CHRISTA MCAULIFFE K-8 ACADEMY

11:38 am, January 28, 2016 marked the 30th Anniversary of when the American shuttle orbiter Challenger broke up just 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devasting end to the spacecraft's 10th mission. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who had been selected to join the mission and teach lessons from space to schoolchildren around the country.

After her death, this courageous educator received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. As a tribute to her memory, a planetarium in Concord was named after her, as well as an asteroid and a crater on the moon. In addition, the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center at Framingham State College was established to carry on her legacy and support advancement of educational practices throughout the region.

In 2012, Wichita Public Schools decided to join the over 40 schools world-wide to honor Christa, by naming its newest K-8 school after her.

Many schools might have the ideal of "Reaching for the Stars", but at Christa McAuliffe Academy,that's not just a hope, but it's become our mantra!

In nearly doubling our enrollment, in just our 4th year of being open, the Comets of CMA have created a reputation of excellence within the city of Wichita, state of Kansas and even the nation in academics, performing arts, technology and athletics. Not only have many of our students achieved this recognition, but so has some of our staff!