SCCS Home Bulletin

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.

Every Student TREASURED, Every Student TRAINED, Every Student TRANSFORMED

Have you ever reached a destination, exited your car, and not remembered anything about the drive? I have, and it's often accompanied with a sense of panic, "I hope I didn't do anything crazy on the drive over here!"

So much of what I do on a daily basis is planning for weeks, months, and sometimes years ahead. Because I am in that frame of mind so much, I often miss what is happening right in front of me. I have to be intentional about being present IN THE PRESENT. Thankfully, I was present last night at the concert.

I loved every second of it. I loved seeing grandparents, aunts, uncles, little (and big) brothers and sisters file into the auditorium. I loved hearing and watching our kids share their work and gifts. I loved that moms and dads helped put chairs and music stands away afterwards. I even loved the snow! Last night was truly a gift - a present. One I would have missed if I wasn't present or better put, engaged.

I am grateful that our God is always present, and that Jesus came to be with us - He is Emmanuel! Celebrate with family and friends that our Savior is with us. The picture above is a link to the song, "With Us," written by a friend of mine, Michael O'Brien. We love his entire Christmas album.

My encouragement to you this Christmas season is to be present. My guess is that you will spend time with family and friends. When you're with them, actually BE with them. Remove the worry or planning about what's next and enjoy being with your family ...

This Christmas, think of presence - yours, and His.

Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas songs.

• Gloria by Michael O'Brien
• The Faithful by Michael O'Brien
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel by Phillips, Craig & Dean

You are welcome to attend our Christmas chapel today (Wednesday, December 18) at 1:30. You may also join our livestream (and recording) at https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/currentfamilies/livestream.cfm

Exciting news!! Generous donors, wanting to encourage giving, have committed $150,000 in matching gifts!

The match will apply to immediate gifts given and monthly/quarterly/annual gifts started while the match is in effect. Give soon so your gift can have DOUBLE the IMPACT! Give online HERE or drop off or mail your gift to school. Thank you for considering YOUR role in the GIVING STORY of SCCS and the Blazer Center! Questions? Give Paul Ross, director of development a call, text, or email | pross@siouxcenterchristian.com | 712.541.1707

Congratulations to Mr. Nate Breen, one of our 6th grade teachers, who won the November Pella Staff Member of the Month award! Elizabeth, Mitchell, and Carter from Sioux Center Pella Corporation surprised Mr. Breen and his class with a big check for $500 yesterday afternoon! The nomination letter by a parent shared, "Nate creates a rich environment of exciting and engaging materials and activities that help challenge his students to grow and thrive in their classroom. He asks thought-provoking questions that encourage deep thinking and meaningful discussions. He relates well to all of his students by bringing a fun sense of style and humor into the classroom."

Mr. Breen receives $500 to be used to enhance learning in his classroom, plus a special mug and certificate.

We want to thank Sioux Center Pella Corporation for this wonderful program they have done for several years as a way to honor and encourage our amazing local educators!!

At SCCS, we keep Christ's birth the focus of Christmas. That will never change! It is also fun to celebrate this season with each other! That's why we invite you to join in Festive Fun in December. Here’s the plan:

• Friday, December 20: Red and green – dress the colors of Christmas!

Wear your good-natured sweaters, light necklaces, flannel, colored apparel – whatever you already have! Hats that go with the theme are OK. Parents, we ask that you carefully discern the appropriateness of student festive apparel as we seek to celebrate with each other while still keeping the true focus of Christmas on Christ’s birth. Also, all clothing should still fit the school dress code.

• Please check the online calendar for upcoming events (http://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/calendar.cfm)
• Because of an all staff/faculty meeting and Christmas Party, the office will close at 2:20 on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
• There will be no Aftercare on Wednesday, Dec. 18 and Friday, Dec. 20.
• School will dismiss for the Christmas Break at 1:05 on Friday, Dec. 20.
• There will be no school December 23-Jan. 3 for the Christmas break. Classes will resume on Monday, Jan. 6.
• The school office will be closed Dec. 23- Jan. 3 for the Christmas break.
• TRIP Office Christmas Break Hours: Open 8:00-1:00 on Monday, Dec. 23, Monday, Dec. 30 and Friday, Jan. 3; Closed Dec. 24-27 and Dec. 31-Jan. 2

Did you know you can give a gift in which you get 75% of the gift BACK?!

This is possible when you give to NICSTO, an Iowa School Tuition Organization. Any Iowa taxpayer (or S-Corp, LLC, Estate, Trust, or C-Corp) can make a gift in which 100% is directed to Sioux Center Christian School students, but 75% of your gift comes back to YOU as an Iowa TAX CREDIT certificate - deducts right off your Iowa income tax bill!

As parents, you may donate to NICSTO fox the income tax benefits even if your students receive a NICSTO grant!

To learn more about this giving opportunity, head to https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/supportsccs/nicsto.cfm

Forms are available online and by the TRIP window.

Have you checked the lost and found table located by the office? Lots of stuff waiting to go back to it's owner! Everything left on the table at Christmas Break will be donated to Melissa's Hope Chest.

Sioux Center Christian School invites you to consider the opportunity to work with a dedicated faculty and staff, passionate parents, and fantastic students through the following position openings:

• 5th-8th Grade Band/Choir Teacher (Full-Time)
• Tier 3 Learning Center Teacher (Full-Time)

For more information on these positions and details on how to apply, go to

https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/conne.../employment.cfm

We have a limited selection of youth and adult Trailblazer gear (hoodies $30, t-shirts $16) and Truth t-shirts ($15) available to purchase in our “Mini Apparel Store” in the school office. We also have SCCS Cookbooks for $5 (they’re almost gone!) All proceeds go to the Blazer Center. Remember to shop before Christmas break begins, since the office is closed during break.

