Merry Christmas

It stirs my soul to peek in and watch children participating in the ritual of advent in their classrooms with you. We do the same with our children at home. I'd like to share an excerpt from a devotional for Christmas Eve.

"On this Christmas Eve, the day that marks the end of the Advent season, we light the Christ candle, the candle that all the other Advent candles have foreshadowed and pointed toward. The Christ candle signifies that the fullness of God's light has come into our world. It reminds us that God has not forgotten his promises to us. Even though we wait in the "darkness," even though the darkness may feel overwhelming at time, God's light shines in the darkness. "The darkness has not overcome it". The darkness will not overcome God's light. The Christ candle offers a reminder of this hope. We light the Christ candle on Christmas Eve when the amount of daylight we receive is at its lowest point in the year. In the midst of darkness that almost seems to overwhelm, God's light still shines.

As you extinguish the Christ candle and go to bed (please extinguish all candles before going to bed), take time to remember that just as your house will suddenly be at its darkest, God's light will continue to shine. Thank God that you will wake to house full of light in the morning. Thank God that even when the world seemed to be at its darkest, when Jesus' life was extinguished, there was still hope. God's light would shine once again in Jesus' resurrection, and God's light will shine again when Jesus returns. Even if the world feels at its darkest for you right now, God's light will shine. You can rest in God just as you rest in your bed at night. You can do so with the assurance that Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Sarah Essenburg

Our ESS assistant will be starting full time on Monday, January 3. I will meet with her in the afternoon to begin her onboarding process. As you know, this is a new position for us so we'll grow slowly into this support for our children in the Forest. I'm THRILLED she will be joining us. We'll keep her caseload of students limited to those who have gone through an 'in take' process. Right now she has three students in second grade and one for consultation in first grade. Lynae Stielstra and Christy Haig will also help her with training and support strategies. I'm eager for each of you to meet her and work with her! 

Collaboration Days 

Chapel Change

We had some staffing movement in our kindergarten programming. Due to this, we're proposing that we try moving chapel to Wednesday afternoons from 2:30-3:00. This is a very different time for us to gather. Given that we will be meeting at the END of the day, we might decide to change the format (less 'church' feel perhaps and more 'walk and talk' potentially). Thank you for your flexibility as we try this change and see how it works. Because we are making this change, we can keep our kindergartners growing and advancing academically with support. Thank you! 

Here are our dates:

1/12 - Mrs. Hicks

1/26 - Miss Spoelman

2/9 - Third Grade

2/23 - Mr. Scott

3/9 - Kindergarten (Wierenga)

3/23 - Mr. Russ

4/13 - 2nd Grade

4/27 - 1st Grade

5/11 - Kindergarten (Harig)

5/25 - Convocation

6/1 - All School Chapel

Mary Terpstra

God created our Mary to flourish in creation. Her life's passion has been to bring children into God's outdoors and find his beauty. She has a WEALTH of knowledge and creative ideas to engage children in creation. She was thrilled to join our Forest team this year as a part-time teaching assistant with Emily. We were thrilled to have her join in our work "officially". And then one injury after another has happened. Emily and I received her regretful resignation this week. I hurt for her. She LOVES this program and wants to support your work in bringing children into nature and flourish is God's care. Please keep Mary in your prayers and, if you have time, drop her a line of encouragement. Feel free to bounce ideas off her! She LOVES to help and has SO many ideas for our learning experiences. You can connect with Mary at 

dterp50@chartermi.net

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! 

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! 

Reformation Day

We're approaching a special time of year, friends! Reformation Day! I am mentioning the following to our parents in the blog (just a reminder of some of what makes our HC family and Reformed faith tradition special):

Autumn in Michigan brings with it many glorious, beauty-making moments for teachers and students to enjoy together as well as for families making warm memories. It feels as though all of the earth is waiting for the right moment to explode in brilliant color and radiant God's goodness. Some of the learning experiences we hold dear at school during this time of year surround the celebration of Reformation Day on October 31. Your children are being reminded of the truths embedded in the reformed tradition. More than 500 years ago these truths were nailed to the door of a church and today we still post these tenants of our faith on our walls at school. Based in Scripture, people of many walks find these statements of faith resonate in their traditions and beliefs.

