SHOUTING IT SOME MORE!

Bob JUST shared the results of the CT scan which show there is NO METASTASIZED DISEASE! That 51% we were praying over?!?! The prayers we've been pacing about in the throne room of heaven uttering and pleading with tears in our eyes? It IS God's will that this cancer IS contained just to the prostate. Remember those statistics? In the hundred's place (to speak elementary vernacular) Let's remain on our knees....or scream and jump in the hallways of South Side. OUR GOD IS A GOOD GOOD GOD! GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! ALL THE TIME! GOD IS GOOD! 

Praise and thanksgiving let everyone sing! May you EACH have a blessed, joy-filled weekend! Know that, which there is still work and recovery to do, Bob and Karen are blessed with reasons to smile this weekend and that truth makes our hearts SING! 

Kindergarten Offerings

(Please honor: For your eyes only until we make public announcements through Courtney and Admin.)

I want to share with you what Rod and I shared with our whole indoor, English speaking (in other words, not forest or immersion) Kindergarten team yesterday after school. As an admin team we have been talking and examining for a few years the sustainability, and budgetability of our current 3-day and 5-day Kindergarten offerings. We love offering our parents the option of something other than all day, every day for the English-speaking students, but the volatility of enrollment numbers from year to year can make 3-day K a tricky option to carry out depending on the numbers that, again, vary on both sides of town from year to year.

Consequently, beginning next year, we are going to offer a 5-day all day option, like we currently do, and a 5-day half-day option. ZCS has been doing this quite successfully since the State mandated 5 full-day K for all students in public schools. We will support our team in collaborating, creating and carrying out these 2 options at Rose Park and South Side for next year. There are more questions you may have, and if so, I invite you to please stop in for a conversation with me.

And, once again, it will be so helpful to the process of rolling this out if we can keep this news internal to ourselves only for now so that we can roll it out to our community with all of the necessary context, fanfare, and information possible when we do that. We have some work to do before that happens, hence the request for keeping this news in house for now. 

College Student Observer

I was contacted by a student from Moody Bible College who would like to observe elementary students in action over her Christmas break. If you would NOT like to have her stop in your room on the 17th of December, please let me know. Otherwise, you'll see Emma floating in and out of classrooms on Monday the 17th. Thank you. 

Preschool Staff Meeting

Will take place at South Side on Wednesday the 28th.

Gift Exchange

Per our conversation at the staff meeting, the following text was placed in the parent blog this weekend:

As Christmas time approaches, we as a staff discuss how to keep our students’ eyes focused on Jesus. Especially in the area of giving, we hope to help your children enjoy the act of giving even more than receiving. Throughout the year with our SPARK service program, our students are supporting various community members and ministries through prayer, visits, collections, and making cards and pictures for members of our armed forces and their families. As there is no specific SPARK collection going on in December, watch for details coming soon about how we as an entire South Side school community will show our love for Jesus and his coming. All of these are so important to open young lives to the needs and opportunities to meet some of those needs as members of the Kingdom of God.

With the overall focus on giving, the staff has thoughtfully considered how to celebrate the Christmas season for students in grades K-2nd. In response to the urging of parents, and with the careful consideration of the staff, we would like to again celebrate with each other in our classrooms in the following way: Instead of each student coming with enough little things (stickers, eraser, piece of candy, etc.) for each student in the class, we would ask that each boy come with one wrapped “boy” gift, and each girl come with one wrapped “girl” gift. These will be used as part of games and activities on the last day before vacation. Please limit the value of these gifts to $3 only. Even though you may be able to find a great deal on a higher priced item for only $3, it helps us avoid some difficulty if the value of each item is actually $3.

Please see your child’s teacher if you have any questions. Thank you for helping us make the student gift exchange a fair, fun, and meaningful experience for everyone!