AUGUST 2024 PARENT UPDATE

The mission of Sioux Center Christian School is to disciple God’s children by equipping them with a knowledge and understanding of Christ and His creation so that they can obediently serve God and others as they work and play.

We are excited to partner with you during the 2024-2025 year as we work to meet the mission God has given to our school. God has great things in store! Kim and I are excited to join the SCCS community and look forward to getting to know you in the weeks and months to come.

A WARNING: this newsletter is long! It has lots of information. I wanted to put it all in one place so it’s easy to go back to and reference. Please take the time to read through everything so that you can be prepared and informed.

A couple of things to note:

• First Day of TK & Kindergarten: Monday, Aug. 26
• Due to construction on Hwy 75 and traffic rerouting and the added construction traffic that we have for The Blazer Center, we will need to revamp our drop off and pick up traffic pattern and procedures. Be on the lookout for those plans in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Paul Brenner, Head of School

All new parents are invited to the new parent meeting at 6:30 PM on Thursday, August 8 in the orchestra room. This meeting is approximately 1 hour and packed with important information you will want to know as you join the SCCS family!

The first month of tuition (10%) will come out via ACH in August, from the bank account you set up earlier this summer. A reminder that all fees will be paid through ACH for the 24/25 school year. A statement was emailed out at the end of June, showing you the cost of tuition and other fees. If you have not seen the email, please reach out to Kelli Van Roekel (kvanroekel@siouxcenterchristian.com) to receive a copy.

Sioux Center Christian School will once again be offering three convenient options for childcare during the school year: Aftercare, Kindercare, and 4Care! Please fill out the attached SCCS Health and Family Information form if you plan to use any of the following services.

AFTERCARE: If you would like to register your child(ren) for Aftercare, please see the information and application below. Please print the forms and bring them to the office. If you don’t have access to a printer, please stop in the school office for hard copies. The first day of Aftercare is Friday, Aug. 23.

KINDERCARE: If you plan to have your TK or Kindergartener go to Friday Kindercare, and have not signed up, please click here to reserve your child's spot. Only a few spots remain. The first day of Kindercare is Friday, Aug. 30.

4CARE: There are still spots open in our 4Care program. The 4Care classroom is in the main school building and run by Tara Dekkers! Check out https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/studentlife/4care.cfm to learn more. The first day of 4Care is Wednesday, Aug. 28. If you signed up for Option 1 (care before preschool starts), then 4Care begins Friday, Aug. 23.

We will continue to share busing with the public school.

Information for new families and reminders for returning families:

• Busing is free.
• SCCS, Kinsey, the middle school, and the high school all run together and drop off/pick up students from each school. There are 2 SCCS buses that pick up students who live outside of the district and have a few in-town stops as well (Bus #2014 and Bus #2020). The public school transportation director, Scott Shippy, as well as our director of transportation, Howard Rus, coordinate that route. All other buses that pick up/drop off our students will be a public school bus (Each of these bus numbers are two digits: i.e. Bus #07, Bus #11, Bus #14, Bus #18)
  
• If you signed up for busing, you may ride your assigned bus only. You may ride another bus for childcare purposes only. If your child will be riding a different bus, the office needs notification from the parent to make a bus pass for your child. You may not ride another bus for things like afterschool play dates, birthday parties, sleepovers, homework projects, etc.
• There are days when SCCS has school but the public school does not. On those days only the SCCS buses will run (2014 and 2020). Parents will be responsible for providing transportation for all other students on those days. You will be notified of these dates through the Home Bulletin and Bloomz.
• If a family lives within one mile of school, they will be eligible to ride in the winter months in the morning, but there are no stops within those areas outside of the winter months. A sign-up comes out in the Home Bulletin to sign up for this option.
• There are in-town bus stops which will not necessarily be directly in front of your house. These will be officially set and published once the transportation director has mapped all students interested in busing for the coming year. Drivers will contact out of town riders with estimated pick-up time the day before school starts.
• In the afternoon, some routes may end up with a transfer at the middle school.
• If you know of a neighbor from SCCS who will ride the bus, we encourage you to make a buddy system for the first few weeks until new students are more comfortable with the route.
• If you have any questions or change your mind about busing (either taking or dropping it), please contact the office at sccsoffice@siouxcenterchristian.com or 712-722-0777.

Back by popular demand...SCCS will once again be purchasing all school supplies for your children! Check out the link below to see what items you will need to purchase for your child(ren) for this fall. Everything else will be provided by school. No need to go supply shopping!

