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What is going on at Holland Christian?
I am sure that was the question asked by many folks that
frequently or even occasionally traveled 40th street or Ottawa Ave
this summer. One could not miss
the volume and the scope of the construction project this summer – sometimes
seeing huge portions of the high school no longer in place and then to watch it
return with a very different shape and look. It was quite a mess from one end of the campus to the other
for sometime and then it started around the first of August to come together –
first in new spaces that become better defined and then with magnificent
landscaping and parking lots and finishing touches that seemed to appear out of
nowhere – early on it seemed to change by the week – then by the day and near
the end it was changing by the hour.
But the question is a good one – What is going on at Holland
Christian, since we are about a lot more than buildings and glass and steel and
bricks and trees and fields and courts and flowers and parking lots. What is going on is that a good
portion of “where” we are doing are work has changed during the last few years
– quite a bit of the “who” is doing the work has also changed in the past decade
– significant changes have been made in “how” we are doing our work – but what
we are doing has not changed from the first day that Holland Christian Schools
opened their doors over 100 years ago.
The “where” changes are very apparent – Rose Park, the High
School, Pine Ridge and both middle schools as well as South Side all have gone
through some very significant changes in structure, infrastructure and function
in the past few years. We think
that with a few more steps at the high school we can put the need for major
building projects behind us for a few generations. That is remarkable news for any school system – we know that
maintenance and renovations are never really finished but we are getting close
once the high school project as it has been designed would be completed.
Regarding the “who” is doing the work at HC also has seen
some very significant changes in the past decade with almost an entire
generation of teachers retiring and have been replaced by a remarkable group of
dedicated teachers and staff members that have joined the HC family. In addition the staffing required to
support education today is quite different than in generations past. Holland Christian over the years has
been blessed to have one of the most capable, passionate, and caring staffs
that you will find in any school around the country. Holland Christian is known as a good place to work and to
grow professionally.
The “how” aspect of our work has changed most
remarkably. Technology continues
to play an ever growing role in our instruction, foreign languages, once
reserved for high school now have been brought into the pre-school and
elementary classrooms, with some students being taught entirely in Spanish in
our immersion program. We have added programming that will help identify
students that require some assistance with reading, and after they have been
identified we have multiple interventions to put in place at a much earlier age
so that they can be more successful as they move through the grades. We have added after school and summer
programs that has been well received by not only HC families and students but
by many other families in the community. This fall we are launching some
classes that will be offered exclusively for home schooling students and they
will then also be joining some of our after school programs. This program is just at the beginning
stages and has great potential. We
have begun programs that will be impacting our pre school planning as well as
connecting with the other local school districts in a program called Ready to
Learn – determining how prepared children are for kindergarten and what factors
will be most influential in advancing their readiness to learn.
In spite of all of these changes and proposed changes and
certainly changes that will be coming in the future you need to know that the
guiding principles – the purpose – the mission of Holland Christian has not
changed. We will continue with all
of our ability to assist every student to fully develop their God given
talents. We will be very aware of
how we are being good stewards of the creation and the many resources that God
gives to us – individually and as an institution. And we will continue to prayerfully and actively discern
God’s plan for this school – determining where we are going and how we are
going to get there. We will
continue to provide an outstanding educational experience that is based on
Scripture and teaches young men and women how to think not what to think. It will be our challenge to guide each
child in developing a worldview or a perspective on life and learning that is
imbedded in every aspect of their lives.
In short, we might be changing the building and the landscaping around
the building – both figuratively and literally – but we are not changing the
foundation. Isn’t it interesting
that is exactly what we did with the high school this summer? The school certainly changed but the
foundation of the building never moved – you never quite know where the next
life lesson will emerge, do you?So now you too are able to answer the
question: What is going on at
Holland Christian?
View all episodes
I am sure that was the question asked by many folks that
frequently or even occasionally traveled 40th street or Ottawa Ave
this summer. One could not miss
the volume and the scope of the construction project this summer – sometimes
seeing huge portions of the high school no longer in place and then to watch it
return with a very different shape and look. It was quite a mess from one end of the campus to the other
for sometime and then it started around the first of August to come together –
first in new spaces that become better defined and then with magnificent
landscaping and parking lots and finishing touches that seemed to appear out of
nowhere – early on it seemed to change by the week – then by the day and near
the end it was changing by the hour.
But the question is a good one – What is going on at Holland
Christian, since we are about a lot more than buildings and glass and steel and
bricks and trees and fields and courts and flowers and parking lots. What is going on is that a good
portion of “where” we are doing are work has changed during the last few years
– quite a bit of the “who” is doing the work has also changed in the past decade
– significant changes have been made in “how” we are doing our work – but what
we are doing has not changed from the first day that Holland Christian Schools
opened their doors over 100 years ago.
The “where” changes are very apparent – Rose Park, the High
School, Pine Ridge and both middle schools as well as South Side all have gone
through some very significant changes in structure, infrastructure and function
in the past few years. We think
that with a few more steps at the high school we can put the need for major
building projects behind us for a few generations. That is remarkable news for any school system – we know that
maintenance and renovations are never really finished but we are getting close
once the high school project as it has been designed would be completed.
Regarding the “who” is doing the work at HC also has seen
some very significant changes in the past decade with almost an entire
generation of teachers retiring and have been replaced by a remarkable group of
dedicated teachers and staff members that have joined the HC family. In addition the staffing required to
support education today is quite different than in generations past. Holland Christian over the years has
been blessed to have one of the most capable, passionate, and caring staffs
that you will find in any school around the country. Holland Christian is known as a good place to work and to
grow professionally.
The “how” aspect of our work has changed most
remarkably. Technology continues
to play an ever growing role in our instruction, foreign languages, once
reserved for high school now have been brought into the pre-school and
elementary classrooms, with some students being taught entirely in Spanish in
our immersion program. We have added programming that will help identify
students that require some assistance with reading, and after they have been
identified we have multiple interventions to put in place at a much earlier age
so that they can be more successful as they move through the grades. We have added after school and summer
programs that has been well received by not only HC families and students but
by many other families in the community. This fall we are launching some
classes that will be offered exclusively for home schooling students and they
will then also be joining some of our after school programs. This program is just at the beginning
stages and has great potential. We
have begun programs that will be impacting our pre school planning as well as
connecting with the other local school districts in a program called Ready to
Learn – determining how prepared children are for kindergarten and what factors
will be most influential in advancing their readiness to learn.
In spite of all of these changes and proposed changes and
certainly changes that will be coming in the future you need to know that the
guiding principles – the purpose – the mission of Holland Christian has not
changed. We will continue with all
of our ability to assist every student to fully develop their God given
talents. We will be very aware of
how we are being good stewards of the creation and the many resources that God
gives to us – individually and as an institution. And we will continue to prayerfully and actively discern
God’s plan for this school – determining where we are going and how we are
going to get there. We will
continue to provide an outstanding educational experience that is based on
Scripture and teaches young men and women how to think not what to think. It will be our challenge to guide each
child in developing a worldview or a perspective on life and learning that is
imbedded in every aspect of their lives.
In short, we might be changing the building and the landscaping around
the building – both figuratively and literally – but we are not changing the
foundation. Isn’t it interesting
that is exactly what we did with the high school this summer? The school certainly changed but the
foundation of the building never moved – you never quite know where the next
life lesson will emerge, do you?So now you too are able to answer the
question: What is going on at
Holland Christian?