Glory in the Air

A task took me out of the office and into the hallway right outside my door last week. The lights were out. There was a stillness not normally found in a primary hallway during the middle of the day. A door opened somewhere out of sight and a warm, loving refrain echoed down the hallway and caught my full attention:

“We give you all the glory, we give you all the glory, Christ the Lord.”

The simple melody and repeating words pulled at my heart and caused me to push aside the tasks of the morning and just stop and listen. Students were practicing in the gym for our Christmas Concert and their love of the message they were singing was tangible. What a wonderful words for our students to dwell on in this late advent season as we approach the manger gift of Immanuel – God with us!

I am not a shepherd and don’t make my living among sheep, but I think I shared something in common with those herders of long ago as I paused. For just a brief moment, in a quiet hallway, I was being drawn out of the immediacy of a task to consider and reflect on something incredible. God of heaven come down, here on earth, for us. Hallelujah!  I wonder what it must have been like to be surprised by a sky full of angels singing a song about the glory of God on that Bethlehem night long ago.

May the glory of Christmas and majesty of God’s greatest gift fill us with joy and gratitude. On behalf of the LCES Board, staff, and students we wish you a wonderful break celebrating with family and friends.  SJ

Who's coming? How will they know?

While the winter snows are starting to swirl, the warm month of August 2017 is on my mind. I’ve shared with a few people in the last week that work is already beginning on the very first pieces of planning for the next school year. A key part of that is anticipating how we will connect with our new families. We are eager to ensure that Christian families know about us and the option for Christian education that we offer every day. I hope to be busy in January and February talking to future LCES families that will join us.

Our Promotions Committee has been active in the last year in working on several things to ensure that we are known in our community. A new printed package has been made for inquiring parents. Promotional handout materials have been redesigned. Different road signage is under review. Intensive work with the school’s website has taken place since we have come to realize over time that an electronic presence is one of our best ways of representing ourselves well. We do have some parents who inquire as result of doing an Internet search only, with no other connection to us.  Changes to our school's foundation and the results of the Bright Futures capital campaign will, in part, support the amount of financial help we will be able to offer families, both new and returning, each year.

While those are vital areas not be overlooked, a major and more common theme of inquiring parents who eventually enroll their children is a story of someone in their life who has nudged and challenged them to look intently at the option of Christian Education for their children. They have shared the difference LCES has made to their family and how the Lord has blessed the choice they felt called to make.

Here’s a few ideas of how you can help:

·         Pray for clarity and provision for the parents we don’t know yet as they deliberate and discern their way to us.

·         Try summarizing in two minutes what LCES means to you. I’ve been surprised where opportunities to speak about our school suddenly presented themselves and was thankful I had some quick key ideas in my memory for the brief moments of a captive audience. 

·         Write up a review of our school on Google and Facebook. Increasingly, this a frequently used tool our younger parents use that speaks convincingly to them as they make choices.

·         Like and share the school’s facebook posts often.

·         Invite people to attend school events with you like the Christmas Concert next week, the May Soiree, Track and Field Day, Graduation, etc.

For our school, and our future LCES parents. SJ

LCES at 75: A Bright Future

I recently talked with someone about the theoretical 75th anniversary celebration of LCES in 2037. It was a fun idea to consider, both in the unknown of what will yet happen before then – like who will work at and attend our school, and also in recognizing some of the tremendous blessings the Lord has given to LCES since our 50th almost five years ago. I firmly believe that the Bright Futures capital campaign will be one of the items on the list of blessings received. I can hardly wait to tell the stories.

To their great delight, students and teachers in three classrooms walked into classrooms this morning with fresh new whiteboards installed over the weekend. They are the most recent investments in our physical learning environment that follow things like chairs, carpet, and Chromebooks described earlier in the fall.

Our committed and resourceful teachers and educational assistants are our first and greatest resource in educating our students. Their exceptional work is amplified with additional resources help us to keep up excellent learning facilities and consider new ways of helping students learn and grow. As principal, it has been so exciting and invigorating to see how small, carefully chosen additional capital investments are changing our students’ experiences and helping our teachers to consider new horizons and possibilities. We have many more project ideas we can’t wait to explore.

A very committed group of present and former LCES parents have been busy in the last 15 months working on this significant capital campaign which is heading toward completion at the end of this month. The circle has been widened significantly by extending the opportunity to participate in giving to more than 1400 present and former parents, alumni, and friends of the school. We pray for God’s provision in their response as we seek to “educate children, equipping them for a life of faithful, Christian discipleship.” [LCES Vision statement] SJ