Hello Amazing Elementary Parents,
We have a three – day weekend coming up. Remember, there is no school tomorrow. We ask for prayers as we have the girls’ and boys’ middle and high school teams, as well as parents and coaches, heading to Knoxville first thing in the morning. Over 100 people connected with our school will be traveling! It's going to be a big day for all the players!
We have a three – day weekend coming up. Remember, there is no school tomorrow. We ask for prayers as we have the girls’ and boys’ middle and high school teams, as well as parents and coaches, heading to Knoxville first thing in the morning. Over 100 people connected with our school will be traveling! It's going to be a big day for all the players!
Some upcoming activities for our elementary
friends are listed below:
*Candy-grams
and information coming home soon...
*February
15 – 4th grade play "School Daze"
*February
18 – No school (in-service for teachers)
*February
28 – Kindergartners lead elementary chapel
Click here to see the fall calendar: 2013-2014 School Calendar
Click here to see the fall calendar: 2013-2014 School Calendar
The following security
information was sent out earlier this week from President Beecher Frasier:
NEW SECURITY GUIDELINES:
While our security committee continues to review and
improve our procedures, these are some things we are reinforcing with our whole
school community, beginning this week. They are not meant to hinder our family
friendly atmosphere, and you are still encouraged to come and have lunch with
your child or run that forgotten item back to school. These policies are fairly
simple things we can do to better ensure the safety of our children, parents,
and teachers.
On Campus:
Once the bell has rung, all adults on campus must sign
in at one of the school offices. As a general rule, we do not allow parents to
wait in the halls during school hours unless you have stopped by an office and
received a visitor tag.
Visitor Check-in:
In the offices, you will receive a visitor badge when
you submit a current form of ID (driver's license.) The ID will
be held until you return to the office to check-out. Please feel free
to share this policy with any family member who comes to have lunch with a
child, especially in the elementary school.
As stated in the handbook, "High School
Students will not be permitted to have students from other schools or outside
friends to visit during lunch or school hours." Pg. 26
"Parents and supporters are encouraged to visit
the school. However, all classroom visits should be by appointment only.
Visitors should go directly to the office, sign in and discuss their visit to
the school with the principal or school secretary. Drop-in visits are
discouraged because they take time from the planned schedule of the teachers
and students. Appointments with teachers should be scheduled before school,
after school, or during the teacher's planning period."Pg. 26
Entrances:
During school hours-including morning drop-off,
only the main entrance doors are accessible. Please do not try to gain access
along the ends of corridors. These remain locked throughout the day and are for
faculty use or emergency exit only. We are making efforts to train our students
to not allow someone in at the end doors, even if they are asking
to be let in. Students arriving late must also use the main
entrance.
The High School senior hall and Commons entrances will
remain unlocked until 8:00am. After that, students and visitors must walk
around to the front entrance.
Here is my thought for this week (it's about judging others). As
always, I am saying what is on my heart, and I shared this with my fellow
teachers earlier this week. I feel at times we seem to only focus on the
negative aspects of a person or a situation, and that is all we see. While we
focus on the negative, we cannot see the good things about others or about
situations at hand. This mostly occurs because we usually do not know the whole
story or see the big picture. This is why it is
dangerous to talk negatively about a person to others, especially without
knowing ALL THE FACTS. This ends up forming a wrongful negative opinion of that
person in the minds of others or makes a situation seem way worse than it
really is, so I will share with you a story that came to me this week
through an e-mail. It was a timely e-mail and gave me clear perspective. I know
it is something I can work on not doing, and maybe it can help you this week...
Judging Others? A very short story.
A doctor entered the hospital in hurry
after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call ASAP, changed
his clothes, and went directly to the surgery block. He found the father of the
injured boy pacing in the hall, waiting for the doctor. Upon seeing him, the
dad yelled:
“Why did you take all this time to
come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have a sense of
responsibility?”
The doctor smiled and said:
“I am sorry; I wasn’t in the hospital
and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call… And now, I wish you’d
calm down so that I can do my work.”
“Calm down?! What if your son was in
this room right now – would you calm down? If your own son were dying now, what
would you do?” said the father angrily.
The doctor smiled again and replied:
“I would say what Job said in the Holy Book: “From dust we came, and to dust we
return; blessed be the name of God.” Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and
intercede for your son, we will do our best by God’s grace.”
“Giving advice when you’re not
concerned is so easy,” murmured the father.
The surgery took some hours, after
which the doctor came out happy with good news.
“Thank goodness! Your son is saved!”
he said. Without waiting for the father’s reply, he hurried out the door
saying, “If you have any questions, ask the nurse!”
Minutes after the doctor left, the
father said to the nurse, “Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t wait a few
minutes for me to ask about my son’s state.”
The nurse answered, tears coming down
her face, “His son died yesterday in a road accident. He was attending the
burial when we called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your
son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.”
Moral: Never judge anyone,
because you never know what their situation is or what they’re going through.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their
failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same
treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a
smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.
Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own
face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality
all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your
part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a
washcloth to your neighbor."
