Canterbury Academy at Prairie Ridge

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Canterbury Academy at Prairie Ridge Welcome to Canterbury Academy at Olathe, blending care with education for joyful learning.

We provide parents with peace of mind by giving children an exceptional education every fun-filled day in a place as nurturing as home. We offer childcare and early educational programs for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners. We also have before & after school care and summer camp for school age children.

Celebrating Our Everyday Heroes!What a special day at Canterbury! We were delighted to welcome Kayleigh Woodard, a NICU ...
10/13/2026

Celebrating Our Everyday Heroes!

What a special day at Canterbury! We were delighted to welcome Kayleigh Woodard, a NICU nurse, and her husband, Vernon Woodard, a pediatric ER nurse, who shared their important work caring for babies and children in our community.

Our young learners had the opportunity to discover what it means to be a healthcare hero and explore some of the tools nurses use every day. They got a closer look at stethoscopes, masks, special temperature-monitoring stickers, and the cords and monitors that help medical teams keep track of a baby's vital signs.

The children were especially excited to explore these tools hands-on and learn how each one helps nurses care for their little patients. Experiences like this bring learning to life, spark curiosity, and help children develop an appreciation for the people who help keep our community healthy and safe.

A heartfelt thank-you to Kayleigh and Vernon for taking the time to visit our school, answer questions, and give our children such a meaningful learning experience. Your compassion, dedication, and care for babies and children make you true everyday heroes!

We are grateful to have families who share their knowledge, their professions, and their hearts with our Canterbury community.

Meet our teacher, Ms.Lizzie!Ms. Lizzie loves watching children discover new things, build confidence, and develop indepe...
10/09/2026

Meet our teacher, Ms.Lizzie!

Ms. Lizzie loves watching children discover new things, build confidence, and develop independence through exploration and hands-on learning. She believes some of the most meaningful learning happens when children have the freedom to explore, create, and discover the world around them.

Creativity is a big part of who Ms. Lizzie is! She loves making beautiful things and experimenting with different art mediums to bring her ideas to life. Her passion for art naturally finds its way into the classroom, inspiring her students to express themselves, explore their imaginations, and discover the joy of creating something uniquely their own.

Outside the classroom, Lizzie is a proud mom of two amazing kids who keep her busy and laughing every day. She also loves traveling and has visited nine different countries, including France, where she had the opportunity to explore the famous Louvre Museum.

Another unique part of Lizzie's story is her love for tattoos. For her, each tattoo tells a story and represents something meaningful, making them another form of personal expression and art.

We are so happy to have Ms. Lizzie's creativity, curiosity, and love of learning as part of our Canterbury community!

10/08/2026

Montessori Cylinder Blocks are not just a matching activity.
Through this sensorial exploration, the child acquires an understanding of concrete mathematical concepts, including:

Two-dimensional comparison — noticing differences in height and diameter.
Visual discrimination — carefully observing small differences between cylinders.
Classification — identifying cylinders that share similar characteristics.
Seriation — arranging objects in a precise order, such as sh to tallest or thinnest to thickest.

Through repeated hands-on exploration, children move from simply seeing differences to analyzing, comparing, ordering, and reasoning about dimensions. This concrete experience lays an important foundation for later work with measurement, geometry, and mathematical relationships.

What looks like a simple sensorial activity is actually preparing the child’s mind for mathematics!

🎃 Pumpkin Seed Day at Canterbury! 🎃Our little explorers turned pumpkin decorating into a delicious learning experience! ...
10/07/2026

🎃 Pumpkin Seed Day at Canterbury! 🎃

Our little explorers turned pumpkin decorating into a delicious learning experience! The children scooped the seeds from their pumpkins, carefully cleaned them, and prepared them for toasting.

Then came the best part—enjoying our freshly toasted pumpkin seeds for an afternoon snack!

This hands-on activity was a wonderful way to explore the inside of a pumpkin while practicing practical life skills, coordination, teamwork, and following a simple process from pumpkin → seeds → snack! 🌱🎃✨

This week in Young Yogis, we continued exploring the joy of movement, mindfulness, and yoga! 🧘‍♀️✨Our young yogis practi...
10/06/2026

This week in Young Yogis, we continued exploring the joy of movement, mindfulness, and yoga! 🧘‍♀️✨

Our young yogis practiced several familiar poses and were excited to try Camel Pose! 🐪 This pose gave the children an opportunity to work on balance, flexibility, body awareness, and strength while learning to move mindfully and safely.

