Best of 425
BEST OF 425 BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL In 2024 the readers of 425 Magazine once again voted Eastside Christian School as the “Best of 425”, in the categories for Best Private Middle School and Best Private Elementary School! This is the 9th year in a row that ECS has been voted the “Best of 425” in at least one category. 2024 Best Private Elementary School and Best Private Middle School 2023 [...]
STEM: Sediment and Streams, Erosion and Ecology
STEM: Sediment and Streams Our middle school science students recently learned about sediment, its effects on plant and animal life, and what we can do to maintain healthy habitats for all living things. Sediment consists of soil particles like silt/mud, sand, gravel, cobbles, boulders, bedrock and clay. Streams naturally carry sediment and deposit it in many places along the streambed. This same sediment movement also causes erosion and is [...]
We Love Literacy
We Love Literacy! September is National Literacy Month, and around our ECS campus you will always find students practicing the skills necessary for literacy. Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak, and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world. Pop into one of our preschool classrooms to find teachers reading a picture book to students as they listen with rapt attention at [...]
Best of 425
BEST OF 425 BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL In 2024 the readers of 425 Magazine once again voted Eastside Christian School as the “Best of 425”, in the categories for Best Private Middle School and Best Private Elementary School! This is the 9th year in a row that ECS has been voted the “Best of 425” in at least one category. 2024 Best Private Elementary School and Best Private Middle School 2023 [...]
Investigating Magnetic Force
Investigating Magnetic Force Our 3rd grade students have been especially “attracted” to the science labs in class lately ~ perhaps because they are currently studying magnetism. Recent student experiments included measurements of force between two magnets. Working in groups, students tested how many washers it takes to "break the force” of two magnets that are separated by a plastic cup. Following these measurements, students retested the strength of magnetic [...]
Virtual Field Trip to Space
Virtual Field Trip to Space Today our students were treated to a school-wide virtual field trip, hosted by Pacific Science Center. Our host presenter did a fantastic job covering a wide variety of topics in the field of Astrogeology. The presentation began with an overview of land formations on earth, such as volcanoes, canyons, craters, and rivers, and contributing factors to their formation such as gas, asteroids, and erosion. [...]
Serving Our Community
Serving Our Community "The ECS Middle School service trip is always one of my favorite parts of the school year! The seventh and eighth graders get to serve others while also spending quality time with their friends. This year we packaged 45 homeless care kits with socks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, chapstick, granola bars, and more! We even included a Bible and a personalized note. My favorite part of the day [...]
A Gem on the Eastside
Finding a Gem on the Eastside “As a family we can say that we highly recommend Eastside Christian School. As part of our recent move to the Bellevue area we were seeking a private Christian school for our daughter, who was entering Kindergarten. We researched the schools on the Eastside and have been so grateful to find this gem. We have been so impressed with ECS, from the Enrollment [...]
What Our Students Love About ECS
What Our Students Love About ECS Students at Eastside Christian School love their teachers, friends, and learning God’s Word. They “100% guarantee” all students will love our caring, Christ-centered community, too! We agree, and invite you to consider ECS for your children, ages 3 through 8th grade ~ contact us at admissions@ecswa.org to learn more! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR9kIjj1ed8&feature=youtu.be
May The 4th Be With You
"May The 4th Be With You!" Mr. Hwang brings great creativity to his middle school math lessons whenever possible, and today was no exception! Transforming into "Darth Pythagoras," he set out to recruit ECS math students for a new order, that of "Rotational Symmetry." The students' brilliance shined brightly as they joined in the challenges of the day: Data Decryption The Order of Rotational Symmetry has received precious encrypted [...]
Hello From Our Homes to Yours
Hello From Home The ECS Staff wants you to know how much we miss you! We think of you daily, and pray God will bring an end to the coronavirus so we can see you again soon! In a community that is as tight-knit as ours, the separation seems especially difficult some days, but we know that our strength comes from the Lord during these sometimes lonely days. We [...]
What We Miss About School
What We Miss About School Our first graders were asked to share their opinions about what part of the school day they miss the most while doing distance learning at home during COVID-19, and why they miss it. Some of the children miss doing math or science, while others miss chapel, PE or art, but the thing they miss most is being with others. Poignantly they wrote about missing [...]
Online Learning Success!