Looking to borrow 2 wingback arm chairs to use from Jan 3-Jan 20 for Beauty and the Beast Jr. Contact Eileen Buiter (712-578-8624) if you have some chairs we could borrow. Thank you!

We will be using Bloomz Alert to notify families of any weather related announcements (early outs/late starts/no school). Weather notifications will also be posted on Facebook, our website, KTIV and KSOU.

Bloomz Alerts are automatically sent through the Bloomz app and the email you have attached to Bloomz. If you would like to receive text notifications, please add your phone number to Bloomz using the instructions below.

Optional SMS/Text Notification:

• If you are using a mobile app, make sure to click the three lines in the top left corner of the screen to expand the left navigation menu.
• Click your profile picture icon.
• Select Account Settings.
• Click Edit Phone Info.
• Update the phone number, enter your current Bloomz password, and click Add Primary Phone to save this information.

Save the date for our 7th & 8th grade musical, Disney's Beauty and the Beast JR. on Friday and Saturday, January 17 & 18, at the Te Paske Theater. Forty-two 7th and 8th grade actors plus 13 crew are diligently memorizing lines, learning music, and practicing choreography in preparation for their January performances. If you’ve ever attended an SCCS production, you know that our 7th and 8th graders put on an amazing show that glorifies the Creator who gave them such talents and determination!

We hope you will put this performance on your calendar and make plans to attend!

We value the partnership between our parents and school! We want to invite you into the school so you can experience what’s happening in the classroom. Each grade level will be hosting a Parent Visit Day again this year. You are invited to join us for some time in the classroom and a pizza lunch on us!

Below are the dates for the Parent Visit Days this school year. Dates are subject to change depending on circumstances. More information will be sent out later.

• January 24 - 6th grade
• January 31 - 5th grade
• February 28 - 7th grade
• March 7 - 3rd grade
• March 14 - 2nd grade
• March 28 - 4th grade
• April 3 - Kindergarten
• May 1 - TK

Due to the public school having an early dismissal on some Fridays, we will be running the alternate bus route in the afternoon on the following Fridays during this school year: Jan. 10, Feb. 28, Apr. 4, May 16.

• Thanks to everyone who signed up to help with dishwashing this year! If you would like to help out you can sign up here. If you have questions, contact Ashley Keith (akeith@siouxcenterchristian.com).
  
• You can find the lunch and dishwashing schedule here.
• If you would like to eat lunch with your child, please contact the school 24 hours in advance of when you would like to eat. The cost for a lunch is $5.00 and can be charged to your family's lunch account as you go through the line. Thank you!

We believe all our faculty and staff are amazing and encourage you to take the time to nominate one (or more) of your children’s teachers!

Complete the nomination form (printed copies are available by the TRIP window) and return to our school office or mail to/drop off at Pella Corp. by the 25th of each month during the school year.

Each month a winner is chosen from our local schools and receives a $500 gift from Sioux Center Pella Corp, which can be used in their classroom to impact learning!

We are extremely grateful to Pella Corp for this program that serves to encourage and bless our faculty and staff!

Dear SCCS community,

We are the Brons/Heldt family (our daughter Maya is a current 6th grader, our sons Rowan and Aiden are SCCS alumni). We were one of the 500 Rock Valley families affected by the June flooding, and we wanted to express our sincere gratitude and thanks for the support that was raised especially by the Tails and Trails lemonade stand fundraiser this year. Your generous support for us bought ALL the paint needed to prime and paint both the basement and the main floor that were destroyed by the flood. Your donation bought 15 GALLONS of primer and 20 GALLONS of the prettiest blue, yellow, grey and white paint. Your support gave us bright, visible hope that we were not alone. Thanks in part to your help we were able to almost finish restoring our house back to its original condition just in time for Christmas. What an amazing blessing. Your efforts and generosity made a real difference in the real world for real people. Thank you for being servant workers and community builders.

We are hosting an open house on Friday, January 3 from 5-7pm to celebrate how far we have come. Our address is 1232 16th Street in Rock Valley. Anyone who is curious to see our restored home is welcome!

Sincerely, Sean, Rikki, Maya, Rowan, and Aiden (and Squirt, our dog)

• Community Events & Forms (https://www.siouxcenterchristian.com/currentfamilies/officehandouts.cfm) is the place to check regularly for camp information, registration forms, and more! Currently there is information for:
• Christmas at Prairie Woods Nature Center
• Youth Soccer Clinic (American State Bank Sports Complex)
• Winter Baseball Camp (American State Bank Sports Complex)
• Sioux Center Rec Winter Track Classic
• Western Cheer Camp
• Sioux Center Rec and Siouxland Sports Academy Basketball Skills Camp - 3rd-8th grade
• Unity Christian Dance Camp
• Unity AAU Knights Volleyball - 4th grade
• Unity AAU Knights Volleyball - 5-th-8th grade
• Jr. Wolfpack Registration Link

Email: sccsoffice@siouxcenterchristian.com
Website: siouxcenterchristian.com
Location: 630 1st Ave. SE, Sioux Center, IA
Phone: 712-722-0777
Facebook: facebook.com/siouxcenterchristian