Working Together
At ECA, our vision is that school families Love God, Value Learning, and Serve Others.
October 29, 2023
The Bottom of the Pyramid
The bottom of the pyramid really wasn’t the place for my 135-pound frame. That was something I quickly realized when working with my classmates in a team-building exercise. Having spent time in high school in a boarding school, it was important that as seniors, we spent time bonding with one another. The 80 students in my class participated in the secretive event known as “senior survival.” For about one week, we lived in the woods, learning about the outdoors and ourselves. I learned my body wasn’t built to be a linebacker.
In all of the activities we undertook, they all had a common theme, developing trust in classmates, and understanding your ability to contribute to a greater thing. As Christians, we are tasked with the same challenge. Jesus knew the importance of staying connected to his heavenly father. The book of John explains that “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” - John 5:19.
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As we have our first set of P/T conferences this year, our hope as a staff is to work with you, develop a trust, share insights into your child’s educational journey, and continue to point to our source of strength - our heavenly father and his son!
Hot Lunch Program
You can now order lunches for each week by going to our school website. Hot lunch can be found under the Student Life dropdown. You can also click on the box below to go straight to the page. The November menu is up for the month. The last meal for the month of October, Monday 30th is pizza, veggies, fruit and a side salad.
Please place all orders for each week before Monday morning at 8:45. After two weeks of tweaking how the hot lunch program is going, we are simplifying the order process to just a Monday meal, Wednesday meal, and 1/2 Day Friday Meal. The salad bar is still a big part of our hot lunch program, but it is more of a side salad component.
Simply type your child’s first & last name
Select the option that fits the order for the week
Click Submit.
Prices for meals:
students in grades K-2 - $5,
students in grades 3-8 - $6.
Just a reminder… our hot lunch menu is posted on our website:
http://www.emeraldchristian.com
P/T Conferences This Thursday (1/2 Day on Thursday)
Because we are needing to schedule time for all of our familes in two days, this Thursday will be a 1/2 day. School will be let at at 12:30. We will NOT be having an afterschool program on that day. P/T conferences will then begin at 2:00 and go into the evening. Conferences will resume the next day, Friday. If either of these days do not work for you, please contact your homeroom teacher to schedule a time.
If you still need to schedule a time, you can also call the office before 12:30 on Thursday to sign up. Many slots are already taken, so call sooner rather than later.
Again, here is a reminder about the times and conferences:
ECA has P/T conferences in the Fall & Spring of every year. This year, our Fall P/T conferences will be held on Thursday, Nov. 2 & Friday, Nov. 3. Students in grades K-2 will have a conference with both Ms. Ashley and Mrs. Hager. Students in 3-4 will have conferences with Mrs. Harness. Students in grades 5-8 will have combined conferences with Mr. Gaylor & Ms. Lidia. Here are the times:
Thursday 2-5 (9 blocks), 6-7:40 (6 blocks)
2:00 2:20 2:40 3:00 3:20 3:40 4:00 4:20 4:40 6:00 6:20 6:40 7:00 7:20 7:40
Friday 9-12 (9 blocks), 1-3 (6 blocks)
9:00 9:20 9:40 10:00 10:20 10:40 11:00 11:20 11:40 1:20 1:40 2:00 2:20 2:40 3:00
AG Program - Monday’s 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, October 30 - Grades K-2 (Kindergarten 1:15-2:15 & 1st/2nd 2:15-3:15)
Monday, November 6 - Grades 7&8
ECA Parent Survey
If you have not already completed the ECA Parent Survey that was sent out in emails last week, please consider finishing it this week. This is the last week for your voice to be heard. As a school staff, our goal is to make our school mission statement come alive every day. We work together to ensure our school provides students with an opportunity to love God, value learning, and serve others. We strive to help students build discipleship, discovery, a growth mindset, integrity, leadership, and thankfulness. You can help us know if we are on target. You can be part of an anonymous school survey conducted by John Hopkins University. Every SDA school in Oregon has contracted with this organization to provide a tool for us to grow and you to share what we are doing well and what we can be doing better.
There are three groups that will be part of this yearly, anonymous survey: parents, students, and staff. This survey measures critical elements of school culture that reflect stakeholders’ beliefs about their schools. School Culture 360™ highlights elements of a school community that include:
· School Climate – Characteristics of the school environment that foster academic achievement and positive interpersonal relationships
· Academic Climate – Characteristics of the learning environment that promote high expectations, teacher support of student learning, and peer support of student learning
· Civic Open Classroom Climate – The routine experience of deliberation and viewpoint diversity
· School Mission and Vision – The stakeholders’ beliefs about the school’s commitments and values
These areas have been linked to various student outcomes, including academic achievement and civic preparation. A summary of research about these domains is available upon request. While parents, teachers, staff, administrators, and students in Grades 4 to 12 take the survey, not all these groups will answer all components.This survey is completely anonymous and will be used for secondary research. Participation in the survey is completely voluntary; there are no penalties for not participating.
Parents/guardians: Please complete one survey per household. Separated parents may complete one per parent.
The link will be sent out to your email addresses that we have on file for you at school. There is only a two-week window to take this survey. It should take about 15 minutes to complete the survey. If you would like to be part of your school’s growth, please look for the link. Students in grades 4-8 will have school time to complete the survey. Thank you for helping our school grow and meet our community’s needs.
The survey window will run from Friday, October 20, 2023, and will close on Friday, November 3, 2023.
Picture Day - Tuesday, October 31
One month ago, your child brought home a packet for ordering pictures. We will be having a studio come and visit our school on Tuesday, October 31. If you would like to order pictures, that can be done online by following the information in the picture packet. Even if you do not order pictures, we will still be taking pictures of all students for our yearbook. If you did not receive a packet or if it was lost, you can stop by the office for a replacement, or call the office and we will send another packet home with your child. We ask that children do not dress up in costumes on this day.
ECA Thanksgiving Potluck is Coming Up in Two Weeks!
Plan Now to Attend our Annual ECA Thanksgiving Potluck Meal
This November 10 ECA will be having their monthly 1/2 Day Community Friday. For many years now, we open our school up to school families, church members, and our school community. In the upcoming week, you should receive a REMIND Notice or email with more information about how each family can help out. Depending on the classroom your child is in, there are different items to bring.
We especially want to thank our Home & School for providing main entrees. All entrees will be kid-friendly. There will be no meat in food prepared and we ask that you please NOT send any food items with meat in them.
Please note: We are planning on feeding around 120 people. For parents picking up their children at 12:30 for 1/2 day Friday, this is an opportunity to come a little early and share in an annual ECA celebration with family and friends. Our school Thanksgiving meal will begin at 11:00. Food can be dropped off in the office on Friday morning. During the morning hours, volunteers will be turning the gym into a Thanksgiving dining hall.
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