WCCS CONNECTIONS  1/19/10
Looking Forward...Westminster Catawba Christian School
Weekly E-News
 
Welcome to the weekly E-News from the Leadership Team of Westminster Catawba Christian School.
Our desire is to keep you informed about upcoming activities/events as well as provide you with resources that may help you in reaching this mission at home.
 
If you do not wish to receive this weekly e-mail, please contact us
(wccs@wccs.org) and we will remove you from the list.
Admissions/ Development
Lisa McCutchen 
We have officially moved the Admissions process to the Catawba campus and are gearing up for the 2010-2011 school year. After reviewing the processes of several other schools, we have refined our process. Our strongest marketing tool is also our most affordable one- positive word of mouth! J Please let your friends and neighbors know about all of the wonderful things God is doing in your child's life through the ministry and mission of WCCS, and encourage them to consider WCCS for their family.
STAR - Janice Carter

Time eludes us, stirs us, controls us at times, and even seems to cheat us; and we desire more of it nonetheless.  It is a precious and priceless treasure.

Like us adults, our children tend to lose, misuse and misplace the time given them. In today's wacky, runaway world with all the social, athletic, educational, and daily living events that crowd our days, it is a wonder we have time to breathe. Our kids spend more time in school each day than at home, and we adults spend most of our days at work. Yet, homework is still brought home by parents and students.  We are such a driven society that bringing work home is a necessity for us, just to keep up. This is a societal issue and will not be fixed anytime soon.

We can do something! Here is one crucial key to help manage your time. Consistency with a plan....no matter how fluctuating or fast our days/weeks go, we can put in a few consistencies. Let us be honest, most of us wait until the last minute to do what has to be done....the urgent and important. 

However, if we took 15-20 minutes of our day working on a plan to prioritize and complete the tasks set before us, the tasks that were important but not urgent may never make it to the urgent list. Encourage your children to take 15 minutes a day to develop a plan, because without a plan to succeed you ultimately plan to fail. It is important to lay out a plan to do the important tasks such as, studying for a test or working on a project over time. If they factor time in each day for such tasks, the outcome will be favorable. If you do not do this everyday, these tasks will be too overwhelming. No assignment would elude your time. It is not easy; there will be interruptions, but keep striving; stay steady... this in itself is consistency. Pray for it to develop into an ongoing practice. God is the only one who controls and sees all time. He desires for us to have time. It is a perfect gift given from the One who is timeless.   Let us help our students develop the habits necessary to be good stewards of the time God has given us. We have 24 hours each day, we will never have any more than that; we must use it wisely.

As directed in Matt. 7:7-8...Ask...Seek...Knock, and it will be given to you. These words are continuing words, you are to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking...be consistent, even in your prayers and be sure to follow the plan you have established.  Your time invested wisely will pay dividends.
Head of School - Ray Casey

One Heart, One Mind, One Purpose ... Philippians 2:2 

Mourning and Comfort

"Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted" Matt. 5:4.  Our culture and society is very uncomfortable with mourning, we tend to compartmentalize, minimize, and sanitize death, loss, and pain.  Many times mourning is considered a "necessary evil" to avoid or a sign of weakness, rather than a gift of God's grace in a fallen world.

This portion of Scripture is much more comprehensive and cosmic than just a quaint verse to encourage someone through a hard time.  Jesus is calling His followers to consider creation, the fall, redemption, and the restoration and consummation of the age.  The coming of the Messiah brought with Him the promise and expectation to make all things new.  But how do we wait with hope and persevere with joy?

The blessedness of mourning is an expression of a deep love, affection, and longing for what has been desired and lost.  Living in a fallen world brings with it discouragement, disappointments, even disillusionments over broken hearts and dreams.  However, in the midst of the pain, Jesus invites us to the banquet table to experience the blessing of both mourning deeply and being comforted deeply.  By embracing this beatitude, we learn to groan well in a fallen world and enjoy intimacy with Him.

Catawba Campus - Dave Baniszewski
Welcome to the second semester! We are looking forward to a strong, positive 3rd & 4th quarter that will serve our students and school community to the fullest. It is our hope and prayer that students will learn well, live fully, and thrive spiritually.
 
Report Cards: Report Cards will be issued on Monday, January 25, and student status for academic probation will be reviewed. Students may come off academic probation on this date or be placed on it if their grades warrant it.
 