Online Learning Success! Who would have thought just a couple of months ago that this would be our new normal? All of our teachers and families are working hard, embracing the changes that mandated school closures have brought our way. This situation has taken many of us outside of our comfort zones, but despite the stress and anxiety we are off to a good start. Our teachers have shown [...]
4th Grade Writing: Valentine Memories
Students from one of our 4th grade classes have worked diligently this week to complete their writing assignments, in order to give them to their parents in time for Valentine's Day. The class was asked to write about a favorite memory, and their work is being graded (like many other writing assignments) on a rubric of clear expectations their teacher gave them. Many of these writing expectations are core [...]
STEM: Environmental Science in 4th Grade
Mr. Pan’s students have been studying environmental science in his fourth grade classroom this fall. During a recent lesson, students were asked to determine if temperature changes affect the properties of yeast and, if so, to describe their observations of those effects. In the first experiment, students evaluated the effects of yeast and sugar mixed with cold water, warm water, and hot water. They were asked to describe their observations [...]
STEM: Lessons About Our Senses in Kindergarten
STEM: Lessons About Our Senses in Kindergarten Our kindergarten students recently participated in a set of memorable experiments about some of their primary senses: hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. Ms. Lee asked her class to create hypotheses about the contents of mystery items hidden in eggs, using only the sense of hearing. She also encouraged guessing about mystery smells like pencil lead, coffee, vinegar, food items, and wax. [...]
STEM – Project-based Learning
STEM (STEAM) Learning at Eastside Christian School What is STEM/STEAM? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. We add an "A" (STEAM) to represent the artistic flair our students frequently add to their STEM projects. STEM projects blend the subjects listed above, giving students the chance to learn some "21st century skills" they need to succeed in the workplace. Skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, postulating a hypothesis and finding evidence [...]
Best Private Middle School!
The readers of 425 Magazine have once again voted Eastside Christian School as the "Best Private Middle School" on the Eastside for 2019! This makes the fourth year in a row that we have received this honor. 2019 Best Middle School (Private) 2018 Best Elementary School and Best Middle School (Private)2017 Best Elementary School and Best Middle School (Private) 2016 Best Preschool and Best Middle School (Private) Additionally, both of [...]
Good, Good Friday!
Hallelujah, everyoneEveryone can come to the crossIt doesn't matter what you've doneEveryone can come to the cross ~Michael W Smith, "Come to the Cross" What a joy-filled week we have enjoyed during our annual "Faith Week," leading up to Good Friday today. Today we commemorate Jesus' physical death on the cross 2,000 years ago, but death itself is definitely not good. So why do we call this day "good" Friday? [...]
Moms In Prayer
Every week, women from the Eastside Christian School community gather together to pray for our children, our school, our teachers and our administrators. All ECS mothers and grandmothers who are willing to pray are welcome to join. We are an extension of "Moms in Prayer," an international organization of women committed to praying regularly, with a goal to cover every school around the globe in prayer. "I have been praying [...]
5th Grade: The intersection of math and art
The students in Mrs. Turella's 5th grade class studied art in a new way recently, as they learned more about the viewer's perspective. In order to make things appear shorter or longer, or to give the illusion of space and distance, artists may use linear perspective. This technique has been attributed to Italian Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi, who devised it around 1415AD. Linear perspective incorporates math related to lines, vectors, arcs, angles, and [...]
Equipping Our Kids
As I sat in the enormous, university auditorium I looked around at the other freshmen parents and couldn’t help but wonder why we were there. I had already been to college and earned my degree. This rite of passage was now my daughter’s, right? But there we all were at DAY ONE of our adult child’s’ college orientation. I have always had a love for learning, but this class didn’t [...]
Middle School Retreat
The Middle School Fall Retreat is an annual event that registers as one of the highlights of our students' experiences at ECS. We spend two days and an overnight stay at Camp Sambica on Lake Sammamish to purposefully build community within our middle school. Grades are mixed for a variety of fun activities and zany games that allow relationships to be built and fostered across grade levels. Examples include: the [...]
Teaching Students How to Be Safe
For the third year in a row, RadKIDS Personal Empowerment and Safety Program has been provided to our 2nd and 5th grade classes. The course focuses on helping students find their voice, protect themselves, and empower themselves in the event that their safety feels threatened and they need help. Through a series of self-defense moves and extended classroom learning, students come up with their own "radKIDS Plan" to go from [...]