School Supplies

Show your Trailblazer spirit! Look for our exciting new line of Trailblazer apparel available to order online near the end of August. Be on the lookout for great things to wear look cool!

We will continue to use Bloomz as our school communication tool. Bloomz is our main method of communication throughout the school year, so we ask that all parents view the training below and become comfortable with the tool.

Parents can find a training for Bloomz at https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/currentfamilies/bloomz.cfm.

Look for an invitation from your child's homeroom teacher to join Bloomz (it may go to your junk or spam folder). If you have not received an invitation by August 15, please let the homeroom teacher know.

You can decide how you receive notifications from Bloomz. In order to adjust your notifications settings, follow these directions:

• Click on the left menu tray via Bloomz App or Click on the Setting Wheel in the left panel via desktop
• Click on Settings (Wheel icon)
• Click on Account Settings
• Click on Notifications
• Choose how you want to be notified: email, text, app and voicemail (when sent as voice mail)
• Toggle on or off what you want notifications regarding

Our school lunch staff is gearing up to provide healthy lunches for your student this year. School lunches this year will cost $3.60 per meal. Reduced price meals will be $.40. Extra milk and milk only will cost $.40. Adult meals will be $5.00. Families that may qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program will need to fill out application forms. Please bring completed applications to the school office. If you don’t have access to a printer, please stop in the school office for a hard copy. Application, instructions and income guidelines are at the link below.

We are also requiring a Diet Modification Form if your student will be eating lunch and has special dietary restrictions that need to be accommodated. All Gluten Free students need to have an updated from on file each year. Please find the form at this link. It does need to be signed by a medical professional.

https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/editoruploads/files/Lunch/Lunch_Diet_Modification_Request_Form_2021.pdf

All Sioux Center students in TK - 8th grade have the opportunity to take advantage of the community led Sack Pack Program. The Sack Pack Program is a program that provides free food items in a “sack” each Friday to assist families who are struggling to make ends meet. The program gives children a sack of nutritious, easy-to-prepare snacks for the weekend. If you would like to participate, please print the letter below and bring the completed form to school.

We are always in need of more quality substitute teachers and paras. We're looking for individuals who enjoy working with children, can follow instructions provided, and can be flexible with responsibilities. Responsibilities depend on the needs, but could range from kindergarten all the way to 8th grade, full or partial days, and could be classroom teacher or paraprofessional. Times, dates, and assignments are all depending on your preference. We will work with your schedule and level of comfort. Teaching degree not required. If interested, please fill out the form at the following link: Sub Info Form

If you have questions, contact Mr. Brandon Haan, principal: bhaan@siouxcenterchristian.com

In the spring online registration process, each family was required to choose to serve in at least one of two areas that benefit every SCCS student: Washing dishes and/or Working at Outlet 75.

You should have recently received an email from Ashley Keith (akeith@siouxcenterchristian.com) and/or Outlet 75 (info@shopoutlet75.com) with a link to share your shift preferences.
If you did not receive the email, links to both volunteer options are available here: https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/currentfamilies/volunteer.cfm
If you don’t remember what you signed up for, please email Amy Vander Berg (avanderberg@siouxcenterchristian.com).

Your willing work in these areas is greatly appreciated and truly helps SCCS treasure and train your children! Thank you for doing your part to make our school thrive!

Additional Opportunities to Serve…

Our parent group, PACE (Parents in Action for Christian Education), serves our school by providing opportunities for fellowship, and encouragement to our students and teachers.

CLICK HERE to sign up to be a room parent in your child’s classroom for the 2024-25 school year…

PACE has all committee spots filled, except they need a Chair and Co-Chair for the SCCS Appreciation Social in December.
CLICK HERE to be a part of planning this event (it’s a FAVORITE of faculty and staff!)…

Would you be interested in helping put away books in the library, or play piano for music classes?

CLICK HERE to share your interest in helping in the library and/or music department for the 2024-25 school year…

Watch for sign-up opportunities in January, inviting you to help with the Trail'Raiser Trek fundraiser on April 12, 2025 (day after Grandparents Day). It's our only fundraising event (we’ve worked hard to eliminate all the little fundraisers that other schools do!) and offers supporters the opportunity to give and bless God's kids through the Blazer Center campus expansion. We will need parents to work a shift and/or sign up to bring snack and treats to be sold at the event.

In order to plan for the upcoming year, the music teachers would like to know what 7th and 8th grade students will be participating in music ensembles during the 2024-25 school year. All 7th and 8th graders should complete the short music survey at the following link before Monday, August 12. Thank you!

