The Lighthouse-August 22, 2008

Headmaster's Corner

Dear SSCA Family,

"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes." Isaiah 54:2-3: God is saying to His people at South Shore Christian Academy, just as He said to the nation of Israel, "You are in my tent. It is "my" tent that holds my people, my families-my teachers and my students." God is also saying to us that SSCA should be constantly seeking to enlarge and strengthen our tent-and we surely are.

In our High School, our remarkable graduates in the class of 2008 have enlarged and strengthen us. Because of their accomplishments here, they were accepted at some very fine colleges: Wheaton (2), Gordon (5), BU, Vanderbilt, Smith to name a few. They leave us telling us that they feel very well prepared for their next challenge; higher education.

My exit meeting with the 28 seniors provided a strong endorsement of SSCA's program when they ranked SSCA's strengths as:

The Christian environment

Strong academics

Quality of teaching

Excellent preparation for college

Small classes

We begin our new year having enlarged our tent. We are expecting to enroll close to 255 students in our school. We began last year expecting 232. Many classes are full, some have had waiting lists, our admission standards are high, and thus we have turned away a record number of very eager applicants.

And we have lengthened our chords and strengthened our stakes in the following ways:

After raising nearly 75 thousand dollars in gifts from very generous friends of our school, we recovered the use of the old computer lab that had fallen into disrepair and gave the room a complete "makeover." It is now a first rate new computer lab, fully equipped with 22 brand new MAC stations.

We continue to make a dent in our deferred maintenance list. Thanks to the efforts of John Atwater, we secured a hydraulic lift and John, Dave McPherson, Tim Vazquez and Peter Marrotta among others, repaired, caulked and painted the casings of 250 windows and gutters.

We have purchased a new school bus that will be available for field trips and athletic teams.

Two of our very best teachers have resigned. We wish each of them the Lord's blessing and we will surely miss them here at SSCA

Mrs. Coate has decided to pursue a master's degree in special education and has taken a position in that specialty. Mrs. Kamberidis has decided to pursue other opportunities.

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However, I am pleased to inform you that we have selected excellent replacements. I know that you will agree that God has smiled on us by leading these two wonderfully gifted teachers to join our staff.

Theresa Chen will be teaching 3rd Grade. Theresa is a graduate of Wellesley College and has taught in both the Brookline and the Wellesley Public Schools.

Theresa told me that, "the best decision in my life was accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior, a decision I made in college and it's a relationship with God that I want to share with those even in the elementary grades. Reading your message on the school website showed me that this school places Jesus above all, and I am excited to introduce myself to a school that celebrates Him as the center of our lives, academically and socially."

Jennifer Allen will be teaching 6th Grade. Mrs. Allen is a graduate of Montana State University. She has taught fourth and fifth grade at Petra Academy, a Christian school located in Bozeman, MT.

Mrs. Allen told me that, "I taught for three years at Petra Academy, a classical and Christ-centered school in Bozeman, Montana. Petra shares many of the commitments and values that South Shore Christian is dedicated to. I loved being able to integrate my faith with daily lessons at Petra, and will enjoy having that opportunity again.

During my time at Petra, I attempted to help children understand how Jesus is relevant in every area of their lives, including the academic. He is the author and orchestrates all the areas of study they will engage in. Anything less can give children the false impression that Christ is not interested in or relevant to some parts of their lives. As a former church camp counselor and junior high youth group leader, I have experience in discussing spiritual matters with children in a gentle, easy to understand manner."

Terry Carter is our new math teacher. Mr. Carter will be missed in Admissions, but the math position is critical to our mission to provide excellent teaching. I am confident that his math background (he majored in math at the College of Wooster, and he has 90% of his MA in statistics from Bucknell) and his 'student friendly' personality will inspire our upper school students to love mathematics.

I am confident that these wonderful new additions to our outstanding faculty will each bring enthusiasm, great teaching skills and a deep desire to teach in a loving Christian community such as ours.