Our New Library: Preparing for Reading
One of our top priorities at Eastside Christian School (ECS) is to help children learn how to read and enhance their verbal fluency and vocabulary. This is a focus area for our kindergarten, first, and second grades (K-2). Our teachers firmly believe that reading readiness begins at home. Parents who surround their children with age-appropriate books and, even more importantly, read to and with their children instill an interest in [...]
Middle School STEM: 3D Printing
K-8 initiatives for STEM and STEAM are so important. As society continues to advance in science, technology, engineering and math, we aim to teach skills our students will need to be successful working in these industries. We are instilling a passion for STEM into today’s students so that they are prepared and excited to take on STEM jobs in their futures. To develop a passion for STEM, students need to [...]
4th Grade: Wax Museum
Our 4th grade students held their ever-popular "Wax Museum" event at school recently, with rave reviews from parent, student and staff visitors to the "museum". The students worked hard on this assignment, and learned so much from this project. All of the kids were in costumes, portraying well-known historical figures, and standing in front of their backdrops as still as can be. Wax Museum visitors walked around the room, looking [...]
Middle School Biology: Live Observations
Seventh and Eighth grade science students had the opportunity to observe live Madagascar hissing cockroaches in class today. Our biology unit included several live observations including single-celled paramecia, several plants and flowers, live snails, and finally the cockroaches. Today, the students were asked to observe: How the cockroaches walk Which feet move together What they prefer to eat Strawberries Blueberries Watermelon Banana How they react to various stimuli A gust [...]
Best Private School Award!
The readers of 425 Magazine have once again voted Eastside Christian School as the Best Private Middle School and Best Private Elementary School! This is the third year in a row that we have received such a great honor for our school. 2018 Best Elementary School and Best Middle School (Private) 2017 Best Elementary School and Best Middle School (Private) 2016 Best Preschool and Best Middle School (Private) [...]
Our newest classrooms are open!
MS Portable Christening from Eastside Christian School on Vimeo.
Budget Math, Skills for Every Day
Recently our 3rd and 4th grade students shared the results of their budget math assignments. In this assignment, students chose a destination of their choice, a place somewhere around the world to which they hope to travel. Once the trip location was chosen, students researched activities and sight-seeing opportunities available for their destination. From this list, students determined the estimated costs associated with each activity and found colorful photos of [...]
Anti Bullying: The Power of Two
At a recent all-school assembly, brought to us by Soren Bennick Productions, our students spent dedicated time learning about bullying and the #PowerOfOne. The message of anti-bullying was expressed in a performance of skits and discussions covering: * The definition of bullying * The “roles” in bullying: the bully, the target, the bystander, the one who intervenes * The negative effects of bullying * What children can do to stop [...]
4th Grade: Washington State History
In fourth grade, students use their understanding of social studies concepts and skills to explore Washington State in the past and present. Students learn about the state’s unique geography and key eras in early Washington State history, particularly the treaty-making period. One era which our ECS students recently studied was that of the Lewis and Clark Expeditions. The Lewis and Clark expedition (at the time known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition), [...]
Staff Devotions: Trials
The ECS staff gathers every morning for a staff-led devotional and prayer. The following was shared by 2nd grade teacher Carole Bell this week. We hope it is an encouragement for you! PEANUTS(c) by Charles Schulz Most of us have heard the saying: “You are either in a trial, coming out of a trial, or soon to enter one.” Yes, life is full of trials or tests. [...]
5th Grade: Biological Sciences
Anatomy, a field in the biological sciences, is concerned with the identification and description of the body structures of living things. Physiology, a related biological field, is concerned with the functions of these living organisms and their parts. Our 5th grade students spent several days this year studying both anatomy and physiology of the human body. Working as teams, they learned more about some of the body’s major systems, including: [...]
5th Grade Literacy Learning
Have you ever wished you could go back in time? Have you wondered what it would be like to do things “the old fashioned way”? If so, you might enjoy reading the book, “My Side of the Mountain,” by Jean Craighead George. The main character in the book, a 14-year old boy named Sam Gribley, is unhappy living in New York City, so he runs away to the Catskill Mountains [...]
