Things to Know This Week | Aug 22nd

RCS Families,

August 22nd, 2023

School is almost here! If your family is like mine there is a tension this time of year. We don’t want summer to end but we are craving the structure and rhythm of the school year to be back! Our team is excited to see you in two weeks. Our teachers will all be back onsite next week for training and preparing their classrooms. Our facility is looking great. We can’t wait to see what God does in the lives of each student this year! We have been praying for each of you and are expecting another fruitful year rooted in Christ.

Here are a couple of things to know:

Meet Your Teacher Day | Tuesday, September 5^th | 10am – Noon

Parents and students are encouraged to come meet their teachers any time between 10:00am and 12:00pm on 9/5. This is an opportunity to acclimate to the classroom, building, teachers, and meet new friends. Students will be able to deliver school supplies to their classrooms at that same time. This is one of the best ways to be ready for the first day of school. Stop by the covered playground for a hot dog and ice cream as well as pick up RCS gear from the RCS pop-up shop!

Back to School Details:

We want you to be prepared for the new school year! You should have received an email from our Principal, Lisa Hopp on August 11^th that is full of information about the following. Click the links below or refer to Mrs. Hopp’s email for more information.

• Class placement & School Supply Lists
• New Family Orientation: August 29^th @ 6pm in the North Auditorium.
• Meet Your Teacher Day: September 5^th from 10am – Noon.
• First Day of School: September 6^th 
• RCS Lunch Program
• After School Enrichment Sign-ups 
• RCS Uniform Information and Policy

 

Parking Lot Flow

We work hard every year to make our drop-off and pick-up process as safe and efficient as possible. Please take a moment to review the attached document that describes the pick-up and drop-off plan. Please remember the following:

• Have Patience – Please plan enough time for morning drop-off. This is especially important during the first week or two of school. 
• Park & Walk In – We want to encourage as many parents as possible to park and drop-off in person. This will limit the vehicle lines and build community with other families.
• Drive slowly – please drive slowly through the parking lot. Remember, kids may pop out of a car without much notice. 
• Use Designated Walkways – As much as possible, use the center sidewalk or conned off walkway when heading toward the buildings. 
• Use Designated Crosswalks – Please only cross drive lanes using designated crosswalks. 
• Walk with Students – Younger children should only walk through the parking lot accompanied by an adult. 
• Exit Curbside – Please have students exit your vehicle along a curb. This is the passenger side for NL Kid’s Loop (1st – 3rd grade) and drivers’ side for Fast Track Loop (4th – 8th grade). 
• Please Don’t Drop-off in Parking Lanes – Please only use the parking stall lanes (green path on map) to park and walk in. Please use the blue path for curbside drop-off. 
• Please Don’t Block Intersections – Please be courteous to our neighbors and leave intersections unblocked. This includes the intersection near the parking lot entrance as well as the intersection near Starbucks.

 

BASC (Before & After School Care) Registration

Please take a moment to register for our Before & After School Care program. Our new BASC Director, Brianna Prado, led our BASC Summer Camp program well and she and her team are excited to serve your family during this school year. Our BASC program provides care and activities for students from 6:30am to 6:00pm as well as full-day care for non-holiday weekdays when school is not in session. CLICK HERE for more information about BASC. CLICK HERE to register for this school year. Please email Brianna with any additional questions: bprado@rentonchristian.org. 

 

NEW! Secure Visitor Check-in

We are launching a new visitor check-in system this fall. Instead of signing in and out on paper, visitors will scan their ID. The system will conduct a real-time background check against sex-offender registries and print a custom visitor badge with their picture. This will help us enhance the safety of our students and help us know who is on campus at any point in time. We will send additional information about this new check-in system leading up to the school year.

Encouragement and Prayer:

This month I am finishing a book called, Canoeing the Mountains by Tod Bolsinger. It is a book about Christian leadership amid an uncertain or uncharted future. The author uses the analogy of Lewis & Clark in their journey to discover a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They had to abandon their canoes at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Their mission and tools that got them to that point was not going to take them to their eventual destination. As our societal culture continues to stray from a Biblical Worldview, our path as Christ-followers and as a Christ-centered organization is more and more uncertain and uncharted. Fortunately, we serve a God who is unchanging and we have a source of Truth in the Bible to guide us. As we head into the future, we must become more resolved in our God-given mission and more anchored in Christ to achieve what He has called us to.

 

One principle in the book that is so true is that our mission is more important than anything. “The focused, shared, missional purpose of the church or organization will trump every other competing value.” Although this is not a novel idea, it is our commitment as a school. We can do a lot of good things, however, if they do not help students develop a resilient faith in a Christ-centered environment that develops a Biblical Worldview we shouldn’t do them. Our Profile of a Student framework articulates our goal for each student at Renton Christian. This is our mission. This is our commitment.

 

My prayer for you for the last two weeks of summer is found in Numbers 6:24-26, “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” I pray God’s peace would guard the hearts and minds of our teachers, students, and families. Please join me in bringing this school year before the Lord. We can make our plans, however, “unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain,” Psalm 127:1. 

 

I appreciate each of you. Enjoy the rest of your summer! 

 

Thanks,

Randy McMillan

RCS | Head of School