{"id":2373,"date":"2016-01-25T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T14:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/?p=2373"},"modified":"2016-01-25T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T14:35:14","slug":"2016-state-of-the-school-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 State of the School Address"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/152184595\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" title=\"2016 State of the School\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Transcript<\/h2>\n<p>Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us for a \u201cState of the School Address\u201d.\u00a0Overall, we have enjoyed a wonderful year so far!\u00a0I\u2019m thankful for the Lord\u2019s faithfulness and His goodness.\u00a0I wanted to share a few highlights of our 1<sup>st<\/sup> Semester\u2026<\/p>\n<h3>Highlights of 1<sup>st<\/sup> Semester<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>We are blessed with a wonderful Senior Class this year and I\u2019m very thankful for each one of them! Year started with taking our senior class on their annual Leadership Retreat &#8211; &#8211; helps set the tone in serving others and setting goals for the coming year!<\/li>\n<li>We are enjoying full preschool ministries and looking for ways to expand our reach<\/li>\n<li>The Lord allowed us to have a successful Technology rollout earlier this fall.<\/li>\n<li>Thankful for 2 Bus Routes.<\/li>\n<li>Blessed with a great Grandparents Day<\/li>\n<li>Encouraged by our Faith Girls Soccer Team\u2019s road to semi-state<\/li>\n<li>We had a really fun Eagle Auction this year and the Lord blessed us with over $70,000 of support.<\/li>\n<li>Our elementary classes have enjoyed some fun field trips and experiences at Camp Tecumseh, Conner Prairie, and some local businesses and service providers.<\/li>\n<li>We enjoyed some special and unique chapels as a school family through our Veterans Day and school Thanksgiving Chapels.<\/li>\n<li>Our students continue to be an amazing blessing to Hope Christian School as the Lord allowed us to raise nearly $2,500 for the students and staff at this special school in Masaka, Uganda.<\/li>\n<li>Our Fine Arts Department had a lot of fun in October, November, and December \u2013 through Art Galleries, Concerts, Ministry Tour, Parades, and Presentations. I\u2019m so thankful for our Fine Arts Department and the students who continue to use their gifts and abilities for the Lord.<\/li>\n<li>Starting off the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> Semester \u2013 the Lord blessed us with a tremendous Reading Extravaganza and J Term program. Our students really enjoy coming back from Christmas Break to this unique week.\u00a0 We also had a group of 13 students and 4 chaperones travel to Germany.\u00a0 We are excited that our students have the opportunity to experience different cultures and minister around the globe for the Kingdom of God.<\/li>\n<li>We were also able to enjoy Spiritual Emphasis Week last week and many of our students and staff were positively impacted by God\u2019s Truth and Grace.<\/li>\n<li>Overall, I would say that we have enjoyed a very positive and rewarding 1<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0semester. I want to thank you for your prayers, your support, and your encouragement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Second Semester<\/h3>\n<p>As we enter the month of February, every family faces various questions, opportunities, and decisions about attending Faith Christian School for the upcoming school year.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As many of you are well aware \u2013 the cost of running a quality Christian School continues to rise:<\/li>\n<li>From our perspective, running a Christian elementary and secondary school is a big endeavor \u2013 but we are encouraged as we serve a Big God!<\/li>\n<li>Again, thank you for your support and your faithfulness!<\/li>\n<li>I know that sending your child to Faith Christian requires a commitment, a sacrifice, and I trust that hopefully also receive a blessing from this investment.<\/li>\n<li>I don\u2019t take this partnership for granted!<\/li>\n<li>I want you to know that we view every student as a gift from God, and we want to continue to effectively partner with parents to help students live effectively in God\u2019s world.<\/li>\n<li>The answers to these questions are very important to our planning efforts.\n<ul>\n<li>There are several competing variables that we face:<\/li>\n<li>We desire to continue to offer an excellent, Christ-centered education!<\/li>\n<li>This takes resources\u2026<\/li>\n<li>We want our facilities and our programs to be A+.<\/li>\n<li>Again, this takes resources\u2026.<\/li>\n<li>We also want to pay and support our faculty and staff a livable wage.<\/li>\n<li>We also want to be in a position to continue to add to and improve our existing programs, classes, and offerings.