First Grade: Science is Fun!
The students in Mrs. Satterberg’s 1st grade class were anticipating it all month – Pumpkin Science Week – and the activities did not disappoint! Each child was instructed to bring in a pumpkin of their choosing, so the variety was great. There were orange and white pumpkins, small and large pumpkins, pumpkins with smooth rinds and pumpkins with bumps. While the size and exterior varied greatly, there were (of course) [...]
Preschool Traditions: Pumpkin Patch
Our preschool traditions are so important, and a visit to the Pumpkin Patch every fall is no exception! Read on to hear about the experience from one of our preschool parents, Stephanie Hui: "It was a crisp, sunny morning on Tuesday October 24th and kids were excited. It was the first field trip - to Fox Hollow Farm - for Mrs Rebecca, Mrs Becky/Mrs Amy and Mrs Brooke’s half-day preschool [...]
First Grade: Reading for Life, with Mrs. Karkainen
Eastside Christian School students consistently demonstrate reading test scores (along with math scores) well above the state and local district levels. One of the reasons for this is the differentiated instruction that our teachers use, beginning in the earliest grades. Additionally, our First Grade teachers use reading curriculum from A Beka Books, which ensures that students are taught new material along with a daily review of previously-taught materials. Our first [...]
Kindergarten Supply List with Miss Simmons
Is it really that time already? Our kindergarten teachers are already gearing up for the 2017-18 school year! Here is a video of Miss Simmons going over all the supplies you will need to purchase for your child's year of kindergarten. [vc_video link="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_7e0pfH7MZQ"]
Study Smart: Sharpening Your Study Skills with Mrs. Angela Gay
May is test month at ECS, as each grade takes their annual standardized achievement tests. With that in mind, we thought it would be a good time to talk about how to prepare for a test. The jury is still out among scientists on exactly how and why we forget certain pieces of information. However, it seems that, aside from injury or illness, the brain doesn’t necessarily “lose” information. Rather, [...]
Making Math Fun with Mrs. Morse
The phrase “Math is useful for everyday life.” is often repeated to students throughout the course of their education. However, demonstrating that fact in a creative way, so as to engage students, can be a trickier task. Angela Morse, our middle school math instructor, is constantly looking for imaginative ways to do just that. Her middle school students often talk about how she helps math “make sense”, so I visited [...]
“Why we love 5th grade!” – An interview with Mrs. Turella’s fifth grade class
The other day I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Turella's classroom to ask the students a few questions about the fifth grade. They had some great answers and were so full of joy. Here is what they had to say! ---------- ME: “Ok, guys…what do you love most about the fifth grade?” STUDENTS: “We get to go on awesome field trips! This year we went to IFly and did [...]
Eagle Times – Written by students of Mrs. Luce’s journalism class
EAGLE TIMES Written by the ECS Journalism Team Spelling Bee The Spelling Bee was on the 27th of January at Shorewood Christian School. Our representatives did a great job!! Our students won two 1st places, three 2nd places, and one 4th place. Shooting into Girls’ Basketball ECS is excited to introduce the 2017 Girls' Basketball season. This season is going to be filled with lots of fun and hard work. [...]
What is DEEP? – By Mrs. Dalia Ibrahim
Written by Dalia Ibrahim - Middle School Science, Pre-Algebra and DEEP Instructor What is DEEP? Depending on the age of your child, the answer to this question will vary throughout the years they attend ECS. To a kindergartner, it is a fun time once a month where the older kids play games with them that are based off the monthly chapel theme. For an upper elementary student, it is a [...]
Biblical Allegories in “A Christmas Carol” – Mr. Mike Brown
Written by ECS English and History Teacher, Mike Brown. As a child, my favorite Christmas programs included, A Charlie Brown Christmas (though we are not related), How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol. As an adult, The Muppet Christmas Carol replaced the Magoo cartoon as my preferred version of Dickens' famous tale. In what has become a biennial tradition, our 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts [...]
Eastside Christian’s Christmas Program by Miss Adams
Enjoy this blog post written by our Elementary Music Teacher, Miss Adams, on our upcoming Christmas performances. Curtains up, ECS…it’s show time! That is my favorite phrase in the whole world; it always has been and always will be. The only other one that compares is "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!" I love that we can say that here at ECS. I [...]