COVENANT CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL
                                                                                           MR. RICHARD NOORMAN, PRINCIPAL

November 2018

Dear Parents,

As we reach the end of the first term of the semester, we continue to give thought to our calling to glorify God in all of our work at CCHS.   We are reminded of this daily as we see Psalm 57:5 on display in the main hallway.  “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.”  The secondary text for this term is Psalm 86:12.  “I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.”   With this we are reminded of the eternal aspect of our giving praise to God.  We are thankful for opportunities for the daily praise and thanks that we can bring to God as we go about our work in the school.  The second part of the text reminds us that we (students, teachers, and parents) are also in preparation for the great day when we will be able to glorify our God in eternity.  As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, let us all be mindful of what a great blessing it is to be able to send our children to Covenant Christian High School and that we can go about our work in this way.  We should also keep this in the minds of our kids by talking to them about our school as a blessing and remembering the school in our family devotions and prayers.  You can be assured that in our faculty devotions we regularly give thanks for the Christian homes and parents that support our school.  It is a great privilege to be able to serve our God as we serve one another. 

REPORT CARDS—We recently emailed Report Cards to all parents through the RenWeb (FACTS) system.  These are the grades for the first 9 week term.  It is good to keep in mind that these grades alone do not affect the GPA (Grade Point Average) of the students.  It is only the final semester grade that is used in the GPA calculation.  The final semester grade is composed of the grades for Term 1, Term 2, and the semester exam.  Since the Term 1 report card grade does not affect GPA, all student GPA’s remain unchanged from the report given last spring.  Because ninth grade students have not yet completed a semester, they do not have a GPA listed yet.  Overall our students have performed very well.  A good majority of students from each grade has been listed on the Honor Roll which requires an average grade of B+ or better.

KHAN ACADEMY SAT TEST PREP—All of our students in grades 10 and 11 should have received feedback on the SAT or PSAT tests that were administered last spring or this fall.  These students are now able to go to Khan Academy and receive a program of instruction, based on the results of those tests, to help them prepare for the next testing that will take place this spring.  This is very important for our 11th grade students who are planning on continuing to college after high school.  They will be taking the SAT test in April which will be a determining factor for the level of financial aid for which they qualify.  Working through the test preparation programs will give them the opportunity to work on test
problems and to take full practice tests.  There is no charge for any of this.  The only cost is the time that the students have to put into it.
FAFSA—Parents of seniors who anticipate going to college next year should be reminded to complete the FAFSA form.  This Free Application for Federal Student Aid is currently available.  If you have not done this for a few years you should be aware that parents are now able to file using the previous year’s tax information.  It is not necessary to wait for your 2018 tax information.  The process can be started by going to: www.fafsa.ed.gov.

NEED FOR TEACHERS—All of our Protestant Reformed Christian schools are being blessed with an increasing number of students.  This fact, along with the fact that we are seeing teachers reaching retirement age and teachers leaving the work to take up responsibilities in the home, is leading to a shortage of teachers for our schools.  Please discuss this need with your son or daughter.  If they have questions about the work or the requirements to become a teacher, they can speak with Mr. Haveman or stop in the office and talk to me.  We would also be glad to set up a job shadow with one of the teachers our area schools.  The Federation of Protestant Reformed Christian Schools has recently produced a video entitled, “Why Teach?”.  This would be good for any students interested in the teaching profession to watch.  You can find the video on you-tube at: https://youtu.be/WtFqu-WWMyo or search for “Why Teach?”

CHAPELS AND ASSEMBLY—We have been enjoying our weekly Chapel times with many interesting speakers and topics.  This probably is not something that the students rush home to talk about.   I think it would be good for them to have some follow-up conversations with you about the chapel topics.  If you think about it, perhaps you could make this part of your family conversations on Wednesday evenings.  Also, this past Friday we were privileged to have an assembly that featured Dr. Ken Austin.  Dr. Austin is a good friend of Mr. Kamper and the former band director at Trinity Christian College in Illinois. He is also an amazing trumpet player.  He has played trumpet in over 3,000 concert halls throughout the world with many famous symphonies and brass groups.  He gave a presentation to us about the history of the trumpet and the various uses of the trumpet that are mentioned in the Bible.

STUDENT COUNCIL—Our Student Council has been active in planning various activities for the students.  The Annual Powder Puff football game and Burger Fry was a success.  The Senior girls were victorious in the football game and everyone was able to enjoy a grilled hamburger lunch.  The week of Thanksgiving is designated as Friendship Week.  This is a time when everyone is encouraged to meet new people and appreciate all of the friends that we have in this school.   Student Council is planning the Chapel based on this theme.  They will also begin planning the Christmas Chapel which will be held on December 21.

