Wind and Rain
At ECA, our vision is that school families Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
September 24, 2023
Hello ECA families,
After three months of hot & dry weather. We are ready for “showers of blessings” this week. Ezekiel 34:26-28 promises us God’s desire to be with us and send us blessings. “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” - Ezekiel 34:26
What a wonderful change the seasons bring. Although the words “winds of change” are not new to any of us, for our children, they are about to experience a change in weather this week. You can help your child be prepared for this colder, wetter weather by ensuring they bring warm jackets for the day. Generally, our recess times are staggered throughout the day, so lower grade students do not have recess at the same time as upper grade students. When it is lightly raining, students often have recess on the playground or under the breezeway. When the rain is heavier, recess tends to be in the gym.
Rainy weather also means a change for our AG program. Rainy weather means muddier and wetter times outside. Plan accordingly if you would like your child to participate in our after-school AG program.
MAP Testing in One Week
During the first week October, we will carry out our first session of yearly testing. Here is a little more information about the program:
Students in grades K-8, will have three days of testing in the morning hours from about 8:30-11:00. The three tests that your child will take are reading, ELA, and math. They will take one test each day. The results of this Fall testing will be shared with you at our P/T conference in early November. Each test is customized to your child’s ability to answer questions. Most tests take between 45 minutes - 1 1/2 hours. We are able to pause testing sessions so students will be taking breaks midway through the tests. If possible, this would be a great week for a little extra sleep, a good breakfast, and a readiness to do their best each of the three days M-W. Because some students may finish before others, please make sure your child has a book or reading material in case they finish before others. Because this testing will take place during our morning core teaching time, homeroom teachers may have altered teaching schedules for this week. As a result, there should be no new homework for your child this week, but it is possible your child may be catching up on some unfinished work from last week.
We will also have a makeup testing period on Thursday, October 5 in the middle of the day for students who may have missed a day or still need to finish a test. This first testing session will be one of three testing sessions we will use this year. We also do testing in January and late April. Home & School will be providing healthy snacks during each of the three days to keep energy and minds working. Thank you again Home & School.
Upcoming Hot Lunch Program
A county inspector came to visit our kitchen and there are a few fixes with the stove hood that we need to address. Right now, we should be on track to start our hot lunch the SECOND week of October. We will be exploring how to start the program using the Teacherease web site. After looking at its options this week, we should be able to provide you with step-by-step procedures for finding the monthly meal calendar, ordering meals, and paying for meals. Stay tuned and thank you for your understanding. We are excited to have our kitchen in place and lunchroom warm and ready for fall weather.
Upcoming Community Fall Festival
Mark you calendars for our school community’s first family get-together. On Sunday, October 1, we will be hosting our annual Fall Festival. There will be booths, games, food, fun, and more. Students, families, friends, churches and our community are all invited. This is a fun day with many opportunities to meet new friends, classroom parents, support our classrooms in fundraising, and support our upper ASB in their fund-raising for the Spring Washington DC trip. We appreciate our Home & School leaders and volunteers as they work with parents and school staff to make this a great day for everyone. The festival will go from 11-3.
7th & 8th Grade DC Trip Planning Meeting
Students in grades 7&8 will have a chance to go to Washington D.C. during the last half of Spring Break and 1st half of the following week. For students and parents wishing to go, the end of September is our deadline for the $1000 deposit per person. We will have a final tally of those going on our first 2024 school year meeting. This meeting will be on Tuesday, October 3 at 6:30 in the ECA library. If you or your child is planning on going, we need you there. If you are unable to attend, we will make a ZOOM session available.
8th Grade Class Fundraiser
The 8th grade class, in addition to raising funds for their upcoming Washington D.C. trip, is also raising funds for their class trip, graduation, and school activities. If you would like to help the class, they are running a bottle/can drive this year. If you bring your bottles/cans to the the 8th grade classroom in a bag, they will be applied 100% to the 8th grade class fund.
AG Program - Mondays Science Class
This year, every student will be able to participate in ECA’s Agriculture Program. This happens on the first day of each week. Students will be outdoors doing a variety of things with Mr. Wyatt Johnson. Throughout the year, there may be a few rainy days. Boots and gloves are great things for working outdoors on Monday Science Days. Water bottles are great things to have outside too. Students are in class with Mr. Wyatt from 1:15-3:15. Here is a schedule of the days and classes:
Monday, September 25 - Grades 3&4
Monday, October 2 - (K from 1:15-2:15 & Grades 1&2 from 2:15-3:15)
Monday, October 9 - Grades 7&8
Monday, October 16 - Grades 5&6
Upcoming 6th Grade Outdoor School
ECA 6th Grade families, every year, the Oregon Conference hosts an outdoor school for all students in the Oregon Conference. There are several students in this group, so they divide the students in to two groups. ECA will be going to Outdoor School during the winter session - February 12-15. Just like our middle school Bible Camp, ECA pays for all 6th grade students to go. If you would like to make a donation to the fund, we thank you for helping us provide programs for the students at our school.
Where: Big Lake Youth Camp, (outside of Sisters Oregon)
https://biglake.org/
Why: 6th grade teachers, Conference Youth Leaders, and 6th grade students enjoy a week of learning 6th grade science and celebrating God’s love for us.
How: Students leave school Monday morning and return on Thursday.
What do you need to do: As a family, decide if you would like your child to attend. This is a special program that 6th grade students have been a part of for the past 40+ years in Oregon. We are excited to continue this for your 6th grade child this year and we look forward to the upcoming winter program.
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