Music Survey

7th and 8th Grade Drama Opportunity: Beauty and The Beast Jr.

Co-Directors: Eileen Buiter and Kirsten Buiter

Performance Dates: Jan 17 and 18, 2025

Audition/Interview Dates: September 6 & 7

All students that want to be involved will need to either

• audition using the provided excerpt (see below) to act in the show
• interview to determine your best placement backstage or in the sound booth

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST JR to sign up for auditions/interviews. A rehearsal schedule and all other important information can also be found at this link.

Rehearsals: Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school, Friday afternoons starting on September 10.

The classic story tells of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.

Audition excerpts can be found at this link: Audition Files for Beauty and the Beast Jr.

ALL students entering 7th grade need to have the Tdap booster and meningococcal vaccine or exemption form turned in before school starts. If you are unsure whether or not your child still needs the vaccine, please contact your family healthcare provider. Please bring a new Certificate of Immunization showing proof of the vaccine to the school office. Students will not be allowed to start school if they haven’t had the vaccine or turned in their exemption form (this is a state requirement).

TK and Kindergarten students also have immunization records that should be brought to school along with the dental card and the vision card, and a physical is also recommended (a physical is not required).

Please note that a religious exemption is available for vaccinations. To learn more, check out https://iris.iowa.gov/docs/Certificate_of_Immunization_Exemption_Religious.pdf.

7th and 8th graders who plan to participate in athletics need to complete an athletic physical and sign a concussion form each year and turn it into Nurse Jenny or Mr. Groskreutz before they may practice or play. The forms are attached below.

CLICK HERE for the 2024-2025 class lists.

We are excited to offer before-school conferences again this year for grades TK-8, to be held August 15 from 3:00-8:00 PM. Students are encouraged to attend the conferences to see their classroom and have an opportunity to meet their homeroom teacher before school begins.

We are excited for the school year. Let's get this strong partnership started!

After checking class lists, find your child's homeroom teacher and type your name in next to the time that works best for you at the following link: PARENT TEACHER SIGN UP

It's coming! The first day of school for 1st-8th grade students will be Friday, August 23! 4Care will also begin on August. 23. TK and Kindergarten students will start school on Monday, August 26. Doors open at 7:55 each day with classes beginning at 8:10 and school dismissing at 3:05.

You are invited to come into the building at 7:45 the first day of school to bring your student(s) to their classroom(s).

The school calendar for next year can be found here.

STORYLINE: Our Storyline this year is Living God’s Abundant Life. SCCS provides a storyline t-shirt for each student that is worn for chapel, class trips, and the final Storyline Celebration. Teachers will hand out the shirts near the beginning of the school year.

School pictures will take place on Wednesday, August 28 and Thursday, August 29 by Danielle Ann Photography. We will be sending picture forms home at parent teacher conferences on Aug. 15. The envelopes will be due on Friday, August 23 (this is the 1st day of school!). They can be brought to the office any time or given to the teachers on the first day of school. The classes that will have pictures on Wednesday, August 28 are TK, 1, 3, 5, 7 and the classes that will have pictures on Thursday, August 29 are K, 2, 4, 6, 8.

Click here for the 2024-2025 Parent-Student Handbook.

The library will be completed by the start of school. New window clings, LED lights, ceiling tiles, carpet, paint, shelving, circulation desk layout, and the addition of a 5-8 learning center space have made this space look completely different. Blazer Center construction saw a lot of activity in the current gym – new electrical, plumbing, fire protection and HVAC connections were made over the summer – look up there are a lot of new pipes in the ceilings – this work allows the current mechanical boiler room to be used for the new addition. The addition has sprung up overnight it seems. All of the pre-cast walls are up. Most interior block walls are also in place. The roof deck is 70% complete and the roofers have been working hard to get that installed. Concrete is poured in classrooms and hallways, a shipping delay has delayed concrete in the gym and stage for now. Concrete around the north and east sides of the addition will be done before school starts. Our playground equipment is on site, but waiting for the installers to come. Excessive rain this spring has delayed exterior work, pushing back the playground installation. Don’t worry- it will get done – but students will be on the outside of the fence looking in for a bit.

The mission of Sioux Center Christian School is to disciple God’s children by equipping them with a knowledge and understanding of Christ and His creation so that they can obediently serve God and others as they work and play.

Email: pbrenner@siouxcenterchristian.com
Website: www.siouxcenterchristian.com
Location: 630 1st Avenue SE
Phone: 712.722.0777
Facebook: www.facebook.com/siouxcenterchristian