Enriching Student Life from Pre-K to 12 at Covenant Christian Academy
Think about your family’s traditions and how much you look forward to pizza night on Fridays and putting on matching pajamas every Christmas Eve. Those fun traditions build anticipation and a sense of security for you and your child.
It’s the same at Covenant Christian Academy, a private Christian school in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We have traditions that start in our 3-year-old classroom and carry through to our seniors because we believe common experiences bring people together for more than just school spirit.
Traditions tell you who you are and where you belong.
The Role Parents Play
Traditions are so important to our school culture that we formed a Parent Council that works to ensure traditions are carried forward with excellence from year to year. Parents share their time, talent, and treasure so our elementary school students can experience Chocolate Fever Day, our high schoolers can put on a spring musical with amazing costumes, props and lights, and our school community can enjoy dozens of other meaningful experiences.
Elementary School Traditions
At any age, common experiences draw people together. That’s why we always include our youngest students in traditions like Apple Day, Greek Olympics, Egyptian Feast, Cub Cheer, Field Day, Reading Buddies, Grandparents Day, Reformation Day, and STEM Night.
Plus, some of our schoolwide traditions — like Homecoming — build on one another. Your child may celebrate Homecoming differently in kindergarten than in 5th grade or 8th grade, but the tradition grows so that by the time your child is in high school, they are fully immersed and engaged in Homecoming.
Peter Rabbit
“Peter Rabbit” is a play that CCA’s first graders have been presenting for 30 years and counting. Students talk about being Benjamin Bunny, Mother Rabbit, a flower, or any other member of the cast long after they’ve graduated. (Many return to watch the play and can still sing along.)
Medieval Feast
Medieval Feast happens at the end of 4th grade, just before the students move up to middle school. The School Headmaster and Elementary Principal dress up as king and queen to host a knighting ceremony for students. They choose a meaningful word — like loyal or compassionate — to describe each child’s character.
Adopt a Senior
Every classroom, from the 3-year-old class to the 4th-grade class, participates in the Adopt A Senior program. The seniors play with the younger students at recess, read books to them, and go on field trips. Friendships form as they support one another.
Middle School Traditions
As your child grows, traditions give them something to anticipate. They watch the 8th graders leave for Washington, D.C., and they want to pack their bags, too!
Don’t worry: In middle school, there’s plenty to do at every grade level, including class socials, day and overnight field trips, service projects, and special events that pair parents and children together.
Washington D.C. Trip
In 8th grade, students go to Washington, D.C., for a 5-day trip in the spring that’s packed with museums, nighttime walking tours, a visit to the White House, and dinner cruises on the Potomac. Before they go to D.C., students write letters of gratitude to veterans. Then, when they go to veterans’ memorials, students introduce themselves to veterans and give them their letters.
Retreat at Sky Ranch
Students attend a retreat at Sky Ranch in 5th grade. While learning, they have a camp-like experience where they get to spend time getting to know their classmates.
Reading Buddies
The Reading Buddies program pairs 1st graders with 6th graders. Younger students practice reading, while older students serve as mentors and offer encouragement.
High School Traditions
By the time your child reaches high school, they are surrounded by CCA traditions.
- Like many classical schools, we have a House System that encourages students to practice leadership skills and work together. This all starts with a House Sorting Ceremony and includes each House competing throughout the year for house points and bragging rights.
- We host Cotillion in 9th grade and Spring Formal for students in grades 10 through 12. In 9th grade, we have dance and etiquette lessons, so students feel confident in a formal setting. Dance lessons continue for the spring formals.
- Every spring, our students present a full-scale musical. We secure a professional venue, and everyone pitches in to create costumes, build sets, apply stage makeup, and do anything else the show needs.
- In the middle of finals week, when a break is needed most, our girls play a Powder Puff football game. The boys coach and cheer, while the school grills hotdogs and hamburgers. (The boys have recently started playing a Powder Tuff volleyball game in the fall, too.)
- At the end of the year, we host Senior Walk, where seniors start at the 3-year-old classroom and walk through all the grades. The walk ends at Senior Chapel.
- The Senior Dinner and Robing Ceremony takes place the night before graduation. Each senior chooses someone to place a robe on them. They tell why they chose that person and what they mean to them.
Schoolwide Traditions
From the Daddy-Daughter Dance and dress-up days to Homecoming and tailgating, we build one another up and celebrate traditions together.
When our seniors walk through the elementary classrooms for the final time, they see posters with their names on them. In the middle school hallway, they look into the faces of friends they’ve mentored. When they reach Senior Chapel, they are prayed for by juniors.
And long after they graduate, they’ll remember how it felt to belong.