<\/li>\n<li>So\u2026there\u2019s this Natural Tension that we face each year, and we try to run our budget very lean. We seek to keep our tuition affordable and yet address the above factors in a practical way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>We will be posting our tuition rates for next year by January 27<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A lot of time, effort, and prayer has gone into our budget planning for next year!<\/li>\n<li>I believe that our increases in tuition is in-line with our goals and plans for the future.<\/li>\n<li>I also want to share some of our future goals and plans that we plan to implement next year \u2013 with God\u2019s direction and blessing.<\/li>\n<li>I think it is important for every family to know \u2013 \u201cwhere we are going\u201d and what our future goals consist of.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Future<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>I want to highlight several of these initiatives.\n<ul>\n<li>Our enrollment goal is 605 students \u2013 that would be up 25 students from where we currently are.<\/li>\n<li>In efforts to reach that goal\u2026\n<ul>\n<li>Information Nights at local churches, various community centers, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Consider additional bus routes for next year or other transportation plans.<\/li>\n<li>Implement an effective \u201cword of mouth\u201d campaign with our constituents<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>We\u2019ve taken some steps this year, but we really want to focus on growing our Alumni Association next year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Along with the next year\u2019s enrollment information \u2013 each family will also receive our specific goals and initiatives for next year!<\/li>\n<li>We want to continue to plan for a building expansion program.<\/li>\n<li>We want to develop and expand our technology<\/li>\n<li>Expand several programs and enhance our curriculum in various subjects.<\/li>\n<li>You received a letter from me a couple of weeks ago highlighting some of our plans and goals to strengthen our Athletic Program.<\/li>\n<li>We also want to continue to strengthen, develop, and enhance our relationship with parents and families \u2013 and we seek to look for practical and specific ways to accomplish this initiative.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Future Sustainability<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>I want to especially ask each of you to PLAN NOW TO ATTEND OUR FRIENDSHIP BANQUET ON FRIDAY, MARCH 11<sup>TH<\/sup>!\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s going to be a GREAT Celebration<\/li>\n<li>WE \u2013 as a school family \u2013 hope to celebrate the legacy of privilege of Christian Education!<\/li>\n<li>We NEED ALL OF OUR FAMILIES TO ATTEND &#8211; &#8211;\u00a0 why wouldn\u2019t you??<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>I need you to take this whole topic very seriously.\n<ul>\n<li>There are those that would love to see Christian Education end.<\/li>\n<li>If we\u2019re not careful, we can develop an entitlement approach and then we\u2019re surprised when it\u2019s taken away.<\/li>\n<li>We have some significant projects that need your help and so far there hasn\u2019t been a lot of participation:\n<ul>\n<li>Gym Project<\/li>\n<li>Sidewalk Project<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>My fear is that sometimes I think that many folks can take this for granted, that it will always be like this, that it\u2019s a given\u2026<\/li>\n<li>I want to see Christian Education continue for years to come at FCS &#8211; &#8211; do you?<\/li>\n<li>The topic of future sustainability is very important to me \u2013 and I especially hope to every family at Faith!<\/li>\n<li>Granted \u2013 these require sacrificial giving \u2013 but ultimately we\u2019re talking about helping FCS to fund Christian Education<\/li>\n<li>Many of the initiatives that I just highlighted are really exciting and will make our school stronger &#8211; &#8211;\u00a0 but there IS a cost!<\/li>\n<li>Are you excited about a possible building expansion project? Are you interested in addressing building safety concerns?\n<ul>\n<li>If so, are you also willing to shoulder the costs that are associated with these improvements?<\/li>\n<li>I truly believe \u2013 that many of the best things in this life are associated with hard work, discipline, faithfulness, and commitment\u2026<\/li>\n<li>And so it is with these initiatives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Would you please consider strongly to help us to financially fund our gym expansion project?\n<ul>\n<li>We are about $50,000 away from making this a reality<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s time \u2013 the gym is tired!<\/li>\n<li>Will you help us??<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>What about some of these other projects for the future of FCS?<\/li>\n<li>Times like this call for prayer, consideration, and action!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>As I said earlier<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>I value each family here at FCS!<\/li>\n<li>Your children are a blessing to us and we love each of you very much.