Our Growing South Side Community

As we come to the close of this school year, we have so much gratitude in our hearts to God for all of His provisions and blessings. One area in particular that we are praising God for is leading our district to new staff members who are called to join our HC family. We have several announcements which I am very excited to make. Due to the size of our current kindergarten class and out of a desire to keep class sizes optimum for learning and loving our children, I am happy to announce the addition of Miss Natalie Sapp as our new first grade teacher. She will join the first grade team consisting of Mrs. VanMeeteren, Mrs. Bohle and me! We are thrilled to welcome her to teach our third section of first grade! We have been in prayer over this process and feel that God has led us to her and led her to us! I have asked Miss Sapp say a few words to introduce herself and here is what she said:

"I have had the privilege to attend Holland Christian from kindergarten through graduation from high school. Upon graduating, I continued on to Calvin College to pursue my love for teaching. It was in college that I decided to major in Special/Elementary Education. I have found it my passion to teach all of God’s amazing children no matter what their abilities are. In the past four years, I’ve been blessed with experiencing multiple teaching placements that have expanded my view of teaching and the world. In May of 2015, I graduated from Calvin College. I have now received the opportunity to teach at South Side as a first grade teacher. I am beyond delighted to come back into the Holland Christian community and serve its young, bright children.

I grew up in Holland with my parents and three older sisters who are now spread out around the West Michigan/Chicagoland area. I have also found overwhelming strength in my church family at Redeemer PCA where I have been a member the majority of my life. In addition to teaching, I enjoy reading, taking exploratory walks through God’s Creation, and spending time with my family and friends.

God has used Holland Christian to impact my life and faith throughout my educational career. I find myself yearning to uncover how God can use my unique understanding of this community to invest in the future of its youngest members. I believe that as a Christian educator I am not only an academic but spiritual leader for my students. My intention is to be a mentor and guide for my students in their faith by living by example. I wish for each student that walks through South Side’s doors to know the love from their Creator. In 1 John 4: 7-8, God tells us how important it is to display our love for one another, “7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” By showing our love and respect for each child, we catch but a glimpse of God’s love for us."

Welcome to the South Side family, Miss Sapp!

I am excited for each of you to meet Miss Sapp. You will quickly discover she has a love for the Lord, takes great joy in children and desires to teach and learn about this big beautiful world in which God has placed us!

Mrs. Dreyer
Additionally, Mrs. Dreyer will be partnering with Mrs. Hunderman in teaching the second grade class together. Mrs. Hunderman will teach math, Bible, spelling and phonics in the morning. Mrs. Dreyer will teach reading, writing, science and social studies in the afternoon. Mrs. Dreyer has been blessing us as an aide for the past three years. She has worked diligently to grow our children in reading, writing and phonics remediation as well as math and reading enrichment. Before her years at South Side, she was a teacher at both Grand Haven Christian and Moline Christian Schools. We are grateful that God's timing in her life and ours allows for this transition in her responsibilities at South Side.

Holland Rescue Mission
The Holland Rescue Mission is short on clothing to offer to community members in need. Because we partner with Holland Rescue Mission through our SPARK program, they have requested our assistance in collecting donated clothing. If you have gently used clothing at home that you are willing to part with, we have three large Holland Rescue Mission boxes in our hallways which you may deposit clothing to be given to those in need. These boxes will be available for donations until Friday, June 12.

From the Media Center

ALL student library materials are now due!
Please return any library books and magazines. If lost, please pay replacement cost in cash or check to the school library.

Keep reading this summer!
HCS Summer Reading Incentive: Catch the Reading Bug! Keep track of summer reading minutes. Receive a prize when school begins in the Fall. Check the Elementary Media Center Webpage.
http://www.hollandchristian.org/schools/elementary_media_centers  

Another Summer Reading Opportunity!
Look for information coming home today from Barnes and Noble. Read 8 books during the summer and receive a free book from our local Barnes and Noble store!

We are excited to welcome Amanda Brouwer to the Administration Team at Holland Christian.  Amanda will be giving leadership to our Early Childhood Programs as well as the Before/After School Care Programs at Holland Christian.  In the next few weeks Amanda will be connecting with families on their intentions for the Fall so we can begin to plan for the next school year.  If you have any questions before then please contact her abrouwer@hollandchristian.org or 616.820.4081 at any time.

To our Volunteers

Your example of how "Love Does" in  "serving" others in our everyday schedule does NOT go unnoticed.   The time you give is priceless.  Whether you have volunteered to help in a classroom or an event we would like you to stop in the office for a small token of our appreciation for all you have done to help us this year.  From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you!

Important Dates for your calendar

Please be sure to view the the important dates you will want on your calendar for the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year listed below.

Year Books

There are a few left.  If you did not receive a a yearbook with your order  and would still like to purchase one, the office has received an additional limited quantity.  They are $10 each on a first come first serve basis.  

Kindergarten Visiting Day

Letters of invitation will go home next week, but we are very eager to welcome our brand new class of kindergarteners for the 2015-2016 school year to South Side on Friday, May 29 at 9:00. Please mark your calendar if you're the parent of a newbie. We can't WAIT to meet, know and love our newest children!!

Field Day

Our annual Field Day fun is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2 in the afternoon. 

Important Lunch Announcement!  

• Parents, please be mindful of your lunch accounts. As the year winds down we need to be responsible for our children's accounts. You may send a check or cash into the school office or go on to sendmoneytoschool.com to pay on your account. Please remember this is a prepay system... if you owe $20.00, and they may be eating till the end of the year . . . add more to cover their lunches in the future.  It's important to keep our balances current, which helps keep the costs down of lunches. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your students this year....we enjoy providing lunch each day to our students. Should you have questions about your balances, please email: slambers@hollandchristian.org    

• Lunch fees for 2015-2016 will change beginning in August.  Please see the information below:

Elementary        $2.40                               Middle School    $2.45

High School       $2.65                               Adult                  $3.50

HCHS offers summer camps for athletes of all ages!

Registration is open now at www.hollandchristian.org/athletics/summer_camps

Camps for baseball, basketball, cheer, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball begin June 8, 2015.

Upcoming Events:

June 1-4            Holland Rescue Mission clothing drive
June 2 -              Field Day (afternoon @ SS)

June 3-               1st grade Field Trip

June 5-               Final Chapel (10:45-11:15)  All are welcome to join us

                          Last day - 11:30 Dismissal
August 20-        Open House/Ice Cream Social (6:30-8:00 P. M.)
August 24-        First day of school ((K-9 grades)
August 25-        Meet the Teacher Parent Night (7:00 P. M.)
October 8-        Grandparents Day (10:15 A. M.)

Requested Announcements: 

Summer Camp Time

• Holland Christian Summer Camps are lined up for the summer! Please click this link for basic information including dates and times for each camp. Registration is available now.

• Camp Roger is now accepting registrations for summer camp!  Please visit camproger.org for more information.

• Hope Soccer Camp is also accepting registrations for their summer camps.  Please visit www.hopesoccercamp.com for more information.

• G3 Camp at GrandValley will take place June 23-25.  Please visit www.gvsu.edu/g3 to register for this fun Grandparent/Grandchild opportunity.

• Kids Rock - Click here to see flyer.

• Grace Adventures -  Please visit www.GraceAdventures.org for more information.

• Camp Geneva is now accepting summer campers.  Please visit www.campgeneva.org for more information.

• Son-Life Camp - Brochures are in the office.  For more information, go to www.son-lifecamp.org.