Saturday, November 13, 2021

Thanksgiving

Friends, the weather looks to be a bit of a circus this week. Snowy one day and 68 degrees the next! THANK YOU for your genuine spirit of choosing to enjoy all that God surrounds us in in Michigan! Our children are following your lead and they LOVE the upcoming changes! Thank you for being brave and layering up! 

Chapel on Wednesday

I was unable to lead chapel last Wednesday. We postponed to this Wednesday! I'll be ready for your students with some learnin' at the logs on Wednesday at 8:35! 

December 1

You will have a guest teacher coming to your space on Wednesday, December 1 from 1:00-3:00. Please plan to bring your computer to the admin boardroom. We're going to create a staff/student playbook for expectations and norms in the Forest! WooHoo! Another sign that we're growing up! Ted and Doug will be there to offer suggestions and wisdom as needed. 

Vaccine Questions

Children will likely hear of some students getting the vaccine. Because you've been entrusted to partner with our families intricately, your children TRUST and RESPECT you! They will naturally ask you questions about this vaccine. Families vary in their own health history and perspective on this vaccine. I just want to remind you that there are topics we lean on the triangle (church, home, school) as depicted in our logo:

If children ask you for your perspective on the pediatric vaccine, please remind them that this is a good question for them to ask their parents. There is SUCH beauty in each family being able to freely make decisions for the health plan for their family! Let's not interfere with that by sharing our own varied perspective. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns around this. Thank you! 

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Thankful

We have MUCH to be grateful for, friends! Even beautiful deer (with a backwards "d") 😂

Digital Report Card Feedback

If you were able to collect parent feedback regarding access to the digital report cards, I'd love to take that data from you in whatever form was best for you to collect. Toss the post its on my desk, paper airplane your data to me or send me an email. Whatever is best for you! 

Discovery Night

Boy oh boy! It's kind of odd to think we're already in the planning stages for our enrollment season already! Take a peek please at our Discovery Night document. We'll be welcoming families on November 18 following the same format we did last year. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have about this special event! 

Accreditation Site Visit

Holland Christian is an accredited school by CSI. Part of what we are asked to do is work, when called, to help guide, support and assess the accreditation of other schools for CSI. I have been asked to help with this process for Ada Christian Schools. They are in their final stages of accreditation and will be under review November 8, 9 and 10. These guys are our farm inspiration friends! I will need to be on location at Ada Christian for those three dates. That feels weird to me to be missing from our Rose Park/Forest busy life, but I also appreciate the need for new CSI schools to be invited into the fold. I'll be available as I am able by email but will be missing in person on those days. 

Art Project

Carolyn Stitch reached out with a WONDERFUL opportunity for our children to impact other children through their artwork. Due date is December 1. I'll bring any art your children submit by November 29. 

Thanksgiving Learning

The Holland Christian Schools mission statement calls us to “Transform the world for Jesus Christ,” so we seek to become a more inclusive community that represents the fullness of God’s people by increasing our racial/ethnic diversity to better reflect the greater Holland community. To that end, the stakeholders of Holland Christian will learn and grow in our collective understanding and appreciation of diversity and inclusivity by establishing richer relationships with diverse communities. All of these efforts will enable us to better equip our students’ minds and nurture their hearts, propelling them to live into their calling as a Kingdom of Priests who put God on display for the world.

If you'd like another brain to think through your books, learning experiences, resources, I'm happy to support you!

Learning Opportunity Shared By Doug

We are excited to host the OAISD Literacy Network again this year and are looking forward to it returning to an in-person collaboration event. We understand that the last 18 months or so have been trying for educators, but we also know the power of community.  This community feeds so many of our local educators, and we hope that your teachers might be willing to be part of that joy this year with our team.  Please consider sending some of your educators this school year. 

Each evening session will begin with Dinner and a Book Club followed by breakouts for smaller grade band teams. The focus this year for the K-5 breakouts will be on Literacy Essential #6 Writing Instruction and secondary educators will focus on the role of feedback in the ELA classroom, looking at the many aspects of this important concept.

What: Literacy Network
Who: K-12 educators
When: December 7, 2021
             January 25, 2022
             March 22, 2022
             April 14, 2022
Where: OAISD Educational Services Building
Time: 4:30 pm - 7:30 pm (dinner included)

Let me know if you're interested, please! 


Summer Glow

My dear friends. We have made it to summertime. I don't know how to adequately share my deep gratitude for your service this year. As we...