November 2, 2009

Dear Elementary Parents,

Hopefully you were able to take advantage of the long weekend and enjoy some special time with your children. We are excited to return from the ACSI convention with many new ideas and methods for best educating your child. Many of the teachers spent a large part of their weekend at the school incorporating the concepts into their lesson plans for this first week of November. It is probably getting redundant, but I feel like the months are flying by so far this year. Before we know it the holidays will be upon us.

This week we will be having a World Awareness focus. Throughout the school, pre-k through 12th grade, we will be incorporating lessons and assemblies that help our students share Gods heart for the world. We will be having assemblies each morning during the Bible portion of our Elementary school day. This morning we kicked off our Operation Christmas Child project by watching a DVD describing some of the conditions for children around the world and their need for hope and Gods Word. Information will be coming home to you with your child regarding Operation Christmas Child. It is a great ministry that we partner with each year to send gifts to struggling and suffering children around the world. We have other devotional videos and speakers lined up for the rest of the week. It is our hope that the things that move Gods heart to compassion also move our students hearts to compassion.

Last week we wrapped up our Sally Foster orders. Thank you for participating in the gift orders as we raised over $5,000 for our school! You can still place Sally Foster orders online and WCS will continue to receive a percentage until June. These fundraiser's not only allow us to meet our budget, but anything above what we have planned to bring in goes toward classroom improvements. The prizes from the Entertainment book sales are arriving this week. All Sally Foster orders and prizes will arrive together November 18th. Thank you, again, for your support in this area.

As the weather gets colder, our hot lunch program just gets hotter and hotter. Orders have increased each day over the past few weeks and we had 35 orders for our Grandparents Lunch Day. We are proud to be able to offer a nitrous and filling option for our students. The next Grandparents Lunch Day will be November 19th. They will be serving French dip sandwiches!

Last Wednesday was the first Kids Can Cook class and it was a tremendous success. Students learned to make fruit kabobs and had an absolute blast. The next session will be this Wednesday. I want to encourage you to take part in the other programs offered, as well. In addition to homework help and intramural sports on Wednesday, we also have the Kidz Art program each Tuesday and the Umpqua Bank Learn to Earn program Wednesday mornings. The Kidz Art program and the cooking class charge a nominal fee. The other programs are free of charge.

A few reminders before closing:

1) Parent Information Night is next Tuesday, November 10th at 7:00 p.m. in room A-5 on the Matmor Campus. Each administrator will be giving an update of their portion of WCS and we will be available to answer questions. Please feel free to email questions at any time to any of the administrators.
2) Red Ribbon Day will be November 13th on the Elementary campus. We will spend some time in chapel and in our classes sharing the dangers of drug use and encouraging our students to stay drug-free.
3) Kindergarten Thanksgiving Chapel will be November 23rd at 7:00 p.m. in the LPC Worship Center on the West St. Campus. I can't wait to see our kindergarten students perform.
4) Thanksgiving Recess will be November 25th through November 27th. Extended Care will be open Wednesday, November 25th for your convenience and will be closed Thursday and Friday.

As we took communion at church yesterday, one of our pastors read from John chapter 18. As Jesus and the Disciples crossed the Kidron Valley to the olive grove where Jesus would be arrested, they would have crossed over the Kidron River below the altar where sacrifices were made. The blood from the lambs that were sacrificed during the Passover would have been flowing in the river. As Jesus crossed that river it would be the last time that those sacrifices would ever be necessary. Often we get caught up in our circumstances and lose sight of the ultimate sacrifice that was made for us. With Thanksgiving approaching, there is nothing to be more thankful for. Have a great week!

Thank You,

Justin Smith
K-8 Administrator