building with 100 Legos, stacking 100 cups, building with 100 toothpicks and mini-marshmallows and the list goes on. They are so excited to be 100 days smarter!

NAHS Pumpkin Painting Project with Elementary

“It was such a privilege to be able to arrange this project for the kids. Every year, NAHS has been able to organize a project for after-school care, and this year we took a vote and decided pumpkin painting for the fall. All the members were so excited to be able to spend some time with the kids and encourage their creativity, and everyone who could not make it was kind enough to buy needed materials. Thank you to all the members who took time out of their busy schedules to be able to participate including Vice President -Justin Kostecki, Chaplin – An Tran, Secretary – Abigail Sanders and members Lilyana Balderas, Katelyn Hong, Jenna Hall, Reagan Lubs, Marko Micic, Olivia O’Bannon, David Wahmhoff (photographer), Mallory Overton, Taylor Hardwick and Chloe Peacock.

~ Written by Tori Kraft, President NAHS

Christmas Card Contest Winners

Earlier in the fall, CCS announced the annual Christmas Card Contest and asked elementary and secondary students to submit artwork depicting the story of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This year, eight works of art were selected to create Christmas cards to be sent to preschools, vendors, donors and fellow Christian schools.

Congratulations to these talented artists!

In no particular order:

1. Cailea Chalton – Grade 8

2. Lilyana Balderas – Grade 11

3. Reagan Lubs – Grade 10

4. Victoria Weaver – Kindergarten

5. Regina Hernandez-Rodriguez – Grade 10

6. Rachel Czagas – Grade 8

7. Mary Ellis Shappley – Grade 1

8. Colton Fields – Grade 5