NEWS FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Happy New Year, and welcome back to school! I hope everyone enjoyed a blessed and restful Christmas holiday. We are delighted to have our students back on campus and are looking forward to the second half of the school year. We are also thrilled to welcome 16 new students to our school.

On behalf of our faculty and staff, thank you for your extremely generous donations to Worthy Servants. I was able to give each of our full-time employees a record year-end gift of $639.74. Part-time employees received $319.87. I deeply appreciate your gracious gifts to these faithful and devoted individuals who worked overtime in 2020 to keep our students challenged, connected and engaged, both on-campus and virtually.

I am also grateful for your participation in last fall’s annual parent survey. Your feedback has been vital over the years as we continually assess our programs and strive to improve our school. Each member of our senior leadership team studies the results and comments. Overall, you expressed tremendous satisfaction with the professionalism and compassion of our faculty. You reported that your children find the academic curriculum both challenging and engaging, and they are developing close, healthy relationships with peers and faculty. You value the strong sense of Christian community and the many opportunities for your children to flourish. Some of you asked excellent questions and raised specific concerns which we will address as appropriate.

I am pleased to announce that our Booster Club and a handful of generous families have provided the funds needed for us to renovate and expand our locker rooms in the Daniel Student Life Center and to enlarge our facilities for sports medicine. Construction is scheduled to commence this spring, and we look forward to finally completing this multi-phase effort which began with creating a first-class weight training center.

As we look to the future, we want to give our students more opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, work collaboratively, communicate well, solve real-world problems and express themselves creatively. Toward that end, we are focusing on growing our STEAM programs and our fine arts department.

As our Director of STEAM and Technology Innovation, Tanya Sharron is expanding our lower school STEAM programs and building a cutting-edge curriculum from PK through 12th grade that will allow students to design, build and test their creative ideas by utilizing tools such as a fully-functioning broadcast studio, 3-D printers, robotics, virtual reality, drones, coding, circuitry, etc. We have recently hired a dynamic STEAM facilitator for middle and high school who will join us in February to teach classes, help us design a STEAM lab on the 3rd floor of the Micah Academic Center and prepare our students for robotics and other related competitions.

Phil Sweger, our Director of Fine Arts, has collaborated with our talented fine arts faculty to establish priorities for expanding our existing programs and building a first-class fine arts experience from PK4 – 12th grade. In addition to reimagining traditional productions and identifying additional resources for art, band, music and theatre, we are establishing a dance program beginning next fall. This program will feature a wide range of techniques and Broadway-caliber choreography for our theatre productions. Ultimately, we look forward to providing quality facilities that will inspire our students to explore, appreciate, master, and perform within a rich fine arts curriculum.

Beginning this semester, we are following a best practice of many top schools by introducing a late start Monday. This gives our faculty concentrated time to collaborate and grow professionally. It also benefits students with an opportunity to visit doctors without missing school, enjoy a special family breakfast or even gain some extra sleep. On Mondays, we will begin classes at 9:00 a.m. for middle and high school and at 9:15 a.m. for lower school. All other start and end times will remain the same. Childcare will be available every day, beginning at 7:00 a.m., for parents who need to get to work early. Please look for additional information from our principals.

May God bless your family abundantly during 2021 for your commitment to Him and your gift of a Christ-centered college-preparatory education to your children. We know that you make a significant financial investment to bring your children to Woodlands Christian, and we are humbled by your sacrifice. Thank you for the privilege of serving your family.

In Him,

Julie H. Ambler

Head of School