We also talked about how small adjustments can help us find better alignment and comfort in each pose. With gentle guidance and age-appropriate modifications, the children learned that yoga isn’t about being “perfect”—it’s about listening to your body, trying your best, and growing stronger and more confident with practice. 💕🌱

We love watching our little yogis stretch, breathe, challenge themselves, and—most importantly—have fun! 🥰🧘‍♀️

🐻❤️ We love supporting our local community!We’re excited to partner with local businesses to support them and bring even...
10/05/2026

🐻❤️ We love supporting our local community!

We’re excited to partner with local businesses to support them and bring even more wonderful opportunities to our Canterbury families.

We are especially grateful to Black Bear Diner, a local, family-friendly restaurant, for their generosity! They have kindly offered a FREE kids’ meal to all Canterbury families! 🎉

Stop by the office and see Ms. Julia to pick up your card.

Thank you, Black Bear Diner, for supporting our Canterbury community! 🐻💙

💛 Canterbury Families, YOU DID IT! 💛We are incredibly proud to share that our Canterbury families have donated more than...
10/02/2026

💛 Canterbury Families, YOU DID IT! 💛

We are incredibly proud to share that our Canterbury families have donated more than $6,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital! 🎗️

Every dollar represents hope, care, research, and support for children and families facing childhood cancer and other serious diseases. St. Jude works to advance lifesaving treatments while ensuring that families never receive a bill for their child’s treatment.

To put the impact of your generosity into perspective:

💰 $55 — Four platelet count tests
💰 $100 — Four days of meals for a patient
💰 $250 — Travel expenses for patients and families
💰 $300 — Groceries for a family for two weeks
💰 $500 — About two days of oxygen
💰 $1,000 — About two-thirds of the cost of one day of chemotherapy
💰 $1,000 — Airfare for three patients and three parents
💰 $2,500 — 16 days of oxygen
💰 $5,000 — One day of ICU room costs

Just imagine what $6,000+ can help make possible. ❤️

Thank you to every Canterbury family who donated, participated, encouraged your children to give, or helped spread the word. Your generosity shows our children what it means to care for others and make a difference in our community and beyond.

We are so grateful to be part of a community with such big hearts! 💛🎗️

10/01/2026

🪟✨ Yes, we let the children wash the windows!

In a Montessori classroom, everyday activities are meaningful learning opportunities. Window washing may look like a simple chore, but for a young child, it is a wonderful Practical Life activity that develops so much more than clean glass. 😊

As children spray, wipe, scrub, and polish, they are developing:

✨ Fine-motor skills – strengthening the hands and fingers and preparing them for writing
👀 Hand-eye coordination – coordinating what they see with the movement of their hands
🎯 Concentration – following a sequence of steps and completing a purposeful task
🧠 Coordination and control of movement – learning to make careful, deliberate movements
💪 Independence – experiencing the satisfaction of doing something for themselves
🌱 Responsibility – contributing to the care of their classroom environment
❤️ Confidence and self-esteem – realizing, “I can do this!”

Perhaps most importantly, children learn that they are capable and valued members of their community. They don't just learn about caring for their environment—they get to actually participate in it.

And yes… sometimes the windows end up with a few more fingerprints than they started with! 😉 But that's part of the learning.

Does your child help wash windows at home? Or what other "grown-up" chores do they love to do? 🧽🧺🌱

You have helped us reach $3,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the fight against childhood cancer!It means...
09/29/2026

You have helped us reach $3,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the fight against childhood cancer!
It means Pajama Party for the whole school!
When we reach $4,500 we will have an ice cream party!
Our school-wide fundraising goal is $6,000!
The top 10 student fundraisers will earn a pizza party with Ms. Christie and Ms. Julia. 🍕
If our school reaches the $6,000 goal, the teacher of the top fundraising classroom will get the chance to pie Ms. Christie in the face!

Please help us make a difference by sharing our fundraising link with family and friends and starting your fundraising journey today:

🔗 http://fundraising.stjude.org/882prairieridge

🍎 **Apple Slicing — Practical Life in Action Something as simple as slicing an apple is full of meaningful learning in a...
09/25/2026

🍎 **Apple Slicing — Practical Life in Action

Something as simple as slicing an apple is full of meaningful learning in a Montessori classroom!
Through this hand-on Practical Life activity, children practice
fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and careful control of movement.
Following each step—from preparing the workspace and slicing the apple to serving and cleaning up—also strengthens sequencing, independence, and responsibility.
Children learn how to use real, child-sized tools safely and purposefully while experiencing the satisfaction of preparing food for themselves and others. And, of course, there’s a delicious reward at the end! 🍎
In Montessori, everyday tasks become opportunities for children to build confidence and say, “I can do it Myself"

Address

11197 South Ambassador Street
Olathe, KS
66061

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 6pm
Tuesday 7am - 6pm
Wednesday 7am - 6pm
Thursday 7am - 6pm
Friday 7am - 6pm

Telephone

+19138042337

Website

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