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Dear SCS Families,
We are living in exciting times filled with possibility and new potential, but raising children in the Digital Age also presents many challenges. Social media, digital gaming, video platforms, texts, tweets and online articles all compete for the gaze and attention of our young people. As parents and educators, we want to empower our children to gain control of their attention so that they can live with intention. As we build our schedule for the 2017-18 school year, we will set aside time
at the beginning of each day to encourage our students to develop some important life-long habits and increase their capacity to attend to what really matters.
Our SCS theme verse this year is Psalm 143:8 which says, "Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you." This verse was chosen because it speaks to the importance of seeking God first and opening ourselves to God's good purposes in our lives. A morning devotional routine provides us with encouragement and wisdom for the day. As followers of Christ, we want to disciple our youth to make prayer and scriptural meditation a part of their own daily routines. We are looking forward to exploring this passage and other scriptures with our students. It is my prayer that this habit will provide our students with a foundation of trust and hope in Jesus.
Below you will find detailed information regarding the start of school. Thank you for being part of the Sarasota Christian School family. Please join us in praying for our school, students, faculty, and staff. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and we look forward to seeing you at school in August.
Sincerely,
Ryan N. Lehman
Superintendent |
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SCS 101 ORIENTATION (K-12TH)
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Tuesday, August 8
times vary, see below
(auditorium)
Kindly RSVP when you receive your email invitation.
New Elementary Parents
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Parents, this is an opportunity for you to get all your questions answered about Elementary School procedures and policies. We kindly ask that you not bring your children with you to orientation as this event is for parents only. They will have an opportunity to meet their teacher and other students at Back-to-School night
on Thursday
. Information will be available on lunch ordering, communications, after care, getting involved and more.
New Middle School Parents & Students
4:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Parents, join us to learn more about the policies and procedures for Middle School while your new middle school students enjoy activities with student ambassadors.
Information will be available on scheduling, athletics, technology, lunch ordering, getting connected, communications, after care, and much more.
New High School Parents & Students and All International Students
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Parents and new high school students, please join us for an overview of high school policies and procedures. Information will also be available on scheduling, technology, lunch procedures, communications, athletics and much more.
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NEW FAMILY DINNER (K-12th)
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4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
(gym)
New kindergarten through 12th grade students and their families are invited to enjoy "
sandwiches & sides" together with school administration, PTA members and student ambassadors. Kindly RSVP when you receive your email invitation.
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BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT (K-12th)
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Friday, August 11
times vary, see below
Pre-Kindergarten families are invited to meet your child's teacher and get familiar with our program. The All Day Class (A) and Morning Class (B) will be at 10:00 a.m. and the Afternoon Class (C) will be at 11:00 a.m. Orientation is for both students and parents. Kindly RSVP when you receive your email invitation.
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Monday, August 14
School Start & End Times
Pre-K All Day Class (A): 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Pre-K Morning Class (B): 8:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Pre-K Afternoon Class (C): 11:45 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Elementary School: 8:00 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Middle School: 7:45 a.m. - 3:05 p.m.
High School: 7:45 a.m. - 3:05 p.m.
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED
FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL
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After-care is available after school until 6:00 p.m. for students Pre-K-8th grade.
details
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All 6th-12th grade students who plan to participate in SCS athletics
must have the FHSAA forms below completed prior to tryouts. Athletes simply bring their completed FHSAA forms to tryouts. E
ach coach will schedule a parent/player meeting, before the first official game, to discuss the team expectations, policies, procedures, schedules, volunteer opportunities, playing time, etc.
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BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD)
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All middle and high school students are required to have a device with them, on a daily basis, that meets a minimum set of specifications for our
"Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) Program.
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The well-being of our students remains a top priority, and the following measures are an important part of our commitment to campus safety.
Parents & Visitor Check-In
All parents, volunteers and visitors to our campus are required to have their driver's license scanned at the front desk in order to obtain a visitor/volunteer badge to be on campus.
details
Front Door & Gate Locking
Please be aware that our campus gates are locked during school hours. If you need to park your car during drop-off, please park in the front parking lot so that you won't be locked in. Also, as an additional safety measure, our main building front doors remain locked during school hours. Visitors will be granted access via a "buzz-in" system at the front doors.
Student Drop-off/Pick-up Locations & Traffic Flow
Please see the link below outlining traffic flow and pick-up/drop-off locations for the various grade levels.
details
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SCS relies greatly on volunteers to help in our success, make a difference in the lives of our students, and reduce expenses.
