Remembering the Upcoming Memorial Day
At ECA, our vision is that school families Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
Principal’s Message:
I know Memorial Day is a week away, but as it gets closer we all have a lot to remember. A few years back, I spent quite a bit of time looking into my family history and genealogy. I discovered stories that were filled with humor, sadness, excitement, and possibly God’s intervention. On my mother’s side, a story has been uncovered about a long-distant relative, my great, great, etc. grandfather (some 6-7 generations ago). It seems that during the French & Indian War, before the American Revolutionary War, a mother and her children were captured by Native Americans. The father was killed, and the mother and children were taken and lived as Native Americans for four years. They were eventually rescued by British forces and their lives resumed to a path that led to my mother, and ultimately me, being born.
My wife was able to go back even farther. She can trace her family’s history in the New World to the Mayflower in 1620. James Chilton didn’t survive the trip, but his daughter did. My wife is here today because of that. Another descendant was one of the minutemen who was at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. He probably heard the words, “The British are coming!” from Paul Revere and was part of the “shot heard ‘round the world.” Our girls continue the line of descendants.
I have read about stories of soldiers who went to defend our country. Sometimes they returned. Sometimes they didn’t. As many have heard before, “All gave some, some gave their all.” Even the word that describes members of the armed forces was lost to me as a child. They were members of the “service.”
At ECA, we want our students and families to love God, value learning, and serve others. During the upcoming holiday on Monday, May 30, ECA will not be having school to honor those who have '“gave their all” in service to their country. We deeply appreciate the history of the service and recognize the sacrifices of dads and moms in our school family who have served. There will also NOT be a weekly newsletter for next week.
ECA Constituency Meeting Report
Last Thursday, ECA had their annual constituency meeting at our school. Several things were presented and voted on for the upcoming year. Here are a few of the highlights:
Our school calendar for a 4-day week with one 1/2 day Friday per month was approved. Our first day of school will be on Monday, August 29.
Our 2022-2023 school budget was approved.
Our staffing for next year was approved. This staffing has some changes that are important for ECA families as we look forward to next year. We are excited to continue our Kindergarten and 1st & 2nd grade classrooms. Mrs. McNulty and Mrs. Hager work well together and offer a solid foundation for our students.
We are also excited to announce a new 3rd & 4th grade teacher for next year, Katrina Harness. She has been a teacher at our school in the past, and we are excited to welcome her back as she continues to share ECA’s vision. Mr. Gaylor will be moving to the 5th & 6th grade homeroom and 5-8 math & science teacher. Ms. Lidia will be our 7&8 homeroom, K-8 STEAM teacher, and 5-8 ELA and Social Studies. Additionally, we have a team of teachers that will be teaching music, upper grades PE, and grades 7&8 Bible.
We are also blessed to have support and a community presence with our Office Administrative Assistant, Cammie Johnston and Business Manager, Cali Dunks, and Maintenance leader, Bill Centrella. It will be exciting to see our school grow as we work through the summer months.
There are so many others: volunteers, Home & School, school board members, community donors, and supporting families that make our school work. Thank you all!
ECA Jog-a-thon
This Tuesday, Home & School will be having our final fundraiser for the year. The jog-a-thon will take place during students’ PE class times. Please plan to send students with clothing and shoes that will be appropriate for jogging / walking around the track for 30 minutes. Having a water bottle for the day will help too.
To review, again, this year, our school has been blessed with an opportunity for donations of up to $150,000 to be matched dollar for dollar. This time period is ending on June 30, 2022. So far, ECA has had close to $140,000 donated.
ECA is planning on investing a portion of the matching funds to our playground. We will be replacing much of the rocks in the playground with a rubberized surface. This surface will help our students have a safer playground experience.
Your child brought home a packet explaining one way we are hoping to raise the last funds to maximize our matching donor’s gift. Please take time and consider ways friends and family could help our school meet this exciting opportunity. Online donations can be made on our website: http://www.emeraldchristian.com.
ECA Spring Music Program & Expo
As a school, we are excited to be able to share an evening of music with your families this Thursday, May 26. Another ECA tradition our school has hosted has been the Emerald Expo. This “open house” and display of yearly projects has usually been an event we have had in late April. Covid made for difficult planning this year, so we will be having a “smaller” version of our traditional Expo in combination with our Spring music program. Classrooms will be open for families to visit from 6:30-7:00. Our music program will then start at 7:15. Upon completion of our music program, classrooms will again be open for an additional 30 minutes.
