Be filled with joy this school year and flourish in your lives together!

Serving the Master Teacher,

Lois Stewart

As school reopens (in a variety of ways), be an encourager of others and receive encouragement from those offering it. Be prayerful, filled with joy, and remember that our schools have the greatest gift. That is the blessing of sharing Jesus each and every day. Please also remember to reinforce safety and health protocols that have been put in place. We are called to serve and that includes keeping our students and staff safe. Set the positive example and demonstrate those protocols. Gentle reminders will build a firm foundation.

The National Office of Education in St. Louis works tirelessly to support all of the LCMS schools and offer support, programs, and resources to assist in the success and ministry of our schools. Here are a few things for you to be aware of:

1.  The information for administrators (Early Childhood Directors, Elementary Principals, and High School Principals) to submit their annual statistical report will be sent out in the very near future. PLEASE watch for this to arrive. When you get that information, be encouraged to complete it and submit it in a timely manner. Last year we were VERY CLOSE to 100% completion. Let’s get 100% this year! Please note that my office does not have access to your login items. Make sure you keep that handy.

2.  There will be a COVID19 survey also sent to schools from the National Office for you to complete with feedback.

3.  The annual school fees were once again paid by the NID for you and your school. This fee allows schools access to:

a.   Luthed.org site

b.  better technology access to LCMS items

c.   continued development of resources and mailings

We know that the process of NLSA has been an additional challenge during this COVID19 time. Please review the attached documents from the National Lutheran School Accreditation Commission.

Please review the changes in the mandated reporter requirements.

As the school year begins, please know, once again, that professional development credit is available through Concordia University Chicago. Administrators are asked to contact Catherine Nessling at Catherine.Nessling@cuchicago.edu. She is the person that will process the request. All professional development sessions that are directed to student growth, curriculum development, etc. related to state standards may count.

We are planning to hold the three conference dates as published earlier this summer. Monday, September 28 is slated to be the first date and held at St. John’s, La Grange. The conference will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 11:30 a.m. Please see the attached registration materials.

On Tuesday, August 11, Dr. Beverly Yahnke (Executive of Doxology) led a very informative webinar “Here They Come: A Teacher’s Guide to Resilience” focusing on the social and emotional health of teachers, available for viewing here.

On Wednesday, September 16, Dr. Yahnke will join us for a follow up webinar focusing on the social and emotional health of children “Social/Emotional Need of Children During COVID19: What Teachers Want to Know”. The IEIN field is required. If you are not using the credit, put “not using”.

The ‘Hearts for Jesus’ mission project this school year will be the new NID Belize Mission Project. Please plan to share the attached video with your students and plan to support this mission. Watch for other resources to follow. See the attachment of the mission project information.

LEA has some new, exciting programs to launch this school year. Visit the LEA website for more information.

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