Lower School Update
Dear Lower School Families,
Welcome to our first full week of Distance Learning Communities (DLC)! Your encouraging words of support have meant a great deal to the Lower School staff. It has been amazing to see great collaboration, creativity, and determination from each grade level team. From our end, the students are adjusting well, participating, and learning. I have watched our students working out math problems, reading wonderful stories, and lifting their classmates up in prayer. Believe it or not, I even watched a student dissect a rat on Zoom! ACA’s Lower School is in full swing and it’s been a beautiful process to witness firsthand.
In a desire to have consistency/clarity across the grade levels, we have laid out a few items to help communicate well to our Lower School families:
Specials classes (Art, Music, PE, Library) are all OPTIONAL. Activities will be provided on a weekly basis by these teachers. There is no obligation to complete these activities. It is your choice to opt in or opt out of completing them. Our desire is to provide these activities for enjoyment and enrichment purposes.
Teachers will communicate work assigned in two ways – REQUIRED or OPTIONAL. Work that is required will be turned in and graded. Optional assignments may be posted but there is no obligation to complete these assignments. The focus should be to complete the required assignments. If your child desires to complete additional activities, they can opt to do them.
LS Chapel began this week. Mrs. Wilson will record weekly worship music and I will record a weekly message to share with the students. This is also an OPTIONAL activity. It is our desire to continue an important part of our Lower School week and foster community while we are apart.
Some of you may feel overwhelmed right now so I want to assure you that our teachers are prepared to continue instructing your children to the best of their ability. We are well-equipped for instruction in a distance learning community format to serve our families and fulfill ACA’s mission. Our experienced faculty will make sure your child will be prepared and working at or above the expectations set forth in our curriculum guide. Our students are eager, bright learners!
The Administrative Team recently read an article written by Jay Ferguson who is the Head of School at Grace Community School in Texas. Although his article was filled with many excellent points involving the role of the Christian school, I would like to quote an excerpt that has stuck with me since reading it. Ferguson said, “While the Lord has hit the ‘pause’ button on our lives, we have the opportunity to reflect, repent, and prayerfully dream about how to take advantage of the unique position in which I believe He’s placed us. I believe He’s giving us a tremendous opportunity. Once all this is over, will we forget the face of our Father, or will this be a new awakening in Christian education? These precipitous times create tremendous opportunities that God lays before us, and it’s up to us to prayerfully consider how He might be calling us to use them.”
In closing, I would like to share a passage with you that I shared with the Lower School faculty this week which I hope will bring peace and comfort to you as it has for me each time I read it. Psalm 18:2-3 "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies." The Lord is the Most High, the Almighty, the Creator - he is our protector and provider!
I encourage you to reach out directly to me if you have questions, concerns, or feedback to share. I would love to hear from you and enjoy seeing pictures of your Distance Learning Community!
Blessings,
Susan Montgomery