In the past, Home & School has provided a meal. This year, there will be no meal provided. We are excited as we prepare for next year to adding our Emerald Expo as an ECA Family Event in April.
AR Party
Students in the lower primary grades have been working throughout this year to get reading hours and reading points. We are planning on a special day to celebrate those who have reached their class goals. That day will be next Tuesday, May 31. More information will be going out this week about the event and how your child will be involved.
Kindergarten Recognition / Graduation Day
Our Kindergarten students will be having their last day of school on Thursday, June 2. There will be a ceremony in our school gym at 9:00. Kindergarten families are encouraged to invite family members and friends for this ceremony. There is no limit to invitations, but an after-ceremony celebration will be held for the Kindergarten class and families. You can help us plan for this by sending us your planned number of attendants in an email to lmcnulty@emeraldchristianacademy. You can also call the school to share that information. We are excited to share this milestone with your family and look forward to a fun morning. Kindergarten families, look for more information to come home from your Kindergarten classroom this week.
ECA will be hosting a community blood drive through Red Cross
Our school values our community. During the past year, shortages in blood donations have been challenging for health officials. We want to do our part to help. Join me and others who have already signed up for Thursday, June 2. Our school will be hosting the blood drive in our school library from 12:00-5:00. Plan on drinking extra fluids that day and arriving a little early before your scheduled donation time. You will need to create a Red Cross account to donate, but this is only a 2-3 minutes process.
If you have ever considered donating blood, we still have several time slots to fill. Click on the link below to see available times for that Thursday.
Who: This is an invitation to adult friends and families of Emerald Christian Academy.
What: Click on the link to sign up for a time to donate blood at our school.
https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=emeraldchristianacademy
When: Thursday, June 2 from 12:00 - 5:00.
Where: ECA Library
Why: We love our community and our mission is to Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
Final Week Events
During our last week of school, from June 6 - June 10, we will be having our 8th grade graduation and an awards ceremony on our last day. For parents in grades 7&8, more information will be shared with you about graduation evening on Thursday, June 9th. For all families, our last day of school will be our final 1/2 day Friday. It will begin with an awards assembly. During this time, academic, leadership, spiritual, athletic, and classroom awards will be handed out. Scholarships will also be awarded to some students that can be applied to next year’s tuition. These scholarships are supported by the ECA endowment fund. This fund was created by generous donations from local community members several years ago and continues to grow and recognize the talents of ECA’s future leaders.
Christian Counseling Available - Free Resources:
The NAD (North American Division of SDA) has recently shared new resources for children and teens that offer a safe and anonymous place to talk or text. Here is a news release from the NAD.
We’re excited to announce the launch of www.aruggedjourney.org our newest NAD site providing free online mentoring for guys. A Rugged Journey joins www.gorgeous2god.org (for young women) which has grown in its scope and ministry since its beginning in 2017.
These sites, along with their counterparts on social media, provide free help to our teens/young adults in a space they can ask questions without judgment or fear. The questions are answered by a team of dedicated Seventh-day Adventists at AIM on the campus of Andrews University.
In addition to the confidential Q & A, positive content is provided through videos, posts, etc.
www.gorgeous2god.org/ FB: gorgeous2god/ IG: @gorgeous2god
www.aruggedjourney.org/ FB: aruggedjourney/ IG: @aruggedjourney
ECA Covid Policy
ECA Covid Policy for the Rest of the Year
After-School Schedules for this Week
This week:
Monday - Photography
Tuesday - Lego Robotics
Wednesday - Library
Thursday - Outdoor Education
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I hope this new week is filled with daily reminders of God’s blessings.
Announcements & Upcoming Events
Tuesday, May 24 - ECA Jogathon Fundraiser
Thursday, May 26 - ECA Spring Music Program & Expo
Monday, May 30 - No School - Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 31 - Primary Grades AR Party
Thursday, June 2 - Kindergarten Recognition (9:00 am)
Thursday, June 9 - 8th grade graduation
Friday, June 10 - Last day of school, awards assembly (8:30 ECA gym - families are invited)
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them."