Mr. Jim Adare will be providing significant leadership as our interim High School Principal. Jim is a graduate of Wheaton College and has a master's degree from Williams College. He has a wealth of experience in Christian schools, and has taught Bible and biology at The Stony Brook School. He recently retired as the HOS at the Westminster School in Georgia. Jim's work with us will mean that we will have the benefit of an expert in Christian schools providing hands on leadership to our high school staff and program.

I am also pleased that Lisa Pineo will assume Terry's position, Director of Admissions. Ms. Pineo has been leading our marketing and development program this year. Lisa is a Gordon College graduate, taught for 6 years at The Stony Brook School, and has admissions experience at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary where she is working on her seminary degree. Lisa is very well prepared to take up this new role at SSCA. Please contact Lisa if you know any families who might be interested in exploring SSCA for their children.

Finally, with the retirement of Sarah Hussey, I am pleased to announce that Diana Baretto is our new nurse. Mrs. Baretto is a graduate of Simmons College where she received her B.S. and R.N.

So we begin a new school year confident that we are doing the Lord's work here at SSCA.

Indeed, our tent is expanding and our chords and stakes have been strengthened.

Our daily prayer is that our students will flourish both academically and spiritually in a truly Christian learning environment that provides great teaching and that emphasizes academic achievement.

Our entire faculty and staff join me in thanking you for entrusting the education of your precious children to us.

Blessings,

Dr. Ted Chamberlain

Headmaster

Important Reminders

A Word from Mrs. Warner, Assistant Head of School

Dear SSCA Parents,

As I write this letter, it is hard to believe that summer vacation is almost over and school will be opened again to our students, both old and new, for another school year. The floors are polished, teachers are putting the finishing touches on their classrooms, and last minute preparations are in full gear. Many thanks to Joel Bielawa, the Trice brothers and others who helped make this happen.

Upper School (Grades 7 - 12):

As we have done in the past, the first day of school follows a slightly different schedule. All students should report to the gym no later that 7:45 for our first Community Meeting instead of going to homeroom. Students should arrive at school and deposit their belongings in their lockers before heading to the gym. Community Meeting (CM) should take approximately 45 minutes. Classes will be 30 minutes long on this day only. At the conclusion of period 2 (the last period) all students will drop their books off in their lockers and report to their homerooms. Homeroom teachers will lead students out to the field for a fun time of fellowship and games. Students should not change their clothes for this event. Popsicles will be served and students will be dismissed at 2:30.

Some other important reminders for Upper School:

·Students will follow the normal bell schedule thereafter as printed on their schedule.

·Please remember that there will be Chapel on Wednesday and students should dress accordingly.

·Students in grades 9 - 12 will participate in our school retreat on August 28 - 29. More information about the trip is included in this mailing.

·A reminder to seniors that senior privileges start on Tuesday, September 2. Only seniors who have returned their permission slips will start privileges. Please remember to turn in your diploma information, as well.

·All students who drive to school need to have their cars registered. Please see Mrs. Callahan in the Main Office for registration information.

General reminders:

·There were a number of important forms needed for students to start school that were sent out earlier this summer in the mail. If you have not already done so, please get them in before school starts.

·Our lunch program with Main Street Deli will start the week of September 8. A lunch menu for September is enclosed in this mailing.

·School starts for grades 7 - 12 on August 26.

·Grades 1 - 6 start Wednesday, August 27. We have Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten orientation that day as well. Please consult the school calendar that was sent out in an earlier mailing or look on our school web site for the times.

·Pre-Kindergarten Tuesday/Thursday students start school on Tuesday, September 2 and the Monday/Wednesday/Friday students start Wednesday, September 3.

Please make sure that your students in grades 6 - 12, read the school handbook which may be found on our school web site, www.southshorechristian.org. The students should then sign the enclosed honor code form and return it to either their homeroom teacher or the classroom teacher (Grade 6) on their first day of school.

Please call the Main Office if you have any questions. We all look forward to welcoming your children to another wonderful year of school at SSCA.

Sincerely,

Pamela Warner

Assistant Head of School

Campus News

The new computer lab is complete and ready for class. We look forward to the benefit this lab will bring to SSCA's technology program. A special thanks to the friends whose gifts made this lab possible.