CLA Academics

At Creative Learning Academy, one of the leading private schools in Pensacola, FL, we strive to nurture and strengthen the foundations of academic excellence, creativity, independence and integrity within our culturally enriched community.

CLA students possess a wide variety of gifts, talents and abilities. We encourage students interested in benefiting from a challenging academic curriculum, creative approaches to learning, the practice of integrity and honesty, the development of intercultural awareness and respect, and the support of a caring community to apply for admission.

Successful CLA students demonstrate the following characteristics: good character, responsibility, self motivation, intellectual curiosity, respect for peers, adults and other cultures, physical and emotional wellness and average to above-average academic abilities.  

Curriculum and Extracurricular Activities

The classes at CLA are divided into three sections: preschool, lower school and middle school. Academic excellence is expected and encouraged from the start. Grades K-1 are required to take the Children’s Progress Academic Assessment. And our teaching staff administers the annual Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP) for grades 2-8.

The preschool curriculum for our school has six main sections, including practical life, sensorial, math, language, science and geography. The lower school includes grades K-4 and has an extensive curriculum ranging from language arts, to social studies, to science and Spanish. The middle school includes grades 5-8. The curriculum consists of the advanced classes that are offered in the lower school, as well as art, music, library and technology.

Our private school students are encouraged to participate in clubs and organizations including the CLA student council and the Dragon Lair Program. We also provide field trip opportunities for all grades beginning with trips to the zoo and pet stores for preschool students, a trip to Tallahassee (the state capitol) for lower school students, visits to the New Orleans Museum of Art for fifth grade students and experiences at Seacrest Wolf Preserve and the Florida Caverns for our sixth grade students. For more information about CLA field trips, visit our field trip page.  

At CLA, our students enjoy a wide variety of events and activities throughout the year from our back-to-school picnic and open house in August to our fall festival in October and our school-wide holiday musical in December, life at CLA is certainly never boring! Visit our events page for more information about the upcoming events at our location for the 2012-2013 school year.

Parents in Partnership with CLA

It is very important to the administration and faculty of CLA, for parents of students to trust and support our curriculum, our mission, our faculty and staff, and our guiding principles.  We encourage parents to demonstrate patience and realistic expectations for their children in the learning process.  We seek parents and students who share our common goal of educating the whole child–intellectually, emotionally and physically.

Students with Learning Differences

A student with mild learning differences will most likely be successful at CLA if:

1. The student demonstrates age appropriate emotional wellness.
2. The student’s intelligence is average to above average.
3. The student possesses a strong desire to work hard, sometimes harder than the other students.
4. The student’s learning difference is managed medically, therapeutically or in such a way that the student can complete work, focus and work independently in an age-appropriate manner.
5. The student’s parents accept the diagnosis and support the need for intervention or additional assistance.

In most cases, a student with severe learning differences or multiple learning differences may not be successful at CLA.