It's all about the learning

Report cards come home very soon.  Our principals are reading through each one, and teachers have spent long hours compiling evidence of your child(ren)'s learning over the past couple of months.   At our recent workshop on using our new standardised tests, we were again reminded of 'triangulation'.  We take multiple data points - work in class, quizzes, projects, tests, and performance exercises to come up with a professional opinion on how students are learning. No one single item should define how a child is doing.  Once we have a number of different indicators, then we can come to a clearer picture.  Alongside our data from the first report card, we now hopefully have a sense of growth and progression as well!

In the end, the report card is to help the student, teacher, and parent to collectively strategize how to learn moving forward.  What is working, what is not, and how we can continue to uncover the wonders of God's world. What goals can we set for the remainder of the year to finish well?  It is not a judgement of who your child is or is not.  It is not a communication of how 'good' a child is.  It is not a stick or a carrot that we use to entice behaviour.  It is a communication to you and your child about how they are handling the material for their grade level, and of course, you have the opportunity to respond!

Use this report card and interview cycle as an opportunity to continue our dialogue, to identify how best to work with the gifts and talents God has given your child(ren), and to encourage one another to live for Jesus, learn for life, and serve with gladness!

So what do the teachers learn anyway?

Two weeks with a PD day.  So I'm guessing that a few of you are wondering what the teachers are doing during that time.  First of all, I am thankful to be working with a staff that is committed to professional learning not just on PD days.  Many of our teachers use weeks in the summer to take courses and workshops.  Outside of PD days, our bi-weekly staff meetings often have a PD component, and specific events throughout the year push our PD along....  From the past and coming weeks, a little update:

Last Wednesday, we assembled as an entire NACE staff after school from 4pm to 8pm to do two things:  

a) Learn more about how to use the results of our new standardized testing (MAP - Measures of Academic Performance tests - www.nwea.org).  With the expertise of Justin Cook, the Director of Learning at the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools, we dug deep into what is possible with our test results, and most importantly, how they foster a culture of growth and progress with our students and our classes.  

b) After dinner served by and shared with the NACE board, we continued work that was begun in August on developing a code of character and habits of a Christian School student to specifically define and teach in years to come.  We began with the reality that our parent survey of last year pointed to the need to teach and expect a 'lived Christian life' in our students rather than just head knowledge.  We also know from research that character is the other side of the academic coin.... good character brings about good learning.  Expect to hear more about this as we follow this project through this spring and into the fall.

This past Friday, we joined 120 other educators from area Christian Schools to learn more about responsive classroom techniques and how we can better develop relationships and encourage positive learning cultures in our classrooms.  Our teachers walked away with specific and immediate things they intend to introduce in their classrooms this week to start that journey.

And this Friday?  It's report card writing time.  A lot of learning has happened since our last report card, so it's time to get that concisely down on paper to communicate to students/parents and set goals for the remainder of the year.

Teaching at NACE is not an easy task.  We demand a lot of one another and there is always room to learn and grow and improve.  Together, we're committed to refining our craft of Christian Teaching so that the students at NACE receive the best education we can deliver!  

Messy families

Family Day is in a week, a holiday in the midst of winter, at the middle of a school season.  As a member of a family that is like many others - busy, often running from one thing to the next.... a long weekend is a welcome concept.

I'm grateful that a holiday has been put in place to honour the family; to draw attention to the importance of time together.  As Christian schools, we have traditionally set as central the fact that 'God has ordained and blessed the institution of the family. Generations are honoured, families are blessed, covenantal promises are fulfilled.' (Reference - Ray Hendriks 'Thoughts on Family Day' https://goo.gl/sqvril)

As Christians, we have often idolised the family, though.  Social media has presented opportunities to further perpetuate the myth that our families are perfect and that if you are a believer, your family will be a picture of harmony.

Jon Bloom, a writer at desiringGod.org highlights something I've often seen peculiar:  "Why is the Bible loud on sinfully dysfunctional families and quiet on harmonious families?  Well, for one thing, most families aren't harmonious. Humanity is not harmonious. We are alienated — alienated from God and each other. So put alienated, selfish sinners together in a home, sharing possessions and the most intimate aspects of life, having different personalities and interests, and a disparate distribution of power, abilities, and opportunities, and you have a recipe for a sin-mess.  But there's a deeper purpose at work in this mess. The Bible's main theme is God's gracious plan to redeem needy sinners. It teaches us that what God wants most for us is that we 1) become aware of our sinfulness and 2) our powerlessness to save ourselves, as we 3) believe and love his Son and the gospel he preached, and 4) graciously love one another. And it turns out that the family is an ideal place for all of these to occur."  https://goo.gl/0VzyhZ

 

Here's praying that your (messy?) Family Day can be one where you experience God's grace among sinfulness, confession, forgiveness, and love.  Through your family, our schools and community are blessed!!

The Character of Justice

This morning in staff devotions, we heard a story from the book 'Pursuing Justice' by Ken Wytsma.  While I haven't read the book yet, this was an intriguing introduction, apt for us as we consider how to live out our faith in the world.

Ken tells a story where a missionary from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is taken to a grade 2 class as 'show and tell' so that the class can interview him about his work and his life. There were normal grade two types of questions, but also a number of profound questions that demonstrated the privileged bubble we enjoy in this corner of the world.  The students wrestled with wondering why he didn't own a PlayStation (or even knew what it was), and thought it a bit 'disgusting' that he didn't own any more than just one pair of clothing.  As parents, they understood that the poverty experienced in the Congo was linked quite directly to their children's state of privilege.  Mining activity and human rights abuses were direct correlates to heightened demand for video game systems.  