Each family is
responsible for volunteering a minimum of 10 hours each year and is asked to serve some of those hours at the annual Auction & Festival on February 16th & 17th.
There are lots of ways to serve throughout the year. Here are a few of the areas you can help:
- Special Events
- PTA
- Athletic Booster Club
- Auction
- Maintenance
- Copying & Laminating for Teachers
- Lunch Assistant and Delivery
- Field Trip or Athletic Team Van driver
- And much more...
Click here and let us know what areas you're interested in volunteering. This does not commit you to volunteering, we will just contact you with more details.
You can also email pta@sarasotachristian.org, boosters@sarasotachristian.org, or our Director of Special Events, Amy Schlabach, at aschlabach@sarasotachristian.org for more information.
Don't forget to log your service hours through RenWeb (under the family section) or fill out a service hours form at the front office each time you volunteer. Families will receive a $200 credit in May if they have fulfilled their service hours, so please make sure you turn in your hours every time you volunteer.
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HEALTH FORMS & REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
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Students may not start school until all state required documents listed below are received. Please make sure you've turned in the necessary documents to the front office.
All new students must have a physician complete a physical exam documented on a DH3040 form.
All new students must have the required immunizations for their grade level and submit a DH680 or DH681 form. Returning students in grades K & 7 have an additional immunization needed at those grade levels and will need an updated immunization record.
All new students
, returning students in grades 1, 3, 6 and 9, and
returning students whose health history has changed must submit
a health history form.
All new students and returning students whose information has changed must turn in an emergency care consent form.
Medication Authorization
Students who need access to medications during school hours must make arrangements through the school clinic. Students are not permitted to have medications on their person or in their backpacks.
A medication authorization form, signed by a physician, must be completed each year for prescription medications. An over-the-counter medications form must be completed for non-prescription items that are not provided by the school. Medications must be retained in the school clinic in their original containers, and are available to the student according to directions outlined by the parent on the authorization form.
The school will provide some non-prescription medications in the school clinic and on over-night field trips. These are intended for safe, symptomatic relief of minor conditions that do not warrant exclusion from school. A school employee will only administer such medication with the written permission of a parent/guardian on file. All new students and returning students whose information has changed must turn in a non-prescription medication form.
Emergency Contact & Pick-up Permission Form
All students must submit this form.
All students must submit this form.
Questions?
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We are excited to be rolling out a new online lunch ordering program for the 2017-18 school year! More information will follow, but some of the highlights include:
- Menus will now be accessed via RenWeb rather than routed manually on paper.
- Prek to 8th grade students will order online via RenWeb and pay online, reducing the flow of paperwork and payments being routed with students.
- High School students will continue to purchase a la carte when lunch is served. Payment will be made electronically at the time of purchase rather than with cash. They will need to have funds on deposit in a "Lunch Account" hosted by RenWeb.
High School students will be able to purchase lunches on the first day of school,
August 14. It is our hope to have the online ordering available by Back-to-School Night, in which case Elementary and Middle School students will have the option to place their online orders by
Friday, August 11 and have lunch available for them on
August 14 as well.
Volunteers are needed daily to help with the lunch program. Please contact our Lunch Coordinator, Bonnie Shine at
bshine@sarasotachristian.org for more information about volunteer needs.
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Please review the parent/student handbook and return the commitment form on the last page of the document by Monday, August 21.
Absent or Late from School?
For student safety, it is imperative that parent(s) notify the front office by 8:30 a.m. on the morning of the absence to indicate your child's name, grade and reason for their absence, tardy, or early dismissal by one of the following: a phone call to
941-371-6481
, email to
frontdesk@sarasotachristian.org
, or signing the student in/out at the front office. Also, please note that you will be charged $10 for each subsequent tardy after their 7th tardy. See the handbook for more details.
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Elementary School - Parents will receive an email notification of
their child's teacher in August, prior to the start of school.
Middle & High School - Student schedules will be available through RenWeb in August, prior to the start of school. Parents will receive an email notification when schedules are available and they can then log into RenWeb to access their child's schedule. Mrs. Schwartz will be available for schedule questions beginning Wednesday, August 9.
Returning middle and high school students can also access their schedule by logging into RenWeb. New students will not be able to access their RenWeb account until school begins because they need to receive their SCS email account, which is required to obtain access. However, until then they can simply have their parents access it through RenWeb for them.