<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m thankful for the 70+ churches that are represented at FCS<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m thankful for the freedom that we share in Christian Education<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m committed to continue to push our programs to be among the very best<\/li>\n<li>I believe that our future is very bright and that we have a lot of wonderful opportunities in front of us!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Here\u2019s A Few Final Action Steps To Consider:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In an effort to help us effectively plan &#8211; &#8211; Parents who do Re-enroll their student(s) are committing themselves to be financially responsible for at least 1 semester\u2019s tuition:\n<ul>\n<li>Please re-enroll if you&#8217;re for certain that you will honor this commitment\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Now, we realize that occasionally things might change &#8211; &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li>Unless there is a loss of job or income &#8211; &#8211;\u00a0 OR\u00a0 &#8211; &#8211;<\/li>\n<li>There is a physical move from the Greater Lafayette Community<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>If you have questions or concerns &#8211; &#8211; please set up a time for us to talk<\/li>\n<li>If finances are a concern &#8211; &#8211; please set up an appointment to meet with me and we are dedicated to working with all of our families in order for them to participate in Christian Education<\/li>\n<li>Meeting with parents and communicating \u2013 is a really important aspect of strengthening our partnership together!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Please plan to Re-enroll for Next School Year:\n<ul>\n<li>Re-enrollment begins on February 1.<\/li>\n<li>Information will be published starting on January 27\n<ul>\n<li>Our re-enrollment goal is 90%<\/li>\n<li>We\u2019d love to have you return!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Would you pray for FCS \u2013 for the remainder of this school year and our future?<\/li>\n<li>Please rejoice with us \u2013 with the many, many blessings that the Lord has given to us!<\/li>\n<li>Let\u2019s continue to be thankful and grateful for the Lord\u2019s faithfulness and His Grace.<\/li>\n<li>Pray about a Financial Gift to FCS for some of the projects that I outlined earlier.<\/li>\n<li>Plan to attend the Friendship Banquet on March 11<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thank you for taking time out of your evening to join us tonight.\u00a0 I trust that the information was helpful, and I hope that you know a little more of my heart and my goals to see Faith Christian School be a school where Christ is honored and that our students are prepared effectively to live in God\u2019s world!<\/p>\n<p>Good night!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transcript Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us for a \u201cState of the School Address\u201d.\u00a0Overall, we have enjoyed a wonderful year so far!\u00a0I\u2019m thankful for the Lord\u2019s faithfulness and His goodness.\u00a0I wanted to share a few highlights of our 1st Semester\u2026 Highlights of 1st Semester We are blessed with&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2016 State of the School Address - Faith Christian School Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2016 State of the School Address - Faith Christian School Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Transcript Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us for a \u201cState of the School Address\u201d.\u00a0Overall, we have enjoyed a wonderful year so far!\u00a0I\u2019m thankful for the Lord\u2019s faithfulness and His goodness.\u00a0I wanted to share a few highlights of our 1st Semester\u2026 Highlights of 1st Semester We are blessed with... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Christian School Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-25T14:35:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scott Grass\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Grass\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/\",\"name\":\"2016 State of the School Address - Faith Christian School Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-25T14:35:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-25T14:35:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/#\/schema\/person\/696f00f48282ef9abe9484f2dd1b4e92\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/2016-state-of-the-school-address\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2016 State of the School Address\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Christian School Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/#\/schema\/person\/696f00f48282ef9abe9484f2dd1b4e92\",\"name\":\"Scott Grass\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/school\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/20180131151328\/avatar1517429606.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/20180131151328\/avatar1517429606.png\",\"caption\":\"Scott Grass\"},\"description\":\"Scott Grass is the administrator of Faith Christian School. 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