Ken's introduction states  "Justice is rooted in the character of God. . . and [is] carried on today by all who are moved and led by the Spirit."  Character is developed partly by the ways we teach our children and what we encourage in them as a response.  In Ken (and his wife's) words, "I want my kids' heart to break for what matters."  In a world where much of what we value is 'purchasable', this kind of character matters even more!  

Wytsma's words this morning were another reminder to me of the importance of our conversations with our kids and the duty and responsibility we have as a Christian School to encourage and grow in our students a sense of justice and a need to work for what is right.  

The character of God is what we seek, and the help of the Spirit is what we long for to be actors of justice.  May God bless you and us in this high calling!

By your words and your actions...

There continue to be real and tangible ways that God offers our community to serve others and to make a difference in the world.  I am thankful to watch a few of them taking shape and providing evidence of God working in and through our communities:

a) The Caliper Project.  Both Covenant and John Knox are participating in the Caliper project - a small way that we can literally roll up our sleeves and give in order to benefit others.  We often ask God to provide healing where He wills it.  That often happens through the advances of medical research and the gifts and talents he's blessed health professionals with.  We are excited to participate in this in the knowledge that our contributions will help others understand the human body better, as God has created us!!!

b) The drama productions.  Practices and organisational work for our spring productions are underway!  These opportunities not only provide ours students with the opportunity to grow and develop in their gifts of expression and artistic production, but they also send a powerful message to our communities:  That all of life belongs to God, and we can honour Him in many different ways.  Look for more information on both plays.  The promise to bless those who come to watch them with a great experience and a beautiful message!!

c) The overwhelming response at our information evenings.  God is working through our schools, teachers, classrooms and students.  This is obvious because our current families are talking about it!  The reach and blessing that a Christian Education is and can be are being spread by word of mouth all over the region.  We had the pleasure to meet with families who have been planning to send their child since they were born, others newly considering when they hadn't ever before, and still others who are brand new to the idea of Christian Education.  We even had a family who found us by 'Googling' us......  They are looking for something better.  

Praise God for the many and varied ways He shows Himself through the expected and unexpected!

Young and Old

It's a pretty big week at NACE; one that highlights both our young kids and our old kids, and allows for a special view of the work we do nurturing children in their personal, spiritual, and developmental journey.

On Tuesday and Thursday this week, we invite families interested in Christian Education to spend some time with us in the evening, introducing our schools, our vision, and what those look like each day.  There are some that are looking to transfer into the older grades, but the majority of attendees are looking to see how their four- or five-year-old child will function and thrive in our schools.  (If you know of someone that should be there, direct them to our website for full information and encourage them to just have a look!)

Front and centre are our Kindergarten programs where children are respected and valued as God's unique creations, learning about and experiencing God's love for them and how to respond to that amazing love.  Our Kindergarten programs provide a literacy rich, stimulating, and safe environment that meets the needs of each child in his or her physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual development.

Our kindergarten students eventually grow up and into 12- and 13-year-olds, and our educational programs grow along with them.  One highlight for our grade 7 and 8 students is the leadership development that happens on our annual Pioneer Camp trip.  (NACE is there all week - JKCS from Monday to Wednesday and CCS from Wednesday to Friday!)  We have partnered with Inter-Varsity for the past number of years to work out a program that "is designed to help students develop leadership and interpersonal skills while promoting a greater appreciation of the environment they live in and the benefits of being physically active." Pioneer camps specialize in partnering with schools to develop a program that is designed to grow and challenge students and to help achieve learning objectives. They are committed to the transformation of youth, students and graduates into fully committed followers of Jesus Christ.

From the moment they step foot in our schools as eager and nervous four-year-olds to the day they graduate confidently on their way to high school, we work with our students to unpack the marvels not only in creation, but also the skills and abilities that God has blessed them with so that they are equipped to serve in His Kingdom.

Please pray this week for each step of our schools' programs, from the beginning in Kindergarten to the culmination in grade 8... that we would honour and glorify our Lord with and through our students and their growth as His children.

There's something different about this place....

You can sense and feel it immediately when you walk into Covenant or John Knox.  They are schools, and bear the many hallmarks of any regular school facility:  big yellow school buses, playgrounds, our nation's flag, a gymnasium and a library, computer labs, classrooms, letters, numbers, artwork, and even administrative offices.  But when people set a foot into one of our schools, this is often the impression with which they are struck, and even moreso the one with which they leave:  that there's 'something different'.

Speaking with numerous families who have experienced a few different schools, they echo this.  John Knox and Covenant are able to and do approach education differently.  We spend a lot of time using the word WITH in our staff discussions.  Education is not something we do TO our students, it's an endeavour we do WITH them.  We don't block families out of the educational journey, we work WITH them.  Communication, transparency, opportunities to help and get involved.... these are all things that make our schools 'different'.

But WHY do we take this approach?  It's because we ultimately view one another in a relationship.  You are created in God's image, you bear His likeness, our relationship honours God's workmanship throughout the world and in each other.  Christ truly is LORD of all, regardless of our personal abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.  It's this perspective that makes our schools so special.  We aren't perfect, but we strive on in God's grace and continue to work to 'get it right'.

That is what you can feel as soon as you step in the building... that there's something different...  and it's why we want to continue to bless children and families across our regions.

Do you know of someone who needs to just take a step inside?  Next week's information evenings are a perfect opportunity for them to come and experience what the love embedded throughout Chrisitan Education does and can do.  

John 13: 35 "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."