We’ve said before that these are exciting times in the life of our school. I was talking with someone earlier this week about how we’ll be able one day to look back on these days with an affectionate grin, grateful for how God made us dependent upon Him with so few answers to our questions, and grateful that we likely won’t be repeating them. But who knows?
As YOU know, we’re in the planning window between April 2 (the soft deadline to at least express interest in sending your child(ren) to ECS) and April 30 (our scheduled follow-up informational meeting to share our official plans for fall 2012). That means we’re feverishly making phone calls and having meetings in order to make decisions and plans as best we’re able. We covet your prayers in this time, and as always, we are available to address questions, comments or concerns you may have.
Again, do circle April 30 on your calendar as the date of our follow-up meeting. It will be at 7:00PM in the basement of the Marysville SDA Church.
IN A NUTSHELL…
As we anticipate the coming school year, I would caution all of us against losing sight of the bigger picture for sake of the tyrannically urgent. Yes, we need to buy textbooks and uniforms, pencils and teeny chairs, but there are lots of good reasons why we aim to make good use of the classical and Christian model for our children. To remind us of why, I give you a lengthy quote from Gregg Strawbridge’s “Classical and Christian Education: Recapturing the Educational Approach of the Past:”
“Christians should desire for their children to learn of Christ at school, as well as at home and church. The devotional and spiritual aspects of the Christian faith are often emphasized in the home and church. But there is more to our faith than sacred activity and devotional experiences. Schools, regardless of their kind, are places where children are inescapably trained in some view. Christian schools ought to be places where children are trained in the Christian world-and-life view. I assert that it is the duty of believers to see to it that their children’s education is consistent with their Christian convictions (Eph. 6:4; Deut. 6:4-7).
“The classical emphasis in structure, content and method is unsurpassed for providing the tools of learning. This emphasis heartily provides for intellectual development, academic achievement, and moral stability. It provides a way to educationally apply the mandates of God’s Word, to seek true knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. In our growth in the mastery of God’s world, as well as His Word, we apply that ancient mandate — ‘Fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion’ (Gen. 1:28, cf. 2:20). Through high quality education we also apply the mandate to love God with our hearts and heads.
“Christian education is our duty to God (Eph. 6:4; Deut. 6:4-7). Classical education in methodology and content equips learners with the tools of learning. Here is classical and Christian education in a nutshell: the trivium provides the tools of learning, Scripture and the classics furnish the core content, and Biblical truth is the fixed point of reference. The trivium is the hammer, the classics are the wood, and the Bible is the ruler” (10).
And…risus est bellum!