About CRA
Magnet School
Cedar River Academy at Taylor Elementary is Cedar Rapids Community School District’s third elementary magnet school. Magnet schools have a focused theme, and Cedar River Academy’s theme is sustainability. Magnet schools use a “hands on, minds on” approach to learning, and use state and CRCSD standards, but vary the delivery of instruction by teaching the standards within the theme.
Cedar River Academy provides a hands-on approach to learning, where students understand their impact and are empowered for sustainability: sustainability of self, of community and of the environment.
Community partnerships provide authentic connections both locally and globally.
Students at Cedar River Academy are driven to make a difference.
We are learning today, sustaining tomorrow!
Sustainability
Cedar River Academy recognizes that the future of our world depends on taking care of our environment. We pass this message on to students by teaching them best practices for waste management, including composting, so they can take these practices home and teach their families. We teach about the importance of pollinators and how to grow pollinator gardens. Students learn how to grow food, and are empowered with the knowledge (and seeds) to plant their own family gardens at home.
Our community is an important part of who we are. We believe in teaching students the value of having a strong community. Students take walking field trips to various places in the community so they recognize how many businesses and services are within walking distance of their home. We have also used the city bus when taking field trips to take advantage of our public transportation system.
IMPACT
Every day the entire school participates in sustainability lessons. IMPACT immerses students in lessons, experiments, and projects revolving around sustainability of the environment, community, and self. Activities have included growing seeds, raising and releasing butterflies, creating an efficient assembly line, building small watersheds, collecting items to donate to a youth shelter, and building birdhouses.
As a school with more than 10 languages spoken and students from around the globe, we appreciate the perspective each person brings. We celebrate what makes each of us special! Cedar River Academy partners with the cultural institutions in our city to develop lessons, projects and field trips related to sustaining and appreciating cultures.
We know that we can take care of our community and environment best when we also take care of ourselves. Sustainability of self lessons revolve around our social, emotional, and behavioral wellness. Teachers develop lessons and activities to help students manage big emotions, large and small problems, and mindfulness.
A note from our Principal
Dear Cedar River Academy Families,
Thank you for your participation in your children’s education! Your presence at conferences and attention to daily attendance is much appreciated.
Please come by for Family Sustainability Night on Thursday, March 12, 4:30-6pm. Our staff has gone all out for a fun night of sustainability of self and community.
We are preparing for ISASP Testing in April. Thank you for helping with rest and attendance habits to support our students’ performance.
Note that we will not have school for Spring Break March 16-20.
Any time you have questions or concerns, please reach out to the student’s teacher or me.
Kendall Gent
Gardening with Matthew 25
Every student has multiple opportunities to get their hands dirty in small groups and with their whole class. We have a large outdoor vegetable garden and three hydroponic grow towers to demonstrate the ways in which we can grow crops year-round. Every class also travels to the Urban Farm annually.
As we grow and harvest the food, the students get to taste test what they grew. Sometimes we just taste lettuce, other times we have salad parties. Sometimes we taste the fresh tomatoes off the vine, other times we make salsa. When we have more than we can use at the school, the students take a walking field trip to Groundswell Cafe to donate. While there, the students get a tour of the restaurant…and sometimes another taste test!
Outdoor classrooms
After the flood of 2008, an outdoor classroom was created through Nature Explore on the east side of the building. It is an engaging play space for our preschoolers daily. We made the most of derecho damage using logs from our fallen trees as climbing and stepping materials in the space.
Our outdoor classroom is a certified monarch waystation: Students can view monarchs as they make their journey south to Mexico. Thanks to the efforts of a Master Naturalist volunteer and Linn County Conservation, we are adding and maintaining native plants. In 2022, we added a permeable pavement patio on the west side of the building, with tables and seating for classes to use next to the vegetable garden. We regularly use and support Reed Park, which is adjacent to our playgrounds. We planted apple trees there, and the book walk featured the story written and illustrated by our students, about the 2008 flood.
In 2022, we added a west side outdoor classroom adjacent to our vegetable and herb gardens with permeable pavement and workstations.
Waste management
At Cedar River Academy, we understand the importance of reducing our waste. Every student in the school learns how to sort waste according to compost, recycling, and landfill. Every classroom has a waste station with bins for all three components, and we are the only school in the district to compost our food waste. Our community partner, EcoCare Supply (the Compost Ninja), picks up our composting each week, and our “little ninjas” collect the compost bins from classrooms each week.