Our Christian School: a place of many spinning plates

I’ve often used the analogy of “many simultaneously spinning plates, all moving in the same direction” to try to describe life at LCES. Here is a snapshot of just some of the things that happen in a typical week that I notice:

• A staff member will start Monday morning with all staff by reading a Psalm and praying over the week ahead. God’s name will be praised in chapel. 
• Grade seven will collect compost school-wide and help us divert organic waste from landfill. Grade eight will collect all recyclables school-wide and ensure they get to the curb.
• A parent will walk around the perimeter of the building praying over its inhabitants.
• Our resource teacher will meet with teachers, parents, and staff to attend to the needs of students and plan the best path forward for learning. Volunteers will come alongside classroom teachers to make great learning available for all and help with the intensity of tasks. 
• Our building will be cleaned thoroughly by our custodians giving us a clean, orderly place to live and learn.
• God’s creation will be unpacked in new and creative ways for students, inviting a response.
• Many, many times a staff member’s words and actions will respond to a student who is sick, injured, sad, overwhelmed, confused, or lonely.
• A student will come to the principal’s office with an eager invitation to “come and see” the results of classroom learning. Laughter, singing, and smiles will be noticed in the hallways and classrooms.
• A volunteer will come in to install, repair, or maintain some part of our physical building. 
• A busy evening parking lot will be evidence of board meeting and/or several committee meetings where the school’s needs are being attended to. 
• Poorly made student decisions will be responded to with both justice and mercy, on the way to restoration and renewal. A class meeting in most grades will address current successes and challenges that the community of learners needs to respond to. 
• Several grades will spend time helping other students practice reading.
• A generous donor will choose to bless the school with unexpected funds to keep us moving forward. 
• On Friday afternoon, ready for rest and renewal, staff will meet again to close the week in prayer and ask the Lord to bless their words and actions with students all week. 

As principal I feel privileged to have so many of these windows on life at LCES that show our community’s desire to educate children for life in biblical wisdom, and see God’s incredible faithfulness in blessing the school with the means to do so. May God be praised by the many spinning plates of LCES. SJ