The Five Solas:

“Sola Scriptura” (Scripture Alone: 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
“Sola Gratia” (Grace Alone: Ephesians 2:8-9)
“Sola Fide” (Faith Alone: Galatians 3:11)
“Solus Christus” (Christ Alone: 1 Timothy 2:5)
“Soli Deo Gloria” (To God Alone Be Glory: 1Peter 4:11)

Our prayer is that our children, the next generation of Kingdom bringers and partners in the restorative work God is doing in this world, will be well equipped and eager to take up their calling in this world. May the roots of their faith tended today grow strong and deep in the great love of our Father in heaven.

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! We can talk about this on Friday morning. 

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. 

Chapel on the 10th

I'm on the schedule to take the pulpit on the 10th. But, as you just read earlier, I'll be accrediting our farming friends at Ada Christian. Could we move our next chapel together to the 17th instead? I'll be back and in action by then! 

Please copy and paste in your blog:

Help Wanted

FOREST SCHOOL INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PARAPROFESSIONAL/RESOURCE CLASSROOM ASSISTANT

Holland Christian Schools is looking for an inclusive education paraprofessional/resource classroom assistant to provide assistance both to teachers and students within the K-2 Forest School setting. This position will support students both academically and social/emotionally throughout the school day. Please note that this is a three-year position funded by EANS (Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools) dollars, and that insurance/benefits are not provided. After three years, a determination will be made regarding the possibility of integrating this job into Holland Christian Schools regularized staffing. Please apply online here.

October Marathon Week

Oh boy! Rest well this weekend, friends. Report card assessing and reporting is behind us. Next up is the parent/teacher conference marathon. I'll be praying wisdom, joy and energy over each of you! It's a looooong three-school-day week. I pray God blesses each of you with health and stamina to make it all week! Enjoy your weekend! 

Online report cards

Our report cards will be made available to parents online today! No more printing and packing and hoping they survive the trip home! 

During your parent/teacher conversations next week, if you have a few conversation into which you could work in a gracious question, might you be willing to help collect a bit of data? We certainly NEED these report cards to be accessed and read by parents! That's the point!!! I'm not confident that a google survey will provide us with the most accurate feedback. If you could work in the question graciously, "the report cards were offered digitally this year. We're just taking a moment during conferences to collect your feedback. Were you able to access the information about your child's progress? If so, WONDERFUL and thank you!" ...feel free to move right along with your conference. If not, could they BRIEFLY share why and the response met with a good deal of compassionate understanding. Please don't let this grow into a full conversation. The point of conferences is each child's growth and development as well as the celebration of our partnership! But this face-to-face meeting is our best chance to gather data on the effectiveness of our reporting tool in an online format. If you could tally the responses, I'll collect this after your meetings from you, please, and we'll make the determination if this mode of communication if effective for our parents! Thank you! 

Please ask me questions or email if this too much. I'll find a different way to connect with families and gather this data! 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

This is an oldie but goodie. Our conversations are truly celebrations of the gift of each child's life! Please begin with each parent in prayer of thanksgiving, celebrate the joy they bring to your classroom environment and share a tidbit that parents could support from home if that would be helpful for the child's growth. Here is a graphic with a few suggestions as you navigate the conference time togehree:

I will be in the office at Rose Park for part of the time as well as at Forest School for some of the time. I'm ready to help support or connect with anyone if that is a help to you. Text me to find me if it looks like nobody is home! 

I will be in prayer for each of you during these evenings. It takes a GREAT deal of stamina to remain engaged, enthused and energetic after teaching ALL day. Thank you for sharing your heart, stories and passion for each child. Please let me know how/when I can support you! 

CEA Days

Parking:

Where will you park at the CEA convention next week?

This video will show you.

If you are an exhibitor, a presenter or if you have 3 or more in your car

you may park at Grand Rapids Christian High School at 2300 Plymouth St SE, Grand Rapids, MI.

Plan now to meet some friends at school and carpool to the convention.

