Category Archives: Noah’s Ark

Cedar Chips, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark Preschool – March Update

Noah’s Ark is hosting a Blood Drive on March 3! If you are able to donate, please consider giving of your time. Not only do you help people in our community who desperately need that blood, but if we get enough donations, Noah’s Ark receives grant money that can be used for supplies in our classrooms. We run a pretty tight budget and every dollar helps us provide a great Christian education to our students.

Wickiup will be visiting us in March. They are always a favorite guest at our school. They bring birds and animals for us to look at.

Ice Cream in March? Our annual Ice Cream Social is this month also. Students and their families look forward to this event to meet other families at our school while enjoying a bowl of ice cream, and don’t forget the toppings!

Spring Break is March 16-20.

Other topics this month are: Dinosaurs, Bees, and our fun Teddy Bear Clinic!

Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Easter, Family Adventure, Family and Children Ministry, Holiday, News, Noah's Ark

Candy Donations for Egg Hunt

It’s that time of year!  Easter is quick approaching and we’re planning another great Easter Egg Hunt for Saturday, April 11 a 9am.  The egg hunt is for ages preschool to 5th grade and is free and open to the public. Bring your own basket!

Help us with our Egg Hunt supplies and donate a few bags of candy! Just make sure they are individually wrapped and can fit inside a plastic egg (otherwise, the office staff has to eat the ones that don’t make the cut!)

Drop off at the bin near the Family Discipleship Table or to the church office anytime before April 9.

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark Update – February 2020

Noah’s Ark Preschool
Cedar Chips – February 2020

We are now enrolling students for the 2020-2021 school year. We have a few spots left in our 4-year-old classes, which you can choose three, four, or five days of school. Our 3-year-old classes are offered on Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thurs. The application can be downloaded from our webpage and the $50 registration fee paid online to hold your spot for next year. Contact us with
questions at 396-3125, by email, or visit the website: www.noahsarkcr.org.

We will have a Valentine card exchange, pajama day, and a visit from our favorite Dental Health Professional this month.
We will be hosting another Blood Drive on March 3 – register online! The stipend we receive after collecting 20 blood donations helps us purchase supplies. You can always donate supplies for the preschool. There is a box under the mission table in the Gathering Space.

Kris Crowther,
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry, Holiday, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark Dec. 2019 Update

Oh, how Children love Christmas.  They are so new to this holiday (it might be the first one they remember), that we enjoy being able to start them off right by telling them about the true meaning of Christmas though books, songs, acting the story out and we also get a little help from Pastor Kent.  Come and watch our Christmas Programs on December 19 and 20 at 9:15am; everyone is welcome!

The State Licenser came to our school for a surprise visit in October (on pictured day, no less) and has granted Noah’s Ark a full License for another year without any changes or recommendations.  We are truly blessed with an amazingly organized and loving staff.

We are pleased to announce that Darlene DeVries has accepted the position of Assistant Teacher for our 3 year olds on MWF.  The students love her already.  We are very fortunate to have found someone who loves children as she does

We’ve started a Guest Reader Program.  We are looking for volunteers from the church who can come and read to our classes on Thursday or Friday mornings from 10:55-11:10.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me.

If you’d like to assist us by staying within our budget this year, please consider donating supplies.  We’ve provided a box in the Gathering Space under the mission table with pictures of supplies (we are a little picky due to allergies and licensing requirements) we need in our classrooms.  We thank you in advance.

Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Annual Report, Family and Children Ministry, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark Annual Report


We celebrated Leslie Clauson and her 16 years of service to Noah’s Ark. She retired at the end of May 2019. We ended the 2018-2019 school year with 46 students. There has been a decrease in numbers for several years due to the free 4-year-old preschool offered in the public schools. We continue to offer a quality Christian-based program and are blessed with an outstanding staff.

I would like to acknowledge Jan Fick’s 25th year as a Noah’s Ark Teacher last year. We have a staff of six. Jack Fick, Lead Teacher of the 4-year-old MWF (26 years), Lori Larson, Assistant Teacher of the 4-year-old MWF (13 years), Matt Houghkirk, Lead Teacher of the 3-year-old MWF, Darlene DeVries, Assistant Teacher of the 3-year-old MWF, Lorri Anderson, Assistant Teacher of the 3-year-old T/TH (5 years) and myself, Lead of the 3-year-old T/TH, and Lunch Bunch MWF (7 years).

Our board members for this school year are Allison Johnson (Deacon), Melissa Oberembt, Carrie Campbell, Sarah Lewis, Mellany Davis, Justina Conrad, Jan Fick, and myself. They are a dedicated
volunteer group that supports our school and meets monthly.

A budget was submitted for the 2019-2020 school year that was approved by the board, which includes
a donation to the church in December of $7,500. We anticipate ending the year with a very slight profit.
We have eight church families who send their children to our school this year. Our current enrollment is
at 48. We continue to recruit more students to fill our last five remaining spots.

Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Family Adventure, Family and Children Ministry, Holiday, Marriage and Family, News, Noah's Ark

Bloomsbury Farms

Come on out to Bloomsbury Farms out in Atkins, on October 19th at 9am, for just $5 per person! They’ve got a bouncy bubble (you’ll get it when you see it), a massive farm inspired playground, fun little rides and a GIANT corn maze! Hope you can make it out. Starts at 9am, but feel free to stay as long as you’d like! Can’t make it till later, no problem! Let Kyle French know and we can arrange to meet up front to get you your tickets! Please RSVP by Thursday October 17th! Hope you can make it out!”

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark October 2019 Update

October is a busy month for us! We learn about fall with the changing leaves, pumpkins, and get to wear some fun clothes at the end of the month!

We are pleased to announce that Matt Houghkirk will be our Lead Teacher in our MWF 3-year-old class. We are sorry that Miss Mary has left our school to pursue another job. We are excited to get our school pictures taken on Oct 10 and 11. Bring your best smile!

In honor of our 50th Anniversary, we will be giving away 50 books this school year. Each student
will receive a book; we will draw five names each month, starting this month!

I’d like to offer a big shout out to the Noah’s Ark School Board that volunteers their time to keep the school running smoothly. The board is led by Kaci Maire. Board members include: Melissa Oberembt, Carrie Campbell, Allison Johnson, Sarah Lewis, Mellany Davis, Jan Fick, and myself. We meet monthly and are dedicated to continuing the fine tradition that has been established at Noah’s Ark.

Blessings to you!
Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Cedar Chips, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark September 2019 Update

And…we’re off to another school year. It’s our 50th school year. That’s quite an accomplishment of trust between us and the parents, who have sent child after child to us. We are very excited for our classes this year and can’t wait to get to know the students and their families even more.

We are blessed with a staff that is certainly talented and educated. Miss Jan and Miss Lori will be in our MWF 4-year-old room, along with Miss Lorri on Wednesdays. Our MWF 3-year-olds will have Miss Mary and Mr. Matt. The Tue-Thurs 3-year-old class will have myself and Miss Lorri as teachers. Lunch Bunch is my favorite time of the day and I will be teaching this bunch of kids. An added bonus this year is our Student Teacher, Miss Chantelle who will be in the 4-year-old class and Lunch Bunch on Mondays and Fridays.

Noah’s Ark has been blessed to be housed in Cedar Hills Community Church since 1998. We appreciate all of the benefits the building has provided to us. As a mission of Cedar Hills, we graciously thank you for allowing us to partner with you in the community.

Blessings to you!
Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Cedar Chips, News, Noah's Ark

Noah’s Ark – August 2019 Update

Summer School was amazing!

We had 18 kiddos who did everything from pretending to be a pirate to being in the stomach of a whale, which was kind of stinky by the way!!

Enrolling all Three-year-olds

We are now ready to focus on our 50th year of Noah’s Ark Preschool! We have openings for Tuesday and Thursday 3-year-olds for the 2019-2020 school year. If you know anyone ready to start school, send them our way. You can register online or call the office to have a packet mailed.

Orientation is August 22, 5:30-6:45 PM

All students and parents are invited to attend our Orientation Night! We’ll let the kids play in their new rooms with their teachers and the parents will attend a “Get to Know Noah’s Ark” Presentation. It is best if you have your paperwork ready to be submitted this evening, along with your first month’s tuition. Call the office if you need a packet. Contact the office for information: 319-396-3125 or email.

In God’s Grace,
Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

60th Anniversary, Cedar Chips, Consistory, News, Noah's Ark

Building Refresh Campaign

Coming this Fall

This fall we will celebrate 60 years as a congregation bound together in faith and outreach. Also, we’ll celebrate our 14th year in our current facility. In these years, we’ve served numerous families through Cross Training, Sunday worship, and Children and Youth Ministries.

We’ve hosted countless church and community events as well as funerals and weddings. We watched hundreds of preschoolers learn about their colors, numbers, and that God loves them through the ministry of Noah’s Ark. We launched a food pantry that meets food needs for our neighborhood and housed recover workers and displaced residents during disasters. Our space has been even more successful in reaching our community than we might have imagined.

With all the success, comes wear and tear. After 13 years of service, it’s time to refresh several components of our building, both physical and mechanical. Also, we want to continue to reduce our building debt.

Volunteers are looking at items that need fixing, replacing and updating, including heating and cooling units, the roof, the sanctuary sound and video system, carpet and more. All of these items are at or will be reaching the end of their useful life now or in the coming years. The campaign, and donations made in response, will allow us to make these important repairs and upgrades when they are needed. This fall will kick-off the
campaign to refresh the facility and further reduce our debt. Prayerfully consider what role you could play in the campaign and what God might put on your heart to give to support this effort.