“I believe God made the world and He sent His Son to Earth,” Kvande said. “Because of that, we should think about how we live our life in the world around us.”
Service Learning Service learning is a tangible expression of GSL’s Episcopal identity. Whereas many schools today participate in community service projects in the form of charitable acts, at Grace-St. Luke’s, service learning is a meaningful program that is integrated into the school experience from age two through eighth grade. In addition to service projects, teachers help students identify how the act of service follows a cycle from hand, to head, to heart. The physical work gets done, students think about the impact of their work, and finally, students can identify and articulate how their work touches the hearts of others. “Through our service learning program, we encourage students Martha Mitchell, Katie Young and Reed Hoffman serve as student to be responsible citizens in their communities and the world, and acolytes during a Lower School Chapel service. to live in a way that demonstrates faith in action,” Kvande said. “Starting with Little Lukers, we teach them how to respond to issues such as hunger and poverty that will help make the world a better place.”
Mission Statement Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School prepares boys and girls to become creative problem solvers, confident lifelong learners, and responsible citizens in their communities and the world.
Give a HIGH FIVE to the
FORMATIVE FIVE
1 Empathy 2 Self-Control 3 Integrity 4 Embracing Diversity 5 Grit
Formative Five Since implemented in 2017, the Formative Five success skills have helped guide students through their age-appropriate social-emotional growth. The five traits—empathy, self-control, integrity, embracing diversity, and grit—are reinforced on a rotating basis in the classroom and during division-specific chapels by division heads and the clergy. “The division heads talk about each success skill, telling stories, giving examples, and relating it to a lesson learned from the Bible,” said Kvande. “We are trying to help students grow in social-emotional— as well as in spiritual—areas, just as we strive to have them grow academically and intellectually. The Formative Five represent another way to teach students how to be better people and responsible citizens.” By educating the whole child—the mind, body, and spirit—we are equipping and empowering children to be the best versions of themselves for the benefit of their own selves and the world.
Dignity • Respect • Love • Service “When reflecting on what it means to be an Episcopal school, I find myself thinking about how each chapel service ends,” Rencher said. “We often close the service by saying ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.’ As students, faculty, and staff leave chapel, they begin to serve. From there, what’s taking place in the classrooms led by teachers and administrators is rooted in love and service.” This takes us back to the Baptismal Covenant: Basically, with dignity and respect, we are called to love and serve. Is it possible that those four words can summarize what it means to be an Episcopal school? Maybe so. Because as an Episcopal school, how we teach and how we learn on a daily basis is accomplished perfectly through dignity, respect, love and service. Grace-St. Luke’s is a proud member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES). Portions of this feature were retrieved from articles on the NAES website, www.episcopalschools.org
Spring 2019
The Anchor
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