GIFT CERTIFICATE DRIVE—The Student Council will once again be sponsoring a Gift Certificate Drive this year.  They will be collecting gift cards and certificates that can be given to families in need from our area churches.  We ask that you consider giving certificates for necessities such as groceries, gas, or giving a monetary donation.  These can be given to any Student Council member or sent to the attention of Jori Wieringa at school.

WEATHER AND SCHOOL CLOSINGS—The words, “Are we going to have a snow-day tomorrow?” will soon be a popular question from students and teachers alike.  “Snow-day” season brings with it the need to make some weather related decisions regarding school closings.  Our decision to close or not to close school is closely tied to decisions of the local school districts in which our families live.  These districts have transportation departments that are in tune with the conditions found on the roads in their areas and will generally make good decisions.  These decisions are taken into consideration and weighed in with some of the unique factors about our school before a decision is made. 
When school is cancelled, I will send an email to all parents through RenWeb.  The other way to check for a school closing is to go to the “Closings” section of www.woodtv.com or www.wzzm13.com or www.fox17online.com and look for our school or check the TV for the scrolling list.  Many of the media outlets will also allow you to set up an email alert system that ties directly into the decision of your school or they may even have an “app” for your mobile device.  
Please note that for families who live in outlying areas, we will honor your decision as a parent and excuse the student if you are not comfortable with putting your kids on the road and keep them home or send them in a little late.  In these cases, we ask that you notify the office as soon as possible.

LOST AND FOUND—I recently sent home some pictures of lost and found items that we have.  Please check the pictures and have your son or daughter spend 3-4 minutes looking over the table to see if any of their belongings are there.

WINTER SPORTS SEASON—We are moving into the basketball season for boys and girls.   This year the boys’ season will start one week earlier than the girls’ season.  The first boys’ game is at home against Holland Christian on November 27.  The girls will open their season at Unity Christian on December 4.  We all need to be reminded of the responsibility that we have to exhibit good sportsmanship at all of our games.  Cheering must remain positive and respect shown to our opponents, their fans, and the officials.  We encourage you to speak to your junior high children about this as well.  It takes a strong commitment to do things right to and offset the poor sportsmanship that we see in our society around us today. 

ATHLETIC BOOSTERS—If you are the parent of a Charger athlete, please be on the lookout for a call for help from the Athletic Boosters during the upcoming season.  We will be looking for help from parents of our athletes especially to give of your time in the Concessions Room as well as at the Admission Table.  It takes a lot of good people to be able to host these events at our school.  We hope that with everyone chipping in to help we can spread the work around and make it easier for everyone. 

CONCERTS—The Band and the Choirs had great fall concerts.  We are so thankful for the level of support that these groups receive from family and friends.  We will once again give opportunity for everyone to see both groups in one concert when we present our Christmas Concert.  This will take place on Saturday, December 15, at 4:00 p.m., at Jenison Center for the Arts.  We hope to see you there.

GUIDANCE COUNSELING, COLLEGE VISITS, JOB SHADOWS—Mr. Haveman has completed his counseling visits with the Seniors.  He will meet with them one more time this spring to make sure that everything is all set for them as they get ready to graduate.  He is currently having appointments with the 9th grade students.  At this meeting they are reviewing their goals and setting up course selections for next year.  We continue to make allowance for students to visit colleges and to do job shadows.  Forms are available in the counseling office for students to use when they would like to do these activities.  All of the forms require a parental signature and approval of the counselor.

CCHS PARENT GUIDE—As the year goes on you may have questions about certain aspects of our operations.  We have tried to answer many of the common questions in our publication called the Parent Guide.  This booklet can be found on our website under the parent tab in publications.  

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!

R. NOORMAN

CALENDAR DATES:
November 22-23       Thanksgiving Break
December 5               Progress Report
December 15             Choir/Band Concert @ Jenison Fine Arts at 4:00 p.m.
December 24-Jan.1   Christmas Break
January 14-17           Exams/ End of Term 2
January 18                 Records Day (No School)
January 28-Feb. 1     Homecoming Week
February 1                 Homecoming Chapel and Basketball games
February 13              Parent/Teacher Conferences
February 20              Progress Report
February 21              Parent/Teacher Conferences
March 19                    Choir Concert @ Fairhaven Church
March 20                    End of Term 3
March 26                    Band Concert @ Hudsonville Fine Arts at 7:30 p.m.
March 29-April 5       Spring Break (No School)
April 9                                    PSAT for 9th and 10th
April 9-10                   MSTEP Testing (SAT and Work Key) for 11th
April 11-12                Band to Dordt College
April 26                      Progress Report
May 3                          Career Day a.m. (half day of school)
May 3                          Junior/Senior Banquet
May 16-17                  Senior Class Trip
May 20                       Choir Concert @ Jension
May 21                       All Schools Band Concert @ Hudsonville Fine Arts at 7:30 p.m.
May 22                       Senior Chapel
May 23                       Senior Honors Convocation
May 24, 28-30           Exams
May 31                       Senior Breakfast and Graduation