The Kangaroo Team consists of both kindergartners and first graders that mix together in classes depending on their academic skill. Headed by teachers Christie Branson, Sherry Erickson and Lori Huhman, the Kangaroo Team had the largest adjustment because its teachers were very comfortable with a traditional classroom setting. "I didn’t feel that it was okay for five-year-olds to be transitioning out of my classroom like junior high," said Erickson. However, when she began to see the success of the program, she quickly embraced it.

            It appears that multi-age classrooms are becoming the norm in educational circles. "You hear so much about differentiation in the classroom, and when I was going through my program to become a teacher, that's what it was all about," said Branson. Differentiation is certainly what Cedar Ridge is accomplishing, and starting early develops students used to a setting with many transitions.