As we shared in the spring and summer, the board has been moving forward with planning for a Christian High School. We were pleased to see a strong turnout of Christian education supporters at the Community Meeting which we hosted on September 16th. During this meeting, the community had a chance to hear more about our plans for a proposed High School here in Sarnia and to receive encouragement from two principals of K-12 schools in St. Thomas and Chatham. There were lots of questions, plenty of healthy discussion, and a really strong sense of optimism in the room that night.
As we move forward together, our next steps include a focused engagement with the parents of students in grades 6-8, as they will be the families with whom we expect to build the first few student cohorts. Our hope is to understand how the vision and plan we’ve developed aligns to these families’ needs and how many students we can expect to serve for each of the first few years. In addition to SCS families, we have also invited John Knox Christian School (Wyoming) families and local homeschool families to discuss their needs and enthusiasm. We will also be sharing a document with the community that outlines much of the content we shared in September and which will help our membership understand how this new venture may unfold.
We look forward to meeting with the membership at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November. At this meeting the board will be available to answer more questions and to address questions that we’ve received since the Community Meeting. During the AGM, the board will be looking for membership support to continue progress towards creating a K-12 school.
Between now and the AGM, we ask that you do the following:
• Seek God’s will for our community through prayer
• Share your questions, concerns, encouragements, and thoughts via email (hs@sarniachristian.com)
• Attend the AGM on November 4th, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
On behalf of the LCSS board, Brian vanOosten
Having fun at the Christian School Cross Country meet! At the beginning of October, SCS hosts 14 different Christian School communities to this event held at Canatara Park.
Welcome To Our New Staff
Kaiti Lorantfy
Educational Assistant
Peter Wicks Senior Kindergarten Teacher
Trista Dykstra Educational Assistant
The whole school participated in the Terry Fox Run.
Discovery Days happen Wednesday afternoons for students in Grades 5-8.
JK & SK Class Trip to Zekveld’s
Strategic Planning
As we begin a new school year, the board has begun a formal strategic planning process for our school society. Our previous strategic plan, involving significant building renovations, has now concluded and we believe it is important to develop a new plan to keep our community, leadership, and staff working together effectively.
Strategic planning involves critically considering our strengths and weaknesses, evaluating where we see God’s will for our school in the future, and making plans to get us there. The outcome is a comprehensive strategic plan that includes strategic themes, objectives, and activities for each theme, key measures to ensure accountability to results, a template for the operating plan with timelines, team assignments, and a budget to support its execution.
Sarnia Christian School has retained the services of Chisel Consulting to help us through this process, ensuring that we are transparent, objective, and aligned to the needs of our community. Our consultant has let us know that in order to achieve a highly useful and comprehensive Strategic Plan, it is important to do at least four things well:
1. Consult comprehensively and deeply among key stakeholders - staff, board, parents, students, churches, and donors.
2. Review the internal and external factors that are aiding or hampering the school’s ability to accomplish its mandate.
3. Use design thinking principles to dream about the opportunity to enrich the lives of parents, students, and staff.
4. Assemble it all into a comprehensive plan that the staff, leadership, and board understand and to which they will make themselves accountable.
You have likely been asked to engage in a few ways already, in surveys or online conversations. We hope that you have been able and willing to provide your feedback into this process. We ask that you pray over the process, that it will be God-centered and ultimately fulfill His purpose and plans for this school community.
Thank you to our community for the support you have provided the school, whether through partnership, in prayer, or financially. We are praying that the vision cast for the school is one that will endure.
Lisa Rekman, Board Chair
Thank you for being part of our supporting community.
Our school’s Foundation is offering you an opportunity to join a webinar titled “Giving Well: Year-End Generosity with Lasting Impact” on November 19th at 2:00 p.m.
Maybe you have heard that over the next three years over $1 trillion will transfer from Baby-Boomers to Millennials (Maclean’s Magazine, September 2024). How can this transfer of assets and your personal giving strategies save tax and make a greater impact?
Join this no-cost webinar and access information that is helpful, timely, and valuable.
Register for the webinar with our Foundation - the Christian School Foundation: www.christianschoolfoundation.ca/events.
This is a gift of valuable and timely information from Sarnia Christian School and our partners at the Christian School Foundation, as you consider how to give well to any of your favourite year-end causes!
Grades 1-4 spent a day at the Brigden Fair.
Dear Supporter of Sarnia Christian School,
2024 Fall Drive
Be a member of the Lambton Christian School Society. You can continue to support the school after your children graduate!
To run our school society, we need members! Please consider being a member and helping our school community flourish.
Full Name:
Street:
City/Prov.:
Postal Code:
Phone Number:
Be a Supporting Member
Join Us for Our Annual General Meeting
Monday, November 4, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
At this meeting we will be approving the budget, voting in new board members, and discussing the new Christian High School.
Please complete the membership form included of this newsletter and return it to the school. Donations and membership fees may be e-transferred to the school:
finance@sarniachristian.com
Your support helps us to ensure that the vision started 71 years ago continues. $250 per member. You must be able to agree to the Membership Criteria below to be a member.
$ General Budget
Password: scsscs
We cannot rely on tuition-paying families alone to cover the full cost of operating our school. We believe it is the supporting Christian community’s responsibility to help share in the cost of providing Christian Education. It is from our general budget that we can purchase needed items and provide our great programs.
$ Membership Criteria
• Are you at least 18 years of age?
• Are you a regular attendee at a Christian church?
• Do you agree that the basis of the society shall be the Word of God and that by this Word, we understand God’s further revelation in all creation?
• Do you believe that the Lord God, by graciously giving us scripture, has revealed to us ordering principles intensely relevant to education and mandates us to bring the whole Word of God to bear in all its power upon education?
• Do you agree that the purpose of membership is for the promotion and advancement of Christian Education?
• Do you agree that the general school aim is to help each student grow into an independent person, so that the student can serve God according to His Word, is able and willing to employ all his/her talents to the honour of God and for the wellbeing of fellow creatures, in every area of life in which the student is placed by God?
• By becoming a member, I consent to the release of my personal information to members upon request for the purposes of voting, membership meetings, or other matters related to the corporation.
Calendar of Events
October 17
This is an application for membership. Your application will be reviewed by the Board before approval. The board may request additional information upon review.
High School Meeting for Gr. 6-8 parents
October 24, 25 Edvance Teacher Convention (no school)
November 4 Membership Meeting
November 6 Picture Retake Day
November 8 Preliminary Progress Reports
November 11 Remembrance Day
November 14 Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 15 Parent/Teacher Conferences Professional Activity Day (no school)
December 20 Family & School Skate 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Early dismissal at 12:30 p.m.
December 23- Christmas Break (no school)
January 3
January 6 First Day of School after Christmas Break
Google: Sarnia Christian School Facebook to find us.