If you have 2 or less in your car you may park at:

Burton Baptist Church - 2010 Plymouth Ave SE

Grand Rapids Christian Middle School - 2036 Chesaning Dr SE

Plymouth Heights CRC - 1800 Plymouth Ave SE

There will be a bus to shuttle you to the high school from these parking lots.

Eagles Ice Center - 2600 Village Dr SE

You can walk through the football stadium to the high school

Please leave EXTRA EARLY and give yourself EXTRA TIME for parking.

We begin at 9:00 in the auditorium at Grand Rapids Christian High School on Thursday, October 21.

Register for session HERE! 

Swimming

This announcement will go out to parents in our next elementary blog. Please do not sure the information yet. This is just for your planning purposes. 

Traditionally our elementary students have participated in the community swim program offered graciously by the Holland Aquatic Center. This year, as we do not know what the year will entail regarding loss of instructional time due to illness and potential quarantines, we will not be using school instructional time to participate in the swimming lessons. The Holland Aquatic Center offers swim lessons for young children which we do endorse and feel is important to the safety of our young ones who live in close proximity to bodies of water. We will reexamine this offering in the future. 

Miska Rynsburger

Erin Wyma

Dinah Pereira

Autumnal Beauty

 We are nearing the quarter one mark in our school year, friends! You have been faithful, creative, flexible and joy-filled while creating a loving space for each one of your learners! What a joy to hear the stories, journey together to create success and watch you FLOURISH in this calling of growing the newest generation of those who will partner in God's work restoring the Kingdom! This is big stuff, friends! Sleep well and enjoy creation this weekend as you are able! 

Student Engagement

One of the critical elements in a highly effective lesson is student engagement. As you heard from Doug earlier this year, student engagement will be one of the areas we'll focus on this school year. Many of you already employ MANY creative and high-energy strategies to keep your students actively engaged. Before we begin looking for these strategies in documented walk throughs this year, take a peek at this helpful video that happens to be linked with PBIS (because we all know that when students are engaged in learning they are less likely to engage in behavior issues...typically) It's a feature length film so please don't feel like you need to make the time to view the whole lesson. The helpful components and model lesson begins around 7:21

See you tomorrow morning for devotions!!! 

October is Here!

Forest School Discovery Night

...is moved. Rather than a Saturday, we'll host families on November 18 from 6:00-7:00. This evening works for Kenzie and Ron. Emily and Angie, if you have a schedule conflict, we'll work it out! I'll share more details as we get closer. 

Instructional Schedule

Angie and Emily, would you please send me your weekly schedule? Any format will do. A photo of an old school planner, your calendar, a template you've created. However you keep your rhyme and rhythm straight, would you please send me a copy? Thank you! 

Forest School Aides

We have a wonderful staff at South Side who never feel sure they have all of their students from Pine Ridge and Forest School for After School Care each day. Sometimes kids get picked up from a different family member rather than taking their typical ride over to After School Care. Other times kids are home sick. Forest School teacher assistants, would you please call the SS office with the names of the students who will be attending After School Care? This is being asked of all teachers at Forest School and Pine Ridge. Unfortunately this is a task that would need to be completed each day. However, this will help ensure that staff knows exactly where children are and whether or not a bus was missed or a child should be tracked down. The South Side office phone number is 616-820-3535. THANK YOU! 

Hoedown for Down Syndrome

The month of October is Down Syndrome Awareness month. We'd like to celebrate the MANY special people we have in our lives with Down Syndrome. We have a new baby sister, a high school sister, a little brother and even a student with Down Syndrome who add so much sunshine and joy to our lives. It's also helpful for our children to learn about and become comfortable with the fact that we are ALL created differently and Down Syndrome is one of the many ways we are created uniquely. 

How about a Hoedown for Down Syndrome! 

We're hoping you are able to push this special event into your schedule. How about from 1:45-2:45 on Wednesday, October 20? We'll meet together on the lawn of Rose Park and celebrate with many special friends from the high school's inclusion program as well. We'll have a country line dance lesson led by many special friends. Some musicians will be there helping provide the jam and even tables of autumn treats are planned! Wear your cowboy/cowgirl gear! More details will be forthcoming and we hope to make this an annual celebration for our children! We hope this fits into your schedule!