Children’s Community School will be launching our new Transitional Kindergarten program beginning with the 2025/26 school year. As the leader in progressive education in Los Angeles for almost 45 years, the expansion of our school to include younger learners is a natural one given our play-based, inquiry-focused, social-emotional, and individualized curriculum. CCS is dedicated to teaching children to think for themselves, collaborate successfully with others, and take responsibility for their own education in a safe and loving environment. We are thrilled to be able to offer this new grade to families so that children can begin their educational journey at CCS and a love of learning can begin to take root.
The TK program will provide a gentle entry into our elementary program- they will be offered on the same campus and the children will attend school five days a week from 8:40AM-2:40PM, just like the “big kids.”
Children who turn four by August 25, 2025 are eligible for TK, as are children who turn five during the summer of 2025.
Play
Play is at the heart of our school. It builds on independence, teaches children to compromise and collaborate, and enables them to make connections between what is taught in the classroom and the real world.
Through experiences with play, our TK students will learn new skills, engage with their environment, explore identity, and navigate peer relationships. Then, they will put all those new facets to work when they are on our Middle Yard- whether playing on the treehouse, in the sandbox, or doing a block build with friends. Play is an essential part of early childhood education and it will be prioritized throughout the day as teachers help ensure that students are meaningfully involved in all the social, emotional, and cognitive pieces that comprise joyful learning.
specialists
TK children will have classes with our six Specialists to enhance, enrich, and broaden their understanding of concepts. Inclusion of Library, STEM, Art, Creative Movement, Music, and PE into their schedule will form a vital aspect of their program.
At Children’s Community School, our six Specialists work in concert with classroom teachers so that subjects and life studies that are taught during the school day are expanded upon in their studios and spaces. Providing children different access points to topics activates their young brains in innovative ways so that their comprehension deepens, their ownership of new concepts expands, and they quickly begin to relish a new passion for learning that prepares them for Kindergarten and beyond.
program
Life Studies is the core of our emergent curriculum which empowers teachers to nimbly respond to the interests of their students and, in turn, gives children ownership of their own learning.
The CCS TK program is designed for students to have enriching experiences to prepare them for the next step in their education and social-emotional growth. There are extended periods of self-directed play broken up with activities intended to expose students to directed skill-building. Students will be supported as they learn to work cooperatively on complex and open-ended tasks as well as follow step-by-step instruction. All subjects are taught through hands-on experiences- a hallmark of a CCS progressive education- which will be especially important for TK students as they become accustomed to learning on an elementary campus.
Connection
CCS’ small size ensures that all of our teachers know each student deeply. Each child’s progress is respected so they are gently encouraged to take the next social-emotional or educational step when it is indicated.
This is also an instrumental time for young children to start making connections with their peers and developing close bonds with friends. TK students will also have collective experiences with older students with whom they will do projects, read books, and play on our yards. These relationships foster an inclusive community and are central to building bonds between ages and abilities.
Independence
In TK, students will begin to foster responsibility for their belongings, themselves, their community, our campus, and the world. Their confidence blossoms when these skills are built incrementally and intentionally.
When children become TK students, their competency and ability to develop self-help skills will expand. They will tackle challenges big and small, new and familiar, and, in doing so, will learn to trust themselves and understand how their actions affect others and the world around them. As is true of all students at CCS, our youngest learners will engage with the community and begin to structure their worldview on a compassionate campus.
Sample Schedule
The TK hours are 8:40AM-2:40PM.
Beforecare is available starting at 7:30AM and aftercare is available from 2:45-5:45PM for an additional fee.
Inside free play time
Morning meeting
Snack
Learning Centers
Lunch
Quiet time/rest
Specialist exploration
Free play/afternoon snack
End of the day
Admissions details
The TK tuition for the 2025-26 school year is $31,996 which includes a five-day schedule.
The application deadline is January 13, 2025.
If you are interested in financial aid, please click here to read more about our process and the deadline for the Clarity application.