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Pre-ordered uniform shirts will be available for pick up during Back-to-School Night on August 10th.
The apparel company has extended the ordering deadline and indicated that orders placed by July 18th will be ready at Back-to-School Night. If you would still like to place an order, return the order form below, together with your payment, to the front office by
July 18th.
Please select the correct size and color when ordering, as refunds or exchanges are not available.
To see or try on sample sizes, visit the front office Monday-Thursday between 9:00am and 2:00pm
. Since we do not maintain inventory, uniforms must be ordered by
July 18th to have them in time for the first day of school.
Contact PTA Uniform Coordinator, Desiree Rasch at d_rasch@sbcglobal.net
should you have questions regarding ordering.
Uniform Policy Highlights
- With the new school logo in place for the past two years, it's time to retire the old torch school logo. Collared polo uniform shirts are required to have the current school logo.
- New this year, approved outerwear must have the current school logo or the current athletic logo, be in school colors, and may be worn any day of the week. (i.e. sweatshirts, hoodies and jackets)
- Outerwear and school uniform shirts with the school logo are purchased through the PTA. Outerwear with the athletic logo is purchased through the Athletic Department.
- For more details please refer to the Uniform Policy.
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This year we are introducing a new
WIN (What I Need) Period in grades K-12 to support student needs and help them reach their fullest potential by providing additional time for supplemental (intervention) instruction and/or enrichment.
This period is provided on a rotation and allows students to experience a variety of learning options throughout the cycle. For example, students who need supplemental instruction will receive extra help in the subject area in which they need re-teaching support and students who want to learn a new skill or further develop an area of interest will be given enrichment options to explore. The goal is to enhance our ability to support our students at all levels of learning.
In middle school and high school, students will have the opportunity to choose WIN through the scheduling program called FlexiSched. Included in the scheduled options are more spiritual development opportunities such as extended chapels, small groups, and worship teams. Students will receive intervention or enrichment in specific subjects or areas of interest for a select period of time and will have an opportunity to make new choices based on progress and interest in new offerings. Teachers may override student choices based upon grades, behavior, and review of student needs. We want all students to experience various enrichment activities or, if necessary, interventions throughout the year.
Watch for more information at Back-to-School Night.
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Below are a variety of ways to stay informed about school events, activities, and news throughout the year.
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTERS:
Email is our main method of communicating with parents, so please ensure we have your current email address. The Blazer News is sent frequently and is packed full of valuable information. Links to all Blazer News issues can be found on the SCS website and the most current issue is posted on the website homepage. Additional emails for events and activities are also sent periodically throughout the year.
SCHOOL CALENDAR: A link to the calendar of upcoming events and important dates can be found on the school's website home page and in each Blazer News email. Sporting events are listed on the athletics schedule calendar (see below).
 ATHLETICS SCHEDULE: A link to the athletics schedule calendar can be found on the school's website
. The athletic calendar includes practice and game times, dismissal and departure times, directions, and game results. You can also sign up to become a fan and get alerts about game time or practice time changes/cancellations etc for specific sports. You can even subscribe to a specific sport's calendar and have it automatically appear on your calendar.
 RENWEB: Access your child's grades, homework assignments, and more at your convenience through RenWeb's online portal. Simply click the link on the school's website to login. You can also download the
RenWeb app, which will allow you to stay logged in and have quick access to information in a mobile-friendly format.
 MOODLE: An online, customizable classroom. It gives students 24/7 access to resources for assignments and projects (e.g. documents, web links and videos), collaborative tools (e.g. real-time chat forums, peer and self-assessments, and surveys), as well as online quiz and testing capabilities. Students can receive reminders about assignments and email confirmations of work submitted. Through guest access, parents can view course materials including syllabi, assignments and quizzes for classes. Guest access however, does not provide access to individual student assignment progress; that information is only available once a student is logged in.
 WEBSITE:
Sarasotachristian.org provides links to the items mentioned above and more to help you with any information you need.
 FACEBOOK: "Like" the
Sarasota Christian School page and see what's happening around campus as well as tons of photos throughout the year.
TEXT & VOICE MESSAGING: SCS is able to send text and voice messages for special announcements and in case of emergencies. Text messages will come from a 5-digit number such as 341-66 and display Parent_Alert: before the message. You can opt out of receiving these messages by contacting the front office.
PRAYER REQUESTS: Do you have a prayer need for yourself or others? We want to pray for you. Email us at
prayers@sarasotachristian.org or click the prayer request link on our website home page.
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