Refuel Event: The WCCS Student Council wants to provide the upper school community an opportunity for focused growth in our lives to know Christ more. To do this the student council is kicking off the second semester with a week of spiritual emphasis called Refuel. Throughout the week of January 19-22, the upper school will be holding worship sessions in the morning, small group Bible/prayer studies prior to school, and Refuel leaders in Bible classes. Parents, please join us Thursday, January 21 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. to hear keynote speaker, Ben Williams, as our 7-12th grade students enjoy an evening youth outreach concert with M.Fillmore. Check out the following link for more information...Refuel Event  
 
Muffins for Mom: On Wednesday, February 3rd, the PTF will sponsor a Muffins for Mom event on the Catawba Campus for grades 4 through 12. The event will be held in the Cafetorium from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Muffins and beverages will be available. Flyers for this event will be going home in folders on January 19th and RSVP's will be due on January 22nd. This is a great way to start your day with your child, and we hope to see you there.
Westminster Campus - Sandi Jolly

Cold weather is certainly upon us!  Students play indoors if the temperature is below 32 degrees with the wind chill.  Please make sure your children are dressed appropriately for days that are above 32 degrees. 

WCCS is pursuing ACSI/SACS reaccreditation for grades Kindergarten - 12 using a process called, Accreditation by School Progress (ASP).  This process is designed for schools that are organizationally well established, stable, and committed to improvement beyond meeting accreditation standards.  The components of ASP involve research, selection, planning, implementation, and peer review during a repeating five-year-cycle.  It includes some of the traditional accreditation elements yet allows the school to devote energies to one school improvement area.  The WCCS faculty and administration have chosen curriculum mapping as our project.  Curriculum mapping is a method that organizes and stores curriculum data, facilitates curriculum analysis and evaluation, and provides avenues for more effective communication between faculty, students, and the school community.  This project will allow the faculty and staff to address student needs in four domains:  academic and thinking, skills development, worldview orientation, and spiritual formation.

SACS currently accredits our preschool, but we are seeking additional accreditation through ACSI in conjunction with the ASP process.  The preschool faculty and staff are pursuing initial accreditation through the traditional accreditation process, REACH.  Future ACSI reaccreditations will view WCCS as a whole school K3-12. 
You will hear more about the accreditation process as we move forward and involve all aspects of the WCCS community. 

Upcoming Events and Information you don't want to miss:

Kindergarten Field Trip:   Kindergarten classes will watch the play, "Little Red Riding Hood" at the McCelvey Center on Thursday, Jan. 21.

First Grade Field Trip:  PLEASE NOTE THE DATE CORRECTION.  First graders will enjoy the play, "Little Red Riding Hood" at the McCelvey Center on Thursday, January 21. 

ExploreLAB:  Friday, January 22, third grade students will learn about "Matter."

End of 2nd Quarter:  Report cards will be issued on Monday, Jan. 25.

Muffins for Mom:  PTF will sponsor muffins for the Westminster campus students and their mothers on February 4 from 7:30-8 a.m. in the Westminster Hall banquet rooms.  You do not need to sign in through the office.  The doors will be open.  Please RSVP and come by for some fellowship before starting your day.

Summer Camp Opportunity: WCCS is hosting Camp Invention - Camp Create, June 21-25, 2010.  SPACE IS LIMITED!  Registration is available online for current K-5th grade WCCS students.  Exclusive WCCS registration available until January 31, 2010. Community registration available February 1, 2010.
 
Early Registration $185.00 (valid through 3//31/10)
Standard Registration $210.00 (valid 4/01/10)
 
Secure Your Child's Registration Today with a $50.00 deposit.*
Please visit www.campinvention.org for detailed information and payment terms.
Athletics - Steve Cross

We are excited that our spring sports teams are underway with pre-season conditioning.  We are, however, in need of a coach for our girl's junior high soccer team.  This position is posted, but if you know of a qualified candidate, please direct them to the website for more information.  Any resumes can be mailed to Kris Hinson in the Head of School's office or emailed to khinson@wccs.org.

There will be a short meeting on January 20 at 3:15 on the gym stage to discuss Club Tennis.  The meeting will be run by Mrs. Tyanne McDonald and will be an opportunity to gauge interest in a club tennis team that would not be affiliated with the WCCS sports program this year.  Athletic Director, Steve Cross, will preside over the meeting. As we look for additional opportunities for our student athletes, this meeting will be a helpful tool to see if we have interest in adding tennis to our sports program next year.

Our first annual Middle School Invitational Swim Meet is scheduled for January 21 at the Rock Hill Aquatics Center.  Coach Lowery would love to have some volunteers for the meet, and this is a prefect opportunity to cheer our younger swimmers on, so they can better their times or qualify for the State meet.  If you are interested in helping, you can contact coach Lowery (swim_coach1@yahoo.com ) or Karla Jollie at kjollie@wccs.org or 328-5468.